Love Orange by Natasha Randall is a brilliant novel covering themes such as technology, addiction and interpersonal relationships.

Whilst it was a bit of a slow start I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This insight into a “normal” mid-American life was interesting and I really found myself connecting with Jenny’s character. I also liked the way in which the story altered between the view points of Jenny and Hank.

Thank you NetGalley and Publishers for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Love Orange by Natasha Randall is a novel about technology, addiction, gender roles and interpersonal relationships.

Really striking novel. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this boo in exchange for my honest feedback.

I loved this insight into a 'normal' mid-American family life, warts and all, though it is sad reading at times.
Alternating viewpoints between Jenny, depressed and overwhelmed by where life has left her, her husband Hank obsessed with his Viking ancestry and 'making it', and their two boys Jesse and Luke. No-one is particularly happy with their life but they are all covering for one another's benefit. They live in a Smart house where all your domestic duties can be outsourced to computers, and Jenny finds herself railing against this, looking for her place in the world. In the meantime, Luke is looking for Beginnings in everything, all trying to find a starting point.

Jenny has been writing to a prisoner for some time, and slowly the letters move from mundane questions to more philosophical posings, with stream of consciousness thoughts pouring out of her. Their relationship has a huge impact on her life, uncovering areas that can no longer be hidden.
Really worth a read

Jenny and Hank live in a modified 'smart' home with their two sons. Hank is professionally unsuccessful and Jenny is lonely and unfulfilled. Jenny begins a correspondence with prisoner John and becomes dependent on tasting the orange glue that seals his letters.

I liked the wry, observational humour in this story and I found myself smiling in recognition at times. It was quite slow moving initially and took me some time to get into. Things really began to pick up towards the end as Jenny in particular unravels. The characters lacked nuance however and I found it hard to get past my extreme irritation with Hank.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

CW: drug use, racism, fatphobia, transphobia

This was such a good premise and it delivered in parts but fell flat in others although that didnt take away from th enjoyment of the book. the charcaters were good and the storylib=ne was good and i found the modern influences really intriguing. I just didnt enjoy it as much as i thought I would.

Smart technology, gender roles, the criminal justice system, religion, and the opioid crises are some of the major themes in this domestic novel. Jenny Tinkley is dissatisfied with her life, she can't connect with her husband Hank who is oddly obsessed with his idea of masculinity and that of their two sons, Jesse and Luke. She feels watched by their smart home which is supposed to make life easier and instead gives her a constant sense of unease. In the search for some sort of connection, she starts corresponding with a prison inmate John, and soon starts to cherish their letter exchanges and becomes obsessed with the orange glue of his letters. If this sounds like a lot of ground to cover, you're not wrong. It does feel like Randall is trying to fit all of these contemporary themes in while also allowing each character to have depth, which ultimately didn't work for me even though I found the story line very interesting. Overall, the ideas are solid, I just don't think the execution is.