For all the hype this book was not enjoyable for me. It felt forced and I didn’t really connect with the writing style.

The Chalk Artist is the newest novel by author, Allegra Goodman. She has written another terrific plot that gives the reader food for thought.

This time the novel centers around the gaming industry and the children and adults, who are totally caught up in it. They are glued to their computers and the virtual friendships they think they are making inside the game. Goodman shows us how it becomes an all consuming lifestyle to the detriment of school, work and real relationships.

Aeroflakes or chalk dust, that is how our characters see the world. Aiden and Diana are twins, who are facing the teen years each with their own inadequacies. Aiden is the conventional nerd, has a hard time fitting with other kids in school socially. He has found the world of on line gaming a great escape. He can be tough and dangerous int he game, where he is shy and intimidated in real life. It has taken over his life. He is locked away in his room and always on his computer even though his mother has forbid it. Diana wants to be a good twin and not report on her brother. She also has personal image problems and only one friend. She writes in her journal about her feelings, which her teacher can read.

Aiden and Diana are working against the pull of the computer game to be successful in school and at home with their mother and their friends.

The teacher is Nina, the daughter of the Arcadia the role playing game company founder. She is trying to find a way to each the children in her classes the beauty of literature and poetry. She is fighting against the world her father is helping to promote. She sees the danger in this unreal world of aeroflakes, which are all temporary and disappear in a moment.

She meets Collin, who is working as a waiter in a Harvard Square bar along with other odd jobs. He is the Chalk Artist, who draws beautiful paintings on the sidewalk to be washed away in the next rain.

He is lacking in self confidence, which Nina wants to help him find. She gets him a job at her father’s gaming company.

Nina and Collin must work through all the pitfalls of romance, love and work against the pull of the gaming world to either lose their relationship or come out winners in the end.

I didn't especially care for the characters so it was hard to care about what happened to them. The writing in the book jumped around a bit too much making it hard to follow. Not a bad book and I'm sure some will love it. Sorry - just not for me.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to read and review this title before it was archived.

Actual rating 3.5 stars

Floating between the imaginary worlds of poetry, online addictive games and love, The Chalk Artist is in itself a poem about inaccessible yet perishable worlds. The characters and their stories are part of a big web of individual jumps out of the current reality, in a world created by the mind games.
The lives of the some of the characters do connect at certain extents, in the virtual or real worlds or just melt from one realm into another in a way which might confuse both the reader and the participants to the story themselves. Such a choice make it a high stake for the author, which seems to not always cope fairly with all of the many protagonists of the story. Even in the case of the main characters, I often felt that the action is taking place too fast back and forth, neglecting the curiosity of the reader for more substance to the stories.
For instance, the love story between Nina, the modest literature teacher, daughter of the over-powerful owner of the gaming company Arkadia - a dream factory of the virtual reality - , and Collin, the chalk artist, lacks sometimes in substance, and if not their developing dependence of spending time together, in terms of sharing the same space, not necessarily being actually together, you cannot describe their relationship in too many words. They look often like two people hanging around together, without sharing too much passion or common values. Another disappointment for me were the dialogues, very limited in terms of adding a different layer of understanding to the narratives.
However, when it comes to re-creating worlds of imagination, Allegra Goodman is herself an artist. The small details of the virtual reality spread into a small teen room addicted to games - Aidan - are so clear that one might expect to be just one step behind the border between the two worlds.
Although the relationships between characters does not always make sense, most of them are assigned strong and clear, often antagonic, personalities. Like Viktor Lazare - '(...) escapism and delusion were not problems but products in Viktor's lexicon. He never doubted his profession, the way some of his colleagues did' - and his shy daughter Nina - 'She hated deception and excesses. She had grown up with games and she craved truth'.
In this world of deception and confusion, Nina pledges the cause of poetry. It elevates the soul and creates dependence of beauty and human greatness, simplicity and genuine feelings. She is a dreamer, but of a different kind of impossible worlds.

