Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Misrecognition by Madison Newbound!

This book was... not for me. It’s about a woman who feels utterly adrift—back at her parents’ house, stuck in a restaurant job, recovering from a messy entanglement with a man and a woman (we only get fragmented glimpses of that dynamic). Her days are consumed with obsessive thoughts about an actor, and later, someone connected to that actor.

On paper, it sounds like an exploration of identity and longing, but in execution, it fell flat. Large portions of the book are dedicated to rehashing episodes of popular TV shows or beauty YouTube content, which I assume were meant to serve a larger metaphorical purpose… but they mostly felt like filler. I couldn’t connect with or care about these tangents.

The main character’s lack of personality is likely intentional—she latches onto others, her fantasies orbiting around whoever catches her attention, often erotically. But instead of creating intrigue or emotional depth, her constant absorption into others made her feel like a blank slate, making it hard to root for her or even understand her motivations.

While there’s probably some deeper commentary on obsession, identity, or parasocial relationships buried in the story, it didn’t land for me. It felt aimless, much like its protagonist, and left me wondering what the point was.

Look, I don't mind a plotless character-driven novel, but in order to be entertaining it has to have some struggle to overcome or at least some level of character development. Don't get me wrong, this book is fairly well written, it's the execution I didn't click with. I don't mind the descriptions of mundane things like stalking people on social media or making purchases for the instant gratification, but this book just didn't flow for me. I was interested about the polyamory relationship Elsa whas dumped from and we just find some glimpses throughout the book that don't give a full picture of the situation. I'm sorry but this was kind of disappointing.

I really appreciated the humor and wit that the story reflects, especially with respect to mental health, social media, and Elsa;s quarter-life crisis. Despite these positive aspects, I struggled to finish this book even as I was able to relate to Elsa and her reflections on her professional and romantic lives. This book felt a little like a crossover between Emma Cline's "The Guest" and Kiley Reid's "Come and Get It," but without the rising suspense and second-hand embarassment that makes both books interesting and engaging to read. I wasn;t every really surprised by this book or the decisions made by Elsa, which is either a credit to her consistent characterization or a reflection of the pacing and overall plot of the story.

This was okay for me, it was a good story but didn’t hit the way I needed it too. There was so much buildup, and thinking in this book that didn’t connect all the dots. Definitely the main characters way of thinking just didn’t sit right and from the description of the book it wasn’t what I expected at all. I loved the way the story was told just didn’t agree with actions or how things were placed in the plot. Give this a read if you enjoy a slow burn book

So we all agree that the movie Elsa watches with her parents in the opening scenes of this book is Call Me By Your Name, right? Even just operating on that hunch (before being validated by the NYT and Kirkus Reviews) made this book into something slightly stranger than just a book about obsession and lust and queer awakening. At some level, it begs the question: is it appropriate for authors to use real, living people as characters within fiction? I KNOW, I know that a whole subsection of historical fiction revolves around the fictionalization of the lives of historical figures but it somehow seems weirder when the person or their peers could feasibly read the content written with them in mind (and yes, I'm also aware that fanfiction exists but that's something other than what is being done here). Granted, Mr Timmy Chalamet remains unnamed throughout the book, but the depiction of it is so clear that it's hard to ignore. I haven't even seen the movie and I spotted it immediately.

Aside from that, there was an odd distancing from all of the characters, both linguistically and emotionally. The primary love interest, after Timmy, is referred to exclusively as "the person called Sam" which is...a choice, to be sure. References to the MC's past relationship are 'the man and the woman' which becomes cumbersome after a time, too. There's obviously a lot of my personal taste coming into play here, but I do not think this book was a hit—I haven't seen much about it online and I'm beginning to understand why.

I wish that I could recommend this for readers of ________ but at this point I can only recommend it for readers/watchers(?) of Call Me By Your Name.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to review in exchange for an honest review!

I love female protagonist who do not have anything in their life together as much at the next person but this book was just lacking substance and plot for majority of it. Most of the book was Elsa just.. existing. It was all fluff that added nothing to her storyline. I feel that it would have been a great novella, cut all the fluff and just have the Sam story line. One thing i did like was the ending; no resolution good or bad. It does not submit Elsa into a box it leaves her story open. I could have done without her many shifts as a host, stalking people on social media, and walking around sephora.

Misrecognition dives into the disconnection and ennui of a digital age through the lens of Elsa, a deeply flawed and aimless protagonist. While the premise of exploring parasocial relationships, queer identity, and polyamory is intriguing, the novel meanders with a slow pace and sparse plot development. For fans of introspective, vibe-heavy narratives, this might resonate, but others may find it frustratingly evasive and underwhelming.

