Plucked out of headlines

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The plot for Emily Giffin's latest novel comes straight out of the news: an explicit photo of a drunk, passed out, young woman in compromising positions is circulated with a highly racist caption ("looks like she got her green card"). The book is written from the perspective of three characters: (1) Nina Browning, mother of Finch Browning, who allegedly took and circulated said picture, (2) Lyla Volpe, the fifteen-year-old featured in the picture, and (3) Thomas Volpe, Lyla's father who has raised her solo since she was 4 years old. Each character is deeply flawed in some way which gives the plot a realistic patina. I picked up the book this morning and could not put it down. Emily Giffin really shines in highlighting the inner debates and thoughts of each character. The one flaw in this novel is that Giffin does try to pack too many themes and issues into one book, but at the end, Lyla and Nina's strength shines through and is incredibly heart-warming and touching. You find yourself rooting for them both throughout and it's lovely to see two strong female characters featured in one book. I would highly recommend to my friends.

Thank you to Bookish First for my free ARC of the novel.