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Out of Line
Sweet Virginia
What’s a woman to do when she fails to live up to feminine ideals? It depends on what she’s willing to give up in this darkly comic short story by Caroline Kepnes, the bestselling author of You.
Shelby is struggling with parenthood, marriage, a passive-aggressive mother, and unemployment. But she also has a sweet escape in her beloved Hallmark movies. When a secret admirer promises to sweep her away into a world of those same romantic tropes, the temptation is so heady, Shelby can already smell the pumpkin spice. But this rom-com dream has a whiff of conspiracy…
Caroline Kepnes’s Sweet Virginia is part of Out of Line, an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
Shelby is struggling with parenthood, marriage, a passive-aggressive mother, and unemployment. But she also has a sweet escape in her beloved Hallmark movies. When a secret admirer promises to sweep her away into a world of those same romantic tropes, the temptation is so heady, Shelby can already smell the pumpkin spice. But this rom-com dream has a whiff of conspiracy…
Caroline Kepnes’s Sweet Virginia is part of Out of Line, an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.
45 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2020
599 people are currently reading
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About the author
Caroline Kepnes
27 books14.1k followersCaroline Kepnes is the New York Times bestselling author of You, Hidden Bodies, Providence and...
You Love Me. Publishing in the US on Aril 6, 2021
(You know You Netflix? That's based on my Joe Goldberg books! You can read You3 before Season 3)
Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and then worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up on Cape Cod, and now lives in Los Angeles.
You Love Me. Publishing in the US on Aril 6, 2021
(You know You Netflix? That's based on my Joe Goldberg books! You can read You3 before Season 3)
Her work has been translated into a multitude of languages and inspired a television series adaptation of You, currently on Netflix. Kepnes graduated from Brown University and then worked as a pop culture journalist for Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer for 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She grew up on Cape Cod, and now lives in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 415 reviews
March 11, 2024
***SPOILERS HIDDEN***
I can’t remember the last time I read something and couldn’t figure out what in the world it was about. This much, at least, is clear: Sweet Virginia starts as one thing and ends as something else. The story opens as realistic fiction and stays this way until close to the end. It’s centered on the childlike Shelby, newly fired from her job and unsatisfied with her marriage and with motherhood. She escapes into corny Hallmark Christmas movies, most notably the ones starring Candace Cameron Bure. Despite acknowledging what’s problematic about these movies, Shelby wants the charmed life they depict, and constantly swings between wishing it were possible and lamenting the awful (in her eyes) state of her life. Most of the narrative consists of her thoughts looping from one hang-up back to another. None of these thoughts sheds much light on who she is beyond showing she’s an unreliable narrator.
Later the story takes a turn and becomes a kind of dystopian, speculative fiction. I can't tell what author Caroline Kepnes was trying to say with this short story. The later speculative fiction parts make a weak statement about feminism. Other than that, this is a disjointed, somewhat boring tale that fails as an unreliable-narrator story and as everything else. With her You series, Kepnes proved she’s more talented than this.
Often the problem with short stories is that the premise or theme is too involved for the short-story format to do it justice, resulting in a story that feels incomplete and unsatisfying. That's not the problem with Sweet Virginia. The problem is it feels like a free-form, brainstorming writing exercise. Expansion to novel length wouldn't remedy the problem because there’s no story here. I don't know why this was published.
I can’t remember the last time I read something and couldn’t figure out what in the world it was about. This much, at least, is clear: Sweet Virginia starts as one thing and ends as something else. The story opens as realistic fiction and stays this way until close to the end. It’s centered on the childlike Shelby, newly fired from her job and unsatisfied with her marriage and with motherhood. She escapes into corny Hallmark Christmas movies, most notably the ones starring Candace Cameron Bure. Despite acknowledging what’s problematic about these movies, Shelby wants the charmed life they depict, and constantly swings between wishing it were possible and lamenting the awful (in her eyes) state of her life. Most of the narrative consists of her thoughts looping from one hang-up back to another. None of these thoughts sheds much light on who she is beyond showing she’s an unreliable narrator.
Later the story takes a turn and becomes a kind of dystopian, speculative fiction. I can't tell what author Caroline Kepnes was trying to say with this short story. The later speculative fiction parts make a weak statement about feminism. Other than that, this is a disjointed, somewhat boring tale that fails as an unreliable-narrator story and as everything else. With her You series, Kepnes proved she’s more talented than this.
