Sunday, January 8, 2023

Book Review: Cult Classic

Cult Classic 
by Sloane Crosley
My rating: 1 of 5 stars


DNF @ 43%

Wow do I just not care. I gave this book three chances to get better. On three different occasions (and days) I wanted to give it up. Finally at about 40ish percent I decided I was not making 2023 start with a torturous story such as Cult Classic feels to me.

The concept is interesting but the execution, writing, and lecturing is poorly done; and at times obnoxious. Our leading lady runs into her multitude of boyfriends one day after the other as she is leading up to marrying her live-in boyfriend (who somehow had a short list of exes; while hers is a mile long). The most interesting moments of the book at the backstories about the exes she runs into; and the most boring are those moments where it’s her and the fiancĂ©e. If this book doesn’t end in them splitting up I’d be shocked. Unless the whole point is to say that life-long love is mind numbing dull. At which point I’d argue, after 15 years of my own relationship, that you’re obviously not with someone who challenges or interests you enough if you are bored that quickly. But to each their own.

In one piece of fairness to Cult Classic. I am going to be 40 next month; and I understand from others reviews and those who like this that it is written for millennials (which I both am technically by date; but also not I remember using card catalogues, didn’t have internet until I was in high school and went through most of college without even t9 texting). So perhaps I truly am just too old to get the nuances, internet memes or jokes that (apparently) persist throughout.

Although, what I feel is more likely is that, while a jaded goth girl, I’m not quite as down on relationships as those younger than me tend to be. Probably based on my 15 years with my husband to date. So if the concept interests you and you’re between 25-35 years old then this may really work for you. To me it just felt like being lectured by someone, with a great thesaurus, who hasn’t had enough experience with long term love to even understand what their characters should be or could be striving for.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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1 comment:

Leonore Winterer said...

I'm not sure how to feel about this one. I have a very short list of exes (just two boyfriends and one pretty serious crush before meeting the man I married, and all of these lasting a bit longer than those things usually do in your teens), so I sometimes have a hard time relating to people with 'a million' exes. I try to not be snobbish and keep an open mind, but I think I'll defer to your judgment for this one!