The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

A Novel Obsession

April 22, 2022

novel obsession

A Novel Obsession by Caitlin Barasch
Published by Dutton Books
Publication date: March 15, 2022
one-half-stars

Given my love of books about books A Novel Obsession seemed an easy choice when I saw it at the library. Naomi is a 20-something aspiring writer. She lives in NYC and works in a bookstore, leaving her time to work on her first novel. Except, her life has been unremarkable, leaving her without the material she needs to create readable fiction or so she believes. When she gets a new boyfriend, an idea presents itself, but will it help her writing and hurt her relationship? Or can she find a balance between the two?

Caleb seems perfect for Naomi. He’s handsome, smart, and caring. As they begin the sharing process of getting to know each other he tells her he moved from Wales to NYC because his girlfriend lived here. Naomi latches onto this and elicits enough information about the ex, Rosemary, to find her online. From there, her writing output increases in proportion to her insertion in Rosemary’s life. The two become friends with Naomi lying to both Caleb and Rosemary to keep her true identity and activities separate. This hide-and-seek escalates as does Naomi’s paranoia. She takes greater risks with Rosemary, an editor, all in pursuit of the story she believes will establish her career.

I initially DNFed A Novel Obsession at 50%. Naomi’s actions made no sense to me. Even going along with the credo that writers ‘live to write’ and Naomi can’t help herself, it’s a flimsy excuse as best. She uses it to rationalize stalking and obsession, all while ignoring a man who really seems to like her.  I came back to the book based on two high ratings from readers I trust, but although I finished, I never found anything other than the self-destructive journey of an uninteresting narcissist.

one-half-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • 1.5 Star Books
november
November Reading Wrap-Up
wealthy women
Wealthy Women: Mini-Reviews
ru
Ru: A Novel
hard
How Hard Can It Be?
Love is Red
millennial
Millennial vs. Millennial: Mini-Reviews
At the Water’s Edge
What I need to Read
What I Need When I Read
red
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
choices
The Choices They Made: Mini-Reviews

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction

Comments

  1. Laila says

    April 25, 2022 at 12:29 pm

    Always glad to *not* add something to the TBR these days, ha ha!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      April 29, 2022 at 10:16 am

      I hear you! I never want a book to fail, but I can’t read everything!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Indiebound and Amazon. If you click on a link that takes you to any of these sites and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in