The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum
Emily Haxby is going through changes. First she splits from her long term boyfriend, then she up and quits her job…and is abruptly faced with the looming reality of quickly losing her beloved grandfather. It’s a lot for one girl to handle.
Julie Buxbaum does an excellent job at conveying the “quarter life crisis” that many 20-30 somethings experience, and she does an even better job at allowing both Emily and the reader come to an understanding as to at least some of the reasons for Emily’s current crisis. Buxbaum also does a good job at creating mostly believable characters, though, at the same time she seems to falter at describing certain characters so that they become vague ghosts in the mind of the reader, rather than actual physical people that you could picture walking down the streets of New York City.
Another downfall is the prologue, it gives too much away-at least if you pay close enough attention. It’s written as though Buxbaum wants to be vague and not give too much away but unfortunately that did not seem to be the case for me.
