It’s brilliant and hilarious, and it makes you wince in recognition — for the double-standard that relegates scandalized women to a life of shame even as their married lovers continue with their careers (and often their marriages), for the insatiable appetite we have for every last detail, for the ease and speed with which we stop seeing people as multilayered humans ... The five main characters are among my favorite of any recent novel I’ve read. Each is resilient, brave, intelligent, witty and flawed — human, in other words. It’s the sort of book that invites us to examine our long-held beliefs and perceptions. It asks us to imagine, for a moment, another perspective and delivers us the storyline to do so. It hands us characters who are at odds with one another and peels back their layers to reveal the thing they have in common. It has a heart. And a spine. It’s exactly, I would argue, what we need more of right now.
...[an] irresistible novel ... The power of Zevin’s book lies in its main characters, a quirky estrogen-laced tribe; the book’s multi-layered structure; and the big-heartedness at its core. Zevin has divided the book into five sections, each representing a key player, and the story gains depth as it moves back and forth in time ... Young Jane Young is a testament to second chances and reclaiming one’s own narrative. It’s a feminist anthem – triumphant, earthy and hopeful. And it’s a terrific read. One can’t help wondering whether and how it may reshape the public perception of Monica Lewinsky.
...don’t get too focused on reliving Monicagate. Zevin’s characters are far more compelling. Ruby’s pen-pal correspondence perfectly captures teen angst and energy. Embeth’s imaginary parrot may seem all too real to those coping with trauma. Rachel’s back story of dating while aging is a novel in itself. But it’s Jane’s reinvention of herself that drives the toughest questions about social media, our fickle appetite for scandal, our compulsion to shame — especially slut-shame — and ultimately how choosing to confront the past can deny it of its power.
Her novel comes to us in five distinct parts, each focusing on a different woman affected by Avivagate. That structure rotates the scandal in curious ways, and it also shows off just what a clever ventriloquist Zevin is ... The most radical chapter is constructed as a choose-your-own-adventure story. This sort of super-duper-cleverness can start to feel like you’re being force-fed eight pounds of cotton candy, which makes Zevin’s success all the more impressive. Her narration in the second person insists that we stop peering down at this young woman and begin, instead, to imagine ourselves as her.
Splendid ... A witty, strongly drawn group of female voices tells Aviva’s story ... [Zevin] has created a fun and frank tale. Her vibrant and playful writing, and the fully realized characters taking turns as narrator, bring the story a zestful energy, even while exploring dark themes of secrecy and betrayal. Zevin perfectly captures the realities of the current political climate and the consequences of youthful indiscretions in an era when the Internet never forgets.”
Thus it's a little bit of a mixed bag to report that while Young Jane Young is snappy, sharp, and timely, bearing plenty of Zevin's stronger stylistic elements, it's not quite on the same level of profundity as her earlier novels ... Zevin's approach to characterization is generally as strong as ever ... Perhaps it's a result of Young Jane Young's zeitgeisty nature, but the novel, enjoyable as it is, doesn't necessarily warrant a second reading ... I typically enjoy books that continue to reveal layers upon further deep dives, but while Zevin's book is punchy and entertaining, it's not particularly complex ... Yet timeliness itself isn't quite enough for Young Jane Young to match the heights of emotion and profundity of Zevin's 2005 debut Elsewhere...
The best thing to come out of the Monica Lewinsky scandal since Lewinsky’s own magnificent TED talk, Zevin’s fourth adult novel reinvents the familiar story more cleverly and warmly than one would have thought possible ... This book will not only thoroughly entertain everyone who reads it; it is the most immaculate takedown of slut-shaming in literature or anywhere else. Cheers, and gratitude, to the author.
...a satisfying and entertaining story of reinvention and second chances in the wake of a political sex scandal ... the novel’s structure means that plot points are occasionally re-trod, though sometimes with surprising new insights. Zevin also plays with form, crafting Ruby’s section as a series of frequently hilarious emails to her Indonesian pen pal and the final section like a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' novel. Real-world parallels aside, Jane’s story is in the end less about political scandal and more about gaining strength and moving on from youthful missteps.
