Thanks to NetGalley & Henry Holt & Company for providing me an e-ARC!

4.5 stars! This book sent me on a rollercoaster of emotions. Definitely not for the faint of heart so please read reviews and wait for the author to post a list of trigger warnings. For all the Swifties out there, this book perfectly captures the heartbreak and emotional turmoil of "All too Well".

We follow Enola, an aspiring book author in her late 20s, navigating life's challenges: trauma, friendships, and the complexities of relationships, both healthy but mostly extremely toxic. Eliza Moss dives deep into Enola's inner workings, portraying her overthinking mind and people-pleasing personality to a tee. There were moments where I wanted to shake Enola for overlooking her boyfriend's red flags, but then I remembered the trauma she hasn't addressed. Her strained relationship with her mother further contributes to her struggles. While Enola's situation may not resonate with everyone, there are moments where you can't help but empathize with her struggle.

This book is a powerful exploration of perspective. Those who have experienced abusive relationships will likely find themselves relating to Enola, while others might connect with Ruth, the friend trying to pull her out. The story utilizes an alternating timeline structure, which can be confusing at first, so pay close attention. However, the payoff is a truly insightful read.

What It’s Like In Words has unexpectedly become a top read of 2024 for me. Eliza Moss has written a debut novel that was, well let me just tell you…

What reading this book was like in words: heartbreaking, eye opening, triggering, important, emotional, heavy, inspiring, beautiful, gripping, incredible.

Aspiring author, Elona, attends her bimonthly writers group and meets the perfect guy. Or does she…

Over the course of two years we are in the front seat with Elona as she navigates through this relationship. We, as the reader, quickly learn that he may not be all that he is cut out to be. To put it nicely…he is a narcissistic, manipulative, gas lighting, arsehole of a human.

The problem is, it’s easier to believe the reality you want or better yet…the idea of what you want. With this, sometimes it’s also easier to miss the red flags. Even if they’re right in front of you.

When Elona was gaslit, I was gaslit. When he manipulated her, I was manipulated. When he made her feel crazy, I questioned my own sanity. But that’s also what makes me love this book. It’s heavy at times, but Eliza’s writing and sense of creating these scenes let alone characters, is incredible.
Following Elona through this and her ultimate growth, I too felt like I had grown by the time I finished this book.

What It’s Like In Words will be released December 3 and I cannot wait to grab a physical copy of this book and keep it on my bookshelf for years to come.

Congratulations on your debut novel Eliza! You have gained a new fan and I look forward to reading all your books to come!

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to author Eliza Moss for writing this broken-love story!

Thank you also to NetGalley and
Henry Holt and Co. for this heartrending ARC of What It’s Like In Words.

This brilliant book full of insights into the reality of unrequited love relationships made me question every one I have ever been in, a daunting endeavor.

Eliza Moss is skilled in describing the visceral sensuality involved with romantic and sexual obsession, of the potency of smells, the words or silences, the tastes, the sensations or lack of, the gaze or aversion, of desire left longing for a lover, or the cold removal of apathy.
I ached, my mind co-experiencing it all.

We experience Enola’s degradation with “him” to her casting away of Virinder’s purported love.

Enola has true love in her friendship with Ruth but it is secondary to her addiction to her love for “him.”
“I put my hands on her shoulders and assured her that there would never be a man who knew me better than she did.”
This love cannot compare to the drug of obsession for a narcissist, to Enola’s intoxication despite “his” gaslighting scorn for her for it.

I read this book in two days. Nola’s experience had once (or twice) been my own. Though parts were painful to read at times, I had to know if she would save herself in the end - and how.

The dialogue is not explanatory and I found it engaged rather than alienated my attention. It was real-life, the way we really talk.

It is story the way we really love?

Five stars!

