Thanks to Netgalley for providing the ARC for this review.

I was a kid when the Monica Lewinsky scandal happened, but not too young to understand that an unknown, pretentious, overweight slut almost brought down a savior-style politician and marred what would otherwise have been an impeccable stint in office...

But I'm an adult now, and I have a better sense of what happened, and that it was really two consenting adults caught in the act and our nation needed a diversion. Had the President been a Republican, Democrats would have lambasted him in exactly the same way. It's all, really, politics as usual. What was truly unfortunate was watching a naive young woman go up against a seasoned politician who is accustomed to the filth of Washington and seeing her reputation be destroyed while his remained intact. She is now little more than a punch-line. The premise of this book intrigued me because it insinuates we have learned nothing from the past, and feminism has never and will never come out in support of "the other woman", especially when the candidate has a record of supporting women's issues. There was a poignant scene where the title character asks her female college professor why feminists did not come out and support her and the professor replied that the politician's track record on women's issues was not worth messing around with - let the girl take the fall for the greater good. What a punch in the gut, notably because of its honesty.

I loved this book. It was intensely readable because the dialogue was spot-on. My favorite character is Jane's mother. It would have been easy to make her a stereotypical Jewish mother, and she was in so many ways, but she was also a well-rounded character with great observations about culture, and hilarious to boot.

I gave it four stars instead of five because of the last section which was written in the second person. This is very hard to do, and I've yet to see it done successfully, and it threw me off a bit. But that last page threw a punch that I'll not soon forget. One day I'll be bold enough to keep walking forward instead of ducking and weaving around the men who come at me on a busy sidewalk, though I have a feeling I'll end up on my tush. It's good to know Young Jane Young is willing to risk it on my behalf.

For some reason, I couldn't get into this book. I'm not sure why, the premise is intriguing and the authors writing style is great. Maybe the idea of reading a book that has a setting of DC just wasn't working for me given the current political climate. I plan to try reading this book again, maybe in a few months.

I really liked the multiple points of view in this novel and I found it to be highly readable. Gabrielle Zevin is turning into a must-read author for me. There is much to discuss about this book, but I don't want to share any spoilers. I will say that I found the characters to be quite interesting and relatable and I really was quite impressed with the author's take on this type of scandal and what it means for everyone involved.

A mature and humorous tale of mothers, daughters, and wives that has feeling but isn't too sentimental. A mix of formats and viewpoints keeps things interesting without getting convoluted.

Favorite book of the year! Absolutely could not put it down. Have read most of Zevin's books but this one is her best yet. Characters are flawed but likable....real humans with real hearts. We all do dumb things and aren't perfect parents....just keep on going.... just like Jane! Loved this book!

This book was an interesting take on life after a scandal, especially in the age of the internet. When it breaks that Jane Young has had an affair with a congressman that she was interning for, Jane's life is turned completely upside down. Zevin's telling of how a mistake can haunt you for years to come is relatable for most people however, it is the people who have had to suffer notoriety in their mistakes that this will hit closest to home for. An enjoyable, if not frustrating (I see you congressional reelection/double standard) read.

I felt such sorrow for both the mother and the daughter in this highly entertaining book. A mother who was part of a nationwide scandal, who in MHO was sent to the called out and sent to the guillotine even though she was not the only person engaged in this scandal. However, that does seem to be real life. And, a daughter dealing with her mother's (hidden to her) past as it involves her and her beginnings.

I sped through this book, an enjoyable, entertaining and sometime irritable (some characters and the pointed fingers) story.

I also think this would make a great YA, which it may already be, but I enjoyed it and read it as an adult book.

Thanks to Algonquin Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

When the lurid details of an extramarital affair of a celebrity or a politician become fodder for the public, it’s easy to get swept up in the gossip and proselytizing. What’s harder is to remember that there are real people and deeper stories behind the infidelity. In Gabrielle Zevin’s novel, that person is Aviva Grossman. Young, naive and infatuated with the congressman she’s interning for, she’s unprepared for a life as the punchline when the relationship is outed. He’s able to move on with his life, but Aviva finds herself unemployable and stuck reading Harry Potter in her parents’ pool. It takes a realization that she’s responsible for more than her own actions to jolt her into action. As Aviva tries to make a new life for herself, we see how the fallout from a bad decision can alter the lives of more than just the person at ground zero.

