good in theory but not in practice? i loved this genre but the actual text just didnt move me in any direction

Very character driven novel. Great look at queer/poly relationships and parasocial relationships. I recommend for fans of 'Perfume and Pain' by Anna Dorn.

Thank you to the publisher for my e-copy.

I struggled with this at first because it was a lot of nothing, and let me just say that it continues to be a lot of nothing, but in a very enjoyable way. The first half was setting the scene and the back story and it really started to pick up for me around 50-60% of the way through. Then it was just pure messy queerness and I absolutely adored it. The writing style took some time for me to get used to but once I did, it made this very fast paced. It took me weeks to get through the first half and a couple of hours to get through the second half, so it is definitely worth sticking it out.

Fun read overall and really made me think "girl, me too" one too many times.

internet novels fall into two categories.

a book written by a notable internet personality.

a book where the main characters grapples with an internet like ours.

i think internet novels are meant to battle our obsessive, intensive need and want to be better than social media while simultaneously being social media’s victim. from parasocial relationships to insecurities broadcasted until they’re viral to remaining culturally relevant and politically correct.

the internet novel can be a plethora of case studies for our collective (online) conscious. it tries to capture every experience ever tweet’d about, which is then dissected with satirical commentary, whether it intends to or not.

the same could be said for madison newbound’s “unflinchingly sharp and funny” debut novel about the internet, post-postmodern adulthood, and queer identity—misrecognition.

the story follows elsa in the aftermath of her bosses, lovers, and cultural guideposts dropping her from their throuple. she then aimlessly scrolls through the internet in search of meaning. of anything, really, which she finds in the form a new obsession: a charismatic young actor who may or may not be inspired by timothee chalamet during his call me by your name era.

The issue is that there’s no blueprint for how to live. Or what to do when your fantasies no longer love you back.

Messy queer women who just kind of exist in their messiness are apparently my jam this year.

I started this and was immediately put off by how detached the style was, but decided to hang in there, and I'm glad I did. Ended up reading the whole thing in pretty much one sitting. Even though it's almost 300 pages of nothing really happening, I was thoroughly engaged and couldn't wait to find out what WASN'T going to happen next.

This is my ideal kind of beach read, up there with Marcy Dermansky and Anna Dorn

In Misrecognition, we are greeted with 270 pages of an aimless woman treading water as she ruminates over absolutely everything possible. Fans of “no plot, just vibes” style books will likely enjoy Elsa’s observations and quirks – if you can find it within yourself to accept that sometimes, change is not the story.

Elsa is back home with her parents, reeling from the breakup of her queer polyamorous relationship between a man and woman who were also her bosses at an art gallery. In the same way that any broken relationship will linger in your life, Elsa begins to unravel the aftermath. One thing that really struck home for me was a particular scene where Elsa is trying to find a job and can't bring herself to list her history at the art gallery in an official way. She lost two years, leaving her with a gap in her resume that echoes the gap in her life that she's trying to patch up.

There’s an undercurrent of listlessness that carries through this novel, and at times the author leans too heavily into the repetition of it all. We get a very strong scene at the end of the novel between Elsa and her father, but until then, we don't really get a glimpse into Elsa’s relationships with anyone else in her life. In part, it's because Elsa has left her other relationships to fester in the wake of this all-consuming relationship. Even if we haven't

Also, she becomes acquaintances with Timothee Chalamet (referred to as “the character-actor” but even i, who does not watch movies, connected those dots) and begins a flirtationship with someone in his crew – the nonbinary partner of a castmate, Sam. It's refreshing to see this representation, but the author makes a stylistic choice that I wish she hadn't. Until Elsa and Sam become friendly, Sam is referred to as “the person named Sam.” Once that flirty relationship is established, the awkwardness is dropped. I don't want to assume intent by the author, but it took me out and made me curious.

Their tentative relationship echoes that of what Elsa has just escaped -- an open relationship fraught with circumstance, easy for fixation and rough on reality.

I felt at home with Elsa and her listless and depressed energy, understanding her in a way that made this book comforting and relatable. Because little happens, I can see readers being frustrated or bored with Elsa’s doomscrolling and her bizarrely fleshed out trip to Sephora. If slice-of-life is not for you, if you need obvious growth on the page and a tidy ending, this will not be for you. If you're more of a character-driven reader who doesn't mind setting aside your own biases (ie do you like Elsa, do you like her choices), you may enjoy this

(3.5, rounded up to 4)

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of Misrecognition in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately, I knew after the first page that this book was not for me. The writing style said so much and nothing at the same time. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt and read about 20% but I just couldn’t do it. There is no reason why every sentence needs to be incredibly long and with so much filler that I don’t even understand the point of it.

It makes me sad because I was really looking forward to this one.

I DNFed

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. Well, that was an experience. This was pretty different from my usual kind of read in that it was a more vibes than plot book. I do read books like that, but usually the prose tends to be very pretty and border on purple. This was more of a meandering plot that followed the daily life of the main character through a very straight forward writing style. I like slice of life, but I am more used to reading slice of life that makes me feel a little something, maybe tender. This wasn't a bad book, it just felt very bland. I think it was mentioned that this is a sharp and funny debut, but I didn't laugh at all. It was rather short and the ending was abrupt.

