It may be that I am not a literary fiction lover, but this book didn't land for me. I had a hard time connecting with George, as I was focused on his flaws. There were certainly clever moments and the writing overall was good, but the story wasn't one I could connect with.

I don’t feel right giving this a rating because I think this book will be well loved by many and just wasn’t for me.

I liked the structure, the concept, the writing is simple and direct but I just couldn’t stand George and while I thought the final chapter was really profound it didn’t save the experience. George in a word is stagnant and hard to like and not in the enjoyable way.

Sure we all know a George but I don’t want to.

I love George! I know George, and you probably do, too. George is his own worst enemy. He holds potential and privledge in multitudes but he simply can’t get out of his own way. Supported by his mother and long suffering girlfriend, Jenny, I found myself frustrated with both of them for allowing George to be George for so long. But also understanding how easily one can fall under his spell and want to help him better himself. The sharp writing and killer humor make this character study so easy to read. You will root for George, relate to him in some ways, be frustrated by him in many ways, but ultimately want the best for him.

I don’t even know how to rate this book. George is terrible. Is this really someone’s story? What a waste. It was honestly so sad, in a really cringe worthy way. I kept reading on thinking there would be a point in the story where things would take a turn, but they never did. Could’ve guessed Jenny was a double masker from page one though.

The Book of George is a meandering look at a pretty unlikeable and unaccomplished man. His main claims to fame are stumbling into a role in a hidden camera Super Bowl commercial (making a fortune he squandered on crypto), and leading on a woman for several years who was outrageously patient with him until she wasn't. George is incredibly selfish and unpersonable -- going more for laughs from his brief stint in comedy in school than connection, for example getting asked to stop being a book club facilitator for showing up all the members and treating it like a lecture. Some of the characters were interesting in their reactions to his antics, especially is mother and sister. A nice redemption scene at the end was probably good for him but too little to late for the reader. This was a tough one to connect to.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of The Book of George. The print version is published by Henry Holt and both versions will be available October 8.

4.44 stars rounded to 4.

“Everyone knows a George” they said. UGH. They’re probably right. What’s a George, you ask? A George is millennial male “brimming with potential but incapable of following through”. He’s mercurial, going from funny and cheerful to sullen and brooding in an instant. George isn’t interested in spending time on pursuits that don’t engage him or help him get ahead, and he’s not likely to remain invested when the going gets tough. Usually, a George has redeeming qualities that help him get by in life despite his ennui.

The Book of George follows one such George over two decades, poignantly presenting snapshots of his life. It’s the Elizabeth Strout/Olive Kitteridge formula and it’s used brilliantly here to evoke a sense of time passing without much momentum from George (highly characteristic of a George). While I don’t read character-driven novels as much as genre fiction, this story grabbed and held my attention from the beginning. It almost feels Seldfeldian — nothing much happens with George but the situations and settings we see him in are varied enough to keep the story feeling fresh and interesting.

Note: If you’ve ever been emotionally invested in a George, parts of this book may be tough to read. I was married to a George and reading this took me back to some memories that are hard to relive. I’m glad I read it though, because I feel so seen and so much less alone.

Audio: The audiobook is performed by Blair Baker, a female narrator, which is such a telling choice for this book that explores masculine millennial ennui. Having a woman read the story feels like taking power away from the Georges of the world and leveling the playing field a bit. Just… yes.

Overall ratings
Exact star rating: 4.44
5-pt star rating: 4

Attribute ratings
Characters: 5
Atmosphere/Setting: 4.5
Writing Style: 5
Plot/Pacing: 4
Intrigue: 4
Logic: 5
Enjoyment: 4

This a pretty good book. Albeit very frustrating but I guess that’s the point, as the reader we see how charming and pull of potential George is but just falls short every time. You just can’t help to root for him though. This is very much a character book and if you enjoy those types of stories I think you’d love this!

Thanks NetGalley & Macmillan pub/ audio.
I also listened to the audiobook and it was great.

A third person narrative about a bumbling, lazy, charming and inconsiderate guy named George. This is really the story of his long suffering partner, Jenny. Jenny is a lawyer, mature and kind hearted, and deserves so much better. The story begins as they are servers at a restaurant, going through a decade of life. I file this under “cringe fiction” as it is so well-written and creative. In many ways it’s actually a great book. But at the same time I disliked George so, so much. He is selfish, self-centered, arrogant and OBLIVIOUS. There is one chapter in particular, in which George’s mom is selling the house and he needs to come home to clean out his childhood bedroom. I was so angry at George I wanted to throw the book across the room. Which is saying a lot because I listened to the audiobook. George, you need therapy, my dude.

