The extreme self-awareness gives Role Play a schizophrenic feel. The book has no overarching story and is instead made up of linked sketches reflecting Vivian’s changing moods ... Though erratic in quality, some scenes are startlingly frank ... This portrait of grotesque narcissism is just vulnerable enough to be moving.
Drummond’s narrative voice is fiercely honest, coolly cynical, and sharply scathing ... Vivian is not an especially appealing character; and yet, remarkably, Drummond manages to elicit readers’ empathy for her, mining her most fundamental and human flaws and insecurities.
