Love it or hate it, people will be talking about Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise. This is not an easy read. Some readers will appreciate the narrative complexity while others will be frustrated by the daring structure Choi employs. As a former band kid, I enjoyed the early backdrop of the performing arts high school, as well as the love story that unfolds.

This is a hard book to review, but suffice to say things are not what they seem in the first part of the book. I knew this going in and was still surprised by the turn things took, and agreeably disoriented by the about-face. It was actually something of a relief - the tone of the first half is coldly distant at times, describing the emotion of the teenage experience somehow without any actual emotion. I don't want to overstate the "twist" (this is a literary novel after all) but Choi is doing really interesting things here, and the experience of being toyed with by her is not entirely unpleasant. 3.5 stars.

I just could not get through this. I made it about halfway and once the story (jarringly) took a major shift in timeline and narrator and things still did not improve on the enjoyment front I abandoned the book. If I hadn’t received an advance copy for reviewing purposes I would have jumped ship earlier. Although I enjoy books set in academia and the author, Susan Choi, clearly demonstrates that she can be clever, Trust Exercise did not hold my interest in the slightest.

The plot of Trust Exercise centers on David and Sarah, two high school drama students at a performing arts high school. It begins in the early 1980s when the two are freshmen and they develop a romantic relationship after an incident during an exercise in their theater class. The first half mostly chronicles this budding relationship in a plodding manner.

The prose is dense and complex and Choi opts for style over substance for the most part. David, Sarah, their drama teacher Mr. Kingsley, and most of the other characters come off as tired and cliched and it was hard to get invested in any of them. I don’t have any problems with unlikeable or even detestable characters (I just thoroughly enjoyed Sam Lipsyte’s The Ask and consider myself a pretty big Irvine Welsh fan) but I do have beef with boring characters, and much of the folks populating the universe of Trust Exercise struck me as uninteresting. Pair this with a meandering narrative and you end up with a DNF from me.

2/10

I could not get interested in this book. The plot and writing was belaboured and tedious. Paragraphs went on for several pages. The characters were not engaging and frankly were annoying. The story is told in several parts, but they seemed disjointed. Unfortunate, as Choi's previous writing is highly recommended.

DNF. Not for me. I found the writing style very disjointed, and it failed to get me interested in either the story or the characters.

This novel didn’t really work for me. The writing style here - short, staccato sentences felt like something more at home in a hard-boiled noir novel. And, ultimately, the plot of the story felt likewise a bit awkward in the last third to half of the book. I didn’t quite connect with this book or it’s characters.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2634659879 I loved the performing arts high school setting in this book, and I loved Choi's way of shifting the narratorial point of view so we see the characters from various angles and perspectives. There are some satisfying surprises along the way -- I would avoid reading the book description and reviews of this book so it can truly surprise you. The characters are complex and satisfying, and I was fully immersed in the story. This is my second Susan Choi novel, and really do love her work.

I liked the first third of this book, but then failed to connect with the characters enough to want to see it through to the end.

This book was okay, It was sweet in some aspects, but I found the story to be somewhat boring and I didn't need all the filler.

Susan Choi once again has written a literary multilayered morally ambiguous novel. A story line of youthful mistakes that carry through life experiences.A book that requires slow thoughtful reading a challenging read well rewarded,#netgalley #TrustExercise #HenryHolt.

The narrative shifts were jarring, and not in the exciting way, where the following sections deepen the story in unexpected ways. I just felt disconnected from the story more and more as the book went on.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Boy, oh boy - where to start? Unfortunately, I have no real positive things to say about this book. I have had it for weeks. Within the first 10 pages I knew this was going to be something I would struggle with. The best way I can describe it is trying to read a book while it's under water. It's never quite fully in focus and I felt like I was only picking up every other word or so. To explain it another way - there is way too much superfluous language and also it doesn't read how I would normally talk. I felt like I was reading a translation of another language. Susan Choi obviously has a talent for the written word, but I wouldn't say she writes for the reader, she writes for herself and the literary critics. (I could be way off base here, and I don't mean this in a mean way, but when 2 or 3 words work, why do you need to use 10? To show off?)

I thought this book would be kind of like Fame - young kids (Sarah and David) who fall in love in the 1980s at a prestigious art school. Not even close. I feel terrible saying this, but don't waste your time. There are too many amazing books out there.

A very unique and unusual story that should probably read twice in order to grasp all the nuances and innuendo. Confused and confusing characters, revising what you thought you knew half way through. What happened after the shot to The Girl? Was that another euphemism or metaphor or another's reality? Claire...who is Verna at the office and why did she recognize Claire are just a few of the many questions I have
Ultimately this seems to be a story of preconceived notions of who a person is by stereotyping or creating the person one needs at that time in his/her life.
I think
Who knows
A great read
Thank you to verbally and the publisher for this arc in return for an honest review

Wow, this one didn't work for me at all. Given how much I read I guess it's surprising that it doesn't happen more often.

Susan Choi's newest book, Trust Exercise, is a marvel of language and imagery, but on the whole, I found it confusing, a bit meandering, and once Choi flipped the script on the plot, I wondered whether what I was reading was actually happening or if it was a figment of the characters' imagination.

The book took place in the early 1980s at the Citywide Academy for the Performing Arts. The first-year students are ready to being learning Stagecraft, Shakespeare, the Sight-Reading of Music, and, of course, acting, where their charismatic teacher, Mr. Kingsley, puts them through a variety of trust exercises, challenging their sensory perceptions and awakening their emotions.

Two students, Sarah and David, fall for each other, and begin a passionate yet mercurial relationship in full view of their fellow students. But neither of them are ready for the ramifications of a relationship, and they're not prepared for the manipulations of their peers—or Mr. Kingsley, for that matter. In an effort to drown out the pressures of everyday life, Sarah makes a decision which has major ramifications, ramifications that ripple long into the future.

And then Choi speeds up the timeline and sets the book in the future, and the whole narrative goes hazy, so you're not sure if what you read actually happened, or if Choi simply wants you to question the storyline. But that's not her only gimmick, as she throws yet another twist into the plot that once again left me shaking my head.

Susan Choi has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and certainly there's no doubt about her writing ability. But unfortunately, Trust Exercise never worked for me. I have seen some really positive reviews, however, so it may work for someone else.

NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company provided me a copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This whole story was creepy and gross. I’m sure that was the author’s intention, but the payoff wasn’t worth the ick. Cringe-filled.