LoveReading Says
Framed by Obama and Trump’s presidential elections, Cecilia Rabess’ Everything's Fine explores whether it’s possible to make a life with someone who sees the world very differently as it reels with romance that doesn’t run entirely smoothly, and insights into the prejudiced, cutthroat world of finance. More “could-they-should-they?” than “will-they-won’t-they?”, I raced through this in one sweeping sitting.
When Jess meets preppy Josh at their Ivy League college, she takes an instant dislike to his self-entitled confidence and conservatism. Post-graduation, after toying with the idea of working for a feminist magazine, Jess decides she wants “people to take her seriously”, and reckons having a million dollars in the bank might make that happen. So, she switches to a career in finance, only to discover that Josh is already rising through the ranks of Goldman Sachs when she joins his team.
Against an unfolding backstory of an abusive relationship from her past, Jess and Josh find themselves falling for each other. After following him to a new company, Jess also finds herself working for “garden-variety pompous asshats”, with her problems escalating when she’s told she’s “not a perfect culture fit”. When the worst happens at work and home, Jess faces a crucial question about their relationship: is Josh a “giant prick” (her words) or is he "really smitten", as her friends are inclined to believe?
“I’m black, you’re white. I’m liberal, you’re conservative…” Said that way it almost sounds like poetry. Opposites attract. The best kind of love story. But that’s not quite right”. So Jess ponders at a crucial point in a gripping story that explores whether you can love someone who holds opposing political views, and whether compromises could, or should, be made.
Joanne Owen
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Everything's Fine Synopsis
What have you got to lose when you fall in love?
When Jess first meets Josh at their Ivy League college she dislikes him immediately: an entitled guy in chinos, ready to take over the world. Meanwhile Jess is almost always the only Black woman in their class. And Josh can’t accept that life might be easier for him because he’s white.
After graduating, Jess and Josh end up working together in the same investment bank. As they lunch, spar and pick each other’s brains, Jess begins to see Josh in a different light.
Soon, their tempestuous friendship turns into an electrifying romance that shocks them both, and Jess finds herself questioning who she really is and whether she's willing to compromise that for love.
Cecilia Rabess' Everything's Fine is an utterly original and deeply moving take on an age-old question from a dazzling new voice: what have you got to lose when you fall in love?
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781529083170 |
| Publication date: |
8th June 2023 |
| Author: |
Cecilia Rabess |
| Publisher: |
Picador an imprint of Pan Macmillan |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
326 pages |
| Primary Genre |
General Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Cecilia Rabess Press Reviews
A stunning debut -- Meg Mason, bestselling author of Sorrow & Bliss
Truly brilliant . . . incredible dialogue and characters so real that I felt preoccupied with them when I wasn't reading. I couldn't have loved it more -- Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Romantic Comedy
A subtle, ironic, wise state-of-the-nation novel, sharp enough to draw blood, hidden inside a moving, intimate, sincere and very real love story - or vice versa. -- Nick Hornby
'Everything's Fine poses incisive questions about love, identity, and the countless ways these things can both bruise and bolster one another. Cecilia Rabess has crafted an extraordinarily brave debut that's painfully real-but plain funny as hell, too.' -- Zakiya Dalila Harris, bestselling author of The Other Black Girl
A brilliantly observed novel about what it means to lose yourself as a young woman. So funny but also incredibly true -- Nina Stibbe, author of - Love, Nina
Original, confident, hilarious -- Sathnam Sanghera, author of - Empireland
A whip smart, sexy, biting love story about how what unites us does not always overcome what divides us. -- Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Mercies
Funny, felt, and riveting, all at once-a story for anyone who's ever fallen in love that's less than straightforward. Cecilia Rabess is equal parts comedian and sorcerer, reminding us that none of us are (only) as we appear. -- Rachel Khong, author of Goodbye, Vitamin
Both entertaining and wise, a page-turner that explores race, class, sex, and ambition and how love and compromise work (or don't) in our current political climate. -- Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses
A hot book on a hot topic, well worth reading and arguing about - Kirkus
A breezy yet unsettling debut... Rabess's humor is on-point, and the chemistry between the leads is electric; each scene involving them is fraught with a double-edged sword - Publisher's Weekly
[A] thought-provoking debut...An intriguing cliffhanger makes this an excellent pick for book clubs that enjoy rousing debate - Booklist
Clean, crisp and charismatic -- Hena J. Bryan, Bookish Babe -
