How to Fall Out of Love Madly

A Novel

By: Jana Casale

Narrated by: Julia Knippen, Sophie Amoss, Imani Jade Powers, Kristen Sieh, Karissa Vacker

“Three relatable thirty somethings drive this ode to womanhood. Learning the hard way to love themselves, the women teach invaluable lessons.”—People

“Everyone who loves Sally Rooney should be reading Jana Casale!”—Julie Buntin, author of Marlena

Three women confront the compromises they’ve made to appease the men they love.

Joy and Annie are friends and roommates whose thirty-something lives aren’t exactly what they’d imagined. To make ends meet, they decide to rent their extra bedroom to Theo, who charms Joy with his salt-and-pepper hair and adoration of their one-eyed cat. When Annie goes to live with her boyfriend, Theo and Joy settle into a comfortable domesticity. Then Theo brings home Celine, the girlfriend he’s never mentioned, who is possibly the most stunning woman Joy has ever seen. Joy resolves to do whatever it takes to hold on to him, falling ever deeper into an emotional hellscape of her own making. She is too obsessed to realize that Celine’s beauty doesn’t protect her from pain. Haunted by an event from her past, Celine can’t escape her shame and finds herself in an endless cycle of self-sabotage.

Annie is baffled by Joy’s senseless devotion to Theo, but she’s consumed by her own obsessions: she can’t stop parsing her commitment-phobic boyfriend’s texts in an exhausting mission to maintain his approval. At work, where she fully embraces her natural assertiveness, Annie is a star. But when an anonymous letter lands on her desk accusing her esteemed and supportive boss of sexual misconduct, she is forced to decide who and what she’s willing to stand up for.

Perceptive, mordantly funny, and full of heart, How to Fall Out of Love Madly examines women’s many relationships—with one another, their mothers, their work, men, and themselves—to reveal their underlying power and complexity. It asks, why do so many smart, compassionate, otherwise empowered women tolerate egregious behavior from the men they love? And what will it take for them to reclaim control?

©2022 Jana Casale (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Three relatable thirtysomethings drive this ode to womanhood. Learning the hard way to love themselves, the women teach invaluable lessons.”—People

“In subtle, exquisitely precise prose, How to Fall Out of Love Madly astounds with its insights about love and the search for meaning and self-acceptance. Everyone who loves Sally Rooney should be reading Jana Casale!”—Julie Buntin, author of Marlena

“Jana Casale is a master storyteller—observant, witty, sharp, and funny. How to Fall Out of Love Madly is an honest and compelling look at female friendship, romantic relationships, and infatuation.”—Jennifer Close, New York Times bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses and Marrying the Ketchups

Loved

This book is incredible and breathed so much of the truth that sits on the tip of your tongue, just out of reach, into existence.

Love this Book

This is an amazing book every young adult and adult should read. It gives a sis millennial woman perspective.

Amazing.

Was great to witness each character come into their own, and was funny and reverent. Loved the narration! Karissa Vacker is the best.

Such a fabulous listen

To hear the minds of other woman & their lived experiences was healing, amazing & so well written. Melissa Urban recommended it & so glad she did

A pitch perfect portrayal of womanhood, love, patriarchy, friendship, and adulting in America

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2022
This is an aching coming-of-age story/ indictment of the patriarchy/ searingly honest and vulnerable portrait of what it is to be a not-quite-young woman in America masquerading as a hot pink-covered beach read. But you should all read it on the beach (or...anywhere) because it is also funny and super readable with flawed, tender, totally loveable characters. A home run.

Characters alright/ overall tone makes you think

So I didn't love any of the characters, some are downright annoying. BUT where I enjoyed the book was the overall tone of how a lot of us are intentionally taught to be passive for the comfort of others and at some point in life a lot of us start to notice this. It was an interesting perspective on the unspoken social rules that so many of us just follow without questioning why

If you like the tone of ‘My Body’…

you’ll love this. I did not. In a similar way to that book, I felt like the women’s inner thoughts on their insecurities and interactions with men were supposed to render them as deep yet relatable. But they just came off as shallow, self obsessed, privileged and boring. This was a tiresome listen.