Told from three points of view, this novel centers around Aviva/Jane, who was involved in a very public scandal with the congressman for whom she was interning in her early twenties. We learn about her from her mother, her daughter, and herself. Now, 13 years later, she has settled in Maine under a new name with her daughter Ruby, and absolutely no contact with her former life. She is content with her event planning business, and has become such a part of her community that she is running for mayor. When Ruby learns of her mother's past in Florida, she sets off to meet the congressman, whom she assumes is her father. The characters in this book are delightfully drawn, enriched by the three different vantage points of three women we come to know and like quite well. With one exception the secondary characters are also endearing, warts and all. Although this is the story of people doing some really stupid things, readers will still end up feeling an affirmation of goodness.

I loved this story and gobbled it up in one sitting. At first glance, this seems like a guilty pleasure read because it was centered around the repercussions of a political sex scandal. And the novel was witty and engaging, but it was also smart and had deep themes of family, friendship, feminism, and strength. The story is told in five parts, each told by a different woman with a distinct voice. I loved how Zevin experimented with different storytelling devices such as an email exchange with an Indonesian pen pal and a fun ‘Choose your own adventure story’ format. Even though I felt the novel did end at the right moment, I couldn’t help wanting to hear more from each of these fascinating women.

I wasn't as impressed with this book as I was with The Storied Life of AJ Fickry. I think that this will be popular enough, but something was missing in it for me. Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

As soon as I saw this new book by the author of the compelling STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY, i jumped at the chance to read it. Aviva Grossman, haunted by her disastrous affair as an intern with a U.S. Congressman from South Florida, cannot escape "Avivagate," a scandal which dooms her chances with prospective employers or universities thanks to the digital Scarlet Letter plastered on her thanks to the Internet. Strangely enough, though, nothing happens to the Congressman'd rep. She abrubtly (so abrubtly I got a little confused) changes her name and becomes an event planner in a small town in Maine with her super-smart daughter, Ruby, as her assistant. At the same time that she decides to run for mayor of the town, Ruby becomes curious about her father and flies her thirteen-year-old self to Florida to find him.

College is the time for most is us to make mistakes, as long as we don't breast any laws, most us get out out unscathed. How about if you're a naive, starstruck girl, who gets to be an intern for a Congressman in her district the summer before her senior year at U of Miami. He's her former neighbor and twice as old; geez. What she want with him; and she hasn't lost those 22lbs. she gained in freshman year yet. Goodness, her "proper business attire," doesn't even fit. Aviva Grossman, all of twenty years old, begins work as an intern for popular Congressman Aaron Leven. She's smart and very good at internet research, better than anyone in the entire office in fact. However, three years by an unfortunate accident she will become the name sensationalized with Scandal, Slug, and Internet Searches. She can't find a job let alone leave her parents' home. The Congressman goes on to win his reelection. Who's to blame here, really?
This is a warm and yet hotfire book about this topic and how Aviva, maybe Jane continues her life. You'll want to know for sure, plus you'll want to cheer her on.

I love all these women's distinct voices that made me laugh, nod thoughtfully, and cringe and root for them in a story that examines love, idealism, ambition, and double-standards as the pieces of Avina's story unfold and all the stories hers crosses..

Zevin creates characters that draw you in, break your heart, and reveal truths about you that you might not have seen before. Aviva's story is no different. Timely and incredibly well written!

A very enjoyable read. It's about 3 generations of women finding their way in the world, after making bad decisions and trying to make amends. It's also about family ties, secrets and women's issues. Jane is the protagonist, but Ruby is the star.

What is up with authors who write a pretty great book, but then seem to cop out on an ending, or any details on the fun characters they create? I felt this way about Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, and I feel this way about this book, Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin, which I was lucky enough to be offered an ARC of by the publisher.

The story centers around Aviva who as a twenty year old had an affair with a married congressional candidate, and is left so humiliated by the experience that she changes her name and runs away to Maine. There are several points of view from Rachel (Aviva's mother), Ruby (Aviva's daughter), Embeth (the wife of the congressional candidate), and Aviva herself. Because of this, the story doesn't feel complete, especially since there were many threads left dangling within each character's chapter that I assumed would be picked up later in the book. (Spoiler alert: they were never mentioned again.) By the end of this book I was incredibly frustrated because I would have loved to keep reading, and get a better sense of an ending.

The book is very well written, and the voice of each character is distinct. The story has a lot of promise, which makes it even more disappointing that its execution wasn't very good. While the book as a whole had the feeling of a first draft, I did enjoy reading it, although each characters POV was told in a slightly different format, which was a little annoying. (Most annoying was Aviva's Choose Your Own Adventure style chapter.) Ruby is the star of the book, and if the story would was told only from her point of view I would have given this four stars despite my frustrations with it. If the story had been more complete, and felt more satisfying this would have been a highly recommended five star read. Due to my disappointment I am only giving three stars.

I really want to love Gabrielle Zevin's books, but they always lack something that make them great to me.

Young Jane Young is an insightful book about perspective and appearance. Told through three generations of women and merging several genres, it is a roadmap for the highway of life. I couldn't stop bookmarking great quotes about love and marriage and life. It was beautifully designed from start to finish. Well worth the read.

