Crushing (Genevieve Novak, HarperCollins)

After being unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend of five years, Marnie finds herself alone for the first time in her adult life. As a self-professed serial girlfriend, the 28-year-old Melburnian comes to the crushing realisation that she has continually based her whole personality around whichever boyfriend she is with at the time. After breaking down in her sister’s spare room, Marnie swears off relationships and sets out to discover her true self through wine, evening hobby classes and partying with her new housemate and best friend, Claud. So, when she meets Isaac, a witty, funny, certified dreamboat, her new resolve is tested as she crushes hard and fast. As Marnie struggles with her feelings, she wonders if she can ever truly discover herself if she can’t even stand to be by herself. Crushing, the second novel from the author of No Hard Feelings, is a sharp, funny and biting exploration of a classic millennial existential crisis. Genevieve Novak tackles subjects including identity, life after lockdown, the perils of online dating and the difficulty of finding true friendships in your late 20s. While much of the book is comparable in subject matter to Novak’s debut, Crushing is more refined and focuses more on self-love and acceptance. While some of Marnie’s epiphanies come across a little heavy-handed, the pithy one-liners and witty exchanges between characters lead to some genuine laugh-out-loud moments.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Chloë Cooper is a freelance writer and librarian based in Meanjin. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews