This had no narrative arc, and I cared not at all about any of them. ( )

Well written, but disliked the story. ( )

This book was not the least bit enchanting. Will is incredibly self-absorbed, and unable to commit to anything other than completing his degree. Can’t commit to his chosen job path, or to his girlfriend, or to his hookup, or to his new job, or his new new job, or even to the crush he’s obsessed with. He changes his mind at the slightest whim, without any thought to how anyone else may be affected.

And he’s a jerk! He guilts his EX-girlfriend into not seeing anyone else (or at least, not telling him about it), even though he’s the one who strayed. And he treats most of his friends like they are below him, though I confess that some of that feeling may be because of how the author treats them. Frankly, Anil and Timmo are his most interesting friends, but they are treated as jokes.

Oxford is the most compelling character in the book. Learning about the school and how it is set up and operates was the only part of the plot that was actually interesting. And speaking of the plot, oh my god I kept waiting for something to happen. Especially because the author continually seems to foreshadow some sort of major happening, but I never figured out what it was supposed to be. Other than his friend Tom’s family tragedy, the only thing tragic about this story is the praise it has received.

If people like this are the result of “grow(ing) up as an American in the twenty-first century”, then we are in a lot of trouble. ( )

Good writing, long pointless story. Like the author when I met him.

Wow...it took me almost a year to finish this book. I started it, but got distracted, and started again...
Anyways, this book was not too bad, this genre was a huge change from what I normally read, so I think three stars is reasonable.
So. This story is mainly about Will, who moves to another country, away from his girlfriend, Alison, to go to a school called Oxford. While there, he meets a lot of new people, most of them befriends him. He also starts to fall in love with another girl. Uh oh. Problem is, she has a boyfriend. Another uh oh. I just realized, that this book has a lot of relationships. Meaning, there are lots of mini plots where Will's friends become couples. They all have their own small stories with problems, resolutions, and their own happy endings, kinda. Will also has to make a lot of big decisions about his life. He had to choose whether or not he would go back to New York, after a year of staying in Oxford, where he will be reunited with his girlfriend, or stay in Oxford.
I got a bit bored in some parts of the book, I actually skimmed through most of the parts that didn't include any conversations, of course, there were some parts where I was very interested, and read every word, but I feel maybe this book could be a bit shorter, without a lot of the of explanation parts. But that's just me (it probably is) I usually don't pay much attention to description, once I have a good idea of where the story takes place, I focus more on the conversations.
I hope there is a sequel, I don't think I'm quite satisfied with the ending I got.
I received this book from Goodreads First Reads ( )