TRIM - 'Young Jane Young' by Gabrielle Zevin - 5 stars + heart

[Nileema]

There is a Kirkus Review on the back of my copy of ‘Young Jane Young’ that I think nailed it:
“This book will not only thoroughly entertain everyone who reads it; it is the most immaculate takedown of slut-shaming in literature or anywhere else. Cheers, and gratitude, to the author’.

The writing is very accessible, which isn’t to say ‘simple’ - in fact, it’s clever and witty - and the characters are well drawn out, even though this book is not necessarily what I would call a character study. Loosely based on the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky 90s scandal, ‘Young Jane Young’ gives a modern spin to a similar, fictitious scandal with aplomb. Told through the eyes of four women, each pivotal to the scandal in their own way, Zevin writes, in many ways, the universal story of the power imbalance between men and women and the double standards that continue to besiege the latter. Each of these women have a uniquely humorous voice. Strangely, this works really well to convey these large, and often infuriating, themes wryly and makes the feminist argument woven throughout land even more punchily, right to the very end.

I have already recommended ‘Young Jane Young’ to most people I know and will probably be doing so for a while. Please add this to your TBR list if it’s not already on there - you will not regret this read!

[NancyJ]

Ah, this sounds great. When I look back on that scandal, it really ticks me off what they did to that girl. Slut-shaming relates a bit to our discussion on the Beartown buddy read. I feel guilty for any time I ever used that word.

I let this book slip from my hands last year. If I knew the topic, I would have read it when I had a chance! I'll look for it again.

[Joanne]

You sold me on it Nileema-I have added it here and to the list I keep on my Library account, I was so happy to see that it was available!

[Nicole R]

Okay, my goal is to definitely get to this by the end of the year

[Nikki]

Aaarghh - I nearly picked this up at my Little Free Library this morning but made myself pass as I'd never heard of it and I'm trying to be disciplined about not picking things up on impulse! After reading your review I'm now hoping it's still there tomorrow...

[Ellen]

I really enjoyed this one, too.

[MargieD2017]

With effort, I am trying to trim my TBR but with reviews like this one how can I possibly not add another extraordinary book to the ever growing list?