The summer of 2015 is one where we really started digging into social media. That’s when our phones became literal extensions of our hands. Hashtag too connected. Alice is trying to find herself and some purpose in her life and is convinced the MCAT is the answer…or maybe it’s not because she keeps giving into every distraction around her, distractions that abound in this overconnected age. These distractions include a pedantic writer, a brother who decides to go off-grid and become a monk, her wacky roommate who’s definitely older than she claims, and a Tinder terrorist.
Author Carter Bays (of How I Met Your Mother) has a knack for making it feel all-too commonplace for us to be surrounded by people with exaggerated characteristics. You know how people say you should notice the beauty in the every day? Well this book is about noticing the crazy in the every day. I love a story when then the characters are all very (very) loosely connected, à la Love Actually. This one has the added layer of the phone being the real mutual friend. This book is a charming, quick-witted, funny commentary on hyperfixation. As someone who breaks out in hives when separated from my mobile device, I appreciated the mirror – and a reminder of what it was like living in nyc when it was all exploding like this.
5 out of 5 stars.
Pair with: Prickly pear margarita
