Raney Moore thinks her decade-and-a-half-long marriage to entomologist Aaron is on solid ground until she discovers he slept with a colleague on a work trip ... Kennedy tackles gender relations at home and in the workplace in this frank, compulsively readable examination of how one woman balances her exploration of her sexual identity with her career and motherhood.
Eliza Kennedy’s second novel, Do This for Me, moves like a skier tearing down the mountain. I appreciated the thrill of the run but would have appreciated a pause here and there to take in the view, especially as Kennedy tackles sexism and infidelity and other black-diamond topics deserving of more contemplation than she allows. Don’t get me wrong—this is a fun book, a lighthearted romp. But it skates around the edges of important issues in a way that made me wish for more emotional honesty and less ba-dum-tss humor ... this book has plenty of funny, surprising, 'You go, girl' moments, but it’s missing the introspection that would have given it more heft. In the end, I’m sorry to say, Do This for Me just didn’t do it for me.
Mostly meant to be humorous, the book does touch on larger issues—toxic workplace culture, infidelity, sexism, indigents’ legal rights—and certainly paints an unflattering picture of the legal profession. How wonderful are novels that make you think? Novels that make you laugh?
Sadly, Do This for Me does none of that. The humor felt painfully, awkwardly, cringe-worthy flat, and the difficult larger issues seemed contrived and forced ... This book never made any sense either.
Raney has no idea what therapy involves, she has never heard of chai, she is completely in the dark about both workplace sexism and sexual harassment, but what's even more ridiculous is how she behaves when she finds out about each of these things. Kennedy...has a knack for snappy dialogue, but it's possible that she has recently moved to Earth from outer space. This book deserves some sort of award for creating the most preposterous and unlikable protagonist in contemporary fiction.
When a high-powered New York lawyer discovers her husband has been unfaithful, she decides to exact merciless revenge in this enjoyable novel ... the broad comedy that plays so well in the beginning doesn’t coexist well with the nuance the book strives for (but doesn’t quite achieve) at the end. Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had. This zany tale will appeal to readers Zoe Heller’s The Believers.
