4.5 stars

I read Young Jane Young in a 24-hour period; it’s a quick read, a ton of fun, and frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious. I have been a huge fan of Gabrielle Zevin for years, and I love that each new book is so different from her previous ones. While The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry will always be a tough one to best, Young Jane Young certainly holds its own.

Gabrielle Zevin spoke at my local bookstore in September, and a portion of my book club went to hear her (Young Jane Young was our September book pick). She was absolutely delightful – she spoke for a while and then entertained questions. The whole event was almost 2 hours by the time she was done signing. I attend author events fairly regularly and have never been to one lasting that long nor had an author stay engaged with the crowd for that amount of time. I am now her biggest fan. I had not read the book yet so I had the unique perspective of hearing various things about the story before I read it which made me enjoy the book even more.

My favorite part of the book was the creative manner in which Zevin chose to tell her story. She divided the book into four sections where each section is told from the perspective of a different females whose four stories intermingle. Each woman/teen has a unique point of view: one uses emails to relay her account (my favorite by far- I laughed the entire time), and another is told in a “Choose your own adventure” format which was intriguing and thought-provoking. I also loved her handling of the affair between the Congressman and Aviva including her understanding of how much people’s perspectives can change from age 20 to age 40 and the fact that the Congressman ended up shouldering so little of the blame (a sad fact that pitifully still happens today). She also addresses the permanence of the internet; scandals that would have died out pre-internet are now around forever, a phenomenon that people have not quite understood yet especially young people who are just finding their way.

Young Jane Young is a treasure, and I highly recommend it. And if you even have a chance to go see Garbielle Zevin by all means go! Thanks to Algonquin and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I've always wondered what happens to people who find their lives turned upside down after an unfortunate lack of judgment that lands them as the focal point of all the news, so I was attracted to this novel because of its description and because I enjoyed the author's previous novel, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. Aviva Grossman, an ambitious Congressional intern, unfortunately, becomes involved in an affair with the married Congressman she works for who is an old family friend. When the affair is revealed, The Congressman manages to come out of the scandal unscathed and captures re-election. Meanwhile, Aviva who is scorned discovers she is pregnant. Because everyone knows of the affair she finds it impossible to find a job, so she takes the drastic measure to change her name and start her life over in Maine as an event planner. It was interesting exploring the different standards that are applied to women rather than men, how the mistake affects the family and the Congressman's wife, and the process of recovering from a past mistake.

It’s not very often for me to finish a book and wish I hadn’t - simply because I don’t want the story to be over and to stop living in their world. However, this is precisely how I felt when I finished Young Jane Young. There were so many things I loved about the telling of this book, but the most striking was how the story was told from so many different perspectives and each was believable and relatable. The different voices covered many different generations and the story was told somewhat out of order. The book inadvertently follows a political sex scandal and the fallout from it - that is, how it impacted so many people’s lives. The scandal definitely is secondary to everything else going on in the story and it was a very heavily character driven book. Some additionally interesting devices used were emails, blogs, and an occasional pick your path (but not) near the end. I loved the style of writing and loved each character in this book.

4.5 *s. This novel is very different from Zevin's previous novel The Storied Life of AJ Fickry, one of my favorite reads. It seemed very light and contemporary at first but for me it really evolved into much more than that. I read it in just a day. It's the story of congressional intern, Aviva Grossman who has an affair with her boss, the congressman. When it becomes public knowledge, she is slut-shamed and can't find a job in politics. She changes her name and moves to Maine to raise her daughter and work as an event planner. The story is told in part's from different viewpoints; her mother Rachel, Jane herself, her daughter Ruby, the congressman's wife, Embeth, and her past as Aviva. We see how the affair affected each of these people. I loved Jane's daughter Ruby. Aviva's story is told through a clever use of Choose Your Own Adventure. This story is very timely and full of positive feminist ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What happens in the aftermath of an intern and congressman’s affair? To the congressman, nothing. His career and marriage remains intact and life goes on pretty much as before. To the young intern, Aviva, everything changes. She’s the victim of slut-shaming and her job prospects dry up. A simple google search ensures her past will follow her everywhere.

