The Book:
Nobody Somebody Anybody by Kelly McClorey
Published July 6th 2021 by Ecco
Date read: July 30, 2021
The Characters:
Amy
Gary
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Amy Hanley has a job as a maid for the summer, but on August 25, she will take the exam to become an EMT (third time’s the charm!) and finally move on with her life. In the meantime, she doesn’t mind scrubbing toilets immaculately clean or tucking the sheet corners just so. In fact, she tells herself that her work is a noble act of service to the rich guests at the yacht club.
Amy’s profound isolation colors everything: her job, her aspirations, even her interactions with the woman at the deli counter. And as the date for the EMT exam comes closer, Amy’s anxiety ratchets up in a way that is both familiar and troubling. In desperation, she concocts a “placebo” program—a self-prescribed regimen for her confidence, devised to trick herself into succeeding.
When her landlord, Gary, starts to invite her over for dinner—to practice his cooking skills as he awaits approval of his Ukrainian fiancé’s visa—Amy makes her first friend since her mother’s passing. Alongside this unexpected connection comes a surge of hopeful obsession that Amy knows she must reckon with before the summer’s end.
The Review:
I didn’t really read the description of this book before diving in, so I had no idea what I was in for. It turned out to be such a sweet, heart-wrenching, quirky story.
I felt for Amy and her self-doubt and social anxiety. Although she made some questionable decisions at times, her inner monologue was easy to empathize with. Despite Amy’s issues, Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is light and at times humorous, and certainly very easy to read. The author did a beautiful job of telling this story, and I finished it in one afternoon. I was interested in how it depicted the pitfalls of social isolation in such a light and readable way.
The ending was a little unsatisfying for me–I wanted more resolution and growth for Amy. My other complaint is that I am definitely one to judge a book by its cover, and the cover of this one didn’t really match the tone of the story at all.
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