Which comes first: experience or narrative? Rishi thinks she knows the answer as she arrives on campus for her first year at Stanford. A burnt-out youth climate activist, she used to want to save the world, but now she just wants to have gay sex. Her plan is set—she’s going to leave behind the strict trappings of her Indian American childhood in Florida, study literature, experiment with love, and write all about it. Within a few months, she makes her first best friend, falls in love with her situationship, and promptly gets her heart broken. What is not a part of Rishi’s plan is the onset of the COVID pandemic. As the outside world becomes a terrifying place, she increasingly finds solace in the friendships she’s made. Instead of virtual college, however, Rishi and her classmates join a farm collective, where their political discussions and growing disillusionment collide with sexual tension and responsibility. It’s only when those relationships start fracturing under the stress of careless decisions, unrequited crushes, jealousies, and, yes, unprecedented times, that Rishi begins to question her own story.
Rishi’s relationship with her mother and how it evolves over the course of the novel was one of the most moving parts of the book ... Another impressive feat of Unprecedented Times: Kannan’s ability to manage so many characters while developing them all sufficiently to feel vivid and real ... The ending has lingered in my mind long after the final page. Her story is compelling because of her contradictions and how we watch them play out over the course of the novel.
his story grapples with some of the most difficult topics of our time, including the pandemic, sexual assault, climate change, the futility of trying to make a difference, and how to make meaning at the end of the world. Rishi is a relatable narrator, letting the reader in on both her most vulnerable thoughts and most biting social commentary. A sparkling work of fiction, this story feels like pages ripped straight from your funniest friend’s diary.