So she starts her life over, moves to a different state, and legally changes her name to Jane Young. It’s now some years later and she’s a single mom to Ruby and the owner of a successful event planning business. But secrets have a way of being revealed sooner or late and so is Jane’s.

The chapters are split between Aviva/Jane, her daughter Ruby, and Embeth, the congressman’s wife, plus a short section by Aviva’s mother. The novel benefitted from hearing all perspectives. Weighty topics are tackled yet it remains heartfelt and humorous. It’s light but intelligent and filled with strong likable female characters. And funny. It’s very funny with snappy dialogue.

I do wish the author hadn’t resorted to the 'choose your own adventure' chapters at the end. The reader doesn’t really flip to different pages depending on the choices made, but it was used to drive home the point that each decision Aviva made affected the outcome of her future. As is true for all of us. But it felt gimmicky in a book that didn’t need it to drive that point home.

Despite my reservations over the ‘choose your own adventure’ section, the book is a smart, entertaining read that I highly recommend.

*My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

I could not finish this book. Just did not hold my interest

For readers who have gone through life making questionable decisions and second guessing what direction your life has gone, this is for you. This is a story about Aviva, who finds herself in an affair with the Congressman she's interning for, and how she changes her life completely in order to get away from her mistakes. However, she finds herself back in the public light when she decides to run for mayor in the town, where she's made a new life for herself and daughter under the name Jane Young.

The story is told from different views of the women in Aviva's/Jane's life and looks at how she pushes through the trials of her mistakes. The story was blunt and to the point. I really enjoyed the voices of the characters. It was entertaining.

I wanted to read this book because I'd enjoyed Zevin's The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, and I wasn't disappointed. Via multiple POVs, we're told about Aviva Grossman's affair with a handsome congressman and how it impacted her life. Funny, insightful, with more than a nod to the Monica Lewinsky scandal, this novel tracts its own path. A most delightful novel! 5 star review on Goodreads

This was definitely a fun read but too much like the Monica Lewinsky story for my liking. Zevin does a good job of pointing out the double standard that exists relating to affairs and scandals. However, he left me hungry for more "pearls of wisdom."

This was well written and extremely enjoyable to read. The topic and the way the author wrote it were spot on. I look forward to many more books!

Young Jane Young is hilarious, heartfelt, and poignant. I'm recommending it to everyone I know. A smart, thought-provoking look at the harsh treatment afforded to one half of a public sex scandal--the young, female, powerless "mistress"--while the older, established man gets to apologize, be forgiven, and move on.

I have loved Gabrielle Zevin since her YA days with Elsewhere all the way up to The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. However, this one was not my favourite. I liked the of telling a Monica Lewinsky-esque story from Monica's perspective better than I liked the execution.

I was thoroughly surprised by this book. It was fast, witty, and the different POV's were perfect. We ordered this for our Library and I will recommend it to our patrons.

Aviva Grossman is a young woman with ambitions but her plans for the future are unexpectedly flipped when she finds herself caught in the midst of a Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton type scandal. Suddenly, she's the most notorious woman in South Florida and her only option is to reinvent herself. Told through alternating points of view of the women closest to the scandal, we get a first hand look at how events like this can often effect more than just the immediate players.

I don't know, I enjoyed this book and though it was quite entertaining but there wasn't anything about it that I'd truly rave about. It just came off as quite middle of the road for me as far as women's lit is concerned.

I highly recommend this book. Gabrielle Zevin uses her talent to intertwine characters just as she did in The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. Any fan of that book will surely enjoy this book.

YOUNG JANE YOUNG is a fantastic, character-driven story that kept my attention from start to finish. I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives of Aviva/Jane, her daughter, her mother, and the congressman's wife. These varied perspectives are the key to the story and really propel the plot forward. The passage of time is handled nicely as well. Overall, the novel is entertaining and whip smart - a fascinating look at how women see each other and how society views women in tough circumstances. Highly recommended.

This week's book review! Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin (you may know her from The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry), best paired with a glass of champagne, a plate of falafel balls, a side of hummus and baklava for dessert.
Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

On the surface, this is a cool breeze of a book. It opens in South Florida, “the most Jewish place on earth aside from Israel itself,” with Rachel Grossman recounting her adventures in online dating as a well-preserved sixty-four-year-old woman.

