Modern Lovers by Emma Straub is not my usual genre, and so I’m not quite sure how it got on my reading list other than someone probably recommended it, and then it was there, and available, and so I got it.

This novel felt very cinematic to me. I could easily imagine it as a movie, and I feel like authors are increasingly approaching scenes in books like scenes in movies, and then, I suppose, if it gets picked up as movie, even better!

I was not obsessed with these characters, and felt that I did not know them, or only knew a caricature of them, but I appreciated the consistent pacing and organization of the book. By the time the last 1/3-1/4 of the book came around, I was curious to see how it would end and finished it with great interest.

I think this is a beach read, and it was one I could easily pick up and set down amid the many distractions of my life. There is a time and place for these types of books, and for me, that time and place was in the dark of January, amid cold, flu, and covid season, with many other distractions. Honestly, I applaud Straub for getting it done.