3 Star
Meet Emily Thompson, 25, quirky, wholesome, with a keen eye for contemporary art. One year after she moves from Buffalo to the trendy East Village, where she lands a job in an art gallery and an artist boyfriend, her life is turned upside down when she loses everything. Alone, broke and depressed, she turns to Craigslist to find - for free - everything she needs for both fun and survival. She soon discovers a wild, flawed world where everyone is either the con or the conned, and decency has flown both the laptop and the desktop. A roommate who is rarely home, turns out to be an escort, which makes Emily get on her high moral horse, but later, when Emily herself becomes an escort for a day things spiral out of control...
Jen - 3 Star
The best way to describe this book is just as the author says it “Welcome to the age of internet lust. Shameless and unbridled, tacky and silly, often crazy. Decency has flown the desktop, the laptop and the smartphone.”
The main character claims that Craiglist “serves as reflection of who we are.” Well, then that makes me cheap used furniture, but maybe that’s just me. Maybe my life would be a little more exciting if I searched out single white males and apartment subletters via Craigslist.
In My Life on Craigslist, author Alexandra Ares paints an intriguing and dangerously sexy picture of what people can find on today’s interwebs, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intrigued, and a little grossed out.
Emily Thomson is a fun loving 25-year-old, living the dream life in New York City. Okay, maybe not your typical Gossip Girl dream life, but as far as independent, young and carefree lives go, Emily has it made. Sure, she lives paycheck to paycheck and is forced to fish for less than desirable roommates to cover her rent, but still, she’s single and a New Yorker.
For Emily, there is much more to strive for and apparently, you can find it all on Craigslist. I kept thinking about how much fun the author must have had trolling around on Craigslist, trying to find the juiciest inspiration for this book. Free tickets to a play? Sure! A new roommate who can move in by the next day, easy! Men looking for women to fulfilled their dirtiest fantasies, coming right up!
Emily is as real as it gets. She knows what she wants to find on Craigslist. I knew I loved her no-bull character when I read about her posting her own ad on Craigslist: “I typed this headline: Fast love and fast sex. Then I delete the last part and leave only “fast love.” No need to be too explicit. Everyone knows that love has become just a euphemism for sex.”
This book is all about being honest about what we truly want and not being ashamed about it. Sex. Love. Companionship. And in an age where we are more connected than ever and instant gratification is just a phone app away, there’s no reason we shouldn’t own up to the fact that if we could all find love and satisfaction as fast as it takes to post an ad online, we’d all be doing exactly what Emily is doing in this story.
You’ll be pleased with the ending…I was happy for Emily and her ironic happy ever after.
Thank you to Alexandra Ares for our review copy. All opinions are our own.
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This book sounds really interesting! I've trolled Craigslist a few times in my (sordid!) past, but always got too freaked out by it to ever follow up with anything other than, as you mentioned, buying used furniture. Will have to check it out!
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