It was ok, but I was disappointed and wanted a little more." Offline, shes likely watching a Heat game or finding a new coffee shop. I think I may be experiencing a personal jadedness with these narratives that prevented me from fully enjoying my reading. 256 pp. Available in used condition with free delivery in the UK. , Something small I enjoyed was the depiction of Ava's queerness. 3. 2019 Naoise Dolan (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan was published April 16th with Weidenfeld & Nicolson and is described as 'accessible, acerbic, smart and fun' Skip to content. [3] A college debater, she co-convened the Irish Mace competition in 2015/16. "Much likeNormal Peopleby Sally Rooney, I expect there will be polarizing opinions onExciting Times. The book is fast-paced, but with finely-wrought moments of stillness. Dolan has a great eye and I was poised over my Kindle highlighting witty dialogue and observations more than a few times. You have to understand that this is the kind of story I have very high standards for because the plot is an evergreen plot: young person at loose ends making her way in the world and deciding who to love. Exciting Times Naoise Dolan. The dark and light sides of friendship breathlessly explored in a novel best saved for summer beachside reading. Just $45 for 12 months or I know its frustrating that any new young female writer must find themselves compared to Sally Rooney. Him needing me was strange and new. Its good to know thats how I behave in this situation.. Books that read fast, cut fluff, and get to the point are your jam. After high school, Caitlin travels the world and cant understand why Vix, by now at Harvard on a scholarship and determined to have a better life than her mother has had, wont drop out and join her. Not so much. It all adds up to a bracing, refreshing first novel, with hints of greater things to come. The middle section was slightly better than the beginning, there was an ounce of truth to it, but then it nosedived again. She is highly attuned both to the power dynamics at play (do you want me to depend on you? she asks him) and to her moral predicament, as she adds up how much money she is saving on rent, as well as on the clothes and meals Julian pays for with the funds he doesnt know what to do with. She's lost as well as lonely. June 2, 2020. Read more. Eek! Through palpable tension balanced with glimmers of hope, Hoover beautifully captures the heartbreak and joy of starting over. Julian, her posh banker boyfriend, has such an apartment which is just as well, since he also has an arrogance to match his salary. Youre not a fan of unreliable narrators (hiit me), 3. Or a good girlfriend? Don't get me wrong, it's not the story itself, the story as a concept it totally up my alley (it has to be, because it sounds like a Sally Rooney novel): A 22 year old Irish expat living in Hong Kong who finds herself in a love triangle with a cold English banker who doesn't want to be her partner but will let her live in his expensive appartment for free, and a young woman from Hong Kong. "The angst of your twentiestrying to figure out who you are can be exhaustingyoure trying on identities like outfits. Ava herself would give much the same impression, which is a sign the book is successful even if it doesn't make it universally appealing. Not long after her arrival, she finds herself on a lunch date with Julian, an Oxford-educated British banker in his late 20s. Exciting Times on the way with Bridgerton's Phoebe Dynevor set for new Exciting Times. She has been shortlisted and longlisted for several prizes, including The Women's Prize for Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize and The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year . Naoise Dolan is an Irish writer born in Dublin. This book is incredibly fine. The forthcoming book from 'We Are Not Like Them' authors Jo Piazza and Christine Pride asks the question: Who gets to make the choice to be a mom? in part two, we watch her coming into the light. Its a layered book because of these factors, and it works in the storys favor. That doesnt make for a worthy heroineor it might make me 'too old' to empathize. Emotions are dealt with baldly, dryly: Anyway, I hated her, says Ava about Victoria, a moneyed friend of Julians. Find books by time period, setting & theme, Read-alike suggestions by book and author. Exciting Times Literary Hub GENERAL ROMANCE | This model of relationship-as-power-struggle is hardly new, but Dolan brings a fresh 21st-century sensibility to it. Those whove spent time in Hong Kong cant help wondering what its like to be among the Anglophone transplants who work and party there. But I didnt trust anyone.The richer I got, the harder it would be for anyone to force me to do anything. Dolans preoccupation with power is often couched in humor but always expertly observed. Atlas, who is single and running a restaurant, feels the same way. The dialog is brilliant throughout. Edith is curious and enthusiastic, and Ava can no longer maintain her detached, ironical approach to life feelings flower all over the place. Telling neither the full truth about the other, Ava finds herself falling in love with Edith. The story explores the freedoms and dangers of modern love and expression through Avas relations with these two people and her teaching of the often non-sensical semantics of the English language to her students. HarperCollins. Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. 6 min read. The style is detached and detaching in an interesting way but if you like sinking teeth into a narrative this is not for you. Nolan does a brilliant job of harnessing technology to her story, specifically the phone. . Stories so good, you won't need a bookmark. Here, she grapples with her feelings towards Julian, a rich, witty but largely emotionless banker, and Edith, an ambitious and striking lawyer. Summary. An intimate, bracingly intelligent debut novel about a millennial Irish expat who becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer About a third into the story, when I was starting to wonder where everything was going, were introduced to Edith, a lawyer from Hong Kong who starts to capture Avas attention away from Julian. ROMANCE | Feelings for Edith but, confusingly, also for Julian. Lily has to plan her dates carefully to avoid a confrontation. Book Club | Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan | April 2021 Nine months later, out popped their new child known asExciting Times. BookBrowse LLC 1997-2023. by Unfortunately, I cant give this book the raving review I want to because not only is Ava aimless, but shes SO passive-aggressive within her relationships." @booktrax. Exciting Times. Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. I rolled my eyes a few times. Exciting Times is a beautiful novel written by the famous author Naoise Dolan. Its the closest well ever come to telepathy: she realises Edith is thinking about her at that moment, and it changes everything. I cant wait to read what Dolan writes next. The years in between are related in brief segments by numerous characters, but mostly by Vix. Lots of reviews are making the Rooney 'millennial lit' comparison which is fair but I'd add. Your ultimate guide to the (arguably) best film genre: the romantic comedy. Read an excerpt from the bookhere (opens in new tab). Don't the best books teach us something we don't know? In sixth grade, when Victoria Weaver is asked by new girl Caitlin Somers to spend the summer with her on Marthas Vineyard, her life changes forever. So lucky us, really. Exciting Times? It seemed farcical that I even needed to explain to Edith . This book may be short, but it packs a huge punch. Naoise Dolan, 2020. Often when I read a queer novel some of it feels forced; this was seamless. "exciting Times" "naoise Dolan" Teaching Resources | TPT When Julian returns to London for six months for work, Ava meets Edith, a smart and beautiful Hong Kong lawyer. I enjoyed his money and he enjoyed how easily impressed I was by it.. Spam Free: Your email is never shared with anyone; opt out any time. Regardless, I encourage you to seek outExciting Timesfor yourself because I know so many of you are hungry for reading experiences that capture the complexities of love, personal politics, and the precariousness that comes with being young and lost and in love. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan | W&N - Ground-breaking, award-winning When Naoise Dolan 's debut novel Exciting Times was released last year, she was swiftly earmarked as the " next Sally Rooney ". "Exciting Times" by Naoise Dolan - asianreviewofbooks.com D I S C L A I M E RThese are all just my own opinion on the book. Naoise Dolan - Exciting Times - The Bobsphere Ava, newly arrived in Hong Kong from Dublin, spends her days teaching English to rich children. - Exciting Times [ Book Description ] When you leave Ireland aged 22 to spend your parents' money, it's called a gap year. Its something I appreciate in memoirs and also in literary fiction. Because truly, if you love her books, dont sleep on this one. When Ava leaves Ireland aged 22 to make her own money . The novel is shot through with moments of such startling self-awareness as this. Judy Blume, edited by "Exciting Times" Author Naoise Dolan On Expat - Tatler Asia Exciting Times is her first novel, an excerpt from which was published in The Stinging Fly by Sally Rooney. It would definitely have been helpful to have a general idea of the geopolitics between Ireland/Britain/Hong Kong. They form a digital counterbalance to Avas aloof and guarded in-person presence, and through this duality Dolan captures perfectly the nauseating insecurity of growing up today. I found her style of writing very unusual and can see why people would compare her to Sally Rooney based on that. anyway i picked this novel up solely because of the sally rooney comparisons and in the second chapter itself a sentence begins like because i lacked warmth [] which reminded me of the quote in rooney's second novel that goes [..] marianne lacks warmth, by which she means the ability to beg for love from people who hate her. what i will say in my measured judgement is that rooney's writing, especially considering. She talks to Ava about Ava, and delivers the odd riff on her mother or Judy Garland, but we never delve deep into her own feelings or get to see her vulnerabilities exposed. 