Another really enjoyable read! Naoise Dolan's debut, set to publish on June 2 from Ecco and already out in the U.K., continues the trend of incredible female millennial voices coming out of Ireland! In a style not unlike Sally Rooney, Dolan explores socialism and colonialism, determining the best use of your talents (or lack thereof) in the professional world, and, most pertinently, relationships and why we choose to enter them. In this short novel, Dolan comments on how we (as millennials, but also probably as humans) have a tendency towards relationships that feel easy rather than ones that feel challenging, in large part because challenging relationships are the ones that really matter and the ones that will help us to grow. This novel is unafraid to allow the reader an unshielded view of our three main characters, all of whom leave something to be desired in terms of likeability, but nothing in terms of how realistically they are drawn. In addition to its beautifully rendered thematic elements and characters, I also found this novel to be quite witty and apt in its observations (like in the Sally Rooney style) about how people respond in social situations. I would highly recommend all around, but particularly to those (like myself) that found Normal People to be a story for our time.

Exciting Times takes a woman's view of her world and describes it through wandering musings that often seem a bit aimless. The musings are interspersed with occasionally clever prose. Unfortunately, though, I was left unfulfilled to the end.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy to review.

This book was thought-provoking on many different levels. While the story highlights a love triangle between Ava, Julian, and Edith, there were many more nuances and complexities to the plot line. Dolan offered fascinating commentary on capitalism, class conflicts, and socialism that I did not anticipate (and still trying to process after finishing the novel). I did decide to give this book 3 1/2 stars, as I did not feel any sort of emotional attachment to the main character (Ava). Although Dolan describes Ava reflecting on her emotions throughout, there wasn't much experiencing or feeling of said emotions within the story.

I couldn’t get into this book. I read a decent amount of it, but I found I did not connect with the characters and didn’t really care what happened to them. The tone and writing style of this book actually reminded me of Normal People by Sally Rooney, which so many people loved! Unfortunately, I did not like that book either. I think it’s a matter of personal taste, and I believe this book will do well as it seems to be similar to what many people enjoy reading.

Highly introspective novel about a young woman's struggles with self-worth, career decisions, intercultural relationships and sexuality. Fans of Sally Rooney will scream with delight.

Dear reader, a word of warning: this is not an easy read. Dolan's style involves not only high-end vocabulary and cultural references but also highly sophisticated contemplative reflections - the latter are more insightful than I'd ever even thought of. This in itself is a reason to pick up this book.

Ava is a twenty-two year old Dubliner confused about what she should do with her life. Freshly out of college. she arrives in Hong Kong as an English teacher to try out a new lifestyle. Half of her salary affords her a tiny room in an old apartment full of roommates she dislikes and cockroaches. So when she makes friends with a wealthy English banker called Julian who lives by himself in a comfortable apartment in the fancy Mid-Levels, Ava stays overnight more and more until she finally moves in. They're hooking up and she's not paying rent but does all the chores. Julian spends more time proving that Ava doesn't mean much to him than showing her affection.

So when Ava meets a young Hong Kong-born lawyer Edith while Julian is abroad, she is intrigued and thrilled to have one other friend, but soon it becomes clear that it's more than a friendship... Can she keep both Julian and Edith in her life?

The ending is certainly ambiguous which I generally despise in books, but this time I wasn't mad at all. I believe Dolan created a certain dichotomy on purpose to let the reader decide what happens, based entirely on how they read the book. I had to re-read the last chapter to make sure I didn't miss a thing, but it was still ambiguous - so it was me who decided what Ava did in the end.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Do you marvel at clever sentence structure when encountered in a book? Do you take delight in words like "gormless"? Do you re-read witty comebacks to try and bake them into your mind should you ever need them? If you, like me, answered yes to all three of those questions, then you're in for a treat.

Exciting Times is a clever and biting story following Ava, a young woman in a foreign country trying to figure her life out - and maintain a semblance of coolness while doing so. It's also a story of girl-meets-boy, and girl-meets-girl, and girl-hides-boy-and-girl-from-each-other. It's a refreshing take on friendship and love, but also otherness, politics, and money (and power, which often mingles with money). Dolan's writing is funny and clever like a spark - despite their faults I found it hard not to love these characters.