Dig a little deeper, though, and the book contains an unexpected strand of political and social media criticism. More than a decade ago, Rachel’s daughter, Aviva, a young political intern, had an affair with her boss and got caught. Aviva is a thinly veiled Monica Lewinsky and a modern day Hester Prynne. Her boss is a Jewish John F. Kennedy, Jr. who “looks at you like you’re butter and he’s a hot knife” then like you’re “a doll he occasionally remembers to play with.” It is all compulsively readable but also smart, funny and deeply thoughtful.

Aviva moves to a small town in Maine and reinvents herself as Jane Young, a very competent albeit understandably cynical wedding planner. “Sometimes I feel like the wedding is a Trojan horse. The dream I peddle to distract from the reality of the marriage.”

Her precocious, school-age daughter Ruby (think Matilda meets Curly Sue) narrates one section of the novel through letters written to a pen pal in Indonesia. Ruby, very much like her mother, is bullied and handles the situation with grace and bravery.

Then Aviva’s past comes back to haunt her and she crosses paths once again not with her former boss and lover but with his wife.

Zevin writes with a dry wit that is so appealing in its directness. “English was not his first language, and he seemed frightened of pronouns.” She compares political marriages to human trafficking and depicts men as casually misogynistic. She also has a sharp eye for the nuances of generation. The youth believe “everyone was very important, and very under appreciated, and very underpaid” and the aging fear that “someday soon … the switch would stick there, and [they] would never be seen again.”

The author also plays with form in highly inventive and entertaining ways. A part of the book is told in the structure of a Choose Your Own Adventure story.

Kirkus Reviews called Young Jane Young “the best thing to come out of the Monica Lewinsky scandal since Lewinsky’s own magnificent TED talk,” and I couldn’t agree more.

I adored Gabrielle Zevin's previous book, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry and was eager to read her just released novel, Young Jane Young.

We meet sixty four year old Rachel in the the opening chapters as she tries out online dating. I loved her sassy voice and dry sense of humour and found myself chuckling over her thoughts and comments. Her chapter then segues into the life of the next main character - her daughter Aviva. Aviva is working for a congressman - and crosses a line, having an affair with the married man. Her life goes off the rails from the fallout of this decision, until she decides to start over with a new name - Jane. She relocates in another state - and daughter Ruby is born. Jane's chapter segues into Ruby's. And the inevitable fate that awaits all three. The last viewpoint is that of the congressman's wife Embeth.

What a rich and varied story this was! Young Jane Young was an unexpected, unpredictable and yet very satisfying read. This one event effects all four leads in so many ways and their various outlooks, reactions and responses are dependent on each individual's age, experience and life philosophy. I loved each voice and was hard pressed to have a favourite. But, if forced to pick, I would have to say that I enjoyed Ruby the most. Her letters to her penpal are the basis for a lot of what she is feeling and doing and a lot of it is heartbreaking. I loved the insertion of epistolary elements. Zevin employs this for Aviva/Jane as well. We are privy to her journal, written in a Choose Your Own Adventure style. Choices are given and we see how and why her life took the path it did.

"The rub of the Choose Your Own Adventure stories is that if you don't make a few bad choices, the story will be terribly boring. If you do everything right and you're always good, the story will be very short."

Mother, daughters, friends, the path taken and not taken. The echoes of a choice made, the denial and acceptance that we can't change what has been done - only move forward.

Zevin's writing is wry, witty and peppered with truths. See for yourself - read an excerpt of Young Jane Young.

You can connect with Gabrielle Zevin on her website, find her on Facebook and like her on Twitter.

Three cheers for this warm and human story. I loved her first book and she did not disappoint with this book. Ms. Zevin is a wonderful writer who builds her characters with many dimensions and humanizes them to make you feel like you are sitting in the room with them. You may never live through the situation this family encounters but you will be cheering for the strength and happiness of a young girl who paid a stiff price for her youthful mistake. It feels like you move into a lovely small town and you get to cheer for these genuinely strong people.

Fantastic! I loved all the characters (except one!), and I loved how the story is told by multiple characters, even though it's Aviva's/Jane's story.