Vladimir is a dark, twisty compulsive read. The story unfolds from the mind of the 58 year-old english literature professor whose is struggling to reconcile her aging body, her failed writing career and her husband's infidelities. But don't feel sorry for her, she gave her husband permission to stray outside the marriage, as she's done too.

Slowly, she begins to escape her reality by fantasizing about the new adjunct professor, Vladimir. Her dark fantasies are psychotic and obsessive. She is truly an unlikable character who's cunning and cruel.

This debut novel is beautifully written and descriptive on how the protagonist moved throughout her world. Vladimir explores feminism, cultural expectations of middle-aged women, mental health and desire.

This novel is wildly entertaining!

Thank you Avid Reader Press for an advance reader copy.

This story is all about obsession and sexual relationships. The narrator is a 58 year old college professor. I enjoyed how the book was told in multiple points and views. The narrator wasn’t my favorite person in the book but she made intelligent choices. Thanks Netgalley for allowing me an advance copy of this book. It’s a good slow burn debut.

What a book! I love stories that dive into a character’s head and are unrelenting through all the highs and lows they experience. Following the main character through her open marriage and obsession with a fellow faculty member at her school was interesting even without much of a plot. If you love character studies without a lot of dialogue, pick this one up.

I was enthralled with the writing of this book. I did not particularly like or feel any kinship for the 58 year old female main character but I did not hate her. She is an English professor at an upstate NY college and so is her husband. Her grown daughter is an attorney. I grew up where all our parents worked-either at a factory or at a restaurant and then they came home to work even more in the garden or in the kitchen or cleaning and they were always busy, they did not have the luxury of feeling sorry for themselves they just did not have the time. They were always 'doing'-Whereas, it's my opinion that academics tend to dwell.. I mean they are always in their heads.. Anyway, I do not think it matters that I could not relate to this woman in most ways-open marriage is stupid to me.. But, in other ways I am an aging 53 year old woman so I did relate to other issues she would bring up. So many social issues are touched upon in this book, I cannot even start. What I am clumsily trying to say is read this book-even if you don't agree with the MC, it is a book to be read and savored. Vladimir of said photo on book cover is really not the focus of the story, he is just a distraction. In closing, this managed to take over my life for the few hours I read it. Julia May Jonas is a brilliant writer and you cannot stop yourself from feeling when you read this book. Her writing is poetic.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book.

The writing - and it’s a debut! Hard to convince anyone reading this review that this is a fun read - this novel is filled with dark subjects - yet I found myself delighting in the ride of figuring out where this quiet, thoroughly-planned descent into madness was going. Yes, the cover is odd. Read it anyway. Go in cold. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time and can’t wait to discuss with others. Really really well done - so grateful to Avid Reader Press for the advanced copy.

Through Julia May Jonas' prose-like writing style, I was immediately invested in the narrator, a mid-50s female college professor whose husband is embroiled in a #metoo scandal. The portions of the book focusing on her character study and her inner monologues were my favorite parts. At times unlikeable and a bit sociopathic, she ruminates on feminism, obsession, power dynamics, desires, consent & agency in romantic entanglements, all while questioning her own self-worth and value to society as an aging woman. Reading her train of thought was an interesting experience.

Over the course of the book she becomes infatuated with a younger 40 yr old colleague named Vladimir. He's Russian, new to town, and has a sort of magnetism about him. As they are both published authors, the develop a rapport with another but just how far will her obsession take her? Without saying too much, the book takes a turn about 70%.; said turn would have worked better for me personally if Jonas' had really leaned in and fully explored/committed to that plot point.....instead there was a brief toe dip into waters, a pull back and a vanilla ending.

If you are looking for a literary fiction, flawed female character study that challenges some of the current cultural notions and would surely prompt some interesting discussions, then I'd say this one is worth the read!

Thanks #NetGalley #Avid Reader Press for the ARC of Vladimir. All opinions expressed are my own.

I find it impossible to not be biased with books that that feature other English major and/or English professors. It’s no surprise Bunny, The Secret History, and They Never Learn are some of my favorites.

Vladimir follows a 58 year old English professor in light of the recent news that her husband (who is also an English professor at the same college) has been sleeping with his students. They have an open relationship and our MC has sort of known about her husband fooling around with his students. Then Vladimir enters. He’s a Russian born, but purely American 30 something junior professor that our MC becomes obsessed with. He’s also married to a woman who becomes an adjunct professor.

What follows is an addictive character study as these relationships smolder and burst into flame. Julia May Jonas knows how to write and I highlighted so many passages and bookmarked so many pages I know I need to get the physical copy and transfer my notes into. Our MC ponders so many things from shifting campus culture, teaching, writing, and what makes art “good.” I think if you’ve loved books like Otessa Moshfegh’s EILEEN and Sally Rooney’s CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS then you will love this one!

Vladimir comes out February 1st! Thank you so much to @netgalley and @avidreaderpress for this eARC!