Many are comparing her to Sally Rooney, and it's a fair comparison. Dolan has a knack for an expertly delivered wit amongst her characters. It's enough to make you envious of them, or of her for creating them. I was particularly fond of Ava's evolving relationship with Julian. Though Julian is possibly the most frustrating and cruel character in a lot of ways, they both struggled to be vulnerable with each other beyond the banter, which I found more interesting than Ava's relationship with Edith - even though I was rooting for the latter. These dynamics made for a refreshing (and complicated) new take on finding yourself through other people. Throughout all this it's clear that Ava is admired by the people around her, yet she's determined to see otherwise. She's her own unreliable narrator, and it's extremely relatable.

A strong and witty debut. I can't wait to see what Naoise Dolan does next. Also, her instagram is just as witty and fun as her debut. I followed her immediately.

Ava is an Irish expat in Hong Kong working as a low paid TEFL teacher and caught in a love triangle between two very different people. First there is Julian, a wealthy British banker, who enjoys spending money on Ava as much as she enjoys spending it. Their relationship seems transactional and they don’t put a label on what they are. Then there is Hong Kong native Edith. A lawyer who has no issues with saying how she feels and discussing emotions.

I enjoyed reading from Ava's point of view. The style is detached in an interesting way and Dolan’s writing is witty, cynical and very intelligent. This book is the kind of smart that had me rereading sentences at times. I also found the themes depicted really interesting, including sex, sexuality, wealth, politics, social class and the nuances of emotional connections.

I lost interest a little bit in the middle but I was invested in the characters again by the end.

I could not finish this book. I read several chapters but it was just painful to read. The writing style seemed juvenile and was boring. More informing or telling rather than describing and showing. Nothing really happened to the characters and neither of the main characters are developed much.

though at times it feels dry, I appreciated Ava's unflinching narration, and how Naoise Dolan managed to convey the millennial-specific brand of existential dread in a fresh, new way. it was intriguing to experience Ava's character with Julian vs. Edith, a difference that is monumental; in part one, I felt disconnected from the story and the character surrounding Ava, unable to care for them in any capacity; it's when Edith enters the picture that the setting begins to feel like it actually has life. part three was a drag for me, a bit of a letdown, because I'm tired of lgbt narratives seemingly being unable to exist without angst, but it felt realistic, and it didn't come across as too heavy. if the ending was a bit more polished I would've felt this was a five star book, but as such, it's a 3.5 (rounded up).

Heart-wrenching, thought provoking, and transporting. Five stars for brilliant characters and writing that made me feel feelings that I didn’t know existed.

It's not you, it's me. I don't know whether it's because I've picked up this volume during the Covid-19 pandemic, but I did not finish this book. I may set it aside and come back much later. Based on the blurb, I was expecting a lighter and funnier read, but I found the parts that I read to be depressing and discouraging.

This book tells the story of a young adult who is trying to find her place in the world. She is living in Hong Kong, teaching English, and trying to work though her myriad self-esteem issues. Although the book is laugh-out-loud funny in a number of places, the story is a very sad commentary on how difficult it is to be a mentally and physically healthy person in today's world. The protagonist has a job, a family she could return to, and her basic needs are being met. However, one gets the feeling she is on the verge of some sort of tragedy, maybe not suicide but just becoming so unhappy, the sort of unhappiness from which it is difficult to recover. Being in my mid-fifties, I don't believe I am the target audience for this book. However, I did enjoy the glimpse into the life of this 20-something and was able to sympathize with her struggles.

Exciting Times is a sharp, character-driven story about the complicated relationships of three 20-somethings.

The story follows Ava, a quick witted, self loathing 22 year old teacher, and Julian, an almost-30-year-old British banker - both living as expats in Hong Kong. About a third into the story, when I was starting to wonder where everything was going, we're introduced to Edith, a lawyer from Hong Kong who starts to capture Ava's attention away from Julian.

Ultimately, this one was a miss for me. While I appreciated Naoise Dolan's writing style, the lack of plot and my lack of affection for the main character made it fall short. Characters who bottle up and won't say how they feel drive me crazy, and Ava was no exception here. Every time she typed out a note on her phone to send to other characters, only to go on to delete it before sending, my soul died a little.

Naoise Dolan has been compared to Sally Rooney, and I think fans of Conversations with Friends may enjoy this one more than I did.

Overall: 2.5 / 5 stars. Thanks Ecco Books and Netgalley for the chance to read this book early in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This one was a DNF for me. I went into this with a lot of expectations, not least because of the comparisons to Sally Rooney's work. Exiting times begins with Ava becoming infatuated with a rich banker, Julien, mainly because of his wealth. This seemed like an odd behavior for a character who prides herself on keeping an abortion fund. With its clunky metaphors, the writing style definitely lacked the fluidity in prose, and the incisive clarity with we readers get glimpses of the minds of characters. It may get better as the novel progresses, but i couldn't stick with it..

