Crush by Ada Calhoun is a fictional yet unflinching look at open marriage and polyamory. Based on the author's own experiences, this story is unabashedly honest about the real consequences of having more than one relationship at a time. I was amazed at the level of self-awareness the narrator had in admitting the mistakes made by the involved parties, and by not laying blame on others even when that would have been understandable and even logical. This is also not a book that glorifies cheating or sings the praises of open marriage; it is just one person's experience and a candid look at the way things turned out in her relationships.

Even if you are not sure about reading about this topic, I highly recommend it as the writing is absolutely luminous. The author's sharp perceptions and academic approach to trying to understand matters of the heart resulted in enough literary, philosophical, and historical references to satisfy the most well-read and discerning readers out there (which makes sense, given the author's journalism background). This is not some tabloid tell-all or smutty rom-com. It is a deft handling of an incredibly difficult topic, and the I look forward to reading more fiction from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to read and review this e-galley.

“Crush” seemed like it would be a sexy, intriguing read. Unfortunately, it was lacking in that department and felt like random streams of thoughts that simply didn’t flow together. The story was disjointed and felt rather pointless. It dragged on for me which is surprising given the short length of the book. I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I’d hoped. 2.5 stars ⭐️, rounded up to 3. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy for review..

This is wonderful book about what happens when a couple decides to look at their marriage and figure out what is missing. As they decide to do some work on their marriage, they begin to discover a lot of things about themselves. This is a bold look at what happens in a marriage.

Whewwww boy. I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. While it had SO MUCH going for it the terrible husband felt like a straw man, which zapped the book of needed tension if it were to make good on its premise. But Tom Hanks? Almost made up for everything.

Thanks to Viking Penguin and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

I almost don't know where to start with this book. On the one hand, the main character, the author I guess, navigates a change to her married life in the best way possible while detailing how all of this affects her and her husband. On the other hand, this felt like a bizarre self-indulgent tale of not a crush, but actually falling in love and moving phases in life. Maybe that's the point? This book never really seems to be about a crush or crushes or anything of the sort, but instead, it's a detailing of how her marriage wasn't nearly as fulfilling as she thought it was, her husband took too much for granted and then they found a way forward. I'm really only thankful I didn't have to hear the husband's point of view outside of the author's lens.

I struggled at times with the narrator and how in her head this all was, though I never actually struggled with her decisions. Being so in her head felt frustrating and kinda icky maybe? I don't know it was hard to see through it to where this was inevitably going. I don't know if I needed more struggle.

I think I wanted a different ending somehow? I don't know.

Great premise but, sadly a disappointing book. The writing is poor and the plot is flat, don’t spend your money.

A raw, deeply personal meditation on obsession, art, and self-discovery. Calhoun’s voice is compelling, intimate, and unflinchingly honest.

@vikingbooks | #gifted I may have enjoyed 𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛 by Ada Calhoun more if I hadn’t read 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 by Molly Roden-Winter last year. The latter is a memoir of a woman’s journey into life with an open marriage. The former, a fictionalized account of the same basic thing. Though the two have differences, the similarities are what stood out to me.⁣
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In each the marriage is not without flaws, but also not in any kind of serious trouble. The idea of introducing others is brought up by the husband in both, though it’s the wife who makes the first move. Both women are happy, thrilled, and excited by their extra-marital relationships. Both balk at their husbands following their own leads. They both become tedious and whiny. ⁣
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From there, the stories began to differ, but by that point, I’d already been feeling for many, many pages like I was getting a rerun. While I enjoyed reading 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 felt too much like more of the same, and there’s only so much I need to read about open marriages!🤷🏻‍♀️ 2.5 stars (rounded up)

I had high hopes for this book, the description sounded good and it was lauded by authors I love. I didn't end up loving it -- I am not sure exactly why, I think partly due to not really having a lot of understanding of the main character or character development.

