I've always loved Sloane Crosley's writing, and Cult Classic is no exception. The book dealt with a concept I haven't come across before, which was refreshing. I don't want to spoil it, but I really liked the mission behind the Golconda. Crosley really developed the main character and made her complicated, but relatable. The writing kept me wanting to keep reading, which is always a good sign. If you enjoyed Oona Out of Order, you'll love this book!

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I was really looking forward to this but as I read the first couple chapters, I realized this just wasn’t for me,

This is an original and engaging read. Out to dinner with her former colleagues one night, Lola steps out to run a quick errand and runs into one of her ex-boyfriends. The next night, she finds herself back at the same restaurant and encounters another of her former boyfriends. Lola, engaged to her artist boyfriend, assumes it is just a coincidence, until her best friends surprises her by sharing there may be a greater force at work -- if Lola is will to pursue it. Lola reluctantly agrees to do so and, over the course of a couple weeks, runs into most of her former relationships. These encounters prompt her to consider each of her past relationships, what they tell her about what she wants for the future, and whether she will ever find true connection -- all while she struggles with whether the situation she finds herself in, and the role she is playing, is something she really wants to be part of.

This was a funny, insightful, and creative story. The premise is very interesting, prompting interesting questions all while driving a compelling story.

Highly recommended!

Between the cover and the promise of cults, I was very drawn to this book. And I think the drawing me in was the point. If you're looking to read about a cult, you're only barelyyyyyy going to get that here. To the extent that the characters in the book are constantly saying "this is kind of a cult, huh? ish? a little?"
I was also drawn in by the anecdote at the start of the book, it's a creepy little story that got me excited for who this "cult leader" Clive character was. But the rest of this book is slow and navel-gazing. Each sentence felt overwrought, and yet important backstory is missing. We're told that the MC has been super close to some of the characters, Clive in particular, but until the events of the book, there's really no indication of what drew them to each other or why they cared about each other. The main character's relationship to the experiment didn't make sense to me, she's freaked out, she's excited, she... stops showering and almost no one mentions it? Sadly, by the end, I felt nothing, for her relationship or for the people she knew or reconnected with along the way.
I got this book from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in return for an honest review. I wish I could say I enjoyed it, but I'd skip it and try another book from MCD, whose books have always worked for me in the past!

Anybody who has been effected by or sensitive to content about SA you need to know this. This is not a spoiler because it doesn't really effect the story. The main character chooses to lie about being SA'd to make a man show more affection to her. In this moment she mentions it is bad simply because then she had to break up with him so that he will not ever find out the truth. There are absolutely not repercussions to this decision.

One night Lola is meeting old co-workers for dinner, and after runs in to an ex boyfriend. Nothing is weird about that until the next night Lola runs into another ex, in the same area as the night before. Now Lola is pulled into a new business agenda by two of her old co-workers who admit to tinkering with her life. With no choice but to play along Lola begins to prowl the night looking for ex boyfriends.

The author is not afraid to make Lola a bad person, if this isn't her intention then I can't imagine what else she is doing. Lola is blunt, vulgar, and disappointingly immature. Every time Lola said something vulgar it was awkward because the other characters just never responded. It was very clunky and felt like more of a shock factor than anything that could drive the plot.

The biggest disappointment of this book was the lack of insight on what these past relationships have positively done to the MC. Instead it's only about how they met and then what she did in the relationship to make them breakup. Every ex is essentially a carbon copy of the one before with one small detail that makes them different. My biggest disappointment is that the MC runs into all of her exes and does not have any meaningful conversation with any of them. In most cases she ignores them and just tells of how they met and what she did wrong and moves on. But she doesn't ever have these moments of why it was wrong or how that actually changed her as a person. There is no growth and the character is static, she is just as disgusting as she was in the beginning of the book.

If you are looking for a book that discusses closure and how it effects each person then this book is for you. I can see this book being apart of the "unhinged women" book trend that is going around on social media.

I received a free Advanced Reading Copy via NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review.

Did I read the same book as everyone else????? This book was such a bore!! I had no idea what was going on and I thought all the characters were just ridiculous.

4.5⭐ rounded up

I absolutely adored the whole wild ride of this book!

I started reading not really knowing much besides 'the main character keeps bumping into exes' which that alone can make for an interesting story.

From beginning to end, just when I would think I understand what the point of the story is, it would have a twist! Like, I don't even really know what genre this would categorize into! (Probably just contemporary fiction)

Toward the middle of the book as Lola's encounters with her exes are most frequent, I did find myself getting confused between present and past, but I guess maybe that was the point? Because she started blurring that line, too.

I feel like I can't add much more to my review without giving away spoilers beyond what's in the synopsis, so I'll simply leave this at: I highly recommend this book! There's a snarky, cynical main character, great dialogue (banter), and wonderful character development.