Misrecognition by Madison Newbound will appeal to readers who appreciate books with non-binary love interests and directionless young adults. This reflective novel is about a young woman who is lost and struggling after a breakup with a couple and trying to find her identity while living back in her hometown. It took me a while to get engaged with the book, and Elsa’s obsessions with other people and with the internet did not help. I’m glad I stuck with the book, because the second half was more absorbing and had some beautiful and haunting scenes. I loved Elsa’s embodied descriptions of her emotions. I particularly appreciated her interactions with a non-binary character named Sam and the author’s handling of these exchanges. While I did not find Elsa to be a loveable or deep character, I appreciated Newbound’s handling of contemporary relationship issues. Elsa’s navigating living at home as a young adult, such as not having her own car, was also poignant. Will likely appeal to fans of Anna Dorn and Sally Rooney. Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the eARC.

While I loved this book’s unflinching commentary on influencer and celebrity culture, the prose felt a bit heavy-handed and a bit too matter-of-fact for my taste. I wish we had gotten to know more about the main character’s backstory. Interesting premise, but not quite my cup of tea.

I really enjoyed Misrecognition. The premise is simple enough - a young woman, Elsa, returns to live with her parents after a breakup. She has to rebuild herself after her failed relationship and loss of job, and she quickly learns it's not so simple.

This is more of a "slice of life" book rather than an action-packed plot with an obvious introduction, rising action, climax, and resolution. We witness the small details of Elsa's life from scrolling social media, browsing Sephora, and daydreaming about her exes. She becomes fixated on an actor and finds herself bumping into him (on purpose or otherwise) throughout her summer.

If you're into the less plot, more vibes type of fiction (I am), I think you'll like this book. The ending felt slightly abrupt to me, and I wish that part was beefed up a bit. However, I thought this was a unique coming-of-age story that reminds us that life isn't always wrapped up in a neat and tidy bow.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review on my blog. I suppose I am not smart enough for this book because I found it unintelligible and confusing while also so dry it hurt my mouth. Thank you for the opportunity

This book seemed interesting from the description, but unfortunately was not for me.

The plot of this book did not progress at all and neither did the character arc of Elsa. I found myself getting annoyed with her being self absorbed and being so in her mind about everything (as in creating fantasies) that she really couldn't be bothered with her actual life and interactions with people. Her incessant need to be on social media and the internet just shows the addictiveness that is the internet. But the way that Elsa used it bordered on obsessive and almost stalker like.

Her character in relation to her family, friends, and past and present relationships also frustrated me to the point of questioning why she does what she does.

I was hoping to like this one but it fell a little flat for me unfortunately. But nevertheless, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this arc.

This was a silent sleeper. It took me awhile to get into it, but this book took me on a great journey.

Misrecognition by Madison newbound is a book about the human condition. A girl named Elsa is floundering. She’s just gotten out of a relationship with a man and a woman and she now doesn’t know where she fits in. She moves in with her parents and meets a person named Sam, whom she obsessed over.

It is clear from the writing that this author is talented, especially at capturing the ennui of mid to late twenties with no real direction, however, it seems to me that this type of capture may work better as short stories, rather than whole novels. Not much happens, plot wise, and that which does happen, could be cut down to about half and it would probably read the same. I enjoyed the lyrical turn of phrases, but sometimes it seemed that they were used over and over again. My main issue is that the character really didn’t change throughout the book. She continued to be listless, odd, and very self absorbed. She really didn’t go through any changes or awakenings, which leads the novel feeling stagnant. The ending was also jarring as it just ended. This is a 2/5 stars for me.

There were interesting themes presented but I never found them to fully take shape. I enjoyed the main character’s wonderings around her sexuality and attraction to ‘the woman’ as well as the friendship with Caro. However, there was no resolve to either relationship.

The majority of the work seemed to center around a Timothy Chalamet fanfiction/RPF ….which was, bizarre.

Two stars for the well-written musings but I did not enjoy this one overall.

I think that this brand of literary fiction is simply not for me. I was hoping it was, and have read a good deal of it in recent months, but it really just isn't working. This is no fault of Madison Newbound, though, the prose is engaging and the characters are notably complex. I just think this will serve a different sort of litfic audience than me. This book should've been released in time with Challengers, so when people start panicking wanting to read about sort of polyamorous and mostly disastrous relationships, they could've gotten to this one quickly.

(Actual: 2.75⭐, rounded up) Hmmmm. Maybe this is a 3-star after all, but I'm solidly on the fence if I'm being completely honest, which is why I felt the need to preface my actual/fractioned rating. This book started off strong and, let's be real, we all know how much I love a good Sad/Messy Girl™ read.... but this very quickly devolved into a RPF concerning a very specific, very obviously-described current actor.... which I thought was— a choice. Regardless, though not my cup of tea in the end, others may love it so I wouldn't necessarily count it out!

If you like weird sad books about weird sad misunderstood girls, this is for you. Imagine a mix of Emma Cline, Marlowe Granados, and Sally Rooney.

Our protagonist, Elsa, has feelings that any person in their 20s or 30s will relate to, even if the specific subject matter isn't relatable. The author did an incredible job of capturing the visceral sensations that come along with feelings, to the point where the reader feels like they're in Elsa's body, experiencing what she's going through.

Highly recommend. Would have been 5 stars but the ending left me really wanting some sort of resolution (good or bad!)