How to Fall Out of Love Madly: A Novel

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I think men should read this book to get a better understanding of women and the lame shit men do to them (like the seemingly benign things that makes women sound crazy when they vent to you about it but they are absolutely correct to find infuriating when you see it in context). It asks, why do so many smart, compassionate, otherwise empowered women tolerate egregious behavior from the men they love? I read it a couple months ago but I can still pull details from the novel and it makes me want to sigh really loudly and book an appointment with my therapist that I no longer have.

The characters are annoying and insecure and overall I just thought it was a really depressing book to read. Joy and Annie had become roommates even though they were also good friends, a risky decision that in most contexts could be cataclysmic, but as it was they bought a couch split fifty-fifty and although he was Annie’s cat, Joy would feed Simon in the mornings and Annie would feed him at night.It’s the excitingly, exhilaratingly tiny and true movements of these women’s hearts and minds that will move How to Fall Out of Love Madly solidly into readers’ own. The narrator, soon established as Elliot Chase, then zooms out to address the reader directly, introducing the players—most importantly movie star Lana Farrar. Michaelides takes a literary turn in his latest novel, employing an unreliable narrator, the structure of classical drama, and a self-conscious eye to dismantling the locked-room mystery.

Sexual assaults that seem easier to just let go, because they’re ‘not a big deal,’ even though they’re a violation of your body all the same. Yes, she’s reaped so many opportunities because of pretty privilege but she still doesn’t feel confident in herself. But when an anonymous letter lands on her desk accusing her esteemed and supportive boss of sexual misconduct, she is forced to decide who and what she’s willing to stand up for. i found myself so annoyed with these women immediately and i hated them and their insecurities and the way that they let them rule their lives, but i think i hated them because i’m no better than them and that’s not pleasant to realize. Instead she found herself attracted to many of the wrong types of men and every relationship she’d pursue would end badly.I found the ‘feminism’ dated, the characters dull, and just generally this didn’t seem to have anything new or interesting to say.