Ghosted: A Novel

Sarah and Eddie were the perfect poster children for insta-love: a week together has them pledging undying loyalty and, if one is to believe Sarah’s version of things, the moment her life began. But, the day arrives when Eddie is a no-show, and nothing Sarah has done gets her any answers or response. She’s been ghosted, and she doesn’t deal with it well. From the premise, I hoped to enjoy this book, even with the outlandish “you are my everything” proclamations. But –hold on…. Sarah verges on desperate – all in that ‘bunny boiler starter kit’ way, with her near 40 year old self turned into a thirteen year old, passing notes in class, doodling at all times, never realizing that at this point in her life (nearly 40, still married, a man she doesn’t ACTUALLY know has moved on) she needs to sort out her own life and find just why desperation is her go to. Her friends? Dramatic to the nth degree, they come with bags of drama, little personality PAST that drama, and beyond companionship seem to provide little of substance. Then we see Eddie’s story – and the challenges he faced after his ‘week away’ from his troubles. Attempts made to give him some ‘plausible’ reasons for not showing up, let’s just start with the fact that everything personal he told Sarah (with minor exceptions) was a lie? I can handle some dishonesty – if the liar comes clean, although I’d prefer the “omit difficult topics” approach. But even his reasoning isn’t viable to me. But, it was the construct of the story that caused me he most issues. A story full of tell without show, an overload of drama, random side journeys that often didn’t relate to the moment at hand (descriptions of countryside when characters are indoors in another place) and a never ending circular repeat from Sarah regarding her “love” for Eddie that just felt as if words were being added to the page without actual purpose. I wanted to like this book far more than I did, and perhaps it was a combination of my frustration with Sarah’s immaturity and the apparent sequence of easily resolved coincidences to solve a mystery that didn’t really exist in the first place. I’m just meh about the whole thing – although some will LOVE the concept, undoubtedly have more patience for the tortured drama and occasional stream of consciousness moments that don’t really related to anything. An interesting, if ultimately not my thing debut offering. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Good