Zevin writes great characters, but I needed more time with the women of Young Jane Young. The story is told in alternating viewpoints via Aviva, her mother, her daughter and the wife of the congressman. In almost every instance, I felt dropped in on the character and then pulled away to another before I could fully understand or appreciate her voice. I wanted to feel empathy for Aviva and her family, but couldn’t get past the anger and blame they all (especially Aviva and her mother) put on everyone but themselves. I was surprised to find the only character I truly connected with was the congressman’s wife, who seemed above it all. I know I’m supposed to feel angry on behalf of Aviva for the position she was put in by the congressman and they way she was treated by the media, but I didn’t get to know her well enough to feel sympathy for her. Or maybe I knew the characters well enough, but didn’t find them likable enough before or after the scandal to truly care. I loved The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, but Young Jane Young didn’t win me over.

One of my favorite parts, though it was confusing at first, was the multiple narrators who tell the story. Jane Young is not the first narrator, but it's through the first that her story starts to come out. As an undergrad, she gets a job for her former neighbor and congressman. It's discovered and her career is absolutely dead in Florida. So she disappears, leaving her mother no forwarding address. It's the story of a scandal, but it's also the story of rebirth and hope that our past can be left behind us.

Young Jane Young is a funny and smart book, which is also a quick and easy read. The book mostly concerns itself with Aviva Grossman, a young woman who is part of a scandal related to her affair with a Florida congressman. The novel moves through various viewpoints, including Aviva's mother and the congressman's wife, but then circle back to Aviva (who is now living under the name of Jane Young). It uses some interesting devices, such as a choose-your-own-adventure style for the final section that is told from Jane Young's viewpoint. In particular, I enjoyed that the book was humorous and considered the scandal, but in a non- judgmental way. Given the current climate in which people's lives are easily torn apart by scandals that go viral, this book gives some light food for thought in terms of the impact on those individuals and how they move on with their lives.

You can discover the reason for my choosing this book by just reading the small sentence at the very top of the cover: "The New York Times bestselling author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry." I loved A.J. Fikry and I knew I wouldn't be wasting my time with Gabrielle Zevin's newest book, Young Jane Young. What if Monica Lewinsky had moved away, changed her name, become someone else? Could she have started a new life? What was her vilification like for the people around her? How were they all affected by the scandal that ensued following her falling in love with a charismatic political leader who also happened to be  her boss? There is, of course, no need to rehash the details of that situation, but just the mention of that young woman's name is enough to evoke an emotional response in most people.

In Zevin's book, Aviva Grossman is a young woman in her early 20s just beginning what she hopes will be a long, successful career in politics. As many young hopefuls do, she started as an intern in the office of her local congressman. I'm sure you can take a guess at what happened from my Lewinsky reference. Aviva is so young, and she makes a terrible mistake, but much like what happened to Ms. Lewinsky, Aviva paid a terrible price while her much older boss, her superior who should have known better, is able to move on with his life and not have to face the consequences every single day. Told through the alternating viewpoints of three generations of women- Aviva, her mother, and her daughter, Ruby-, as well as the wife of the congressman, we are able to see the far reach of internet infamy.

The characters in this book are delicious. I especially loved Ruby's quick wit and the way Aviva grows into herself. Aviva's mother, Rachel is full of strength and love for her daughter and even Mrs. Levin, the congressman's wife, is likable. Why shouldn't she be? Add in the elderly woman who becomes Aviva's friend later in life who is a staunch feminist and you have yourself a very well assembled cast of women with whom I would love to be friends.

I adored this quote from Ruby when she is describing the fictional (though it should absolutely be real) Future Girls' Leadership Initiative:

"...at FGLI, our motto is 'Embrace the fugly.' For too long, the threat of being called ugly has been used to silence and disempower women. By embracing the fugly, we say we don't care if you think we're attractive. We're powerful and we're smart and that's what matters."

I'd join that group, wouldn't you? I wonder how I can start a chapter?

