Before a couple years ago, I had only ever read Prep Sittenfeld's first novel, which is a truly bizarre but impactful novel about a Midwestern teenager who goes to an elitist East Coast boarding school. Prep is super weird but probably responsible for many 90s' kids' sexual awakening (myself included, lmao). Then last year I read Romantic Comedy. which I LOVED. And then came this book, a short story collection, which is not normally my cup of tea. But I really enjoyed this one.

This is just a really delightful short story collection. Just like in Prep and Romantic Comedy, Sittenfeld's characters feel so real - they have the thoughts that everyone has but is afraid to voice, they have weird and conflicting desires, their past affects them in strange and lasting ways, and they make choices that don't always make sense. I especially loved "White Women Lol," which explores subtle racism in privileged communities; "The Richest Babysitter in the World," which seems to be a story about Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos before they got super rich; and "The Hug," which showcases the ways relationships change over time and how you might need different things from your partner in different phases of life. And of course, I loved "Lost But Not Forgotten," the last story of the collection, which picks up with our Prep protagonist Lee at her thirtieth high school reunion. Sittenfeld's voice is sharp and incisive in these stories, and each one caught my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!