The Deceptions is the story of a middle aged English teacher dealing with the aftermath of trauma, a failing marriage, and an empty nest. The narrator, who remains unnamed for most of the novel, frequents the Met and uses the museum's collections as a lens to help her process what's going on in her own life.

I enjoyed getting in the narrator's head and liked the use of images from the museum collection -- not something I've come across before! Some of the details about various Greek myths and sculptures couldn't hold my interest, but I appreciated them anyway. I thought the device of the museum worked very well to show how the narrator thinks and how our own experiences affect how we interpret other works of art, and the writing was stellar overall.

While I enjoyed the storytelling, pacing, and writing, the plot was lackluster. Reflections on sexism felt like very familiar ground and I would've liked to see it go a little deeper, especially on the differences between older and younger generations.

Difficult book for me to read. The art/museum/Greek mythology interspersed into the book was confusing. Wanted to like this book..

Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

I would give this book a 3.5/5 stars if it were an option. The writing is clearly strong and the author is talented. Some aspects of the book, I really enjoyed; the repetition of something bad happening, and the way what the bad thing was is revealed, worked really well for me. I appreciated the look into how parents can act and feel when their child is away for the first time. I also appreciated the nonchalance of the husband's internet affair. On the flip side, I struggled with how cis and hetero-centric the book is, especially when it comes to discussions of assault and roles in families. When queer people do come up, it's because the narrator mocks a fellow teacher's coming out, or when the narrator strangely seems to suggest someone's gender identity might change. This is also a book where, to me, I fall into feeling frustrated that the characters simply don't have actual conversations about things; the book could have started with the husband leaving, as he does at the end, and in some ways might have been more compelling and surprising for me. All of that said, I can imagine plenty of people will relate to these themes and the concerns of the book in a way that just doesn't work for me. I'm not the best reader for this book, but the author is certainly talented and I can imagine this one will be a real hit.

An engrossing story of an ambitious woman, grappling with a lull in her 20-year marriage, the ache of being an empty-nester, the anticipation of a New York Times review of her latest book of poetry, and more.

Our protagonist tells us her story in a stream of consciousness fashion. We follow her as she works, thinks, and takes refuge in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We learn that something terrible has happened and slowly, we begin to understand what was that terrible thing…

The writing is beautiful and I was captivated by the unfolding of events, and also nervous, frustrated, and surprised. I will be thinking about it for a long time. I recommend The Deceptions to anyone looking for a smart, tense, emotional portrait of a woman beginning to unravel while trying to keep it all together.

Thank you very much to Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

This book felt too stream of consciousness for me to get into. I struggled to find the plot and it seemed at times a bit all over the place.