1. There are intimate moments here, even if they do occur at one remove. Naoise Dolan's Exciting Times to be adapted for TV Family News, a short story by Naoise Dolan - The Irish Times Were glad you found a book that interests you! This novel is a tedious account of one girls romantic flings during a year of living abroad in Hong Kong. Trouble signing in? Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan, review: breezy fun with stabs of social In my opinion,Exciting Timesreads very similar. More Information | If youre looking for likable and well-rounded characters, a happy love story, and everything packaged up in a neat box, this isnt it. EXCITING TIMES. Her debut novel, Exciting Times, was a Sunday Times bestseller, widely translated, and optioned for television. She is in a constant battle of inner conflicttotal social apathy, whilst silently scathing of her prejudiced workplace. Youre not easily pleased with how other people put sentences together, Julian accuses, but when it comes to money, youve got no taste. Eileen was six years older than me. a book review by Michael Pearson: Exciting Times: A Novel She's sharing an Airbnb with roomies that don't like her. Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published. Only 2 left. this book is insane because not only does the protagonist have the same birthday as me but also the male love interest has the same birthday as the man i didn't shut up about all of last year. Exciting Times Naoise Dolan. The story of how this casual invitation turns the two girls into what they call "Summer sisters" is prefaced with a prologue in which Vix is asked by Caitlin to be her matron of honor. Aperus are withering. An upcoming glossy series based on the debut novel of the same name by 29-year-old Irish author Naoise Dolan - and streaming giant Amazon will be behind it. Exciting Times was also nominated in the Best Newcomer Category at the An Post Irish Book Awards. They were playful, charged, strained. Caitlin, on the other hand, lives part of the year with her wealthy mother Phoebe, whos just moved to Albuquerque, and summers with her father Lamb, equally affluent, on the Vineyard. I also think the teaching English abroad aspect was well-researched and spot on. [epub] Download Exciting Times BY Naoise Dolan on Audible Full Version (How can you tell whether you like someone? If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added. evenings that often end in drunken blackouts or in bed with her sort-of boyfriend Julian, who . The Irish author, who will appear virtually at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, set her multi-award winning novel in Hong Kong In her first months as an expat, she meets Juliana 28-year-old English bankerwho seems aloof about everything except his job. Publisher: Ecco, 256 pages, $27.99. An intimate, bracingly intelligent debut novel about a millennial Irish expat who becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer. Aleksandar Hemon's characters are romantics. exciting times naoise dolan ending explained Nenia I yeet my books back and forth Campbell, review of Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan on LonesomeReader. @what_leah_reads. Amazon.com: Exciting Times: A Novel: Dolan, Naoise: Books Surely, Dolan has much in common with the immensely popular Rooney in terms of themes and style. Read an Excerpt From 'Exciting Times' By Naoise Dolan | Marie Claire They trip her up and get in the way. Button, water, Tuesdayanything with two syllables zipped up then down like a Gothic steeple. . You like an unreliable narrator (thinkEleanor Oliphant) as you read. - Publishers Weekly That, or I wanted to be him., Ava is hyper-verbal and exacting, and Dolans writing excels when Ava turns her analytical eye on the intersections between English syntax, zeitgeist technology and interpersonal relationships: Because I lacked warmth, I was mainly assigned grammar classes, where children not liking you was a positive performance indicator. Here goes apologies if this review gets a bit ranty. Overall, the #ReadWithMC community had trouble relating to Ava, mainly due to her passive aggressiveness and inability to speak the truth to fellow characters in the book. In addition to appearing in best selling lists in the original English, it has also been translated into Italian where it has got rave reviews. A literary and hilarious tour de force. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan | Waterstones When Lily runs into Atlas Corrigan, a childhood friend who also came from an abusive family, she hopes their friendship can blossom into love. . My main problem was Ava. And others will find that not much happens and it's just meh. The book was first published in April 1st 2020 and the latest edition of the book was published in April 16th . Soon they are sleeping together, and Ava moves into Julians flat. Blume knows the way kids and teens speak, but her two female leads are less credible as they reach adulthood. Already drawing comparisons to Sally Rooneys work, Exciting Times, by Naoise Dolan, has many of the familiar tropes of the millennial novel covered: Jealousy and obsession, love and late capitalism, sex and the internet all come whirling together in a wry and bracing tale of class and privilege. Get ready to turn that frown upside down. A banker who likes to spend money on Ava, to have sex and discuss fluctuating currencies with her. A sharp, witty and ultimately moving debut . Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan. Now I know what the phrase razor sharp wit really means. Stories that focus on social issues such as class and LGBTQ+ are of interest to you. I love the unconventional, the interpersonal, the relatable *but not talked about,* and this book had all of that and more. LITERARY FICTION | Exciting Times Book Rating. Though this model of relationship-as-power-struggle is hardly new, Dolan brings a fresh 21st-century sensibility to it. Naoise Dolan is an Irish writer born in Dublin. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin and Oxford University. Exciting Times | Naoise Dolan | Review | Swirl and Thread What I've Loved Reading 2023 - Bookshop.org Rooney writes more stream of consciousness and this is more tightly bound, but the emotions and ways of being felt so similar." I like cool detached styling, I like complex unlikeable protagonists, I like dissections of class, I like explorations of sexuality. I wasn't immediately sucked inI think when Edith entered the picture, I became a lot more engaged. 3.5 out of 5 stars 3.7 out of 5.0 5 Stars . Magazine Subscribers (How to Find Your Reader Number), 6 Queer Debuts To Read During Pride Month, Shortlists for Dalkey Literary Awards Are Revealed, Colleen Hoover Is Back. The fact that Naoise Dolan is being touted as the new Sally Rooney is nothing short of an insult to Rooneys work. GENERAL FICTION, by DAS APASIONANTES es una novela social (casi generacional) disfrazada de historia de amor. Article Like Rooney, Dolan writes in a deadpan style. I definitely feltand enjoyedthat similar sparseness of language employed by both authors to cut to the crux of an emotion. East and West collide in a timely and bittersweet novel of loyalty, love, and the siren call of freedom. Her elegantly simple writing allows her ideas and musings to shine. His privilege is the invisible third party in the relationship. Ava is a 21-year-old who leaves Ireland, where shes convinced everyone hates her, to become a teacher of English as a foreign language in Hong Kong. Her relationships are dysfunctional and we see her repeatedly make choices that we know (or think we know) are wrong for her. And yet its so original. Debut novelist Naoise Dolan is no Sally Rooney, for better and worse Summary and reviews of Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan - BookBrowse But that's what I really enjoyed about thisthe characters felt real and the uncertainty and non-committal situations also felt very real. A young Dubliner in Hong Kong struggles to connect in this fresh and funny debut about love and self-knowledge. Some will find Ava absolutely intolerable and insufferable and won't be able to finish the first 25 pages. In fact, Exciting Times (talk about a misleading title) reads like a dry, emotionless version of Conversations with Friends without the subtle characterization and psychological realism that made Rooney a household name. Politically alert, heartbreakingly raw, and dryly funny, Exciting Times is thrillingly attuned to the great freedoms and greater uncertainties of modern love. Related Post: Why You Should Buy a Kindle I personally found that to be utterly fascinating. Its not plot-driven and Ava as a character distances herself from people in the book, so shes not intrinsically likeable. Julian is a banker. "Gaydars . Ava, the narrator, is an Irish ex-pat living in Hong Kong. With Naoise Dolan on the literary scene, there are Exciting Times ahead.' - i-D. Do put it on your TBR and let me know what you think."