I'd also like to share this quote with you from Rachel. I think it very clearly gets to the core of what was wrong with all the scuttlebutt surrounding the White House in the late 1990s.

Levin was an adult man and an elected public official, and my daughter was a dumb kid in love, and he ended up fine, and she's a punch line. 

I'll end this post with a link to the wonderful TED talk by Ms. Lewinsky. She has much to say about shame in our society and I think it is well worth the 20 minute viewing time. Hopefully it will soften any remaining feelings you may have about her.

Young Jane Young is one continuous story told from the perspective of four different women. Recent college grad Aviva Grossman has just begun an internship at the campaign offices of up-and-coming (and charming) Congressman Aaron Levin. Overwhelmed at first, she soon finds her groove---while also managing to catch the attention of Congressman Levin himself. Aviva is young, impressionable, and "romantic," as she says, and soon finds herself in a dicey situation. Though she attempts to make things right (several times), a string of poor choices inevitably forces her to face the consequences of her actions. Humiliated but determined to find a way to live her life again, Aviva abruptly flees the scandal and the limelight in her home town and attempts to start over with a clean slate.

 *   *   *   *   *

This is a light read without a whole lot of substance. Which is fine! Characters are superficial but sometimes funny. The story is predictable but sometimes not. Of course the whole Monica Lewinsky angle is salacious and gossipy, but it never gets gross or overly graphic.

I had no problem zipping through this novel, but I never really connected with the characters. In fact, it bothered me that they came across as incomplete, like caricatures acting a part. There were many points in the story when I thought, "Now would that character actually react in that way?" For example, Aviva's mother's response to Aviva's inappropriate relationship with the congressman was ludicrous. And Ruby's response to discovering certain things about her mother was incredibly odd, extreme, and out of character. 

I also had problems with the book's ambiguous and incomplete ending. What the heck happens next? There were so many unresolved relationship issues that I felt cheated. I get that I'm supposed to want to focus on Aviva's ability to move forward like the strong woman she is! But all I could think about were those loose ends. I had zero sense of closure when I finished the book, and that irritated me.

Ultimately, this ended up being a fine book, just not anything special.

In Gabrielle Zevin’s new novel, Young Jane Young, an ambitious twenty-something intern’s life is ripped open when her affair with her very married boss, who happens to be a widely popular Florida congressman, is exposed to the public. Zevin’s protagonist, Aviva Grossman is forced to endure the Mary Magdalene inspired casting of many stones for her transgression. In an attempt to escape the probing news cameras and supermarket rags spilling the sordid details of her dalliance with the congressman, Aviva changes her name, skips town, and tries to reinvent herself as a party planner.

If Aviva’s story reminds you of a scandal involving another young intern and a philandering politician, then you would be right. The similarities of Young Jane Young with the Monica Lewinsky scandal of the 90s, are certainly too obvious too ignore. But Zevin’s plot is witty and fresh enough to not make it read like a carbon copy, but instead makes it a much more general issue that denounces the injustice of female shaming.
There are additional catchy twists, like Aviva’s mother having a point of view in the novel almost as prominent as Aviva herself. The stigma also follows Jane (née Aviva) around when she is pushed to run for office in the small town in which she has found some sort of refuge, only for the secret of who she truly is to be discovered and her life is dragged once again through the mud, this time witnessed by her daughter Ruby who is oblivious of her mother’s past.
During a phone interview, Gabrielle Zevin reveals what sparked the idea of Young Jane Young, and how society’s shaming of women has become blatantly worse with the permanently looming shadow of the Internet.
Which writers have inspired your own work as an author?
I think a writer is a collection of everything they’ve ever read, and I can be influenced equally by cereal boxes or CNN news clips. For me, as a novelist an in terms of what has inspired me, I’ve been thinking a lot about one of the oldest subjects in fiction, female shame, which goes all the way back to the bible itself. Obviously an early American novel like (for example) the Scarlet Letter is all about female shame and public shaming.
Hester Prynne wearing the letter “A” and standing in the public square for about three hours, is just horrible for her. But as horrible as that is, if you make that kind of mistake today, you’re pretty much stuck in that public square forever because the Internet never forgets. So that novel was very inspiring to me. Black Water was also a book I was very impressed with when I was college because Joyce Carol Oates is so prolific and wonderful..
How long have you been working on Young Jane Young?
It wasn’t ready to become a book until the Bernie Sanders-Hillary Clinton primary. I’ve been thinking about Monica Lewinsky for many years, and I remember when that scandal happened, being very judgemental of her. Now at the age I am, I judge Bill Clinton more, and think how completely wrong it was to behave that way with a young intern.