First off the writing is beautiful I truly appreciated reading a book like this one after taking a small break, you know you did a good job with a character when you have the readers getting annoyed by them but also being able to relate which makes them even more annoyed😂. This is actually first for me so go be able to experience it was thrilling for my emotions😂

After meeting a man at her friend’s writing club, aspiring writer, Enola falls deeply in love with him. When their relationship isn’t what she expected, Enola is thrown into a spiral of feelings not only towards her relationship, but towards her mother and her childhood after the death of her father. Two years go by and these feelings become harder and harder to ignore.

Rating: 5/5 stars ⭐️

This book was frustratingly beautiful and it had me feeling so many emotions. A lot of the story hit home with me as a writer and as a woman. There were points were I felt so connected to Enola and then I was so connect to Ruth.

The author does a fantastic job at writing in this tone that feels like a steady stream of consciousness. I felt like I was listening to Enola tell her story to me.

The dark topics in the book are handled with grace and just done well. Abuse (mostly mental) and its effects were described well and respectfully.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt Company for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Can’t wait for What It’s Like in Words to be published in December!

Such a poignant and honest story about those toxic situationships you find yourself tangled in when you're still young, but not quite as young as you used to be. Characters were well-drawn --- the romantic interest is appropriately priggish. While Enola's decisions were sometimes frustrating, they were also relatable. I loved the way Moss wove her back story throughout the book, and the depiction of her slow unraveling felt believable. Recalled Genevieve Wheeler's Adelaide, but a bit less whimsical.

A story of a toxic relationship a woman being gas lit by a man.I was so caught up in the story I hated to put it down.So well written an author to follow.#netgalley #henryholt

I felt a range of emotions while reading this book, mostly frustrated and sometimes stressed regarding the main character, Enola. Enola's relationships were quite turbulent though her best friend Ruth had a "healthy" awareness to help her through.

I would rate What It's Like in Words 3.5 stars. The dialogue format, or lack thereof, in most of the book was confusing. The story line did keep me on my toes and I wanted to find out what happened next. Content was pretty heavy at times and while I fell into a slump while reading this, I believe Moss captured true emotion through the characters in this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the arc.

Amazing writing, but you’ll need a therapy session after, if not a stiff drink! Five coming-of-agey stars

HOOO boy this book made me so mad I needed to go lie down in a dark room midway through. I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever read a book with a more frustrating protagonist, and there were so many moments where I wanted Ruth to step aside so I could slap some sense into Enola. I thought the author did a fantastic job portraying the addictive, drug-like high “love” can give you. It hit extra hard for me because I’ve just recently gone through a breakup that had me feeling the exact same pathetic way as Enola did immediately after we broke up (but the difference is that I didn’t act on it, ENOLA). Jokes aside, this was a compelling and difficult look into narcissistic abuse in a relationship and I couldn’t tear myself away from it.

One small critique - although Enola’s relationship with her father was a clear underlying theme throughout and it was pretty obvious from the start what her father did, it felt like the reveal was still little rushed and glossed over. For such an important aspect of Enola’s background and her view on relationships, this “payoff” ultimately felt like an aside.

I still really enjoyed this (impressive that I can still enjoy something that made me want to throw it across the room no less than 5 times while reading) and I can’t wait to hear more from the author! Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ARC!

The storyline is great! If you have ever had a hard relationship or a relationship that just wasn’t meant to be for you, then you will definitely be able to relate to this book! I personally didn’t care for the writing style. However, it is a good read.

Synopsis:
Enola, an aspiring author, finds herself captivated by the outspoken, effortlessly cool guy she meets at writer’s night. Instantly drawn to him, she tries to prove herself equally cool. Ensnared by his enigmatic charm, Enola grapples with the trajectory of their relationship over the next two years.