Often the problem with short stories is that the premise or theme is too involved for the short-story format to do it justice, resulting in a story that feels incomplete and unsatisfying. That's not the problem with Sweet Virginia. The problem is it feels like a free-form, brainstorming writing exercise. Expansion to novel length wouldn't remedy the problem because there’s no story here. I don't know why this was published.
April 21, 2021
This 39 page short story is part of the Out of Line Collection which is currently available on Kindle Unlimited.
What happens when women step out of line and take control of their own lives?
This is the story of Shelby and her love of Hallmark movies. Shelby has recently been fired, is a new mother and believes she is responsible for the death of the family dog.
I could not connect with this book at all which is weird because I've loved other books written by this author but the style of writing and the repetitive narrative made this feel much longer than its 39 pages.
I'm not sure I grasped the point of this book as while the story felt basic i'm struggling to understand how it fits in the Out of Line Collection so I obviously missed something somewhere!
This 7 book collection is exclusive to Amazon and a great way to try out some new authors.
What happens when women step out of line and take control of their own lives?
This is the story of Shelby and her love of Hallmark movies. Shelby has recently been fired, is a new mother and believes she is responsible for the death of the family dog.
I could not connect with this book at all which is weird because I've loved other books written by this author but the style of writing and the repetitive narrative made this feel much longer than its 39 pages.
I'm not sure I grasped the point of this book as while the story felt basic i'm struggling to understand how it fits in the Out of Line Collection so I obviously missed something somewhere!
This 7 book collection is exclusive to Amazon and a great way to try out some new authors.
December 29, 2022
Caroline Kepnes is an author I love and while I did enjoy this story, it felt a bit flat to me.
I liked the twists the story took, but all in all, I guess I didn't care for the protagonist, Shelby, very much. I understand losing your job and being a new mother all at once can be overwhelming. I also understand new mothers wondering if they're normal, or if their feelings are normal, but what I don't get, (or maybe I just don't like it), is what Shelby did later when the anonymous texts began to arrive.
I'm not sure if this is a tale about a working woman being torn between motherhood and fulfilling work or if it's a tale about a whiny woman who is too afraid to tell people how she really feels.
To be blunt, by the end I didn't really care, which is something I've never experienced reading Caroline's work.
Anyway, I gave this a middle of the road rating, but I suspect this one will have reviews all over the board, so that, at least, that shows it connected with readers on many different levels.
*Listened from 12.28.22 to 12.29.22, removed reading dates so it's not counted towards my reading goals for the year.*
I liked the twists the story took, but all in all, I guess I didn't care for the protagonist, Shelby, very much. I understand losing your job and being a new mother all at once can be overwhelming. I also understand new mothers wondering if they're normal, or if their feelings are normal, but what I don't get, (or maybe I just don't like it), is what Shelby did later when the anonymous texts began to arrive.
I'm not sure if this is a tale about a working woman being torn between motherhood and fulfilling work or if it's a tale about a whiny woman who is too afraid to tell people how she really feels.
To be blunt, by the end I didn't really care, which is something I've never experienced reading Caroline's work.
Anyway, I gave this a middle of the road rating, but I suspect this one will have reviews all over the board, so that, at least, that shows it connected with readers on many different levels.
*Listened from 12.28.22 to 12.29.22, removed reading dates so it's not counted towards my reading goals for the year.*
September 3, 2020
This is my third read from the Out of Line collection and it’s the first story that I felt had life, had layers, had a more complex meaning. Kepnes can do a short story. She can write people. This is compelling and I enjoyed it.
Maybe this would have gotten a higher rating from me if I hadn’t been reading the whole Out of Line collection. I’m not in love with the way they handle women’s issues - and I’m still on the fence about the Hallmark concept of this story.
What does it mean when Amazon publishes a collection of works about womens liberation - and the focus of many of the stories is motherhood, with a sprinkling of rape, Hallmark movies, post divorce life, and privilege. I’m not sure what commentary they’re trying to make on womanhood, but I don’t know if it’s for me.
Maybe this would have gotten a higher rating from me if I hadn’t been reading the whole Out of Line collection. I’m not in love with the way they handle women’s issues - and I’m still on the fence about the Hallmark concept of this story.
What does it mean when Amazon publishes a collection of works about womens liberation - and the focus of many of the stories is motherhood, with a sprinkling of rape, Hallmark movies, post divorce life, and privilege. I’m not sure what commentary they’re trying to make on womanhood, but I don’t know if it’s for me.
March 10, 2021
This book is part of the "Out of line" collection, and although it was readable, it wasn't very entertaining. If anything, it has left me a little confused as to where our main character was "out of line" in the story.
