I tried to explain this book to my husband and he just looked at me like I was made. So many elements and pieces to create such a strange strange story. I did appreciate the deeper-thinking that this book provoked and the different structures and paths we each follow and choose to build our lives.
For those who enjoyed Lolita or My Dear Vanessa this might be one to read to compare and contrast with.

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Not a light fluffy read. This is one that needs to be slowly read and digested.

I’ve never read Lolita but have read My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell. I feel like these would be good companion novels in which the women are obsessed with the idea of being with the man but the actual action isn’t as fulfilling. They also don’t seem to see the wrong with the man taking advantage of others-that is was the other women’s fault for getting themselves there.

A brilliant and evocative look at academia in the #metoo era. This is one story that my mind keeps returning to long after finishing the book.

This one was thoroughly hyped, but ended up ultimately not being what I'd expected. The writing is great, but the story itself lacks depth.

Way over hyped! This felt like a story I’ve read before but for the life of me I can’t remember which one. Probably didn’t like it either. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy for review

Set on the campus of a small liberal arts college, Vladimir is the story of a popular English professor and her husband, the chair of the department who is under investigation for inappropriate relationships with former students.

Despite this recent thrust into the limelight, our unnamed narrator is stoic, controlled, and very internal. This becomes interesting when considering that the author, Julia May Jonas, is a playwright. Stoic, controlled and internal doesn’t play well on stage.

I recently spoke with Jonas about how Vladimir forced a transition from playwright to novelist, and about so much more. Here’s our conversation.

A professor has to deal with a slew of sexual allegations against her husband while also reconciling her feelings about a new adjunct professor in the college they work for, Vladimir, a promising new writer who’s mere presence makes her want more than just to get acquainted with him. As she works through her understanding and possible complicit behavior with her husband’s infidelity, all she can think about is Vladimir. She was no angel herself and now as she gets to know him, her obsession and idealization of how things might be with him let her mind runaway with itself until she finds herself doing something she never thought she would. But will her fantasy become a reality or fall flat of such high expectations?
VLADIMIR was a slow pace burn for me that got interesting at about the 80% mark, and it had an unexpected ending. I found that I had read enough that I wanted to finish it but the novel itself was slow paced, heavily descriptive and sometimes felt like it wallowed in places instead of exploring more of the juicy bits of the story (the Cynthia and John plot for example would’ve been more heightened in my opinion) but kudos for keeping me wanting to find out what happens. Read this if you enjoy purple prose and stories with internal struggle and an ending that had me surprised.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC! this book is available now.
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5

Ohmygod I loved this book!

Filled with snarky DARK DARK humour, sooooooo much snobbery, and

What a ride - and I cherished every second of it.

We literally spend the whole novel in the head of the unnamed main character: an unnamed 58-year old university professor, whose husband is currently being sued for having inappropriate relationships with his students.

Oh yeah - and our protagonist has a total obsession with the new teacher in town: the much, much younger Vladimir, almost forgot to mention!

It's basically one large character study - but on steroids? Like, some bits are OUTRAGEOUS! But imagine like older rich lady outrageous?

Hands down five stars from me 🙌🏻

This book takes on some topics that are difficult, especially in today's climate of cancel culture. I did however enjoy the character study and the introspective musings of our unnamed protagonist - a fifty something year old woman, who is an academic and tenured professor.

It's dark, intriguing and peppered with cynicism. Overall, an interesting premise with lots of literary/academic references and the clash of feminism. I liked that it explores the sexual fantasies of a mature woman, and although quite an unlikable character, it was incredible reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley for my e-arc.

Thank you Avid press for this ebook! This is a dark, edgy and intense, but not too intense, read. Academia is a messy space, I live in it, and there are so many ways pressure and coercion and exploration of adult roles and sexuality and identity... and power and ego... intersect and interact. Vladimir captures these themes in a real, relatable and powerful way. Some readers may find some of this hard to :"believe" but I think Julia May Jonas does understand the messiness of egos and academia, that some adult relationships just work in different ways, and that problematic interactions happen and obsessions and problems happen even among "smart people" I liked how flawed the characters were and that we get caught up on the confusion and obsession of the narrator.