I had enjoyed Allegra Goodman's previous novel, but I found that The Chalk Artist left me cold. I wanted to feel more for Nina and Collin, but I felt little for the characters and their situations.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Collin is a fantastic artist who prefers working in chalk and takes a job as a waiter to pay the bills. One of his regular customers, Nina, captures his attention. Nina is the daughter of the founder of one of the most popular video games around, and she works as a high school English teacher to give back. Collin and Nina start dating. He opens her world up to different thinking, and Nina, amazed by his drawing skills, wants to introduce him to her father.

The story jumps around in third person point of view from Nina, Collin, and various other characters. Two of Nina's students, twins, also have their own story lines in the book. Despite having been a teacher myself and also enjoying video games, I had trouble getting into the story. I also disliked the characters and didn't feel anything to hope they would grow and become better people. The ending felt abrupt. This book just wasn't for me.

I just couldn't get in to this book despite trying. I have read her others and enjoyed them more.

I have enjoyed Allegra Goodman's books; she's an intelligent and capable writer, and I have found her characters and story lines intriguing. I simply could not connect with this book.

The Chalk Artist, by Allegra Goodman, is an inspiration to gamers, students, teachers, aspiring artists, and everyone who enjoys a good story. The lives of Collin, a talented artist searching for stability; Nina, a struggling first year teacher and daughter of Arkadia gaming company owner; and Aiden, a high school senior who begins struggling in school as he becomes obsessed with gaming, come together in an inspirational and entertaining ways. I was intrigued with the descriptions of chalk art, inner working of video games, and memories of my first years as a high school teacher. This book will appeal to many readers.

DNF.

I know I should like this book more than I did. I know I should be able to finish it. At times, it was lyrical, but I just could not get into it the way I wanted. I put it down for a few days and then utterly forgot it.

I did not leave a review on any platform.

Readers who are drawn to The Chalk Artist based on the summary or a quick glance through the first few chapters are in for quite the surprise--this is not simply a tale of romance. The Chalk Artist follows the lives of several characters over the course of roughly a year, and although the relationship that two of those characters (Collin and Nina) enter into in the beginning of the book forms the basis for the story, it is far from the driving force. Collin is an extraordinarily talented artist who works in chalk, erasing his quickly drawn masterpieces without a second thought. Meanwhile, Nina is a high school literature teacher whose life of privilege and ease could have left her spoiled to living a similar life the rest of her days, but she instead has an overwhelming desire to reach the (mostly) troubled students she teaches.

As Collin and Nina fall in love and Nina decides that Collin deserves more than the unambitious life he leads, readers are taken into the world of online gaming and EverWhen, the massive online world that Nina's father and uncle have created. As a result, the story's focus turns to Aidan, a high school student addicted to EverWhen; his twin sister Diana, whose status as an outcast and loyalty to keeping her brother's secrets cause her intense emotional conflict; and a mysterious woman named Daphne, the force the connects all the characters in The Chalk Artist.

Initially, I assumed that The Chalk Artist would be the exact type of cliche romance novel that I dislike. Boy meets girl. Boy wins girl's heart. Girl tries to change boy. Boy screws up. Girl eventually forgives him, and they live happily ever after.

I was wrong.

The Chalk Artist is so much more complex and touches on incredibly meaningful ideas as gaming addiction, the influence of teachers on their students, and the emotional power of art. The crux of this novel lies in the role of Arkadia, the company owned by Nina's father and uncle and where Collin begins working, thanks to Nina's influence. Once Collin begins working at Arkadia, The Chalk Artist moves dramatically away from any resemblance to a cliche romance novel and shifts its focus to online gaming. As someone who has never had any interest in online gaming communities, I should have felt alienated from The Chalk Artist at that point, but I didn't. Allegra Goodman has crafted such a vivid world within the world of her book that I found myself understanding the pull that world had on its gamers and employees, especially when given an inside look at the marketing and design behind-the-scenes that is specifically crafted to intensify the power of that pull.