**My only major complaint was I didn't understand the last chapter at all. At the very least, it should be an epilogue. But I felt it could have been directed differently to tie up loose ends.**

Thank you to Netgalley, Sloane Crosley, and the publisher for letting me read this ARC!

𝗟𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱.

This is a funny, original story that throws the main character, Lola, into the past by crossing paths with her ex-partners. If the first run-in throws her off, the others turn her world upside down. It is as if they are all lined up just for this purpose, and there isn’t a chance in hell it’s just a coincidence. It all begins in Chinatown after a dinner reunion with former colleagues whom Lola worked on a magazine with before it folded. Hungry for a break from all of them, Lola decides to buy cigarettes and that is when she spots the first ex-boyfriend, Amos. Engaged to “Boots”, a man with a calm, nonjudgmental soul, these meetings bring her emotional past and current struggles to light. Passions, or at least the malingering emotions she thought were solidly behind her, seem to wash ashore as she encounters each former lover. There are already concerns in relation to Boots, but if she is honest, Lola isn’t one to anchor in place with anyone. When Lola’s best friend Vadis hears about Amos’s appearance, she is shocked! It seems odd when she runs into a third ex, this time while in the company of Vadis. It is then she discovers that Vadis and her former editor Clive (of whom she has always felt like a protégé of) are in a cult, well… sort of… not really. Kind of?

Clive has always had a leaning into the mystical things of life, and he may just be onto something huge, using a space that was once a synagogue. What the hell does her past relationships, and her present engagement, have to do with Clive’s new project? Is this mind control? Why are they tapping the ‘frequency of love’, and what makes Lola the perfect subject?

It just gets more bizarre but always entertaining. All she knows is, there will be more former partners to confront and as Vadis tells her, Lola is a people hoarder. Is this a way to let go so she can move ahead? Is there a fresher hell than seeing so many ex-partners in a short period of time? What will it mean for Boots and Lola’s future? Is picking the past back up even possible? The revelations are making her feel like she is living in two worlds. Where could all of this possibly lead? Why is it necessary to rummage through her heart and all its relics? Can she let go of the addiction to the past?

Clever novel that provides laughs while pondering on the journey we take, the people we shed to become who we are. It is about how stunted we are, especially in modern times, where we compete with the past that never seems to die off. I liked it. I thought the ending was, dare I say it, sort of sweet. Awwww.

Publication Date: July 8, 2022

Farrar, Straus and Giroux MCD

For the right reader this book will be a delight. And who is that? Not exactly me, but . . . I first read Sloane Crosley as an essayist and found her quirky and delightful. Her first novel, The Clasp, didn't appeal that much, and I continue to hope for more essays as I value her take on life and her ability to be witty (a two-time finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor). I imagine that aging and experience will deepen her well. But Cult Classic is not really for me but that's me and I'm old. Check other reviews and make up your own mind.

I didn't realize until I finished this book that I had given Crosley's "The Clasp" one star when I read it. I am rating her second novel slightly higher just because the premise of the book - a woman who runs into all of her exes in a short period of time - was interesting. However the execution was actually quite boring. And once again Crosley wrote characters that I really didn't like and really didn't care about. I clearly am not the audience either of Crosley's novels.

Has anyone explored how we're sort of getting to a place in culture where regular fiction and speculative fiction are starting to overlap? Because I feel like that's what happens here.

In Cult Classic, the main character Lola finds herself being the, uh, actual main character of an exploratory venture by her mentor/former boss that harnesses the technological and possibly holistic powers of subliminal messaging to investigate romantic closure (in Lola's case). The setting is contemporary, and the techniques used are vague enough that for all we know, each of them already exists and just hasn't been applied this way yet. What follows is a thought-provoking and well-written series of subtly manufactured encounters with Lola's exes.

There were more twists than I usually associate with this kind of book, which I ended up liking; I felt like I was getting a little after-dinner mint at the end of the book that I hadn't been expecting. There is also an urban, current affectation to the writing and the way that relationships are explored that worked really well for me.

4 easy stars! Thanks to Netgalley for an ebook ARC of this novel.

When newly engaged Lola runs into an ex-boyfriend, one of many with whom she has complicated history, she is sure that it is just a random coincidence. Turns out, not so much.

They start popping up with freakish regularity, appearing as mirages or ghosts of relationships past. As she is confronted with uncomfortable reminders of lost loves, she is forced to accept her own flaws and egregious treatment of past partners.

After these surreal run ins start to pile up, Lola is brought into the loop of what’s going on. She is a test subject for a cult like sales guru who is intent on mastering the power of suggestion to sell high end fix it packages to people who have more money than sense.

Chosen because she has been diagnosed by no one of any credentials of an affliction that does not exist, people hoarder, Lola has given them lots to work with. She comforts herself that her break ups were because she is confident in who she is, and her partner of the moment wasn’t a fit in the picture she had of herself.