What an interesting, poetic (and dark) take on the whole #metoo movement! Our main character portrayed the façade of having her life together, but behind closed doors, she was one complicated human with some very alarming and traumatic emotions. What I loved about this book was that the plot turned in totally different directions than I thought they would. At first glance, you think it's a torrid taboo romance between an older woman and a younger man, but really it's about shattering these so-called black and white perceptions people have about sexual relationships. Vladimir is merely a plaything or bargaining chip in unwrapping a mindset of generations past who truly feel that "consent is consent" and don't stop to ponder the psychological ramifications of an older adult versus someone in their emerging adulthood. The ending was amazing and I didn't see coming. I would love to see this book become an Indie film, as the cast of characters, the cabin, the college I could all see clearly in my mind. I will be recommending this one to everyone I know that reads modern fiction!

Lately, it seems as if every Literary journal that I've seen recently, is raving about Julia May Jones's debut novel Vladimir. So I was curious to see if Vladimir was worth all of the fuss.

Vladimir is told by a 58-year-old college professor whose husband was just accused of having sexual relationships with several of his students. But our narrator already knows about her husband's affairs since they have an open marriage she has had numerous extramarital affairs herself. A new professor began working at her college named Vladimir. Vladimir already has a wife and a 3-year-old daughter but as soon our protagonist sets her sights on Vladimir she becomes completely obsessed with him.
Vladimir is a literary work that takes a deep dive into the mind of our narrator. Our main character is a complex antihero with bouts of narcissism and sociopathic tendencies. She is extremely vain when it comes to her appearance yet insecure about aging. She does not understand why everyone is making a fuss about her husband's relationships with his students. In her eyes, she believes the young women who are accusing him, should feel lucky to have had a relationship with him.

I swooned at the author's writing. Julia May Jones completely dazzled me with her words. I was completely entranced by Jones's writing. The concept is and underlying themes are completely original and the ending was utter perfection. This book was such a refreshing change of pace from my usual plot-driven reads. If you are looking for a smart, well-written literary work of fiction then I highly recommend picking up Vladimir! Julia May Jones is one to look out for in the future.

Vladimir will be available on February 1. Many thanks to Avid Reader Press and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Literary Fiction

Vladimir is about relationships and sexual obsession. The story is narrated by a 58 years old female professor who is in an open marriage. She has her side life and relationships, and so does her husband John. At the time of narration, we get to know that her husband who is also working in the same school is being investigated for his relationships with the young students. At the same time, her daughter Sid has to return home after her breakup with her girlfriend. With all these disturbances the protagonist finds Vladimir a newly recruited professor a good distraction to stay sane and in check. She becomes obsessed with him and thinking about him makes things easier for her.

I enjoyed reading this story. The author provides lots of different relationship dynamics in one story, be it the open marriage, the daughter’s relationship, and also how the society looks at the female or the spouse who has been betrayed in their eyes. For a moment, if you think about it the wife’s situation in this book is similar to the situation of the protagonist in the TV show “The Good Wife”, except the wife in this book already had an understanding with her husband about their affairs which nobody else knew.

I can’t say the main character is likable. Still, she is not someone you will despise. I feel she acted on things intelligently at times. The book was more about her and her family than it was about Vladimir. I feel Vladimir who was younger than her was just a distraction she needed to escape from her current situation. This book is not long but it tackles many daring subjects like open marriage, affairs, age, gender, sexuality, and race. All this makes it very relevant to our current time.

Many thanks to the publisher Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.

I really liked the premise of this book but sadly didn't like the writing style which affected my overall enjoyment of the story.

The story is told from the perspective of an English professor whose husband, also a professor, is facing a number of historical accusations from former students of inappropriate relationships with his students. Our narrator is trying to protect her reputation amid the scrutiny into her marriage and her husband's behaviour. She distracts herself with the arrival of Vladimir, a novelist who is quite a few years younger than her, that she slowly becomes infatuated and obsessed with.

The book does a good job of depicting the narrator's struggles with aging, particularly as a woman, and how she feels in relation to this younger man. However the prose is written in a telling rather than showing way which gave us access to the narrator's thoughts but became frustrating after a while. For instance, there is very little dialogue and conversations are told to us rather than shown. As a result of never actually seeing any moments or exchanges I found it hard to believe in the protagonist's interest in Vladimir. It all felt a bit flat.

I think that this book has more to offer than the stereotypical "erotica" cover would suggest and that, if you enjoy books written in a stream of consciousness style, you would get more from this book than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avid Reader Press for the ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed Vladimir, it was deeply interior while still feeling propulsive and readable. My biggest critique is how the novel is being promoted. The narrator’s “obsession” with her new, younger colleague is really not the central premise of the novel. It’s about her dealing with life at middle age, finding herself at a new point in life. How to negotiate her career, herself as a wife in an “unconventional” marriage (how unconventional is it really?), herself as a mother to an adult daughter. Her new colleague is an infatuation that forces her to consider many of her internal conflicts.

Give me a novel set on a college campus and I am in. Lately I really come to enjoy these kind of books more and more. An English literature professor is insecure about nearly every part of her life. Her private life as well as her working life. That there is an investigation going on againt her husband who is accused of having had sexual relationships with students does not improve her self-esteem.
I enjoyed this book as it shows how vulnerable even the successfull can be. And what it means for a woman to age.

