pickI listened to this one on audiobook and I am really glad I did because the wonderfully unreliable narrator of this book is what makes it so special and that really stood out on audio. A married couple on a college faculty deal with infidelity but the story is told through the eyes of a student who is both insightful and also deeply biased. I had a great time listening to this
so-so#ToB long list title that I wouldn‘t have picked up otherwise. Affairs in academia have been done to death and this just continues the same story we‘ve seen a million times. I guess every up and coming author thinks they can do it better. Simone (beautiful, smart) and her husband each have affairs. But Simone‘s is with the narrator of this book, defending her thesis. It was fine but I don‘t think I‘ll remember it. But I love that cover!
pickI'm not a big fan of the Creative Writing MFA Meta-fiction genre, but I love an unreliable narrator, so those two things together kind of even each other out (and Robbie is unreliable, even to the point that it's difficult to tell when the story takes place...Robbie says she's a "Zoomer" at 23, but Simone is GenX at not yet 40; the math doesn't work*). Like young MFA students, the novel is a bit precious, but also clever and reasonably enjoyable.
pickThis #ToB longlister is very meta and I can‘t figure out how much of it is ironic. ⬆️
There are various POVs (confusing at times), one of which is a supposed submission for a Creative Writing MFA.
There‘s a lot of angsty conversation so, if you don‘t like that, don‘t bother. However, it‘s not like Rooney where there‘s no communication - here, they over-communicate in a very performative, affected way.
Weirdly, I didn‘t hate it, a soft pick.
Hooked_on_books, Deblovestoread, merelybookish, Bookwormjillk, Chelsea.Poole, BarbaraBB, sarahbarnes, ChaoticMissAdventures, Lesliereadsalot
so-soI read Seduction Theory by Emily Adrian in record time,but that‘s probably because it‘s just over 200 pages long. The story felt very true to everyday life—nothing particularly exciting or extraordinary happens. The writing was fine, & it wasn‘t a bad book,but it just wasn‘t for me. The main theme centers on the infidelity of a married couple and how they navigate the fallout, which some readers might find compelling, but it didnt hold my interest
panWell, I didn‘t hate this, but I did find it lacking. I‘m still unsure what the point was. It felt self-indulgent. The POV switching was confusing and unnecessarily repetitive when scenes were retold after the narrator “tricks” us. All emotions were told to us in an almost clinical tone, never shown. The idea of a thinly veiled fictionalized revenge MFA thesis is good in theory, but this wasn‘t nearly as compelling as expected. Maybe 2⭐️s. #BOTM
Feeling a bit iffy about this one already lol. There‘s definitely Vladimir vibes, which I enjoyed for the English academia until it went completely off the rails at the end, but this doesn‘t have that same interesting concept yet. There‘s nothing pulling me into the academia, and the characters talk, think, and act in ways that feel so unrealistic. Maybe I‘m just struggling with the narrative POV switching of the student to the professors. #BOTM
pickI wasn‘t sure if I would like this - expecting some aging professor unable to resist the allure of young impressionable college student clinging to their every action. But it wasn‘t that, at all and the author could have written married couple Simone and Ethan into a myriad of professional settings and still tell a similar story. It was more about what keeps a couple coupled when their world around them offers temptations.
pickThis one is very unique.
The book is the thesis of a graduate student who feels slighted by a popular professor.
Every so often, I would forget what I was reading, and the narrator would pop in to remind me.
It's hard to explain, but very creative.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
As an Academic Adviser, I felt like I had to pick up this book! I can see how it could be polarizing, and it might prioritize cleverness over emotional resonance, but I still appreciated a lot about it. It has a cool structure, a unique narrator, and a strong voice. At just over 200 pages and with an absorbing writing style, the pages flew by. Playful, strange, meta. #BOTM
pickThis is a fast read at only 213 pages, but also a great look at the complexity and awkwardness of adult relationships and infidelities.
BOTM August book are up! Sooo many good ones, for once! I wanted Forget me not, too, but I didn't want to go crazy, so I'll just get that one from the library!
I decided to go with this one for #BOTM!
Am I the only one who misses the “Why I Love It” section? 😕
Seduction Theory | 
