The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary (Romance), or “women’s fiction” which makes me want to throw up everywhere
Pages: 333
Format: paperback (library)
Also by this author: Other People’s Houses, The Garden of Small Beginnings
What It’s About: Nina Hill is a young woman who is extremely organized and works in a bookstore. She was “raised” by a single mother, and she has a strict Trivia Night regimen. When a boy on an opposing team catches her eye and the father (and family) she never knew enter her life at the exact same time, Nina must navigate the chaos and make everything work, while keeping up on the reading for book club!
My Rating: ✭✭ /5
Ok so. I know 2 stars seems like a pretty low rating, especially for the first book I’m reviewing on this blog. I really wanted to love this book, and I think there were a couple of things that it did well (or at least, attempted to do). For example, I liked the vaguely satire/parody style of writing, especially since Nina is experiencing this kind of outlandish circumstance surrounding her father. It had the aura of a modern Austen novel, which I thought was cute since it wasn’t trying to be an Austen retelling. But I felt like the writing just didn't lean in as much as it could have. At times, it left me wondering whether the author was trying to write a parody or genuinely writing seriously. I also thought the trivia aspect was fun. I feel like nerdy/plain girls whose only social outings are trivia nights have become a bit of a trope lately, but luckily for me, it’s a trope I like. I also really loved the representation of sexuality--honestly, I thought this was done EXTREMELY well. There were multiple characters who were allowed to casually say "I'm a woman and this is my wife," or "I broke up with my boyfriend and then met this wonderful girl" and it was NO BIG DEAL. I thought that was really excellent, and it's one of the major reasons why I wish I could give this book a higher star rating. Yet somehow it was also one of its major pitfalls?
But there were a lot of problems with this book for me as well.
1) I didn't love the sexist/racially insensitive quips. There were a fair few times when characters would say things that just didn't sit well with me. The two that jump to my mind are one character calling another a slut (especially when Nina et al. were constantly declaring their feminism) and Nina saying something was "her spirit animal". Don't do that. It's not cool.
2) There was absolutely no chemistry between Nina and Tom. Sorry, but there wasn't. Sure, they declared a mutual physical attraction quite a few times, but really, nothing they said ever made me cheer for their relationship or hope that they would get together. Nina seemed to genuinely dislike Tom, other than "he was gorgeous" and she "should get laid". Couple goals, they are not.
3) Everything was too easy. I know this book isn't supposed to run my emotions through the ringer or anything, but come on.
4) All the characters were the same?? They all talked the same (which was weird because some of them were 10 years old) and they all had the same sense of humor and they all quipped about the same things in the same way (usually trivia).
5) Was it just me, or did this book have bizarre British undertones? I kept thinking it was set in suburban London rather than Los Angeles. I think it was the dialogue style and some of the vocabulary.
6) For someone who claims to be obsessed with organization and scheduling (I won't get into those connotations and the interpretations that could be made about Nina's life), the pages from her planner sure didn't seem like it. In the writing, she purports to be hyper-regimented about every day of her life, and one of the overarching themes is how to become more flexible. Yet on the planner pages, she's often guessing at what she might eat and having to remind herself multiple times to pick up cat food. Somehow, this all seems pretty contradictory to me. Couldn't a proofreader or editor have picked up on that?
Anyway. I finished reading it because it was light and easy and I knew it wouldn't take very long. I also liked that she works in a bookstore because I presently work in a bookstore and I could relate to the bookstore things in Nina's life. But overall I simply wasn't that impressed. I probably won’t pick up anything else by this author.
