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ARC Review: Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin


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Rating: 4.5 Stars

 I don't read a lot of adult books. It's mostly because I'm 
worried I will be bored or the language would be too overbearing. But I was too intrigued when I read the synopsis to not pick this up. Plus, I've been eyeing other Gabrielle Zevin books for a while now and a lot of reviewers I follow love her work. (She also writes YA which definitely helped with my decision.)

Young Jane Young is about a series of women affected by a political scandal. A twenty-year-old woman has an affair with a prominent political figure and this story tells of the effects this scandal has had on the woman herself (Aviva/Jane), her daughter (Ruby), her mother and the wife of the politician. 

I have never read anything like this book and I loved every second of reading it. At first, I thought we were going to alternate POVs between Aviva and her mom, so I was a little disappointed when that didn't happen (because I loved Aviva's POV). But I got over it quickly simply because everyone else's POV was so interesting! I loved that Ruby's, Jane's daughter, POV was told through emails to her pen pal and that there was a "choose your own adventure" section that told the story of Aviva's affair. I loved Aviva's story so much because even though her reputation was completely ruined, she still found a way to have a life and I found it so inspiring. This book had a very powerful feminist voice in it, which I also loved. In books and TV, you rarely see the aftereffects of a political scandal in this way so this book was quite unique. 

I do have to say that I found the ending to be quite unsatisfying, but that's the only thing that I disliked about Young Jane Young.

Highly recommend if you are looking for a political book with feminist themes that is easy to read. If you are like me and love character-centric stories and are looking for good adult reads, check out Young Jane Young when it comes out on August 22!
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