Let me say that I *loved* "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" and this book had the same kind of lovely, feel-good writing. The writing always seems to flow so well and I'm finished the book before I know it. Loved the characters, but after a bit the young daughter irritated me. But the surprise was Embeth, the "wife" ended up being my favorite character. She was funny, a bit snarky, wonderful. This may have not been my favorite Zevin book, but it was certainly very enjoyable.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I adored [book:The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry|18293427], so when I saw that the same author had a new book, I wanted to check it out. I enjoyed this book, but wasn't left feeling like it was fabulous, although the content is appropriate for our current day and age.

The story concerns the life of Aviva Grossman who interns for a congressman in Florida when she is young and winds up having an affair with him that, thanks to the internet, follows her throughout life. The story is told from many perspectives in a variety of ways - even emails and a choose-your-own-adventure section.

Most of the story was somewhat predictable, especially as you jumped perspective. That said, it did deal with some interesting topics - the way the internet search can make a moment of bad judgement you had when you were young follow you the rest of your life, the way women have a double edged sword to deal with in the work place and in politics in general, and the way one person's choices affect the rest of their family.

A light read, yet not as enjoyable as Zevin's earlier work.

This novel started slowly for me, though I enjoyed the character of Rachel Shapiro very much. Once the story turns to Jane and Ruby Young in Maine (a bit of a twist), I thought it picked up steam. All in all, the book was an engaging and quick read; very enjoyable. The creative use of "Choose Your Own Adventure" in the third section of the book was fun. The main characters were all fully drawn and together made for an interesting commentary on our times, politics, social media and celebrity.

Loved this book! I liked all of the women in this story. Especially the daughter . You are a great story teller!

Zevin has written an extraordinary novel of four women, of varied ages, all related to the Lewinsky-like scandal of Aviva Grossman and her married, politician lover. This book is in no way trite or derivative, it is absolutely riveting as the reader explores the story of Aviva and the women who are impacted by the actions of the married congressman.

Aviva's mother, Rachel, begins the narration as we move to Aviva's (now Jane) story. We also hear from the congressman 's wife, Jane's daughter Ruby and Aviva herself. Each character is engaging and sympathetic, each section allows the reader to understand the complexity of these newsworthy, sensational relationships. One of the things that struck me is the victimization of the victim, the lasting stigma that is the catalyst in this story that moves Aviva to leave her home and family for the crime of being naive, young and in love.

The subtle examination of the sad realities of gender inequality makes this an excellent book for reading groups and gender studies classes. The wonder of this book is the level of engaging and entertaining reading within a novel that explores the sad reality of power imbalance and sexual exploitation in our society, something that is extremely topical in the news today. Aviva's triumph is the triumph of every woman who has been stigmatized or hurt by the abuse of masculine power in our society.

I absolutely loved this book, and whizzed through it in just over a day. The characters are human and believable, and the different perspectives give you an insight into all the various characters and their motivations. Even the Choose Your Own Adventure stuff works brilliantly! It is funny, sad and clever.
If I had any one complaint it is that I wanted so much more!

I’ve been waiting for a new book from Gabrielle Zevin for a while now. I adored The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry so I was so excited to dig into her new book, Young Jane Young. I always feel very fortunate to get sneak peeks of upcoming books and the ones I am featuring today are must-reads so pre-order now and mark your Goodreads list as books you want to read!

I liked the voice of the meddling Jewish mother, Rachel, and I enjoyed another quirky story from Gabrielle Zevin. As I’ve mentioned before, I especially enjoy and look for fresh plots and twists on stories, creating something new and fresh.

Here’s what you need to know:

Young Jane Young’s heroine is Aviva Grossman, an ambitious Congressional intern in Florida who makes the life-changing mistake of having an affair with her boss‑‑who is beloved, admired, successful, and very married‑‑and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, the Congressman doesn’t take the fall, but Aviva does, and her life is over before it hardly begins. She becomes a late‑night talk show punchline; she is slut‑shamed, labeled as fat and ugly, and considered a blight on politics in general.

How does one go on after this? In Aviva’s case, she sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. She tries to start over as a wedding planner, to be smarter about her life, and to raise her daughter to be strong and confident. But when, at the urging of others, she decides to run for public office herself, that long‑ago mistake trails her via the Internet like a scarlet A. For in our age, Google guarantees that the past is never, ever, truly past, that everything you’ve done will live on for everyone to know about for all eternity. And it’s only a matter of time until Aviva/Jane’s daughter, Ruby, finds out who her mother was, and is, and must decide whether she can still respect her.

This was a fun, quick read that kept me turning pages. And if you haven’t read The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, do it right now!

Gabrielle Zevin has done it again! I was worried about how she could follow up The Storied Life of AJ Fikry but I was just as entertained with Young Jane Young. Zevin's witty dialogues had me laughing out loud. I truly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the characters especially Jane's daughter and mother. Highly recommend.

I had a hard time finishing this book, Aviva’s affair and her weird mother Jane didn’t help. Its’ was ok but not my favorite book by Gabrielle Zevin.

This book rises above the cliches of the chick-lit genre by fruitfully expermenting with both form and voice. Narrated by three generations of stubborn and idealistic Jewish women, this book takes a closer look at the lasting effects of a Lewinsky-Clinton type of scandal (intern, congressman, slut-shaming) on a family. A quick and enjoyable read--perfect for the beach.