This one is for the all vibes little plot sad girl lit lovers out there. Elsa’s depression is palpable and she turns to social media instead of seeking help. She’s very isolated from everything other than aimless scrolling and while it’s probably not this extreme, it’s a problem for our digital age. Within the vibes, there is some exploration of queer identities and post-postmodern adulthood, but I wanted those to be easier to find and a bit more fleshed out. I can see this one being more relatable to someone dealing with a certain flavor of quarter life crisis.

For the litfic girlies! Eerily, me and my best friend's names are also Elsa and Caro, and those aren't very common names, so that was fun! I enjoyed the time I spent with this book and recommend it to Cusk fans.

Woof, I do not know about this book. A MC who is obsessed with the thinly veiled Timothee Chalamet (who she ends up meeting and gets involved in his friend group!?), a non-binary person who is repeatedly named as "the person called Sam" and the endless descriptions of online videos and scrolling social media all left me a bit cold. I feel like this book had nothing new to say, was wholly unbelievable (and for no discernable reason), and I sped through it. Just left with a lot of questions about who this book is for and what the overall purpose was.

This was super different than my typical read so I was apprehensive at first but I loved it. I found myself identifying with Elsa’s journey so much.

Definitely a bit depressing at times and I felt as if the ending was lacking a bit of closure. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with an eARC of Misrecognition in exchange for my honest review!

I can admire what this book aims to accomplish, even while I don't completely click with it. There's praise to be given for how much this character study devotes itself to fleshing out the hollowness of Elsa's life. She's this pitiful and lonesome being who uses Instagram, YouTube, and her obsession over multiple people (including Timothée Chalamet) as entities that she can rely on to fill up the emptiness inside herself. As bleakly compelling as this can be to follow sometimes, it's also capable of putting me in a restless state that wants to dive into more substantial meat. At least this is only novella-length, although even then, the prose can get a bit too verbose. Again, I understand that this is supposed to display the shallowness of Elsa's world, but the execution isn't completely smooth nonetheless.

Overall, I'm officially rating Misrecognition three out of five stars. It's perfectly all right, and I suppose I'll keep an eye out for more of Madison Newbound's work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Try as I might, I could not get into this book. For me, the characters as well as story fell flat. It was disappointing as the premise seemed really interesting.

This was a DNF at 30%. The MC is plagued by personal failures and I could not get into the plot. It felt like endless sadness and self pity.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book just wasn't for me, and it's a shame because I love reading about unhinged women. This book starts off pretty slow and uneventful. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, and when it did, boy the revelation was such a letdown. This book has this weird tone, and I didn't care about the plotline. The only positive was the writing. I think the author has a lovely prose and wicked sense of humor, but her storytelling is rather stale.

*Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of "Misrecognition" by Madison Newbound.

Woof...this novel was, unfortunately, a letdown for me. I was excited to dive into a novel that explores queer identity, internet commentary, overconsumption, etc., but alas, this novel falls short. "Misrecognition" is lacking in depth overall, with an undeniable flatness to the characters themselves. I also didn't like the author's writing style, finding myself skimming my way through the back half of the book. Another reviewer describes the book as "no plot, just vibes," which couldn't be more accurate. I won't be picking up another book by this author.

I wanted to like Madison Newbound’s MISRECOGNITION so much more than I did. The premise sounds excellent and I was hooked on that alone; however, the novel does not quite fulfill it. The main character Elsa never came across as obsessive or anything remotely having any kind of energy to it. Overall the book felt like one overly long scroll through Instagram, the kind where you look up to realize it’s been far, far longer than you’d intended and all you have to show for it is a general “ick” for falling down a social media hole. I do appreciate the type of character-focused, somewhat anti-plot style Newbound uses, but something did not work here. Maybe I’d feel differently if Elsa had done something like make a decision near or at the end that had “burn it all down” consequences or something. She is depressed, which is effectively rendered through the rather gauzy feel at the beginning of the book. The whole novel having this feel didn’t work, though, most likely because it kept Elsa too far out of reach. I didn’t care what happened to her after the book ended, but I wish I did.

Frankly, this was a miss for me, and I found myself slogging through it just to finish. The drawn-out prose felt more tedious than insightful, and I never really connected with Elsa, the main character. Her constant drifting and obsession felt flat, and instead of evoking empathy, it left me feeling bored.

I’ll admit, the Timothée Chalamet-inspired character was a hard sell from the start for me as well (cue Michael Bluth here: HIM???), and it felt like a forced attempt to capture a modern “cool” vibe. What could have been an interesting look at queer identity and postmodern adulthood just didn’t land for me. By the time the story delved into Elsa’s confusing connection with Sam, I was already checked out. The book had some potential with its themes, but it was lost in a sea of aimless internet scrolling and a protagonist I couldn't care about.

There were parts of this book and I did enjoy but for the most part I found myself pretty bored unfortunately. Dnf at 56%