This sneakily insightful and deeply hilarious satire shows that it is not remotely that simple. Deep down we are flinging soil in every direction in a desperate attempt to figure out why our relationships fail. Romantic and otherwise.

I had a really hard time with this one. The writing style felt a little erratic and strange. I didn’t care about the characters and the premise didn’t mesh well with them.

What a fun premise for a novel! So funny and bitingly astute. Meet Lola, a woman who has many (many) relationships in her past but is finally engaged to be married ito a wonderful man. One evening, she is having dinner w/ colleagues, her best friend and boss, when she steps out to buy cigarettes. She runs into an ex. Then it happens again. And again. Lola quickly finds out that these “meetings” have been orchestrated by her best friend and former boss to ostensibly help her make sure that her fiancé is “the one.” She then gives data on these meetings to what seems to be a new venture that her former boss, Clive, has started. But it all seems a bit like a cult to Lola….

*special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc.*

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was cleverly written without being pretentious. The idea of getting closure on old relationships reminded me of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. I’m curious if the author was influenced by that movie. My only complaint is there were so many exes that I started to get them mixed up, although that might be my own fault because I don’t have the greatest memory. Great book!

I love the author, the cover, and the premise. But, in spite of all that, this one just did not hit for me.

Cult Classic by Sloane Crosley was a highly anticipated book on my list. The cover evokes drama and the name Cult! Classic! really piques my interest. I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with this one. Overall, I felt like the description and the visuals didn't entirely match the execution.

We meet Lola, a 30 something living in New York, who is out to dinner with her friends when she goes out to buy a pack of cigarettes. On her way back she runs into one of her ex boyfriends which stirs up some surprising feelings for her. What follows are more chance encounters with people from her past that suddenly begin to feel connected. Being faced with her past makes her question her future and what she really wants for herself.

Overall, I didn't quite get the spark that a lot of readers have from this book - and that could be a me thing!

Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Cult Classic will be out 6/7/22.

Isn’t it a funny coincidence to run into your ex while you’re out with your friends? And a different ex again in the same spot the next night? What if you keep running into your exes night after night? It stops being a funny coincidence pretty quickly and soon enough becomes a nightmare. That’s exactly the cycle that Lola finds herself trapped in over the course of this novel. Page after page you learn more about Lola and the relationships that shaped her which makes a compelling work in and of itself without the added bonus mystery. The mystery elements of this book are so hard to talk about without giving anything away, all I will say is to keep the title in mind as you dive in.

The story remains intriguing till the end but I will admit I was hoping for much more humor from the hilarious Sloane Crosley. I would be more likely to recommend this to those that aren’t familiar with her humor essay works and someone interested into narrative fiction with a dash of mystery. Do also be prepared for some longer chapters at the beginning of the book especially as the author begins to set up Lola and her inner circle, you’ll need to know everything you can about all of them right up until the end as well.

For me, it’s hard to give a fair rating to this one as I went into this (unfairly) expecting a humor read and this is book is many things but humor is not one of them. I would consider reading this one again with that new perspective in mind but as it stands it’s a 3 star read for me.

I'm bummed to say that this was a bit of a disappointment for me. Add this one to my list of most anticipated reads for 2022 that I didn't end up liking all that much! I usually love Sloane Crosley - I think her essay collections are great; she is a keen observer of elder millennial coastal elite society and wonderful at blink-and-you-miss-it quips. This book did have some of that, but I just didn't like the fictional format. It's her second novel (I haven't read The Clasp), but I may have had similar feelings about that.

The premise of this book is intriguing: Lola, a mid-30s woman in New York City, is experiencing something weird. She keeps running into her ex-boyfriends in her everyday life. First, when she's out buying cigarettes, next when she's at a trendy new restaurant, and over and over. Another reviewer described it as "the Christmas Carol if Jacob Marley was a serial dater," and that seems pretty accurate. But the book just felt like Lola running into these men and rehashing her dating experience with them. Pretty much nothing interesting happens with them - they're all nice and wish her well, noticing her engagement ring and excited that she has a fiancee (despite the fact that she's maybe getting cold feet).

Then you add in the "cult" part of this, which has to do with Lola's former boss starting a company that can use the energetics of the world to attract your exes back to you - finally putting a price on closure - and he's using Lola as a test case. I was just not vibing with that part.

I guess this is a book in the same vein as others about female malaise, burnt-out city living, and modern dating culture, kind of like My Year of Rest and Relaxation or The New Me. Some days I really like those books, and others I think they're boring and trying to be better and smarter than the reader. Today, I'm feeling like Cult Classic was the latter.

Thank you to FSG for the ARC via Netgalley.

This worked SO well. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did, but Crosley writes in such a compelling manner. The MC and surrounding characters are so interesting, and their personal dynamics are believable and interesting. This was witty and engaging and shockingly emotional.