This story is about a woman obsessed with tongue in cheek movies, that always seem to have a happy ending, and despite this, she appears to have many problems in her life, that she just sweeps under the carpet.
The characters were mediocre, and I couldn't really warm to any of them, which made the story even more tiresome.
This story is about a woman obsessed with tongue in cheek movies, that always seem to have a happy ending, and despite this, she appears to have many problems in her life, that she just sweeps under the carpet.
The characters were mediocre, and I couldn't really warm to any of them, which made the story even more tiresome.
January 6, 2021
I really enjoyed this, I think it was excellent but I do think it was marketed wrong.
For me this was almost a thriller, it was disturbing and creepy. The collection from Amazon is marketed as an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. It was defintiely thought provoking and enraging but I didn't find it funny or hopeful, not at all. Not unless being torn from your family and unhappy life and thrown into a government programme to remake you ito a perfect 50s housewife is hopeful. Christ.
For me this was almost a thriller, it was disturbing and creepy. The collection from Amazon is marketed as an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. It was defintiely thought provoking and enraging but I didn't find it funny or hopeful, not at all. Not unless being torn from your family and unhappy life and thrown into a government programme to remake you ito a perfect 50s housewife is hopeful. Christ.
January 25, 2022
This shortie kept me asking questions. Hollywood could make some weird dystopian show out of this if they needed an idea… anywho -
Here’s just a jumble of thoughts on the book.
Creepy, in the way 1984, Handmaids Tale is creepy. Weird. Conversation provoking and frustrating. From what I read normally, this is definitely out of the box, which was refreshing.
Here’s just a jumble of thoughts on the book.
Creepy, in the way 1984, Handmaids Tale is creepy. Weird. Conversation provoking and frustrating. From what I read normally, this is definitely out of the box, which was refreshing.
February 2, 2021
Huh. I am confused and puzzled and strangely mesmerized.
December 16, 2022
Upon finishing You, I declared Caroline Kepnes a genius. To say I was blown away by her brilliance would be an understatement. IMO, You is one of the best books I've ever read, and I've loved everything I've read from this author since.
Thank God I didn't read this short story first, ....because I probably would have never read her again. 😂 If this is your first read from Caroline Kepnes, please don't give up on her here. The rest of her work is nothing like this. Her writing is incredible! You don't want to miss it. I promise!
All that being said, I felt like Sweet Virginia had potential. If the author ever decides to add more to it, I'll pick it up without hesitation. Otherwise, that nonending will probably bother me for the rest of my life. LOL
I don't recommend starting Sweet Virginia unless you're comfortable being dropped off in the middle of a story before you know what it's trying to say.
Thank God I didn't read this short story first, ....because I probably would have never read her again. 😂 If this is your first read from Caroline Kepnes, please don't give up on her here. The rest of her work is nothing like this. Her writing is incredible! You don't want to miss it. I promise!
All that being said, I felt like Sweet Virginia had potential. If the author ever decides to add more to it, I'll pick it up without hesitation. Otherwise, that nonending will probably bother me for the rest of my life. LOL
I don't recommend starting Sweet Virginia unless you're comfortable being dropped off in the middle of a story before you know what it's trying to say.
September 6, 2020
I DNFd this, and that's saying something, since it's only an hour and a half long. The main character was incredibly irritating. Everyone was irritating. I think the main couple both call each other by the nickname "Baba" and then they also call their baby "Baba"? weird. Anyway, halfway through i realised that i didn't care if the main character got better, or stopped lying to her husband, or went to bed and never got up, so I abandoned it.
September 6, 2020
3.5 stars
December 14, 2020
A young writer, new to both motherhood and unemployment, self-medicates on Hallmark movies to numb her brain and avoid the guilt she feels over the death of her dog and the frustration of her writers' block. When she gets an anonymous text from a 555 number she begins to flirt with the idea of escaping her real life into a happy-ever-after worthy of one of her favourite movies. But of course, that's never gonna happen with Caroline Kepnes in charge of the story!
I really enjoyed this short story from the Out of Line collection. An added bonus was to discover that although Shelby's guilty pleasure was the Hallmark movies, which doesn't appeal to me at all, her creative goal was to craft the perfect Modern Love essay for the NYT, and I happen to be watching and adoring the TV series based on those essays this week. I'm also a fan of Caroline Kepnes and although I began to wonder where she was hiding, the final act of the story, while admittedly weird and unexpected, contained a lot of the Kepnes qualities that I love.
