I read The Rest of Us after hearing a positive review on NPR and was surprised by how much I disagreed with what I'd heard. Jessica Lott's novel -- about a 30-something photographer and her affair with a poetry professor she'd originally fallen for as a college student -- seems to wander all over the place, with no clear goal in sight. The young woman comes across as immature and deluded; the older man is idealized and pretentious; and the best friend is so full of bad advice that you can't believe anybody has ever listened to her about anything. I just couldn't figure out where this book was going and then was disappointed by the banality of the ending. Maybe I'm too old for this novel, but I'm mystified why people are responding to it. I can't say that I really connected with any of the characters. They were all flawed but usually that doesn't hold me back from liking a character. I just didn't like any of them. I didn't understand Terry's "incredible" love for Rhinehart. He seemed dull and way too interested in his own interests. That mixed with the fact that he was so much older than her, I just didn't see the head over heels attraction on Terry's part. Even the peripheral characters seemed way too self involved. Hallie and her strange way of suspecting her husband of cheating on her and then her subsequent strange behavior of not eating and smoking her day away. All of this followed by her sudden transformation using Buddhism and a return to PR. It all seemed a little forced. Then there was Laura, Rhineharts ex-wife, who suddenly shows an interest in Terry's photography, which at first is a super strange relationship in that it keeps Terry away from Rhinehart for nights on end. Then Terry see's through her behavior and backs away from her only to receive a phone call from her months later saying that a popular gallery owner is interested in showing her work. Terry is of course suspicious at first but then she realizes that this is all legitimate and may be her opportunity to make it "big time" Unfortunately, just as things start to go right for Terry and Rhinehart, tragedy strikes. Will they make it through the tough times? They didn't make it the last time they dated, while she was in college and things got tough. What is going to happen now?The book wasn't bad enough for me to stop reading. I was interested enough to keep reading to see the book through to the end. However, again, I must say that I did not connect with the characters at all and I didn't understand why any of them still stood by each other when they treated each other so horribly at times. I can't say that this was a 2 star book. To me it probably was more of a 2.5 stars but since there are no half stars I bumped it up to a 3 star. I liked it but didn't love it. The characters really annoyed me.
What do You think about The Rest Of Us (2013)?
Not my usual kind of book, but in the end it broke my heart as book rarely can (for me)
—Ttey
Meh. Just can't buy into this one. Gonna chuck it, NPR recommendation notwithstanding.
—Shivanand