Gabrielle Zevin, author of Young Jane Young. Photo credit: Hans Canosa.
Do you think readers will immediately associate the character of Aviva with Monica Lewinsky?
I think they will, but other than how enormous that story was, it was the first real Internet scandal, ground zero for this kind of shaming. And they will definitely bring Monica Lewinsky to it, but it’s almost a cliché; the young intern harassed by her boss. But this doesn’t apply only to her story.
Aviva’s mother Rachel has quite a large narrative in the novel. Why was her story as important as Aviva’s?
I think it’s interesting what these sorts of scandals do to a family. Aviva’s mother Rachel is an interesting character because she wants to do everything to keep her daughter out of trouble, and she actually makes things worse over and over again. And it was interesting, the idea that we love someone and we want to help (him or her) but it ends having the reverse effect and actually harms the person in some way.
You can read a story and it can feel different depending on what age you are when you read it. Each of the sections of the book are very much affected by the age of the characters, so that was another reason for wanting to focus on Rachel, because the scandal actually costs her a great deal.
It doesn’t seem like Aviva truly connects with her daughter, Ruby. She often seems distant with her.
I don’t really see it that way. Certainly the epistolary nature of Ruby’s section in the book makes her feel distant because we’re not even getting her in the first person. Perhaps the distance is due to the fact that there’s a huge secret between them, but even though they are actually very close to each other and spend more time with each other than anybody else on the planet, a secret that’s so big is not going to be a great environment for true intimacy.
Which character challenged you the most?
To me, the more time I spend writing characters, the more I have to really empathize with them to write them at all. So I’m really eager to give my characters their day in court, and for them to be able to explain themselves fully. I don’t embark on a character until I feel like I really know them.
What would you like readers to take away from Young Jane Young?
That there is a link between the way we shame women and the fact that we don’t have parity when it comes to women in elected offices. I hope people can think about this, because the book in many ways speaks of shame and shaming. And while shame is something a person imposes upon themselves, shaming is a thing that society imposes on people and on women in far greater numbers than men. From my point of view, I have some ability to control the way I participate in a culture that shames women, and I hope that’s what Young Jane Young does. I hope it challenges the shaming narrative that we have.

Jane and her daughter, Avila, have parted ways after a falling out. Their lives are different, and yet similar. The character development was lacking for my taste, but a pretty good plot.

Sometimes a book just screams to be discussed and Gabrielle Zevin’s new novel, Young Jane Young, is one such book. The much loved author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry has people buzzing about some of the very different turns used in her latest book. Readers who had looked at the book’s description on Goodreads might have been better prepared for the oddities of this book, but those of us who perused Amazon or Algonquin Books got a close, but slightly less forthcoming description.

Young Jane Young was told from the perspective of five different women, each adding to the story of Jane and the choices she made. For our purposes today, let’s talk about what worked, what didn’t, and what other questions arose in this book. I’ll briefly include my thoughts, but please jump in with yours and add questions that I’ve missed. For those of you who haven’t yet read Young Jane Young, I’m sorry, but THERE WILL BE SPOILERS from here on out!

Best Parts of Young Jane Young
-I like stories told from multiple perspectives and Young Jane Young used five: her mother, Jane herself, her daughter (Ruby), Embeth, the Congressman’s wife, and Aviva, Jane’s former self.
-Rachel’s opening narration was fantastic. I loved her realistic, matter-of-fact voice and would have been happy had she told the whole story.
-I liked that Zevin built a story around an all too common scenario: a couple has an affair. The powerful man goes on with little impact to his life, while the woman is slut-shamed and blamed for choices they both made. This is an excellent premise and I was excited to see where the story went.
-Jane’s building of a new life for herself in order to protect her child. I appreciated that she’d put her daughter first.
-Embeth Levin was a very sympathetic character and not just because she had cancer. I sometimes found her choices questionable, but found her love for her husband, despite his many flaws, to be touching.

