September 15, 2021
Jo Freeman is expecting a big promotion to social-media manager; instead, she gets laid off and ends up moving back home to quiet Sandy Point, Oregon. While nursing her bruised ego in her childhood bedroom, she finds a list of things she wanted to do before graduating from high school, most of which she didn't do. Fueled by wine, she checks off the first: TPing frenemy Bianca's house. Except Bianca catches her. Their mutual BFF, Autumn, convinces them they should check adventures off the list together, with Jo documenting it all for social media. But the list brings up old hurts and the pains of adulthood: Jo's ex-girlfriend is still in town and as cool as ever, Bianca is caring for her elderly grandmother and running a business, and Autumn's adopted brother isn't speaking to their father. This ultimately feel-good tale of female friendship stands out with its diverse cast of complicated characters whose adult lives are nothing like their high-school selves imagined. Funny and smart, this is perfect for fans of wine-soaked women's fiction like Alexa Martin's Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes (2021).
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August 30, 2021
Anderson makes her adult debut (after the YA novel Not Now, Not Ever) with this stimulating story of a Black woman who ticks off a checklist from her teens and documents the results on Instagram. After Jo Freeman, 26, loses her marketing job in California, she grudgingly moves back in with her parents in small town Sandy Point, Ore. There, she reconnects with her former best friend, Autumn, who is white, and befriends Autumn’s new bestie, Bee Boria, with whom Jo had competed in high school. The three collaborate on Jo’s project, which involves adventures such as performing karaoke and getting a body piercing. Autumn, now a high school drama teacher, is in a power struggle with the chorus teacher. Bee runs her family’s tattoo shop and bends over backwards for her demanding Puerto Rican grandmother. Jo rekindles an old romance with hip, snobby Wren Vos, and flirts with Autumn’s older brother, Flo. Anderson transcends the chick-lit trope of ancient teen rivalries by crafting strong characters, and she also does a good job with the nuances of the women’s racial and sexual identities. Scenes with arguments, such as one between Jo and Wren over Jo’s priorities, are particularly riveting for showing the truth of both sides. There’s a lot to enjoy in this thoughtful story of female friendship.