If you’re a fan of Ottessa Moshfegh or Melissa Broder, I think you would enjoy this one. A very unlikeable character who consistently makes bad decisions. I usually don’t mind these kind of characters but I struggled through this book.

Courtesy of Netgalley I received the ARC of Nobody, Somebody, Anybody by Kelly McClorey. This debit novel portrays a quirky young woman who seems to have been thwarted in all of her previous education endeavors. Setting a goal of becoming an EMT while working at a summer resort job, Amy develops a plan to get past her test taking anxiety. New acquaintances and family memories round out this interesting narrative,told
with a unique voice.

If you like Ottessa Moshfegh you may like this book. You can’t help but feel sorry for this main character as her life seems to steamroll her. It’s a dark comedy stuck inside the mind of a current maid but wanna be EMT. It wasn’t as compelling as I wanted it to be and I struggled to get through the second half.

I really wanted to like this book but I couldn't get through the main character's constant bad decisions.

I'm glad I went into this book with an open mind because it wasn't what I expected. Nobody, Somebody, Anybody drew me in with its description and cover. It's billed as "tender and laugh-out-loud funny," but I found it anything but. Although beautifully written, this debut did not resonate with me.

The protagonist, Amy, is in the midst of a transition. She is hyper-positive about her new summer job as a housemaid as she attempts to get her life together and reach her goal of becoming an EMT. August 25th will be her "last chance" to pass the cognitive exam. After failing her first two attempts, she is now even more motivated to reassign her focus onto her ambitions, one Florence Nightingale quote at a time. She knows the material; she just needs to get over the hump of test-taking anxiety. From the get-go, it's easy to get on her side and want her to do well.

Yet, as the story went on, Amy's behavior became more detached and destructive, and I found her too insufferable to root for. While likeability is not necessary for a compelling character, the author's hope that Amy would be sympathized with is simply unreasonable. Even as she begins to disclose the recent tragedies in her life that perhaps have caused her to arrive at her current state, it's not enough to overlook her delusions. Reading through her self-sabotage was like watching a bike race crash--it just gets worse and worse. I suspect that Amy's irrational thoughts and actions are intended to be the "tender and laugh-out-loud funny" moments, but they were just sad and frustrating. I don't think the author set out to have mental illness be a fun, quirky trope, but that's unfortunately how it read to me.

Although the narration is beautiful, I felt that the author didn't bring anything new to the ever-popular "millennial in arrested development" genre. Other reviews have mentioned similar works, such as My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Convenience Store Woman--Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is comparable in terms of writing, but it's less insightful and witty.

This was such a propulsive character study of Amy, a mid-20s hotel worker stumbling through life. Amy is a hard character to love, she's so obsessive and delusional, but yet sweet and earnest. Amy's choices made me cringe constantly, but somehow I couldn't put this book down. While working at a fancy yacht club, studying for an EMT in her spare time, dealing with grief & family trauma, Amy entangles herself with her landlord, culminating in the quietest train wreck you've ever read. The only reason I am withholding 5 stars is that the ending wasn't *quite* what I would have hoped -- we don't really see Amy make any type of personal development, but maybe that's the point.

This is an impressive debut novel. Amy is working as a housekeeper at a Yacht Club, but she prefers the more evocative job title of "chambermaid." She considers it good practice for her chosen career as an EMT, which is what she will be as soon as she passes the exam. Only, she's failed it twice before and this will be her last chance. To combat her anxiety, she comes up with a program to convince herself she has already passed.

So this novel fits perfectly into my favorite sub-genre, which is novels about women ruining their own lives. Amy is a mess, and for every step she takes to stabilize her life, she takes two that are self-destructive. And she's living in a world with people with their own agendas and plans, plans she can't see through the haze of her own self-involvement. McClorey does a fantastic job of revealing Amy's past and reasons for the way she is organically over the course of this novel, and as I gained enlightenment, I really rooted for Amy. But issues created over the course of a lifetime are not solved in a chapter and McClorey commits to Amy, who she is and how she relates to the world. I really liked this book and I'm still thinking about it.

This was unique sort of read that was a delightful mix of cringe and sweet optimism.

Amy is a bright and chipper “chambermaid” for a New England resort during the summer. She takes her job extremely seriously and has a VIVID interior life. As she encounters failure though, she tends to overcorrect and overthink, which causes a sort of domino effect of bad decisions and lies.

You guys know when you’re watching a TV show and you just FEEL the cringe coming on from a mile away (Scott’s Tots, anyone?)? The entire second half of the book had me all nervous waiting for the shoe to drop. It’s not my favorite feeling, for sure. I just need folks to make better decisions, but I realize that books wouldn’t be as interesting then. 🤷🏼‍♀️

So yes, Any had me cringing, but I completely loved her. She’s a beautiful and empathetic sort of person, chock full of fun facts for any conversation. I appreciated her Pollyanna-ness in the midst of dark times and always rooted for her.

I definitely felt like there were some deep mental health issues that were sort of glossed over. There were a few times that I thought - Ummm, are we not going to delve any further into that? But then again, this story is from Amy’s point of view, so maybe that just shows how she approaches her own mental health.

This gave me Yolk vibes (probably because I’m also reading it at the same time) mixed in with Convenience Store Woman, Pizza Girl, and Death in Her Hands.