Additionally, Goodman has crafted characters in which I found myself easily invested, overall. Collin, the chalk artist himself, was lovably flawed, and his difficulty living a life with day-to-day expectations of responsibility was expertly depicted. Aidan's defiance of rules and apathy toward school contrasted perfectly to his utter devotion to his online gaming community and obsession with Daphne. Meanwhile, however, Diana's identity crisis felt slightly out of place in the overall scheme of the novel, since she seemed to lack a real connection to either Collin or Nina, and Nina herself is a source of conflict for me.

Most novels that place emphasis on characters who teach high school students get it wrong. As a high school English teacher myself, I find those characters are usually too bitter and jaded or too idealistic. For once, I felt that an author "got it." Nina's journey during the end of her first year and beginning of her second mimicked that of most teachers I know. Initially, she struggled to establish her authority in her classroom and made several first-year mistakes. During her second year, she still made mistakes, but she was beginning to create her own identity as a teacher. As a teacher, her character was compelling. However, I found myself completely unable to connect to her outside of her interactions with her students. She was cold and far too serious for me to realistically empathize with her emotional conflicts, and I struggled to understand Collin's feelings toward her. Goodman revealed bits of her childhood to help readers understand her frigidity, but I still never felt the connection to her that I felt to the other characters.

Other than Nina's character, my only other complaint about The Chalk Artist is a minor one. The title of the book led me to believe that much more focus would be placed on Collin, but I found that his character wasn't even the glue that held the plot together. When examined with the idea of chalk art being temporary, just like the moments of artistic clarity are fleeting throughout the book, the title makes a bit more sense, but I still feel like it suggests that the book is about Collin. Instead, this book is about so much more.

Collin, a young man with an exceptional talent for art, draws constantly in chalk for the sheer joy of it, knowing that it won't last. He simply erases it and starts again. People in his life urge him to save his amazing work, reasoning that he might be able to make a living with it, but he doesn't care and continues creating and destroying his work.

Enter the girl. While working as a waiter, he becomes entranced by Nina, a first year teacher who comes into the restaurant every day to grade papers. Eventually he forms a relationship with her, and ends up working at her father's company, using his drawing skills to create complex virtual reality games.
A second storyline focuses on Aiden, a high school teen who is in Nina's class. He constantly plays the games that Collin helps create, and becomes addicted to this fantasy world. Gradually, this unreal world becomes more important to him than the real one. His life begins to unravel, until Nina steps in to encourage him to give reality a second chance.
The Chalk Artist is a story with many layers and deeper meanings. It begs to be discussed and would be an excellent choice for a book club. A major theme is that of permanence versus impermanence. Chalk is a perfect symbol of impermanence, and both Collin, with his art, and Nina, with her teaching, use chalk in differing ways. Nina wants to make lasting change in her students, while Collin is content to just drift along, creating temporary art just for the pleasure of it. After they begin dating, Nina tries to convince Collin that permanence is essential to a successful relationship, but he doesn't fully accept that and almost destroys their relationship by dallying with a coworker. Realizing what he stands to lose, and deciding that his love for Nina makes the sacrifice worthwhile, he changes his ways and accepts her view of permanence.

I gave this three stars because, although I found it thought provoking, it didn't hold my interest. I'm not sure why not. I kept putting it down, then picking it up again. I was never bored and never had to force myself to finish. I just wasn't engrossed in it. I've never been involved with virtual reality gaming, so that might be one reason I didn't fully connect with it. Those more familiar with that world would probably enjoy it more.

Note: I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Romance, gaming obsession and a vivid virtual world. Great writing, fast paced story.

i have failed at this book. i love allegra goodman just about more than any reader in the world ever, but this book is not for me. it's about tender young love and it's twee and this, this tweeness, is exactly what i hate most in some of today's literature, YA or not. i don't have someone specific to blame but i'm going to pick jonathan safran foer, just for kicks. sorry, but i couldn't finish, not even close. i love allegra goodman because she is fiercely deep and intellectual, and this book is written but her twin, sweet and lite allegra goodman, and me and twin don't get along so much.

