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.