Small Admissions, by Amy Peoppel, is a contemporary novel set in New York City and supposedly features a group of friends trying to help one of the group get back on her feet.
I say “supposedly” because one friend, Chloe, makes the entire situation about herself. In fact, she’s the only character written in first-person, even though she is not the main character. Angela, the sister of the actual main character, tries to help, but mostly just nags and criticizes. And Vicki/Victoria is a completely self-absorbed, money-hungry mean girl who doesn’t seem to like any of the other women so I’m not sure why she’s here.
As for the main character, Kate, she is severely depressed. And with good reason; her chosen professional path, has completely collapsed. She graduated from Wellesly with a double major in anthropology and psychology and now is a cat sitter, a dog walker, and an infrequent bather. In addition to the collapse of her career, she moved to Paris to be with a man who dumped her in the Charles de Gaulle airport when she arrived. So, yeah, she’s very, very depressed.
The thing is, the author chose to write about severe depression in a goofy, silly way, and I am not a fan. Back in 2010, one of my friends got mad at me because I said the lyrics “Do you ever feel like a plastic bag/Drifting through the wind” from the Katy Perry song “Firework” were cheesy and ridiculous. She got mad because she felt like I was mocking depression and people with low self-esteem. But I wasn’t. I was mocking the language Katy Perry was using to talk about depression, imposter syndrome and low self-esteem. For me, this book is like those lyrics.
2.5 stars rounded down because it just wasn’t for me.
