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Title details for But How Are You, Really by Ella Dawson - Available

But How Are You, Really

A Novel

by Ella Dawson
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
A burned-out bisexual confronts old demons, her estranged chosen family, and the ex she maybe shouldn’t have walked away from when she attends her five-year college reunion.
Charlotte Thorne does not want to go back to Hein University. Her life postcollege isn’t what she expected—her career in media is stalled, her passion for drawing has fallen by the wayside, and she’s done a terrible job keeping in touch with her queer chosen family since graduation day. Willingly spend a full weekend with her incredibly successful classmates? Hard pass.
But when her demanding boss, tech journalist Roger Ludermore, is invited to give the commencement address at this year’s graduation—which falls on the same weekend as her five-year reunion—Charlotte has no choice but to return to campus.
The minute she steps foot on Hein property, the past comes crawling back in its glory and cringe: disco parties at the LGBTQIA+ program house, sleeping in a twin XL bed, and her chemistry with Reece Krueger, the hockey player she rebounded with after a traumatic breakup. Suddenly the weekend Charlotte has dreaded for months feels like an opportunity to go back in time. Determined to have some fun, Charlotte dodges her best friend’s questions about her mental health, ignores her boss’s constant Slack messages, and tries to avoid the truth about why she ghosted Reece five years ago. But can she really outrun her past and get her life together in seventy-two hours?

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 4, 2024

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780593473788

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780593473788
      • File size: 2436 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Booklist

      May 1, 2024
      After graduation, Charlotte Thorne moved to New York to launch her career as an illustrator. But layoffs derailed her early success, and she's suffering through life as the executive assistant to a cruel boss. Her five-year college reunion could be an opportunity to bring back her glory years--or it could be an unmitigated disaster, especially if she runs into her emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend. When she encounters her senior-year fling, Charlotte decides to live in the moment and finds herself falling for the one who got away. As the weekend progresses, Charlotte recognizes that her life lacks the joy and freedom she felt during college and the only path to the life she wants is to forge ahead with courage and honesty. Dawson's lively debut features a diverse and relatable cast of characters with realistic issues that will be immediately recognizable to young millennials and Gen Zers. It's both a celebration of the uniqueness of the college years and a testament to the struggles new graduates face in the "real world." Readers who enjoy Camille Perri and Iman Hariri-Kia will appreciate Charlotte's journey of self-discovery.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 3, 2024
      Dawson debuts with a heartfelt story of a bisexual woman trying to recapture her spark while dealing with a toxic workplace and memories of abuse. Charlotte Thorne, 27, toils as the executive assistant to the CEO of a tech magazine who strings her along with empty promises of a promotion. She’s excited to reunite with her friends at an alumni weekend retreat at Heim University, which provided a haven from her homophobic mother when Charlotte was a student there. After arriving at the university, however, she sees her abusive ex-boyfriend, Ben Mead, whose presence “turned campus into a haunted house of repressed trauma.” Thankfully, her best friend and former roommate—with whom Charlotte formed a group of fellow “alienated queer kids”—is bunking with her for the weekend. When another of her exes flirts with her, Charlotte is enchanted by his invitation to “go back in time,” prompting her to consider the spectrum of her experiences at Heim with a “color wheel” of emotions ranging from “charcoal gray shame” to the “vein-blood blue of being alive.” The prose can be clunky, but Dawson brings Charlotte’s pain and passion to vivid life. It’s a worthy addition to the shelf of campus novels. Agent: Jamie Carr, Book Group.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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