I really enjoyed this short story from the Out of Line collection. An added bonus was to discover that although Shelby's guilty pleasure was the Hallmark movies, which doesn't appeal to me at all, her creative goal was to craft the perfect Modern Love essay for the NYT, and I happen to be watching and adoring the TV series based on those essays this week. I'm also a fan of Caroline Kepnes and although I began to wonder where she was hiding, the final act of the story, while admittedly weird and unexpected, contained a lot of the Kepnes qualities that I love.
January 26, 2021
Meh. So far, it appears I only really like Kepnes' books in the YOU series and the rest don't work for me.
November 23, 2020
As I said in my mini-update this was bleak AF. I liked it though. Taking place in a world where certain woman have to be programmed to be womanly was a lot to take in. I liked the story and the set-up and how parts of it revolved around Hallmark Movies (which I will never view the same way again).
"Sweet Virginia" follows Shelby who is dealing with the fallout of being let go of her job at a magazine and having a new baby she has not bonded with. Shelby is unable to let go of the anger she feels at losing her job, the writer's block she is experiencing, and the anger she feels at her husband for not being able to sense what is really going on with her. I thought this story did a great job of showing how many women feel ambivalent about having children, giving up a career, or even picking one. Shelby is not a bad person IMHO, she felt very real to me. The story takes on the science fiction portion more though about halfway through and I loved it and what it meant. The ending was bleak AF and I liked it.
"Sweet Virginia" follows Shelby who is dealing with the fallout of being let go of her job at a magazine and having a new baby she has not bonded with. Shelby is unable to let go of the anger she feels at losing her job, the writer's block she is experiencing, and the anger she feels at her husband for not being able to sense what is really going on with her. I thought this story did a great job of showing how many women feel ambivalent about having children, giving up a career, or even picking one. Shelby is not a bad person IMHO, she felt very real to me. The story takes on the science fiction portion more though about halfway through and I loved it and what it meant. The ending was bleak AF and I liked it.
September 21, 2020
It may sound silly, but I continuously found myself scoffing over the big deal these characters made over the dog getting loose and being hit by a truck. It's the basis for Shelby's mother move in! "Oh, Shelby got the dog killed, so she can't be trusted with her baby." That struck me as ridiculous. I don't hate dogs - I've had them most of my life, cats too - but the way these characters harped on that accidental death struck me as nonsensical overkill. Dog death aside, I found the mother to be a constant annoyance, and the twist being underdeveloped to the point that it didn't make much sense to me. I felt potential was on the surface, but Kepnes didn't give us enough to make it anything more that that: surface.
This was, unfortunately, a nothing special story (and I'm usually a fan of Kepnes).
This was, unfortunately, a nothing special story (and I'm usually a fan of Kepnes).
February 19, 2021
This book is odd. The writing is odd and a little hard to follow at times and the story was odd too. It took a bizarre turn half way through which was good/bonkers.
This is a short story about a woman who is really struggling with life, with all of life: home, work, the baby, the mother, even the husband to a degree, nothing seems to be quite right. Is there a solution to this?
Ultimately we learn that there are good women and bad women in this world - not as in good and evil but as in doing a good job of being a woman or not. Rather disturbing to find that I would be in the bad woman category along with the protagonist here.
I can’t write anymore without telling the story or this review being longer than the story itself. A good read and an interesting idea. I liked it. 3.5*/5 for me.
This is a short story about a woman who is really struggling with life, with all of life: home, work, the baby, the mother, even the husband to a degree, nothing seems to be quite right. Is there a solution to this?
Ultimately we learn that there are good women and bad women in this world - not as in good and evil but as in doing a good job of being a woman or not. Rather disturbing to find that I would be in the bad woman category along with the protagonist here.
I can’t write anymore without telling the story or this review being longer than the story itself. A good read and an interesting idea. I liked it. 3.5*/5 for me.
October 18, 2020
The best word for that short story is odd...
September 14, 2020
Sweet Virginia by Caroline Kepnes is about a woman named Shelby who quite happily lives in a dream world. She is addicted to Hallmark romance movies and is unable to accept that real life may not match the small screen. She is married, has a baby and the perfect American home. She loves her job. Still, life isn't quite the perfect story she wants and expects.
Shelby wants the impossible, and because oof it her view of what she has is distorted. She is a dreamer, but fails to do the things she needs to do to obtain the life she longs for. Unfortunately she is now mostly disconnected from the life she actually has and is failing to enjoy the present, lost in her desires for the future.
The message is an important one, especially for women, as we so often are taught to seek the unrealistic, and end up disappointed by what is real.
