Point form book reviews are reviews where I have something to say about a book I’ve read (or, in this case, listened to) but I don’t have enough coherent thought around to write a full review.
- I enjoyed this more than I thought I would
- Did not know it was split into two parts, set in two different times.
- First part is 1998, second is 2020.
- Definitely enjoyed the 1998 part more and was surprised by how much nostalgia I felt.
- In 1998, the main character, Roz, is a first year university student. In 1998, I started high school. So I didn’t think I would recognize so much but when I started university in 2003 we still didn’t have social media and cell phones weren’t particularly common. I recognized a lot of the habits and cultural/social references that Scott describes surrounding Roz.
- In 2020, Roz is a single mom holed up at her family’s cottage in Ontario, attempting to escape the pandemic. Stuff here that anyone who was parenting in 2020 can relate to even though her son is older than my kids were.
- There’s kind of a mystery in the first half and although that drives a lot of the tension, it’s really more about Roz. Who is she? What motivates her? She’s not particularly likeable but she also so painfully, familiarly insecure that I found it hard to dislike her.
- The 2020 section had less urgency to me. Much of what we’ve learned about the various characters is turned upside down but not in a way I found very satisfying.
- Audio was excellent, no gripes there.
- I liked this but I wonder if someone who went to university after, say 2010 would find it as appealing as I did. I think the nostalgia is a big part of what drew me in.
Karissa Reads Books 
I entered college in 2003, and we did have Facebook, but you had to have a college email address, and it had to be an approved college. When the company started accepted everyone on their platform, they’re basically ran off all the college students. I remember my students telling me they only had Facebook to carefully craft a parent-approved life in photos and updates. In reality, they were sharing all the real stuff on other platforms (I think Instagram was big then).
I started university in 2003 too but Facebook wasn’t really a presence until maybe 2006. When I lived in dorm we were still using MSN messenger to communicate. I didn’t get a cell phone until the end of 2007. So the sense of not being always available and easy to find that the book describes felt very familiar.
My Facebook now is a lot of people my parents’ age and a lot of ads. There are a couple of groups I’m a part of that use it but in general most of my friends seem to be on Instagram. I don’t use other social media so maybe there are other, more happening places!
I wonder why people moved over to Instagram when Facebook owns that, too. Perhaps just because the parents’ generation got used to Facebook and don’t want to “start over,” so to speak? I know when I was working at the library, I had several people whose FB accounts were hacked, and they lost everything, but most importantly, irreplaceable family photos. That tells me just how much some people are in the weeds with FB.
I still have Facebook but barely use it because when I log in now it’s mostly ads and weird memes and very few of my peers are using it. Instagram still feels more like a way to keep up with people but most people I know are pretty infrequent social media sharers so my Instagram is mostly book accounts!