smart girls talking

Abigail Sorenson as a teenager, an adult, a sister, a wife, a single mother, a student, all of her offered to you at once, though in pieces, while the story rolls along like a katamari, gaining in size as it picks up all those pieces and a lot of other stuff besides, and just keeps on rolling through the years, investigating the grief of lost loved ones, the philosophy of self-help, the question of correlation versus causation, and the way all of Abi's life lead to this point, here, where it picks up one last piece and snaps together like an origami ball. I found it inventive, painful, curious, striving, playful, and, in the end, very satisfying.

Moriarty has a light touch as a writer. Her characters are detailed, but effortlessly so. Her prose is easy and whimsical and while it can verge on twee, for the most part, I find it delightful. The novel deals with heavy subjects, but in her hands, it's joyful too. In fact, it's mostly about joy, about building human connections, about finding your place in the universe, and about being subscribed to a mysterious newsletter.

Contains: references to underage sex, some of it coercive; references to adult sex, including a one-night stand with dubious consent; missing family member; MS diagnosis; ableism; pregnancy, including two early miscarriages; infidelity; child in medical peril.