Shelby wants the impossible, and because oof it her view of what she has is distorted. She is a dreamer, but fails to do the things she needs to do to obtain the life she longs for. Unfortunately she is now mostly disconnected from the life she actually has and is failing to enjoy the present, lost in her desires for the future.
The message is an important one, especially for women, as we so often are taught to seek the unrealistic, and end up disappointed by what is real.
September 5, 2020
Not sure if I liked it or I just enjoyed Kristin Bell reading to me...
January 17, 2025
Entertaining relationship listening
This kindle ebook is from my Kindle Unlimited account
I had a hard time connecting with this novella.
I would recommend you give it a try, you may have better luck. 2025
This kindle ebook is from my Kindle Unlimited account
I had a hard time connecting with this novella.
I would recommend you give it a try, you may have better luck. 2025
November 27, 2020
Another fresh and original short story from the Out of Line Collection that I really enjoyed!
September 28, 2020
2.5 stars
A bit messed up reveal towards the end and of course ending was left open for interpretation.
A bit messed up reveal towards the end and of course ending was left open for interpretation.
September 7, 2020
I’m confused by this. This is the first of the Out of Line series that I’ve read so maybe I’m missing the point but... what exactly was out of line in her behavior? The main character, Shelby, wasn’t super likable, but I was fine with that. She’s not a domesticated type of woman. She doesn’t cook or clean, she’s unemployed and lying to her husband about it. She makes her own decisions, carries out her own deceptions, but she’s really very passive.
Then she gets Is that the part where she is “out of line” and stops conforming to expectations, the ones that are entirely in her head and put there by her overbearing mother?
Did her mother orchestrate this? Was Shelby dissociating? Was she dreaming, hallucinating? Am I searching for a more satisfying explanation than was actually there?
I mean, sure. I guess I get it. But, god, if it wasn’t depressing as hell.
Then she gets Is that the part where she is “out of line” and stops conforming to expectations, the ones that are entirely in her head and put there by her overbearing mother?
Did her mother orchestrate this? Was Shelby dissociating? Was she dreaming, hallucinating? Am I searching for a more satisfying explanation than was actually there?
I mean, sure. I guess I get it. But, god, if it wasn’t depressing as hell.
September 29, 2020
2.5 stars. This was a strange short story about a woman who is struggling in all areas of her life and instead of changing she escapes by watching Hallmark movies.
November 5, 2022
For a short story this seemed endless. It started out as one thing, then morphed into something completely different, but neither was good.
August 23, 2025
2,0 ✨✨✨
(Audiobook)
(Audiobook)
December 17, 2025
This is a short story that didn’t work for me. It read like a stream of consciousness, which I don’t enjoy. I also didn’t like that the main character (in her 30’s) called her mother Mommy. And it was constant. The storyline was just ok and turned in a weird direction at the end. I just didn’t enjoy it.
October 12, 2020
“It’s safe in Hallmark land”
A quirky Amazon short story. It was kind of a spin on the Stepford Wives theme. It was a good length for what it was.
A quirky Amazon short story. It was kind of a spin on the Stepford Wives theme. It was a good length for what it was.
September 12, 2020
This was utterly bizarre with characters that were unlikeable and I -really- didn’t care about the main character. I loved “You” but didn’t like Hidden Bodies- so I guess I’m not too surprised that I disliked this so much.
The 2nd star is because I listened to Kristen Bell’s awesome narration.
The 2nd star is because I listened to Kristen Bell’s awesome narration.
April 27, 2023
I don't know who this story is for - but clearly not for me. I just didn't vibe with the characters or the plot. So, I really shouldn't have finished this but since it's only a short story I pushed through.
Shelby as a main character was alright but the people she's surrounded by are just plain bad and belittling... Her husband, Rajid, is agreeing to everything Shelby's mother thinks is best for their family - when he hasn't even talked to Shelby about this beforehand. He also doesn't seem to take her seriously.
Halfway through the story switches from a realistic seeming one to one with a dystopian vibe. Which I did like but which also really confused me and also didn't make me engage with the story more...
Well, I'll leave it at that. Let's just say, this story really wasn't for me.
Shelby as a main character was alright but the people she's surrounded by are just plain bad and belittling... Her husband, Rajid, is agreeing to everything Shelby's mother thinks is best for their family - when he hasn't even talked to Shelby about this beforehand. He also doesn't seem to take her seriously.
Halfway through the story switches from a realistic seeming one to one with a dystopian vibe. Which I did like but which also really confused me and also didn't make me engage with the story more...
Well, I'll leave it at that. Let's just say, this story really wasn't for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 415 reviews