I bought this book on impulse at a store near a coffee shop right after a good friend texted to tell me she'd be late for our meetup. I'd rather read than scroll, I reasoned, as I tapped my card to the contactless payment terminal. I don't care much for "pop fiction" and anything that's an Oprah Book Club read is a bit of a red flag (for me), but I didn't want to waste half my free time trying to decide, so I just got it. I did not expect to feel put out when my friend showed up for lunch. The book was good! And I did not know I was in that moment a living prop for the storyline itself.
Hill has penned a story any adult in 2024 can relate to. He nails all the big and angsty issues churned up by modernity while keeping close to the common theme of unfinished business from flawed childhoods. Jack and Elizabeth have baggage in spades.
I laughed out loud at the intrusiveness of the wearable technology - the orange wrist band. It's Whoop on steroids. So much of what this couple goes through (ok, maybe not the brush with the weird cults) was easy to imagine. It's a book that'll make you chuckle at yourself and think: Yeah, I've sure been there". Even the twists and turns of their arguments felt a little familiar. Hill does a real magic trick every time he walks through the husband/wife dance of disputes, because he manages to make it so garden-variety recognizable.
The most amusing chapter, I thought, was where Jack is in long, cringey, and mostly failed Facebook conversations with his estranged father, who doesn't really know the difference between a status update and a chat box message. Still, they argue with one another on FB at some length, sending each other links to support their own closely-held but wildly different points of view, in an effort to disprove each other. I thought the author missed an opportunity here. He assumes we all agree that Jack is more sane, more with it, and more right about these "things". And so, he misses the chance to send out a bigger, better message. This: Anyone can find solid "science" to support a point of view, so rather than argue your point endlessly, it should be obvious that it is incumbent upon you, the citizen, to learn more on this topic and then have the confidence to make a decision that is sensible.
It has decent pace and with its feet firmly planted in the self-annihilating, technology-driven 2024ish timeline, there is literally something for everyone!
