2.5 stars rounded up to 3. I was hoping to enjoy this book. I was assuming I would love it and it would be a five star read. However, that's not the case. The synopsis had some qualities I was looking forward to, but personally I don't think the plot had anything substantial to offer after reading. I do think it was well written, but I just think it missed the mark. The plot was written as to be very clever and witty, but ended up being tedious to read. 

Ava, as a character had almost no development and she seemed almost unrealistic as a character? Become an expat teaching English grammar in Hong Kong, make friends that have ambitious careers, but make no moves to improve your own career? Have a millennial existential crisis over power dynamics and sexual orientation? Sounds about right and realistic for our generation, but making that plot made it hard for the plot to develop. 

Edith and Julian served as vessels for some "awakenings" in Ava's life. Julian constantly told Ava she wasn't doing anything with her life and Edith was her awakening that she might like women which became an existential crisis.

Ava teaches English in Hong Kong, Julian is a banker, Edith is a lawyer. Somehow they all find themselves entwined in each other’s lives – although none of them are really willing to be open about their feelings.

The comparison to Sally Rooney is definitely not far-reaching. Unfortunately, imitation isn’t always the sincerest form of flattery when it comes off as pretty much a blatant knockoff of Rooney’s trademark style.

The comparison to Crazy Rich Asians????  Because one of the characters happens to be Asian?????  Yeah, notsamuch.  There was no opulent lifestyle or mansions or bigger-than-life characters. Hell, Ava didn’t even get to meet Edith’s family.  This name-top appears to simply be a hot ticket item that the blurbist threw out there in a pretty pathetic attempt to sell more books.

Although this was all about coming to embrace the “true you” and owning your sexuality, unfortunately the chemistry was between Ava and Julian rather than Ava and Edith. Edith existed merely to propel Ava to acceptance of herself and was little more than a cardboard cutout who happily squatted in someone else’s flat and left someone she knew was not well off financially to cover tabs despite supposedly coming from money. At least Julian had some semblance of a personality (however dysfunctional when it came to his feelings it may have been) and their banter was enjoyable to read . . . .

“I remember the first time I saw you. You were walking so carefully in your heels. I was wondering what this shy person was doing having so much hair.”

“That’s a good line. Did you prepare it in advance?”

“There were several drafts. I struck out a few commas on the flight back.”

All in all this wasn’t a terrible story, but not one I’d really recommend either.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Reading this book made me feel like an uptight Puritan.  I could not get past my old-fashioned, staid views of what a committed, monogamous relationship looks like.  I quite shocked myself with the disapproval I felt for the characters in this novel and could not continue to read it past 25%.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/3 stars

Although I am close to the age target audience of this novel, I found myself not caring enough for what was going on with the relationships between the characters. I did relate to the character's love problems but at the same time, I felt really disconnected from them and their rich-life-issues. Maybe if I read the book sometime in the future my opinion may change, but for now, my lack of connection didn't let me enjoy Exciting Times thoroughly.

I had such a difficult time investing in these incredibly entitled characters and generally found the story boring. I am not sure if the title was meant to be ironic, but that is certainly how it landed for me as a reader.

This is between a 3 and 4 star rating. I saw many comparisons in Dolan's writing to Sally Rooney's writing, and after having finished the book, I can see the similarities in their writing styles. I did find Dolan's writing a bit pretentious given some of the verbiage used; however, since this is her debut novel, that could be implemented strategically to portray the main character's personality. The "Julian" section of the book was very slow, since it was essentially describing Ava while she is waiting around for Julian's love and approval. I found myself questioning if a 22 y/o would actually act the way Ava does in the book, and sure, one could, but it was frustrating to read about and it would unlikely happen. The book picked up the pace during the "Edith" section as her character brought out some redeeming qualities in Ava, and I kept wanting to see how Edith and Ava's relationship would progress. I'd recommend this to Rooney fans and fans of novels with LGBTQ themes.

I decided to DNF this book because I just couldn’t get into it. The prose felt off for me and I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters.

This was an interesting read. It reminded me of the book Normal People. Not a lot happened but it was well written. Sometimes I like to read these kinds of stories where they are just normal people.

Exciting Times was a dark horse favorite of mine this year. Though Ava is outwardly floundering in direction and desire, I found her to be so human and confident in an understated way. Dolan's dialogue is some of the sharpest I've read, and I couldn't stop highlighting Ava's inward and outward reactions.

This book actually wasn't that exciting for me. I kept waiting for something to exciting to happen but it never did. It felt like there were 2 different stories in the book and I might have liked it more if it would have left the first half out.

Not A Book;  A Dartboard

Or maybe a box of razor blades. Or a bag of broken glass. Everything about this was sharp, edgy, and pointed. Almost literally every phrase stung and crackled. I've gotten really, really tired of whiny, navel gazing, neurotic, affectless main characters, but by gosh I loved every dysfunctional moment of this story. Our heroine Ava takes no prisoners, starting with herself. She is brutally funny, and yet the reader responds to her fragility and self loathing. And I even liked the ending. 

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

22 year old Ava has just moved from her native Ireland to Hong Kong to teach English. There she meets Julian, a British banker, with whom she begins a very complex “friends with benefits” arrangement, and when Julian is away on business for six months, Ava meets and falls for Edith, a lawyer from an upper class Hong Kong family. We see this love triangle only from Ava’s acerbic perspective, and I absolutely fell in love with her wit and intellect, even while she was making *the absolute worst* decisions (and knowing so, too). Ava’s insights into relationships, capitalism, class, and herself are tragic and comedic at the same time and simply delightful reading.

