Finally! A novel for English Majors. No, seriously, this novel is filled with ideas, philosophies, definitions and probably more words you had to look up while reading than ever before. It also made me wonder if a better title would have been "Flirt".

the narrator is unnamed, but the book leans very heavily on what I believe is autobiographical details. She, the author, is unnamed, but her life appears to closely align with Ada Calhoun's. A writer and ghostwriter, she is married and the mother of a teenage son. She corresponds with Tom Hanks. She has a remarkable friend named Vernonica who always gives her the best advice. Her father is withholding and also terminally ill.

She is not only the primary earner in her marriage, but also the primary parent, cook and housekeeper. But mostly, she is a reader, a reader of Auden, and multiple other authors, poets, philosophers, (and also many texts and emails).

Her Marriage to Paul is satisfactory and yet... she misses kissing and cuddling. Their sex is good but goes right to the main event although she would prefer kissing and cuddling. She's middle-aged, attractive, and has always enjoyed flirting. This quality is one the Paul enjoys seeing her employ. Finally, he asks her if she would like permission to indulge this flirting as long as he is participating by either observing it or hearing about it later. Sound like a recipe for disaster? Uh huh. Paul pushes her into considering an open marriage or polyamory. He w ants, in exchange, permission to on-line date.

Meanwhile, she begins a friendship with David, a college professor, who is a prolific communicator. She begins to fall in love with him over shared books, quotes and reading recommendations. Dry? Not so. It develops into a love very different from her and Paul's. There is so much emotion and thought packed into this short novel that you will wonder if there is any event or emotion she has not ruminated about and described. And then, in a Scottish Castle, it all comes together. Or falls apart, depending on your own outlook.

Guaranteed" You will increase your vocabulary, your thoughts on love and grief and your knowledge of how polyamory works.

Thank you to Viking for offering me this ARC for an early read and to Net Galley, always.

I enjoyed this author's book called "Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give", a memoir about marriage with lots of advice included throughout. I should revisit it now since her new book "Crush", a novel, read as a memoir - I'm curious if I'd find threads from the memoir to this novel. The blurb says that the author used personal experiences as a jumping off point for this book and it truly read as a memoir for me.

Take a woman who marries a man she met in college and they have a seemingly happy marriage with a much loved son who is in his final year of high school. The woman loves to flirt with other men and her own husband never kisses her but he suggests she can kiss others and he would even find that exciting. She decides to do that and finds herself reconnecting with David from college and they enter into a passionate, though chaste, relationship, exchanging constant emails and books. Her husband is initially pleased with how she lights up from this other relationship and he encourages her to take it further.

I was engrossed in this story. I especially loved when the author brought in illuminating anecdotes about day-to-day situations - really landed for me. Less effective for me, were all the quotes sprinkled throughout - felt too academic and not engaging. Towards the end, I wished for more sharing about certain situations - it almost seemed like she was protecting some characters (real life people?) by skipping over some scenes I would have liked to see.

Overall, really liked this and grateful to the publisher for an advance copy with NetGalley.

I sort of liked the plot, but I found the writing very 'off'--it did not seem like a novel but more like a memoir and not a particularly well written memoir (sorry).

A captivating and intellectual exploration of marriage and desire. On the surface, our narrator has a strong relationship with her husband. That is until he suggests she amps up her flirting and kisses other men…

This felt like a memoir at times and this added a bit of strangeness but also allure to the writing. The pages are full of yearning and heartbreak and I was riveted by the evolving dynamics between our narrator and her husband and the rumination on love and longing.

Thank you very much to Viking Penguin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Ada Calhoun’s Crush is an electrifying exploration of marriage, desire, and identity that feels as raw as it is revelatory. Her writing is sharp and intimate, pulling you into the tangled beauty of a life that’s full yet yearning for more. The story balances heartbreak and humor with stunning precision, examining the messy, thrilling pursuit of rediscovery in a way that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. This is a novel that dares to ask the hardest questions about love and partnership, offering no easy answers but a breathtaking clarity by the end. Bold, seductive, and unforgettable.

The Crush by Ada Calhoun gives a different marital issue that we don't normally read about - when one spouse asks the other for an open marriage and what happens when they deal with the consequences of allowing it to occur.

As someone who's been married for almost 34 years, this book made me incredibly uncomfortable because I kept comparing it to my own life and how I could never be open to what Paul suggested to his wife and I kept thinking how my own child would have reacted compared to their child, Nate.

It was definitely a different view - her husband didn't like to kiss, so he suggested she kiss other men and things escalated from there to a summer to decide how they felt about their marriage and each other.

While I'm very liberal in almost every other aspect, I couldn't get over my own uncomfortable feelings about the open relationship and the aftermath.

This just wasn't the book for me, but it was well written.

Thank you to the author and the NetGalley for allowing me this ARC. All opinions are my own.

CRUSH is a fun and interesting read that focuses on a married couple that opens up their marriage and how that affects their relationship, intimacy and communication, especially when feelings are caught elsewhere. It was interesting to see the point of view of someone in that situation and the tough questions one must ask oneself and then tough choices to make based on those answers. I really loved and appreciated when the main character asks herself: "What will help me love myself best?"

Thank you to Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I so enjoyed this warm, witty novel and can absolutely see it being a big hit. I love reading about the complexities of marriage and thought that this really nails that theme. Both points of view are given weigh in a way that feels extremely fair, and I appreciated that there was a good ending without a perfect “happily ever after,” because that’s what real life is like.

As someone who has been married for twenty years, this book's description was interesting to me. I thought the story of Crush was unique and well thought out. The book's structure worked for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. It was an enjoyable read to get a glimpse into other people's marriage.

While I enjoyed this book and found it to be well-written, it was quite pretentious and I'm not sure who this book is for, exactly. Maybe someone who studies the classics but wants a breezy-ish romantic read? Calhoun references Petrarch, hooks, Hildegard of Bingen, St. Teresa of Avila, Auden, Whitman, Marilynne Robinson, Jules Renard, and Stendahl but also Grey's Anatomy, Weird Science, Parks and Recreation, and Clueless. The book is overflowing with allusions that tend to overwhelm the narrative.

Calhoun's portrait of a woman who finds and falls in love with her intellectual equal, with whom she's addicted to talking and sharing every thought, was effective and well done. I just felt that she skipped over some important parts of the plot in service of showing off her considerable intellect (She never mentions David's relationship status--is he single? Divorced? I guess we just assume he's available. And after all that fretting over how Nate, her son, would take her divorce, there is no mention of how he reacts).

Never let it be said that this book wears its research lightly. There’s scarcely a page that doesn’t quote from one source or another,usually but not always high culture, to remind you that author has done her homework. A philosophical novel about love? Okay. But does it really have to be so top heavy? Having said that, there were moments of enjoyment and humor that leavened the density. But for me it was just a bit too much, the think-y emphasis and reference. Better luck integrating, next time.

I have read all of Calhoun's books and this one, her first novel, was a delight. It definitely feels like auto-fiction in interesting and intriguing ways too. The characters are sharply drawn, and I appreciate Calhoun's close look at family and family systems.