Parts That Didn’t Quite Work
-Ruby’s section of the book was where Young Jane Young began to unravel for me. I thought Ruby was an extremely naive 13-year old and her one-sided exchange with her Indonesian penpal got old fast. Ruby’s near obsessive, Fancy Nancy style of defining words didn’t work for me either.
-El Mete!!! What was with the imaginary parrot? Sure it added some humor to the story, but for me, El Mete made Embeth (a character I really liked) seem a little too unbalanced. It felt like fluff.
-“Choose Your Own Adventure” – why? In the final section of the book, Aviva emerges to tell what happened years before between her and the Congressman. She looks back on other choices she might have made and that takes on the “Choose Your Own Adventure” format, in which you never really get to choose.
-Aviva’s section was narrated to herself in a “you do” sort of way that quickly became annoying.
-Aviva’s section contained too much filler, including parts about gaydar, and the “girl on a mattress in a storm” analogy. Add to that, the fact that by the time Aviva was telling the story the reader already knew almost everything from the others. Is this why her section contained so many gimmicks?
-I didn’t understand Rachel and Aviva having so little contact over the years. Only a couple phone calls a year and no visits ever felt cruel on Aviva/Jane’s part and unrealistically accepting on Rachel’s.

Further Questions
-What did you think of the five women and their roles in Young Jane Young?
-Did the gimmicks go too far or did you enjoy them? Did they get in the way of the story?
-Was Jane hiding away to avoid more shame a choice that was at odds with running for office?
-Did you understand why Rachel would let her only child essentially cut her out of her life? Was she taking respect for her child’s wishes too far? Was Jane cruel in not letting Rachel know her granddaughter all those years?
Did it bother anyone else that Embeth wasn’t all that concerned when Ruby showed up? She just took her to lunch and a movie…no problem!

Please, join the discussion!
What did you think of Young Jane Young?

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I expected a sweet, give-you-all-the-feels, sentimental book like the author's first. This is not that book. This is a smart, surprising book about reinventing yourself and defying other people's expectations in the face of scandal. While there were times I definitely wanted to throttle a character or two (I'm looking at you, Ruby!), I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be recommending it at my library

Makes you think of real life events and wonder how much is true. Interesting to see the impact on family.

I had so enjoyed The Storied Life of A. J. Fickery that I was really looking forward to reading Young Jane Young. Generally, I was not disappointed. But I would never recommend this book to be read on as a digital book, which I will explain later.

I started reading and couldn't figure out how the book got the title. The first section of the book focused on Rachel Grossman, her friends, and her relationship with her daughter Aviva, a congressional intern who has an affair with the Congressman she is working for in Florida. I was quickly caught up in the story line and wanted to know what happened to everyone.

Then came the second section of the story. Set in Maine, the protagonist here is Jane Young. Her daughter Ruby has a prominent part in the story.

There are more sections to the book, each focusing on the point of view of a different character. There were a few times I needed to "suspend my disbelief" and just go with the flow of the story.

I did not read the last section of the book because I was reading on a kindle. The kindle format makes it almost impossible to read the last section as it is a "chose your own" story. I would have loved to have read this several times, but, alas, could not because on a kindle I have no idea where to go when it says things like "go to page 37." I can only imagine that this makes the book evern more entertaining! It certainly is a wonderful twist on the normal novel. I have given the book a 4-star rating because I feel like I missed out on a wonderful ending.

At some point in the future, I will look for this book in my local library and spend some time playing in the last section. At that point, I may very well change my rating to 5 stars.......

I received this book free from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank them for their generosity. In exchange, I was simply asked to write an honest review, and post it. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

I really enjoyed this book. It started off in a typical fashion but I was very surprised by all of the characters. I think that especially in our media inundated lives it is important to remember that there are people and families behind the headlines. I would recommend this book to anyone I know that enjoys contemporary fiction