Autobiography of Us by Aria Beth Sloss

 

It's About:   Rebecca, our narrator, and her girl crush, I-wish-she-would-pay-more-attention-to-me friend, Alex.  The story takes place in Upper-class Pasadena and, later, in New York City in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Plain Rebecca tells of how her life changed dramatically when new cool girl, Alex, moves into town and they become inseparable until their senior year in high school summer where Alex cools the friendship considerably.  The plot thickens as they go to the local university and Rebecca upstages Alex in some regards.  Nothing is quite the same after their junior year in college and Rebecca eventually moves away to first San Francisco and then New York City.  Middle age hits and with it the usual crises that hit us all in one form or another.

I Thought:  Just look at that cover!  The cover screams a fabulous premise to me.  Now take a deep breath or sigh as the case may be.  The story is not so much a story as a telling.  Rebecca tells us about life with and without Alex.  Okay, look at that cover again and tell me I was tricked.  The writing was not bad or I would not have finished it.  The writing was mediocre.  I will say I was not fulfilled by the telling of life with and without Alex.  

Recommendation:  Unless you're all about pretty covers, you can probably wait to check this one out at the library or not.  

Rating:  3 stars

(I'm all about ratings again this year:  5 stars - enlightenment + connection; 4 stars - connection and bonding; 

3 stars - not bad writing, but no real connection; 2 stars - I probably did not finish and I won't bother telling you about it anyway; 1 star - disturbing - not the good kind, but the really ugly kind.)