I think the themes discussed in this book are important ones -- discussions of open marriages, of monogamy, intimacy, and communication within relationships. I am always happy to see these things addressed in books, as they are something so many people are dealing with -- but I don't feel like this one quite did them justice.

It was quick, and parts of it were sweet and endearing -- I really wanted to like it but it didn't land for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

This novel is an interesting complement to a nonfiction book I read last year called More by Molly Roden Winter. Crush by Ada Calhoun does a solid job of exploring all of the complexities that come along with consciously choosing to open up your marriage. I would have appreciated more character development for the protagonist, so that I could have understood her motivations more deeply, However I still think the topic of redefining traditional marriage is very timely and will be compelling to a lot of readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I don't usually like romance, and this didn't work for me, but that is likely me as the problem! Some of it did make me feel a bit icky.

i found this book very unputdownable, but i wanted even more from it! there were so many quotations and references that it felt like all the most interesting ideas came from other people, and when all of them were done with there wasn't much left to it.

The concept of the novel Crush sounded like something I’d enjoy but the execution wasn’t great.

I think my main issue is that there is almost no character development. I am not sure how I can feel invested in what is happening to someone when I don’t understand where they are coming from. This is actually kinda wild considering almost the entire book is about the MC’s thoughts with very little happening. I felt no emotional connection to the MC or any of the characters.

I also found the husband pretty dislikable. He refused to get a job and didn’t contribute to the household yet we are supposed to feel for him when his wife falls for someone else? The whole thing just felt off.

I really only finished it because it was so short.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Taking off a star for all the philosophizing and navel gazing but the book did make some really good points and prompted a lot of introspection. Calhoun brings into question what it means to love fully and to let yourself be loved and also what we allow ourselves to have.

This was my first read from Calhoun but I would love to read more. I connected with the way she structures a story and the sharp observations she makes about life and behavior. Despite all the philosophical talk and VERY frequent quotes/references for some reason I couldn’t make myself put this down, possibly because this really appealed to my interest in human psychology and messy relationships. I also enjoyed the comparisons between the obligatory relationship between her parents and her romantic relationship. This book gave me a lot to think about.

I think readers who have an interest in psychology, human behavior, or the concept or marriage would enjoy this.

I was intrigued by the premise and summary of this book and felt it promised a lot. Unfortunately the execution was not for me. Thank you to the publisher for the free ebook to review.

Well, this book made me really thankful to be single, so there’s that at least. Also, I read a review before I started the book that talked about the overuse of quotes by other people, and it was all I could see when I started reading.

I liked the writing, but thought this novel would have been better as an essay/nonfiction/memoir. It had some informative musings about love, romance and crushing, but I felt that I was reading a philosophy nonfiction after a while, and it would have benefited from some editing of that filler and more focus on the narrative. I’d give this an author another try in the future but this was interesting, but not a great story.

I hate to write bad reviews but Crush is getting one. The entire thing was about characters who thought they wanted polyamory but really just want license to do what they want. No one is happy. No one is likable-not because I have any issue with people choosing to have any kind of relationship they want but because they aren't doing this openly. Not really.

The book had no narrative. It read like a list of boring flirting and sexual encounters. This is a book that could do with a reminder to show not tell. There was no plot. Just miserable people pretending they are happy.

I tried. I truly sincerely tried because I don't like giving bad reviews. This came across as so pretentious and there is very little actual creative writing going on here. It is more a series of long, interconnected quotes that go on and on. If this author got a dollar for every reference to a book or poem, I think she could retire. I jest...sort of. I just found this hard to slog through.

Ada Calhoun writes so beautifully. I enjoyed her previous book and was excited to read Crush. Unfortunately, I did not connect to these characters or this story. I went in thinking this was going to be a story about a crush, and it was to an extent, but it felt more like witnessing a train wreck of a marriage struggle and then collapse. It felt less like a novel and more like an essay... I was hoping for juicy, but instead felt sad and disappointed by the story and the people in it.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin for this ARC.