Review:
What It’s Like in Words is the All Too Well of novels. We know it’s sad, we despise the love interest, we see it's a toxic relationship, yet we're enthralled by its beauty and can’t help but scream the lyrics whenever it comes on. What It’s Like in Words presents an emotionally turbulent journey, but it's a poignant narrative of a girl many of us have been at some point. Enola's partner is abusive— he gaslights her, is manipulative, and consistently mistreats her throughout their relationship. Still, Enola clings to fleeting moments where he appears kind and decent. I loved Enola’s best friend in this book, who immediately saw red flags yet continued to support Enola through the course of the relationship. And even though the relationship is the main focus in this novel, it’s also worth mentioning that the childhood trauma Enola works through is also relative and relatable.

The dialogue and dual timeline can be hard to follow at times, as there are no indicators that you are switching back and forth. However, I believe numerous readers can empathize with Enola and find parallels in their own experiences. I look forward to reading the next novel by Eliza Moss- what a wonderful debut!

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This review is up on Goodreads now and will be posted to social media one week before pub date, unless otherwise specified by the publisher.

Now this book is what I crave! I can already picture the series on Netflix if it was to happen. Hooked from the start. Juicy topics and characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5⭐️ WOWW If you're ever curious as to what "gaslighting" looks like, read this book...
It felt really raw following Enola in this toxic relationship and praying and hoping she'll wake up and dump his ass. The format of the book was a bit confusing, but the overall story was frustratingly addictive 😍

What It’s Like in Words consumed my thoughts and emotions as I experienced Enola’s toxic relationship through her eyes, desperately wishing she would get out of it.

The writing immediately pulled me in though, after a while, I found it disheartening to read about Enola’s continued diminishment of her own needs and wants. Still, I appreciated this compelling character-drive story for its beautiful writing and for the startling reminder of how easy it can be to lose yourself in someone else.

Thank you very much to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this impressive debut.

Per Caitlin Barasch's blurb, "If you enjoyed Genevieve Wheeler's Adelaide [and] Carola Lovering's Tell Me Lies ... you'll tear through this dark and addictive debut," and I feel personally targeted (though I'd add Hanna Halperin's I Could Live Here Forever to that list). I loved those books, and I really enjoyed this one too.

Enola was an incredibly - almost painfully - believable protagonist, and she elicited a host of conflicting feelings in me, especially when her relationship with her best friend began to deteriorate. Oftentimes with debut novels, especially character-driven ones, the pacing starts to drag, but I never found that to be the case here - and I thought Moss's writing was beautiful.

That said, I didn't like the mystery-esque throughline - the book toggles between two years of her toxic love story and 24 hours in a deliberately veiled haze after an evening of violence. I found the former immersive and the latter not so much. I didn't feel it was necessary - while it added some intrigue, mostly it confused the narrative, and I would have preferred the two-year story on its own.

Thanks to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for providing this book, with my honest review below.

What It’s Like in Words was an interesting read for me but ultimately just not to my tastes. Eliza Moss is a talented author and this was well written and I enjoyed the layered background to Enola, our main character. What I couldn’t quite get into was the confusing start, which eventually made sense at the end. The other thing that didn’t jive was that ultimately Enola was just not a character I liked. Closing in on 30 she read more as approaching her 20’s, immature, especially emotionally. While this makes some sense in the context of her history I did want to shake her a few times and tell her to open up her eyes.

To get this reaction I give the writer credit for a vivid story, but I wasn’t able to immerse myself enough to really feel Enola’s journey. You may, and I encourage you to read it if you enjoy excellent writing and want to feel the rollercoaster of some bad relationships in your late teens.

What It’s Like in Words is an extraordinarily beautiful and poetic novel. The writing masterfully paints such vivid images that the story comes alive from the print in the most unique way. The story is written in the first person from the viewpoint of Enola, a struggling almost 30-year old who is still trying to find her voice on paper as a writer and in her own personal narrative. Her inner dialogue is raw and powerful and radiates her total vulnerability. As she delves into a new relationship and examines her past, toxic and unhealthy connections push her to the brink. In this gripping and masterful page turner, we see the intense and realistic struggle to assert oneself as a young woman in an often cruel and challenging world.

Review is posted on Goodreads and will be on Instagram ahead of publication.