One of my favorite quotes, after Julian refers to Ava in a text by her first initial: “My abbreviation felt pointed. ‘A’ implied both that he wasn’t bothered typing two additional characters and that the indefinite article was quite enough for me. I wanted to reply: I agree I am the least definite of any article.” (Side note: the use of texting and social media is really well done in this novel.)

I wonder if I loved this book so much because I had low expectations after seeing very mixed reviews. There were flashes of Hong Kong politics that I would have liked to have more depth, but otherwise this was an insightful, gorgeous novel that had me very grateful to no longer be in my 20s. Sound familiar? It’s unfortunate that this has been compared to Sally Rooney, because it is superb all on its own, but also understandable given its themes and writing style. Highly recommend picking this one up if that’s your thing!

In Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan, the author takes a familiar theme - a love triangle - and sets it in an unfamiliar, exotic setting. An Irish millennial (Ava) escapes her humdrum life in Dublin to teach in Hong Kong for year. She might have escaped Dublin but her doldrums follow her there - she's broke and bored.  She falls into a relationship (well, more like a friends with benefits situation, but it's hard to tell if she even likes the guy) with a wealthy banker and ends up moving in into his posh apartment. He travels a lot, and while he's gone she strikes up a genuine friendship with a female lawyer. That's where the love triangle comes in, and readers are taken along as Ava tries to sort out if she feelings for either one of them.

Here's where I start to feel torn about Ava - she's got a dry, acerbic sense of humor and I really, really WANT to like her. But she's hard to relate to (how can you be BORED in Hong Kong?! Get out there and just explore girl, walking around is free) and she comes across as someone who doesn't really connect with anyone on a deep human connection. 

I think Naoise Dolan's style is great, and I will read what she puts out next, but my biggest issue with this book  is I don't love the central character. For me, I liked the book overall but I tend to love books when I'm rooting FOR the main character.

Exciting Times (the title is definitely meant to be read sardonically) is the story of an aimless 22 year old Irish woman, Ava, who is teaching English in Hong Kong. She's in a quasi-relationship with Julian, a posh banker - they live (and sleep) together, but aren't together. But when Julian leaves on a work trip she starts dating Edith. It's super obvious why Dolan has been compared to Sally Rooney - Ava is a Communist, and there's lots of talk about class and money. Since Ava is an English teacher she also has lots of interesting things to say about language and communication. Ava is kind of exhausting, though - she carefully cultivates her image and acts how she thinks others want her to act (especially around Julian). I was not a fan of Julian's, and was listlessly turning pages until Edith's arrival, which is when the book picked up for me. Edith was a much more interesting character, and when Julian came back on the scene I got irritated again. I think this book would have landed better with me in a pre-pandemic world, but right now a main character who can't make herself deeply care about things wasn't working for me. To be fair to Ava, she does care, she just can't express herself well, and she is dealing with past trauma, and she is only 22. So while I wasn't enamored with this book, I did want to know how it turned out. Nolan writes lovely sentences, and some of her lines were priceless (one character is called "3 Mitford sisters in a long coat"). So while I recommend this one, maybe wait till things are less exciting in the real world to read it.

I did not connect with the main character, and I just didn't like the writing style. I read a little and then skimmed the rest.

I can definitely see why this is earning comparisons to Sally Rooney. The millennial expat love triangle is handled thoughtfully and there are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Intimate and global, depressing and sardonic.

Hailed as "the new Sally Rooney", Naoise Dolan does not disappoint. In a whirlwind novel of glitz, glamor, and love affairs, Exciting Times takes you by the hand and leads you into the life of Ava, a millennial Irish expat now living in Hong Kong. With dry wit and sharp political commentary, Exciting Times is a raw, heartbreaking dissertation on the tumultuous nature of modern love and connection.

Sally Rooney goes to Hong Kong. Exciting Times was a quick and enjoyable read about a young woman looking for herself and (maybe) love in Hong Kong. 

I really enjoyed Noaise Dolan's emphasis on language; having Eva drill down into the details of word choice as a way to express her emotions. If you like dry humor, this one is for you. 

I received this book free from NetGalley/HarperCollins Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

On the surface level, I enjoyed this story. Ava is a pretty relatable millennial character. She's really smart and self aware, but lets her emotions leave her pretty ignorant. She's constantly worried about other people's perceptions of her so much so that she sabotages her own relationships. Hello, it me. I like the discussions that were had throughout the book, but overall it didn't do anything groundbreaking for me. But I get it.

I think the reviews comparing this book to Rooney are absolutely correct. So if you get along with Rooney, you will probably like this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for a copy of this book in response for an honest review!

Exciting Times is a character driven novel in which Ava moves to Hong Kong and navigates two relationships. The novel explores how Ava’s view of herself affects these two relationships and causes her to make (often poor) decisions. Very much a coming of age novel, which the placement of Ava in a county outside of her own causes her to grapple with who she is,and who other people are.

I initially resisted this novel with every bone in my body as I am a little over-saturated with “complicated” female characters in their 20s-30s who are writers/linguists/teachers. However, Exciting Times does the things I love about the genre. The main character really is complicated, she can be highly unlikable but the more you read her the more sense she makes. She can be both highly perceptive but also often lacks correct internal insight. Her view on the world is unique, and the writing clearly portrays a woman of this age (23). She has a self-centeredness that comes with that age, at her core Ava believes that her thoughts and behaviors are unique to her, and often believes that what she is saying has much more importance than it really does and people are reading into it much more than they are. The relationships between characters are well written, and unfold slowly. 

This was an enjoyable read with plenty of ideas to chew on.