I appreciated that the audiobook has a female narrator, although this is explicitly written about George. This really solidified the fact that we are Jenny, we are trying to make sense of George through a female lens.

Thanks to @netgalley and @henryholtbooks and @macmillan.audio for the ARC. Book to be published October 7, 2024.

#booksbooksbooks #bookstagram #booklover #arcreview #booktok #netgalley #bookrecommendations #thebookofgeorge

Oh, George. What are we going to do with you?? Pretty much everyone knows a George in real life. Or at least someone who is George-ish. A man who has so much potential and even a decent amount of charisma, but who just can't seem to propel himself forward and make something of his life. Most Georges have a (usually) woman or women in his life who cater to them and act as their crutch when needed (which is often).

The Book of George follows one George throughout his life from the time he's a kid to when he's practically 40. He has an interesting family love (I love his sister so much!) and a on-again-off-again girlfriend named Jenny who is equal parts in love with him and frustrated with him. So much in this book will make you want to slap George and tell him to get it together. But there's also another part of you that will likely make you feel a little sympathy for George and you'll likely even find yourself rooting for him throughout the book.

I found this book to be very easy and enjoyable to listen to via audiobook!

This is a book about George through the years as we witness his interactions with important women in his life. George is very hard to like. He is entitled, arrogant, self centered and blames his shortcomings and failures on external people and issues. He makes cringe worth choices and suffers a multitude of consequences. He is a sad man who can't get a handle on his life despite some serious propping up financially and emotionally. Yet it is not like he isn't trying, he just can't seem to find a rhythm or path/person that he is willing to commit to. There is no redemptive arc for this character. HOWEVER - I enjoyed the book and was hoping that in the end there would be some type of transformation in George and despite George's neediness and lack of self awareness, the others in his life like/love him making it hard not to want to see him move forward.

Blair Baker is the narrator and does a good job of keeping the book interesting. I liked her pacing and emphasis.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of George tells the story of George through little slice of life scenes over years of his life. George is a complex, interesting character. He is self-centered, cynical, kind, funny, gloomy, clever, and a bumbling idiot. Most of the book is told through his relationships with the women around him: his mother who is aloof, but also babies him, his sister who lives an alternative lifestyle, but still wants George to fit in, and his long-suffering girlfriend Jenny, who just wants George to commit. The reader watches George grow and change and regress over the decades of his life in this very intimate character study.

I have mixed feelings about George, which is sort of the point. At times I was really rooting for him, hoping that things would turn out, or I was astonished by how sweet he could be with the people he loved. At other times, I wanted to roll my eyes at his antics because he was seemingly so unaware of the ways his actions impacted other people and how selfish he was being. The writing was so smooth and compelling and I really liked the way the chapters were divided into the years. The narrator of the audiobook did a great job of capturing the tone of the book and was a pleasure to listen to. This will be a great book for people who enjoy character-driven books and slice of life stories.

3 stars. I liked this! George is inherently an unlikable guy but is surrounded by interesting people throughout this life. This book tracks George over the course of his life as he makes his different choices and we see how they affect those around him. In general I found myself more invested in the people around him than George itself which felt odd given the nature of this book. Even so, it was very well written and many parts of it were quite humorous. A nice story but not my favorite!

Thank you to netgalley and holt books for the eARC and ALC in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I recommend this book on audio so that you get the style and tone the narration offers, I felt it was more engaging to listen to this one as compared to sitting and reading the book.

Thank you Henry Holt and MacMillan audio for The Book of George. I loved Blair Baker's narration, I valued that it was a female voice telling the story because Jenny, oh Jenny, she deserved to have the book narrated by a woman who could offer the wryly astute tone needed to appreciate Greathead's story. I 100% know a George, I might even have taught a few and be related to a few..., so I loved the way Greathead captures the meandering lack of focus that George has, his oblivious white maleness that somehow ensures he seems to kind of land of his feet/not have to take responsibility for himself (ouch, that might be a personal issue I have with a George I know...). I felt for Jenny, how she was strung along, but I felt Greathead did a good job helping us see Jenny as her own person even as I felt for her and the Jenny's I know (if we know George's then we also know Jenny's). this is a resonant story that did remind me of the early 2000s when I was finishing college and starting grad school, of the odd detachment that often pervades that time in development, and what arrested development (psychoanalytically speaking) can look like.

I did not like George. There, I said it. He’s immature, insufferable, rude, arrogant, insensitive, lazy, and hot tempered. THE BOOK OF GEORGE is a character study of an immensely unlikable character. It follows him from his formative years through adulthood and, along the way, George learned nothing. He did not evolve. He did not grow emotionally. He did not move beyond his belief that everyone in the world exists solely to serve him.

