Review: The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Photo by Will Francis on Unsplash
Synopsis:
Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can’t imagine working anywhere else. But lately it’s been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who’s fresh off a journalism master’s program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.
When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect cohosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it’s this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it’s not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle, and climbs podcast charts.
As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other. In an industry that values truth, getting caught could mean the end of more than just their careers.
Overall, I really liked this.
“Terry Gross, Rachel Martin, Audie Cornish—give me strength.”
I love NPR. I donate to my local station, and I have the app on my phone. The radio in my old car was stuck on the local channel, and I listened to it religiously. The point here is that I’m a fan of public radio. So of course I was going to read a book about two characters who fall in love while hosting a show together.
I really liked Shay. Her struggle with feeling like she’s just playing at being an adult was very relatable—I seriously feel like that all the time. Again, it’s always nice to read about a character going through the exact same thing you are. Although I wish she was a bit more assertive. It takes her more than half of the book before she realizes that her boss—who ignores her ideas, unless they’re presented by a man, and constantly asks her to take notes in a meeting, even if she’s more senior than anyone else in there—is actually sexist. Of course, I’m pretty sure I would react the same way she did in that situation, so that’s probably why I wanted her to be more outspoken. And, the way she does speak out in the end is pretty amazing.
But, I wish that more transcripts from their show were included. I was genuinely interested in it! And they talk about doing so many different episodes, but considering that what drives the plot is Dominic and Shay lying about their relationship in order to actually do the show, I didn’t feel like we spent enough time with them on the air.
The story is told from Shay’s perspective, and while I did like her voice, I actually think that the story could have benefitted from adding Dominic’s perspective. I’m not usually a fan of this device, but without it, it was hard to connect with Dominic. Both characters grew so much throughout the book, but it felt like we were missing a huge piece of story by focusing solely on Shay’s point-of-view.
Especially in the beginning, because Dominic was so annoying. I straight-up hated him for the first fifty or so pages. He would not shut up about his Master’s degree in journalism. I got my undergraduate degree in journalism—sorry there’s no way to say that without sounding like a Dominic—and I talked to several of my professors about whether pursuing an advanced degree was worth it. They all said the same thing: Absolutely no one cares if you have it, it’s incredibly expensive, and it doesn’t guarantee you a higher salary. Of course, people do get their Master’s, but usually they wait five or ten years, to spend time in the field so they have a better idea of what they want to concentrate on. So the idea that this 24-year-old would swagger into a news station and expect everyone to fall all over him was so unrealistic. Most likely, the response would have been, “Why’d you waste your money?” (A newsroom is a very cynical place)
That being said, I still really liked this book. The characters are (for the most part) realistic, well-developed, and just a little bit messy, and I appreciated the very real issues that they deal with. I also loved the fact that Shay is Jewish. But, I think there was just a few things missing that left me wanting more from the story.
“It’s your typical coworkers turned enemies turned fake exes turned cohosts turned real romantic partners kind of love story.”
Content Warning: death of a loved one, sexism.
This book is an open-door romance, meaning the sex scenes are explicit.