Review: Young Jane Young

Title: Young Jane Young
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: August 29, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Aviva Grossman is a bright, ambitious congressional intern with a promising political future ahead of her until she makes the mistake of having an affair with her very married boss … and writing what she thinks is an anonymous blog about it. When the affair dramatically comes to light, it’s not the popular congressman who takes the fall, it’s Aviva–and her life suddenly seems over before it’s hardly begun. Slut-shamed and hounded by the media, she becomes a late-night talk show punchline. Determined to rebuild her life on her own terms, Aviva changes her name, moves from Florida to a small town in Maine, starts her own wedding planning business … and decides to continue a surprise pregnancy.

But when “Jane” decides to run for public office, that long-ago mistake–an inescapable scarlet A–trails her via the Internet, threatening to derail her life yet again. It’s only a matter of time until her daughter finds out who her mother once was–and is forced to reconcile that person with the one she thinks she knows …

Review:

I was super excited about this book. For the most part, it didn’t disappoint. 

The struggles that Aviva faced after her affair with the congressman highlights the sexism of those scandals. Though he was just as involved as her, and he had more to lose, she took all of the blame. It carried through life and affected her chances to get a job. However, she was a smart girl so she figured out a way to reinvent herself. 

I really liked Ruby’s voice. Ruby is Jane’s daughter. She was very blunt and straightforward. She was also very intelligent. 

I was confused when the story started. It begins with Rachel Grossman’s perspective. She was Aviva’s mother. Each of the subsequent parts are about a different woman in the story. 

I think the story fell apart in the final two parts. They weren’t as interesting as the beginning. The final part backtracks a lot and gives some extra details that weren’t necessary for the story. I was expecting a more spectacular ending, because the first half was so good. 

Have any of you read this book? What did you think? 

Author: jilljemmett

Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book. View all posts by jilljemmett