Member Reviews

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

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Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

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My apologies, I have only just realised this book remains on my shelf. I omitted to submit a review at the time due to a lengthy illness.

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Great characters with a great storyline. Has some good humour too

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Elizabeth, Andrew and Zoe were once the coolest band on their college campus, with their front woman, the charismatic and troubled Lydia later gathering a cult following after going solo with a song originally written by Elizabeth, “Mistress of Myself”. When Elizabeth, Andrew and Zoe are approached about a film being made about Lydia, tensions rise between the old friends, who have grown up and married, and have settled close by in the same trendy neighbourhood. This is a fantastic summer read that feels more like a sit com than a novel.

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After more than twenty years together, Andrew and Elizabeth’s marriage is still strong, although it has its ups and downs, and their son Harry seems to be the perfect 17-year-old. On the other hand, Zoe and Jane’s marriage is in trouble while their daughter Ruby has been rejected from all the colleges she applied to and doesn’t seem to have any plans for the future. As both parents and children struggle with their own problems, the past resurfaces as Zoe, Elizabeth and Andrew are asked for the rights of a song they created when they were in college. The trio were part of a band with Lydia, who went on to become a famous rock star and died of an overdose when she was only 27.
This is a very well-written, relatable and thought-provoking novel about love, friendship, family and finding your own identity. For once, I didn’t have a favourite character as they all have deep flaws and can be irritating so I couldn’t find myself siding with any of them, although I enjoyed reading Harry and Ruby’s developing love story. There are no surprising moments or twists but there is enough drama (and some funny scenes) to keep you glued to the page.

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This book remind me of How I Met your Mother tv show. The reality on how today’s relationships are and how do you get there, but sometimes what is nearer is the most lovable or what you really need. How you in your youth can go jumping in relationships or one night stands (for nothing… if you think that is a fun life go ahead… we will speak when you reach your 40’s alone…) when deep down what you need is a good friend and a respectful and stable partner.

My question is: do you really need Apps? Blind dates? What happened to meeting someone’s eyes and get catched by it? What happen to romance without getting straight to bed?

Great book! not the typical romance you think it is….go on give it a go, trust me.

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I love New York stories, and this had it all. Actually connected more with this than The Vacationers, which was also fun. Waiting for Emma Straub's next one already.

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I truly deplored this book from its writing to the plot.

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A fantastic read that grips you from the offset. As the title suggests this is written focusing on modern day society and offers a fantastic perspective on relationships and how our approach and attitudes change as we get older. The characters in this book really came to life and jumped off the page compelling you to what to know what the next page would hold. A fantastic read start to finish - highly recommended.

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I honestly love the cover and yes, I do my first judgement about the book by its cover, it's like walking the department store and searching for something interesting!

Modern Lovers is an adult contemporary novel and I mean you have to be, without any offence to anybody - matured enough to understand the beauty of the book and it's story. It was funny, surprising, crazy poisonous, capturing the essence of daily life and it's aspects - where the author has successfully maneuvered successfully between 6 total main characters. Yes, I will say 6, including the teenagers between both families.

The book reveals at many stages what's behind the characters, how they figure out what may other "your half " is and at the same where each of the characters are them self, who they want to be and how events actually turn and have always been there. Honestly while reading the book, I had mixed feelings about the plot, about the characters and I am glad I stick till the end - it's full with interesting quotes to write down, relating marriage and personal life. How each character makes sense!

I found the surface of the plot moving like a river, when your life takes turns and may be affected by others and you have not a slightest idea and you won't ever, if something doesn't go wrong...we forget, we tend to forget what has happened, maybe we remember for a while but that's about it, we will forget the details that once seemed important as the newer ones will cover the older one. It's interesting what you memory can remember and forget. and what will suddenly pop-up.

This is a book about 4 adults who live close nearby, their teenage kids who are about to make their debut first "baby steps" for not being kids anymore. This is about friends who in their youth were playing in the band, they were pretty wild and all had very mixed personalities how they felt about each other, but hey, they were producing a music together and it worked for a while until it didn't. One of the member's died young but the other moved on without questioning it much, additionally another spouse is joining the circle and they turn into adults with adult life and responsibilities...and the problematic issues takes place...it's a book which has written a glimpse of relationships, one way how we solve or not solve the daily small nuances or do they matter at all.

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This novel examines the nature of friendship, relationships, sex and love, as they affect two families living in Brooklyn, New York. Elizabeth, Andrew, Zoe and Lydia met in college and together formed their band, Kitty's Mustache. They were the height of cutting edge cool. Zoe is a lesbian, Lydia kept her distance from the others, whilst Elizabeth and Andrew became a couple. The band fell apart, Elizabeth and Andrew got married, and Lydia forged a separate successful career.

Now Andrew and Elizabeth live close to Zoe and her wife, Jane, preparing to confront the fact that nothing has prepared them for middle age. They face problems associated with shortage of money, raising children, and the rise of marital discord. Ruby and Harry, the children from their respective marriages start a relationship which causes their parents some discomfort. The couples struggle to come to terms with the past, worry about the future, the rising tensions in their relationships as their lives fall apart and try to come to terms with the evolving nature of their identities.

The characters in the novel can be irritating at times but this is often a reflection of real life. Straub casts a sensitive and insightful eye over the nature of marriage, the problems with adjusting to getting older, questions of identity, and coming to terms with the past. It can be hard to accept that it is now the turn of your children to be all that you thought you were, and appropriate the mantle of being young, cool hipsters. I found this a light, engaging and entertaining read. Many thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC.

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