I found this book similar in theme to "Eleanor Oliphant" due to the awkward, quirky protagonist. That being said, I found it hard to empathize with her - something about the characterization or the narration missed the mark. Though the book is interesting/unique in theory, I wish it carried more depth.

I am still wondering what the point of this book is.

I just didn't feel a connection to Amy - or any of the characters. I kept reading thinking I would understand. Sorry to say I never did!

I didn’t really read the description of this book before diving in, so I had no idea what I was in for. It turned out to be such a sweet, heart wrenching, quirky story.

I felt for Amy and her self-doubt and social anxiety. Although she made some questionable decisions at times, her inner monologue was easy to empathize with. Despite Amy’s issues, Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is light and at times humorous, and certainly very easy to read. The author did a beautiful job of telling this story, and I finished it in one afternoon. I was interested in how it depicted the pitfalls of social isolation in such a light and readable way.

The ending was a little unsatisfying for me--I wanted more resolution and growth for Amy. My other complaint is that I am definitely one to judge a book by its cover, and the cover of this one didn’t really match the tone of the story at all.

I had an eARC of this book and I can't emphasize how many books I've bailed on this week, making this one quite a triumph.

This is for readers who like Melissa Broder (I do), Otessa Moshfegh (I haven't), and other Gen Z adulting books. Amy is cleaning rooms at a resort for the summer with aspirations of becoming an EMT and that's the narrative she tells to everyone, including her ongoing obsession with Florence Nightingale. When she struggles to pass the final stage she has to figure out how to keep up appearances, and it gets dark and complex before the reader knows the entire true story.

I wasn’t quite sure where this book was going, but once I got into it, I enjoyed the read. It is a story of a young woman who re-invents herself as needed. She is convinced she is meant to be an EMT, but gives that up when another choice presents itself. And on it goes to another choice. She is obviously incapable of following through on her choices, but goes with whatever fantasy seems more real.

I seriously loved this book!! The main character, Amy Hanley gives off major unstable, sad girl vibes and this book reminds me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Pizza Girl in the best ways. Amy makes so many strange and uncomfortable choices in her life that I just couldn't get enough of. What will she do next? When will her weird secrets come out? This was one of my favorites of the year and I definitely recommend it.

Can’t really say I enjoyed this. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to read this right after Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead as they were very similar books.

Amy is just terrible. I couldn’t feel anything for her but cringing when she made bad decision after bad decision and then acted insane most of the time. Grief does do terrible things to us, I’m dealing with it right now, but to act like she has is just unthinkable for me. Her “placebo” was just a lie in a fancy wrapper.

The one thing I thought was good about this book was the ending. Well done.

While I fell in love with the cover of Nobody, Somebody, Anybody, the story itself fell completely flat for me. I found Amy to be irritatingly blank and not nearly as dark or pessimistic as I had expected going in. I couldn’t connect with her or her thought processes, and the ending left me unsatisfied. I wanted more intense emotion or humor from the story and couldn’t find any benefit from it. Unfortunately just a miss for me.

Wow. What a pleasant surprise! This book was wild and unexpected. The writing was razor-sharp, witty, and hilarious. There was also a lot of tenderness in the writing as well. Beautiful story about a lonely and slightly disturbed young woman dealing with grief and repressed rage. I loved every minute of this novel. It made me feel and think. Amy was a perfect protagonist. She was deeply-flawed, complicated, wacky, and delusional. Great character study and loved that Amy's mentor is Florence Nightingale. All the stars!

Thank you, Netgalley and Ecco for the digital ARC.

This book was listed as darkly comic. Nobody likes an uncomfortable darkly comic book more than I do so I was excited to jump right in. Thank you NetGalley and Ecco books for providing me with an ARC in response for my honest opinion. The book definitely gets the quirky right but I thought any comic component fell flat as I felt sorry for our protagonist and often wasn’t really sure where she was coming from.

This wasn’t the book for me. The rye, tongue in cheek humor got old for me fast. I dod t find it charming or relatable. I hate giving poor reviews and I’m sure someone will love this, but it’s just not me.

Call it Otessa Moshfegh lite.

This is a fun dark comedy that delights in its outrageousness and reminds us how fascinating it can be to be inside a character’s head, provided that the subject is a worthy one.

Protagonist Amy’s head is indeed a wild, weird place that is equal parts charmingly enthralling and also that proverbial car crash that it’s hard to look away from.

The best of this book definitely reminds me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, with shades of Rebecca Makkai and Fiona Mozley.

Amy’s wild path to self destruction is certainly hilarious, but also leaves the reader feeling a sad kind of sympathy for her while simultaneously muttering to oneself “I wouldn’t want to know her in real life, because….Yikes.” Amy is-in other words-a magnificently complex character who we are both fond of and slightly afraid of.

The book turns a bit too deadly serious in the end, a departure from the dark comedy that dominates most of the text and feels a bit tragic and sentimental in a story that should have been more subtle in its portrayal of those things. Plot wise I liked the ending, but the change in tone was an irritant and is the book’s lone flaw.

That said, having just that one shortcoming, it’s overall an excellent piece of writing, a fantastically drawn comedy, and absolutely an endorsement of McClorey as a writer.