While this book was well written and initially engaging, it wasn't my type of book. The amazing world of fantasy virtual reality gaming and the addiction it brings brought insight into the younger generation, however, it wasn't something I could relate to and eventually found tiring. The most interesting part for me was Aiden's extraordinary drawing abilities and how easily he erased his chalk art. Nina's struggles in the classroom resonated with me initially but became tiresome as well.. The love interest between the two didn't have enough depth for my liking.

Nina is a young, idealistic teacher working at a rough Boston public school. She is desperate to positively impact her students through great poetry and literature, but more often she struggles just to get through the school day. In the evenings, Nina marks essays at a local pub, where she meets Collin – a talented artist with no ambition who is content to work as a server. His pursuit of Nina leads to the beginning of a very sweet relationship.

Collin is a chalk artist, who appreciates the fleeting nature of his artwork – he works rapidly on giant chalkboards, and erases his work just as quickly, with no regrets. His dazzling talent amazes Nina, who thinks he should do more with his life than creating chalk art backdrops for his friend’s unsuccessful theatre company. Nina feels like she can fix her students, and she makes the mistake of treating Collin the same way, with the assumption that he desires success more than the satisfaction of his work.

At the start of their relationship, Nina hides her family from Collin – but eventually she decides to introduce her boyfriend to her father, who happens to be the wealthy and powerful CEO of the most successful virtual reality game company in the world. The company, Arkadia, is known for its cutting-edge graphics and innovative marketing techniques, especially with its newest game, UnderWorld. It doesn’t take much to convince Collin to begin working for Arkadia, although he puts up a bit of resistance.

At the gaming company, Collin works on virtual reality chalkboards which make him feel comfortable, and yet it is so different because his work is instantly saved to a database – he no longer has agency or ownership of his own work, and it can even be used against him in unexpected ways. Meanwhile, the novel also looks at teenager Aidan, as he obsesses over the upcoming release of UnderWorld – he is quickly willing to sacrifice the other aspects of his life to fully immerse himself in the game.

The novel explores different elements of art and genius, and the ways that our definitions of art have changed in the modern world. It is a strong analysis of contemporary issues, viewed through the lens of a realistic and thoughtful romantic relationship. The writing is astute, as the author makes clever parallels between, for instance, Nina’s teaching of Shakespeare vs. the fairy world of Arkadia’s games. The Chalk Artist takes two different plotlines that have been seen many times before – an obstacle-ridden young adult romance and a teenager obsessed with video games – and weaves them together in a way that enhances both stories, and combines them to reflect some fresh and new ideas. Goodman’s writing is strong and capable, making me want to read more by this talented author.

I received this book from Random House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a tricky one. I really enjoyed some parts, but then they were immediately followed by overly descriptive chapters that dragged. It was a continuous cycle of hoping my interest would be piqued but not hitting the mark. Plus, some of the characters felt a little too "cookie-cutter."

There's Collin, the talented artist that lacks ambition. He creates extraordinary lifelike chalk drawings, but he's perfectly content with his job at a bar/restaurant. He becomes enamored with frequent customer, Nina. She's the daughter of a mega wealthy owner of the most popular video game/computer company that develops a Dungeons and Dragons-like game. She wants to be set apart from her family and create her own good in the world, so she works as a high school English teacher. The two have a rocky relationship. Nina pushes Collin into her dad's company, but tensions become high between his long hours, demanding projects, and Nina's jealousy.

There's also an interwoven story about two of Nina's disadvantaged students, one of whom is a frequent gamer. I didn't find these characters particularly interesting and was pleased when chapters steered away from them. Overall, there were flashes of intriguing ideas, but some development could have benefited the book.

Allegra Goodman writes with a unique style, poetic yet with realistic emotion. The Chalk Artist started slowly for me, but as the characters become more defined, I started to care more for them. Juxtaposing Nina's love of literature and Collin's art with the addictive nature and manipulation of video gaming was at the heart of this novel. I would recommend for something different.