Thanks #NetGalley #Avid Reader Press for the ARC of Vladimir

reflective and compelling. i thoroughly enjoyed this incisive, brilliant, delicious dive into the mind of our unnamed narrator, a 58-year-old english professor balancing her reactions to the allegations against her husband with her growing obsession for the charming younger novelist, vladimir. jonas has an eye for detail, something i adore in literature, and i truly would have been happy to hear our narrator talk about anything at all. her prose is gorgeous, vivid and reflective and smart but not overly pretentious. this novel explores so many topics so deftly, so thoughtfully, from social justice culture to competition between women to academia to the life of a writer to aging to motherhood and more, and, despite this novel not being particularly lengthy, each topic is handled with equal care, not passed over or discarded. just such a smart, fun, enjoyable romp of a book

I'm impressed!!!

Now I should mention that I am a person that enjoys character studies. You will spend the entire book within the head of our protagonist. She is cunning and cruel but also intelligent and caring in her own ways making her an incredibly interesting character. If you don't like character studies then this is NOT a book for you. There are no thrills or suspense. It's a straight up story, what you see is what you get, but I found it riveting.

Our protagonist is a 58 year old college professor who is at a point in her life where she is questioning everything about herself. Her looks, her career, and her marriage in particular. Her husband, also a college professor, has been accused of sleeping with multiple students.

What makes this book different than other #METOO movement books that are currently flooding the market is that they had an open marriage. She was well aware of his extramarital relations. She actively encouraged it so she too could enjoy her own interests and activities which also included affairs of her own. She balks at the word rape as she knows these were consensual trysts and she makes a point of clarifying that the women, while students, were all of age. Certainly nothing illegal but still frowned upon and now his career is left in question and how will that affect her position within the same university walls.

All the while a new adjunct professor, Vladamir Vladinski, has arrived on campus with his wife and daughter in tow and our narrator begins to obsess over Vladamir. She can't determine whether she has fallen in love or if it is pure unadulterated lust but she will do anything to stay within his orbit. As the story proceeds we begin to see how our narrators mental health begins to deteriorate as her obsession with Vladamir grows stronger.

As we near the final 1/3 of the book things seem to be heading down a dark road but I feel like Jonas hit the brakes before actually going there. Part of me was hoping for something a bit darker but that doesn't mean the ending is terrible. Not at all. It just wasn't what this reader was expecting. All in all I enjoyed this book. My biggest complaint is that the cover is very unappealing so I was thankful to have a digital arc. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for my complimentary copy.

Wowie!

I don't know where to begin, but this is truly a surprising, thrilling, and entirely entertaining novel. The prose is sharp and often funny, the narrator a strange mix of prickly and somehow likeable. But what truly makes this novel stand out from others like it is that everything gets absolutely blown up by the final third, to only get blown up once again, and then one last time. Did I mention this novel is surprising? Everything Julia May Jones crafts regarding the narrator becomes something other than expected -- and, perhaps, it is not unbeliavable. I won't say more due to spoilers, but I think this is definitely a worthwhile read if only for the storytelling chutzpah.

Loved it, thank you for the e-galley.

I’m not really sure how to even review this one tbh. We are following a professor whose husband, a fellow professor, is about to go on trial for sleeping with several of his students years ago who have just come forward. Their marriage is consensually open and she was aware of his escapades, so it’s a story of how this is affecting her. She also develops somewhat of a crush on a new professor, Vladimir, and constantly fantasizes about him. It’s a bit of an odd one with not a lot of plot, and I’m not really sure what we’re supposed to get from it but I pretty much enjoyed it.

I was so intrigued by this premise but unfortunately I didn't find the main character all that interesting. The writing was solid but I couldn't have cared less about the protagonist.

I think being in the world of academia myself made me feel a little uncomfy when reading this - not because I've encountered this situation personally, but it's hard not to see how the political aspects and power dynamics that are constantly at play in academia would contribute to this kind of situation. Overall, the book is dark and has an unlikeable main character, which are not my favorite literary devices, which makes this rating much more a reflection of my own taste than the author's skill. It's a well-written and interesting book - just not for me.

I have to say honestly I was somewhat disappointed with this novel. I had high hopes for what was billed as a campus novel that was, in reality, a treatise on the current state of affairs (pun fully intended) in college cancel culture. The main character is a 58-year-old college professor whose husband's past affairs with a myriad of female students are being investigated. At the same time, a young, handsome, and talented writer, Vladimir Vladinski arrives on campus with his beautiful yet emotionally fragile wife, sparking something in our narrator that she refers to as obsession but does not come across as such in the ensuing pages. Instead, the narrative that follows is hollow, largely interior monologue from the narrator, with very little focus on the object of her supposed obsession until suddenly it boils over into the wholly unexpected plot twist that, for me, made little sense and while being fantastically allegorical, did nothing to make me enjoy the book or even want to remember it much after finishing it.