I typically don’t read lighter romantic comedies about millennials, especially after a recent bad experience with a highly coveted Christina Lauren galley. However, there was just something about the excerpt for Exciting Times in the most recent Publisher’s Lunch Buzz Books that sparked my curiosity enough for me to request the galley upon finishing the excerpt. Once I was approved for the galley, I jumped it ahead of my other galleys and almost immediately started reading it. And I finished it under thirty-six hours.

Of course, once I got past the portion that was excerpted in the Buzz Books volume, I quickly realized that this book was not a light romantic comedy. It was something much messier, much darker, with much more angst. It was told as a first person narrative, with so much going on in the narrator’s head that at times it became difficult to discern what the narrator shared outside of her own head. But there was something compelling in the telling that propelled me past midnight into twilight without realizing.

I had an epiphany toward the end of the novel: it reminded me of my experience reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It had a similar unmistakable thread of isolation and sadness running throughout. There was a poignant lack of deep connection between the characters; some sought connection; others didn’t.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quiet compelling read. It’s not necessarily a beach read, as there is too much ennui (and too little hope) to leave you feeling good after finishing it. But if you’re confined to sick quarters, this might just be just thing to pass the time.

I received this book as a digital advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

New author wonderful read.Great characters dialogue hysterical moments .Really enjoyed the novel highly recommend,#netgalley#harpercollins

Exciting Times is a clever domestic romp, chronicling the life of a depressive Irish woman who moved to Hong Kong and quickly took up with a rich British banker, despite her best efforts. 

It starts off fairly reminiscent of Elif Batuman's The Idiot, another charming story where a lot of time goes by, but not a lot seems to happen. In part one, we are introduced to a lot of side characters, but none as substantial as Julian, the posh, emotionally distant subject of the narrator's overwhelming attention. In part two, roughly a third of the way through the story, the shift is dramatic. Edith is introduced, and everything changes for our narrator. 

She begins to fall for Edith, while lying by omission to ... well, everyone. She's not sure who she is to anyone, or what she wants, exactly. That goes on for most of the book. It's charming, in its way, and the writing is really fun despite the plot being pretty uneventful. I recommend this book for people who like messy characters -- there are plenty!

I don't typically love reading stories about love triangles - so I wasn't sure what to expect upon starting this. Its wittiness and exemplary use of sarcasm made me laugh out loud repeatedly, and I think we could all use a little of that right now. Strongly recommend!

This novel about Ava, an unmoored Irish 22-year-old teaching English in Hong Kong, taps into some deeply millennial/gen Z ideas of modern life, and does so very well. For the first quarter of the book, I was enthralled by the voice of the novel, of Ava's quick and incisive insights into herself and the very relatable conflict between what we know to be the best thing to do and how we have been socialized. Ultimately, the star rating came down a bit because the story dragged on long enough that the voice couldn't keep me in thrall for the whole thing.

PLOT: EXCITING TIMES by Naoise Dolan follows the story of Ava, an Irish 20-something expat living in Hong Kong teaching English language classes to wealthy local children. Ava herself is not wealthy, and though she's seeking some sort of better life of excitement out of living away from home, she aimlessly accepts experiences as they come, with little autonomy in her choices. Decisions are less of a process of pros/cons, more of an inevitability that Ava does not exercise much agency in making. When Ava befriends a fellow expat from England, Julian--a well-off banker who offers Ava his credit card and his extra bedroom in a high-rise apartment--Ava attempts to convince herself that she has the emotional upper-hand in their no-strings-attached sexual relationship, while Julian is aloof and utterly detached. As Ava tries to reconcile her feminist ideals with her new unnamed relationship, she finds a separate attraction in Hong Kong born lawyer Edith.

HIGHLIGHTS: I heard this book summarized as a queer Sally Rooney-esque story. I can see where the comparisons come from. Most of our characters (aside from Edith) are unlikable messes and the exploration of selfishness between characters and their supposed self-awareness (or lack thereof), truly make the characters relatable and lifelike. I would also draw comparison to Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation, for Ava is equally apathetic as that book's protagonist.

TAKEAWAYS: If you like Sally Rooney, I think you will appreciate the writing--it is sharp as a knife. The plot itself left something wanting. Not enough happened, either between the relationships or between the first and last page, to warrant this story be more than a novella. That being said, I absolutely look forward to more from this author, she writes beautifully.