The only character who frustrated me more is Jenny, his long suffering girlfriend. Jenny, sweetheart, you deserve so much better. Does it not bother you to work all day while George is home only to cook dinner for him every night? It bothered me. Did you not hear the warning bells when your grown adult boyfriend spent hours playing with his GameBoy while you packed up the remnants of his childhood bedroom? I heard them. Run, Jenny run. George is an emotionally stunted child in a man’s body.

Considering all that, this book made me laugh. It made me shake my head in understanding because we’ve all known or dated or worked with one or more Georges. Heaven help us. Like Jenny, we deserve better. BRAVO to Kate Greathead for accurately capturing the sad reality of the manchild.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Henry Holt & Co. for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

I sat through a presentation at work that discussed how perceptions and values are formed for a generation based on the events that they lived through and the generation that raised them. Each generation essentially lived in different world causing their values to be somewhat of even drastically different from the generation before. According to the blurb this book is a portrait of millennial masculinity. Being a solid Gen X, I am not sure if my perception from a different era or my personal experience is different with the millennials I work with, but this book was not for me. The writing wasn’t bad but I found every stereotype of millennials explored. The characters were whiny, the relationships weird, and the lack of any growth in the characters by the end a great frustration. But maybe that was the whole point. This might be a very different read for a millennial.

This book was an interesting character study, focusing on a character that felt almost too real—probably because I’ve definitely dated a George before. While I found it hard to like him, that’s clearly not the point. George is frustrating, but I still found myself rooting for him as we follow him through the years in this coming-of-age story. The author deserves all the credit for making his journey so compelling—it’s sharp, reflective, funny, and very relatable.

If unlikeable main characters aren’t your thing, this might not be the book for you. But if you’re up for an entertaining, well-written deep dive into the mind of someone drifting through life, I’d recommend giving it a chance. George is insufferable, but that’s exactly what makes it such a great read. And as someone who's been in Jenny’s shoes, let me tell you, it brought back some serious flashbacks!

I read the ebook and listened to the audiobooks simultaneously. Both provided a fantastic experience so you can't go wrong with either one.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and Macmillan Audio for providing review copies of the book and audiobook through NetGalley.

Full disclosure, I was drawn to this book by the title. George is a family name, so I thought it’d be interesting but it just ended up frustrating me. This book puts you in the mind of George throughout his life. You see the world and his circumstances through his POV. He is polar opposite how I think which is why I was probably annoyed half the time he made dumb choices.

Each section I found myself saying, oh geez how’d he get here? He for sure is working through a lot of struggles and things he’s not confronting. He tends to drift around without any motivation and drag those who love him with and it’s frustrating. I wanted to scream at his gf and the end… was just meh. The author did a good job of making me dislike a human being for 9 hours.
♥️ Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook ARC.

I give this book 4 solid stars.
Gorge I give 2.
I loved this books and the way it followed George through his life.
However, I found George frustrating and insufferable.
I know this was the point. He was in a constant state of unease and with a lack of or no momentum going forward. I often felt bad for him, but I also sometimes hated the way he treated the people around him.
I have for sure know a George or two in my life, and maybe that’s why I held out hope that he would find his place and propel himself into life at some point in his story.
I think Greathead is extremely talented and it seems effortlessly creates characters we have met before or can relate to ourselves.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

The Book of George is, not surprisingly, about a man named George. The novel gives us glimpses into his life from various moments as a child to his late thirties. We quickly learn he's a flawed individual. He's not bad, per se, but he can be selfish, aloof, lazy, and inconsiderate. I always enjoy reading about characters that aren't picture-perfect, and George is certainly that.

The instances where I most wanted to shake George dealt with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Jenny. In the beginning, he wasn't crazy about her, and yet, he strung her along. He played video games while she cleaned his childhood bedroom. He teased her about her lack of book smarts. I agree with some of the reviews I've read in that I would have loved to have gotten her perspective more often over the course of this book.

Another part about the book I liked was the slice of life format. We dropped in on George at some moment in his life, and in the next chapter, we revisited him a few years later. I looked forward to seeing what about him changed (or what didn’t). The narrator did a great job of conveying the world of George and her voice only enhanced the story.

I truly enjoyed this book. It filled me with so many emotions, and it was easy to find myself absorbed in the world of George.

this story following the lackluster life of a mediocre man made me sympathetic to the angry & entitled men who can’t turn their life around, even though they don’t deserve it. If you like books with deeply unlikable characters, this one might be for you