Frankly, “Meh”. This should be a young adult book. The plot was like a skipped stone on a lake - only surface. ( )

I'm not sure why I finished this book; I think it was to see if it was written tongue-in-cheek or with a real intent to portray these 20-something characters as truly superficial and selfish. Because that's what they were. The conversations were stilted, some of the plotlines were dropped (she had $40 dollars but could afford to move? She struggled with her new job but then was apparently successful?), and motivations were not clear. I hope this was written to exaggerate what some young people go through to live in New York City because it didn't sound very fun to me. ( )

The book looked like it would be a commentary on how the millennial generation is addicted to social media and viral content. But this was not it. It was about a judgmental insufferable woman who is obsessed about her disrespectful boyfriend who just dumped her for no reason. Most of the other characters are also quite unlikable with hardly any redeeming qualities. I was able to get through the book but it just ended abruptly and I thought nothing was really resolved. Millennials are shown in a very bad light here and I really thought that was gross generalization and unfair to people like me. The friendships were superficial and sometimes downright bitchy which I just hated. I really don’t think our generation is so incapable of friendships and relationships as depicted here and even though we might be a little social media obsessed, it doesn’t mean we can be insulted. I was really disappointed with this book.

PS: I received this book from Doubleday books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I read Rebecca Harrington’s upcoming novel Sociable on a Saturday morning, after spending my Friday night in a bar where a young man found out that I’m an English teacher, and proceeded to mansplain the use of the possessive apostrophe to me, but he was drunk and forgot the word for apostrophe, and I’m still laughing about it. Also, I’m about 10 years older than he realized, so, all in all, not this guy’s night.

I mention this not only to have another laugh at this poor guy’s expense, but to highlight the frustrating inanities of small talk. And Sociable describes these inanities perfectly.

When a guy tells Elinor, I bet you’re one of those girls who loves her phone! it’s a strange setup for her to prove that she doesn’t love her frivolous phone, she devotes her time to Important (male-approved) Things. Later, Elinor attempts to make the meaningful party contacts, the sort of job offers and suggestions that come easily to her connected boyfriend, and again, Sociable accurately describes party smalltalk inanities.

And that’s how Sociable sets up the distinction between Will’s writing career, which is long, political thinkpieces at a job handed to him by his parents’ friends, and Elinor’s, which is listicles by the hour at startup Journalism.ly. Sociable also describes the daily vagueness of working in an office without a traditional hierarchy or without job titles with any meaningful distinctions. Who am I supposed to report to? How often? What I am even supposed to do all day? There are a few adults at Journalism.ly, either riding the wave of advertising on 24/7 viral output or wandering around wondering what happened to print journalism, but the staff is mostly twenty-something would-be novelists, churning out listicles and advertainment.

Sociable is a twenty-something -in -the -city story, but there’s no cute, character-filled apartment or handsome stranger in the local independent coffeeshop. Instead, it’s the authentic awkwardness of being half-remembered by a more successful college classmate, having a post-breakup meetup that may actually be a job search, and being kinda good at the internet writing thing. ( )

Sociable by Rebecca Harrington is a story of and/or a commentary on the twenty somethings in the world of social media. Perhaps, I am not the right audience for this book; I do not see the humor in it. Elinor emerges as a shallow character who is more annoying than endearing. I find myself inclined to tell Elinor to stop whining, grow up, and be an adult. Satires can be biting and funny. For me, unfortunately, this book is neither.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/06/sociable.html

Reviewed for NetGalley ( )