Allison Winn Scotch

Allison Winn Scotch is an author whose name I was familiar with - I've read many, many positive reviews of her book. But, her latest (5th) book, The Theory of Opposites, is the first one I've read. And I wish I'd picked up one of her books sooner - she really is a delight to read.

Willa and Shawn are that couple - you know - the ones who do everything together, don't fight and seem to have it all. You know - Shilla.

Because Willa believes it all - we don't control our fate. Our lives are pre show more - determined. Her father's best selling book "Is It Really Your Choice? Why Your Entire Live May Be Out Of Your Control", has been the defining force in her life....."No one has a choice. We all lead the lives we were meant to live."

Until....Willa finds a wine bar receipt for the night Shawn said he was out playing pick up basketball. Until....Willa's advertising presentation tanks and she's summarily fired. Until....the pink line on the pink line on the EPT test keeps coming up negative. Until....Shawn says he wants time apart and takes a job for the summer in another city..

Until her best friend Vanessa challenges her to take a chance, change her life and live her life exactly opposite to her father's theory....

It takes a bit to make me laugh, but I have to tell you that I was chuckling out loud in the lunch room reading the first few chapters of The Theory of Opposites. Winn Scotch has created absolutely wonderful characters - I was rooting for Willa every step of the way. Her doubts, her insecurities, her thoughts, her dialogue were realistic. The eventual outcome was so satisfying. (Willa and Vanessa would be great friends to have!) The supporting cast was no less endearing. Willa's family had me in stitches, as did the emails sent amongst the family. Scotch is a clever, clever wordsmith.

So, yes there's a huge, fun, chick lit element to the book. But it goes much deeper than that. Willa has to decide if she has the desire, the want and the need to change and be the master of her own fate. So, yes, this is a coming of age story - albeit a little later in life. And it's not just Willa - all of the characters are searching for something. I have to say, Winn Scotch made me stop and think about my own life. Truly is it ever too late to try something new, make changes and just grab life with both hands?

What an excellent introduction to a talented writer. This may have been my first book by Winn Scotch, but definitely won't be my last show less

I love this book. Winn Scotch always seems to write about slightly fantastic devices that enable her narrators to jump around in time; the payoff is keen insight into human nature and the choices we make. This time around, she writes about Tilly, a tightly-wound woman who never left the town she grew up in, and works at her old high school as a guidance counselor. The peak of Tilly's existence is designing the theme for the prom. Until she meets Ashley, a former classmate turned show more fortuneteller. Ashley gives Tilly the gift of clarity - i.e., she can look into the future. Most of what she sees is bad. But the fascinating part is, it really is a gift. show less

This is my fault. I know this is my fault. I thought I would give the "holiday spirit" a shot, and I shouldn't have. This may just be the worst book I've ever read. At least it was written by a woman, so the word panties wasn't used anywhere, but it's bad. Let me explain:

Our two main characters are the most insufferable human beings I've ever read about. They seem to operate under the assumption that everything that is a direct causation of their horrible actions is "just a misunderstanding show more ):"

Picture this: You're in your THIRTIES, and when you're invited to a friend from college's wedding, you black out and have sex with your ex from college in a MINOR's dorm room. When the resident of said dorm room comes home, she panics and pepper sprays the grown man standing in her BEDROOM, and he gets MAD AT HER. So anyway, later on, when you discover you left some of your stuff behind in her dorm, you go all the way back and actually accuse her of STEALING even though you literally broke into and spent the night in her bedroom. She's a college student. You should literally have gone to prison.

And it somehow gets worse.

Here's a direct quote from our girl Frankie once she discovers she and her adult friends have caused thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of damage while black-out drunk (reminder: she's in her THIRTIES)

"She could see that the Zamboni had plowed clear through the side of the rink's wall...Her options were to drive the Zamboni back through the front door and park it in the middle of the rink as if it had been here all along or wipe down the keys no fingerprints; all those episodes of law and order in hotel rooms could finally pay off and run. Or, she chewed the inside of her lip, accept accountability and call campus security and offer to write a check for the repairs."

Guess which choice we pick.

Anyway, on top of these rancid characters, this plot is just generally bad. Their relationship is so overwhelmingly toxic, and we're supposed to want them to get together? I am not rooting for these shitheads one bit. The entire book takes place on NYE, and I cannot WAIT for the clock to strike midnight so the story can just be OVER already.

Also- what college professor has their own wedding at the campus where they work? What college would agree to that? Why is the library security guard working at 11:30 PM on NYE when the campus is CLOSED?

ALSO, why did this take place in 1999? I mean, it's not part of the plot at all. There's no 90s nostalgia, and the main characters spend the entire book looking for their cellphones, so it might as well have just been modern-day. It was almost written in like an afterthought; "Also, it's New Year's Eve!" oh, did you just remember, Allison? This is dumb.

I cut out about three more paragraphs about how awful this book is because it was so unremarkable I don't think these plot points even deserve a summary.

2/5 stars. So close to 1. I hate it here. show less

They can’t sleep. No matter what they try, they just can’t sleep, so late at night they go online to chat with one another until one of them suggests they meet in person once a week at a Manhattan all-night diner. Sybil drives in from New Jersey, where she’s at loose ends after her children headed off to college and she discovers her husband is having an affair. Zeke, who lives in a luxurious high rise penthouse nearby, is a talented Mets pitcher sidelined by an injury. Julian, who show more called them together, lives in Queens and owns a candy store, but is mourning his dead wife, his absent daughter, and a previous career that obsessed him. He invites Betty, the waitress who works the night shift, to join them at their table. She’s tight-lipped and wary, holding a secret close to her chest. Nevertheless, they are soon fast friends, enjoying their late-night companionship, until tragedy strikes and Betty finds a note on the diner’s back door: RUN. Though they don’t know what she’s running from, the Insomniacs set out to find her since they don’t want her to face it alone.

There is a mystery, here, painstakingly unraveled by members of the weekly group as they delve into what might be driving Betty’s panicked flight. There is also the development of a found family, and a slowly-developing romantic attachment between Sibyl, whose warmth knitted the group together, and Zeke, whose entire existence revolved around baseball and his famously powerful arm but who isn’t sure if he’ll recover – or if he even wants to. As it turns out, Betty isn’t the only one with secrets, but the only way for them to help her is for all of the truth to come out.

The story unfolds from four points of view, with each character growing deeper and more complex as the reader pieces things together and as the group’s connections grow stronger. This is very much a character-driven novel, but also well-plotted as the search for answers accelerates. Ultimately, it’s about how we define “family” and whether our identities are governed by other people’s demands or by our own choices about who to love and how to live our lives. show less