A few things that limited the book: the cover. It's funny but not right for the tone and style, this is not a bodice ripper and not steamy. It would work if it better captured obsession or something else but it doesn't reflect the themes of the book. Also the style, a bit too slow/stream of consciousness for me at times. The writing is superior and strong but at times I prefer a book that is more active/dialogue and working on character growth.

4.5, rounded down.

Jonas' debut novel is propulsively readable, and her background as a playwright and director proves fortuitous, since she excels in both character development and inerrant dialogue that reads the way people actually speak. Although judging by her author's picture she's at least 15 - 20 years younger than her 58-year-old narrator (who remains nameless throughout), I think she captures the concerns and voice of the woman transitioning from middle to old age rather well, as well as the milieu of the not-quite-top-drawer university. What prevents this from being a full five stars is the melodramatic turns it takes in the final quarter, and a rather demure, downbeat denouement. PS: BOTH the UK and German edition covers are much preferred over the rather misleading US 'romance' cover!

VLADIMIR is the debut novel by Julia May Jones. I enjoyed this novel and thought Jones' writing was lovely - easy to read, great imagery and interesting characters. The plot of VLADIMIR, however, wasn't for me. Some of the topics covered and character choices seemed forced and odd, and I had a really hard time relating to or rooting for most of the main characters. I know many readers loved this novel, so I would still recommend folks give it a shot if the premise is appealing! Not personally my favorite novel, but very-well written and still enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review!

There is no denying that Vladimir is a well written book, but I just didn’t enjoy it. It is hard to write a review without spoiling the plot, but I will say that I was NOT expecting the story to go where it did. I enjoyed the commentary about misogyny and aging and thought it was smartly peppered throughout the book. I just couldn’t connect with the characters and felt uncomfortable most of the way through.

Sorry. This book just wasn’t for me. I found it difficult to read and the topic was just too real for me. It made me uncomfortable which I understand is the point but this book just isn’t for me.

DNF at 25%

I love academic settings and I love unhinged women, but this book was just far too meandering for me. I was sucked in at the very beginning with the promise of some absolute bats**t stuff, but then the narrative just got bogged down in the mire of this twisted relationship. Was it interesting? Sure. Was it also repetitive and did I constantly find myself wishing that things would actually progress? 100%. I think that this author has a lot of potential, but I think that she needs a little more time to grow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

It took me to long to get through this. Its called Vladimir. Vladimir is not the focus. He is to be a conquest. A younger man who is the desire of an older woman. She and her husband have an open marriage. He is losing his job at the college they both teach because of inappropriate relationships with students. Vladimir a new professor becomes her prey. She wants him. She takes him to lunch where she gets him drunk and takes him to her cabin and drugs him. I gets really bizarre.
I did not find one likable character in this book. Everyone was selfish.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

Incredible, incredible book, one of the best I've read in quite some time. All of the characters are so amazingly rendered. I hadn't read this author before but I will definitely seek out more titles.

This was unexpected in so many ways. Maybe, a bit like Tolstoy, Vladimir is a red herring as the title. He's in so little of the book, but the narrator, who is nameless, is the real star of the show. In classic Nick Carraway fashion, she tells us she doesn't drink much and then drinks in almost every scene, tells us she's obsessed with Vladimir but then doesn't really spend that much time thinking about him, and says she's repulsed by her husband but then seeks him out for comfort. I always love a rich academic landscape, and this one was both cuttingly accurate in its depictions of some dynamics between faculty members and absurdly off-base, as many books tend to be. What English department has at least four scholars who all publish in COMPARATIVE literature AS WELL as their own fiction, and somehow this all counts toward their tenure cases? It gave me a chuckle, but all-in-all, I loved the prose, I can't wait to read whatever Jones writes next.

This book was really great up until the end that just seemed to come out of nowhere and didn't really make any sense. Some of the plot was so shocking and way too crazy to be believable. It seemed like two separate stories jammed together that didn't really need to be. The characters actions were completely not believable either.

An excellent and engrossing character study. It's nice to read for once about and explore an older woman's sexual desire.