Book Review: "Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It" by Brooke Avelar

I believe the last few years have seen more phenomenal debut novels than ever before. I love reading books from my auto-buy authors, but I get so excited when the book I’m loving is a debut. Add this one to the list—it was great!!

“There were approximately one hundred and fifty boys in my grade at Manhasset Central Middle School. By the time I turned twelve, I had been in love with at least one hundred and twenty-five of them. If I didn’t have a crush, I didn’t see the point of getting out of bed in the morning.”

Phoebe is in love with love. She’s been reading romances since she was young, hiding the smuttier ones under her bed. In seventh grade she was more than ready for her first kiss—but the expectation led to anxiety, which led to, well, a disastrous reaction. Since that moment, getting close to a guy makes her so nervous that she usually cancels dates.

But now, a month from her 30th birthday, Phoebe is still a virgin. She’s determined to change that, so being the overly organized teacher that she is, she puts together a checklist on losing her virginity in 30 days. (And she laminates it.)

As she starts making her plans, she unexpectedly winds up with three potential suitors. There’s Finn, the hot new 4th grade teacher; Matthew, a former high school classmate with whom she competes in Wordle and Words with Friends; and then there’s her roommate, Jonathan, who has been one of her best friends since college. Will one of these men help her achieve her goal?

This was a fun book, with lots of banter between the characters. And while Phoebe’s plight is definitely amusing, I loved the way this book dealt with her anxiety and other mental health issues. As Brooke Averick says in her author’s note, we rarely see this side of a character in a romance, and I’m so glad that we did!

Book Review: "Rejection" by Tony Tulathimutte

Rejection is a fascinating, thought-provoking, and truly visceral story collection. It’s definitely not a book that inspires positivity for the most part, but it’s so well-written, you might not care.

The seven interconnected stories in Tony Tulathimutte’s collection all focus on a central theme: rejection. The characters have to face fears of loneliness, issues with their self-esteem, and, quite often, anger toward those they perceive to be responsible for rejecting them, as well as society.

The opening story, “The Feminist,” follows a man who so heartily supports the empowerment of women and their control of relationships, but it’s mostly so women will have sex with him. And that doesn’t happen. For a long, long time. (Lots and lots of friend zones.)

In “Pics,” a woman hooks up with a close friend of hers, and quickly discovers she feels like it was much more significant an event than he did. Her growing obsessiveness doesn’t help, and her continued spiraling makes her feel worse, which she takes out on everyone.

And in “Ahegao; or, The Ballad of Sexual Repression,” a young man comes out of the closet but can’t seem to find someone who wants a relationship. He soon discovers his fascination with a troubling sub-genre of porn.

These stories are very modern, with conversations conducted through various forms of social media at times, and they’re very much in step with the different sociological movements in our society. They’re dark and satirical, yet at times they pack a powerful punch.

My biggest struggle with the book is that none of the characters are particularly likable. It’s hard at times to read stories in which characters are complaining and ranting a lot. But Tulathimutte’s storytelling talent elevates the book.