Emily Schultz

Parts of this are smart and parts of this are really dumb. Some authorial insights were smart, but her characters were largely dumb. They are about 30, but act like teenagers. When one doesn't and actually makes an adult decision, the rest are baffled. This generation has such a hard time growing the fuck up that it's mind boggling. Heads up one's own ass must be the norm. I can't imagine being this ill-equipped for life. My generation is full of awful parents.

Mesmerizing. Like Cormac McCarthy on estrogen. Emily Schultz tells a gripping, even haunting, tale in The Blondes, that is subtle, sophisticated, sensitive, quirkily observant, and horrific.

Hazel Hayes is a Ph.D. candidate in Communications Studies spending a term in New York City to pursue her research and, in effect, to avoid her thesis supervisor, Karl Mann, with whom she has inadvisably had an affair. Absence, from Karl and from her other friends in Toronto, does nothing to alleviate her show more mixed feelings or help her focus on her thesis. And the fact that she has just learned that she is pregnant doesn’t help matters. Her life, her whole world, is a mess. But that’s nothing compared to the mess that is about to ensue when a pandemic of rabies-like madness begins to strike blondes and those whose hair colour has been made blonde through dyeing. From an initial attack that Hazel witnesses in the New York subway to outbreaks at JFK and further afield (the Nordic countries are severely at risk), Hazel must negotiate her way through this field of mayhem in order to get back to Toronto.

That makes it sound like a horror story, but it’s really a meditation on representations of women in culture and advertising, a commentary on systemic sexism, a reflection on a woman’s control over her own body (exacerbated by Hazel’s uncertainty over whether she wants to carry her foetus to term), a searching examination of varieties of grief, and yes, of course, also a bit of a horror story. (Interestingly, “blond/blonde” is one of the few adjectives in written English to retain its masculine and feminine grammatical genders.)

The writing is measured, thoughtful, well paced, and crisp. It was a pleasure to read and think about and I would gladly read anything else Emily Schultz chooses to write. Recommended. show less

Sleeping with Friends by Emily Schultz is a fast paced suspense novel that will have you reevaluating any long standing friendships.

I love the concept of Sleeping with Friends; Mia is in a coma after what may have been an attempt on her life or a slip and fall accident. When she comes to, one of her college friends, Agnes, suggests a rememoring party. Mainly so Mia can remember all the good things about Agnes, but also so they can solve a possible attempted murder.
All the elements of a good show more whodunnit were there, and as I mentioned before, it is a fast paced book, but it still dragged at times for me in regards to not caring too much about any of the characters.

They were well written, but they all seemed like entitled brats. I know that is how most of them were supposed to come across, and one of the themes is even, would you still be friends with some of the people you met in high school or college if you met them today, but when I can’t connect with the characters, I can’t connect with the book. The only one that I kind of cared about what happened to her was Agnes, so I’m glad she came to some of the realizations she did by the end of the book.

Towards the end when new people suddenly appeared the book seemed to take a bit of a whacky turn to me. The next death seemed to be there just to try and add some suspense.

If you’re in the mood for some mindless fun, and you enjoy reading about people who could use a good dose of therapy, Sleeping with Friends may be just what you are looking for. show less

"Sometimes the truth threatens us more than the fictions that have been told."

oooh, this was a wonderful mystery. I love stories focused around podcasts and the moral dilemma they raise. This one was less about the podcast and much more about the lives affected by a murder. Kennedy is our main character but not our only narrator. She was put away in prison before she was 18 and she is just getting out, now that she's 21. A lot has changed in the world and it has moved and rushed right by show more her. She was accused and she plead, essentially, no contest, to her best friend's murder (while high out of her mind on acid).

Our other POV are her old boyfriend, her twin sister, her dad and then the family of the murdered teen. It's a thoughtful story, showing how hard it was for all families involved and for Kennedy post prison. So many fascinating worlds tied together by this one thread - the author did a great job of weaving the story together, keeping me pulled in and my questions constantly going. I am definitely going to find more by this author and check it out! show less