Sweet Virginia

Out of Line collection

By: Caroline Kepnes

Narrated by: Kristen Bell

What’s a woman to do when she fails to live up to feminine ideals? It depends on what she’s willing to give up in this darkly comic short story by Caroline Kepnes, the bestselling author of You.

Shelby is struggling with parenthood, marriage, a passive-aggressive mother, and unemployment. But she also has a sweet escape in her beloved Hallmark movies. When a secret admirer promises to sweep her away into a world of those same romantic tropes, the temptation is so heady, Shelby can already smell the pumpkin spice. But this rom-com dream has a whiff of conspiracy…

Caroline Kepnes’s Sweet Virginia is part of Out of Line, an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

Audible narration by Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars)

©2020 Caroline Kepnes (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Not your average Hallmark family

Shelby’s a cynical married woman with writer’s block. As a journalist who’s watched too many Hallmark movies Shelby often finds herself comparing her Modern life to those in the movies.
When inspiration hits Shelby searches for meaning by inserting herself into the life of one of her Hallmark movies. What she finds is a woman who’s too hard on herself.

I love the ingenuity of Caroline Kepnes’ mind. She never fails to take your mind on wild and unique journey.
Narrated by Kristen Bell. Kristen is the voice of Shelby a woman who’s lost herself after having a baby. The role of motherhood took on a new meaning after experiencing it living with her mother.
I listened using the audible app at 2X speed. Amazon offered both the ebook and audiobook free for prime members.

that was interesting

🖤 Short Story
⏰️ Discussion of family and expectations of mothes
📖 Written like venting main character
🔪 Dark side of hallmark
❌️ Handmaids Tale vibes (how woman are affected by society)

✨️ My Favorite Qoutes ✨️

"Sometimes she sees a glimpse of the other life."

"There are 2 kinds of women in tbis country. W1 women who love. W2 women who don't love."

"You need to become a woman on your own. Before you can become a woman in your family."

"Those women in the movies were dough."

~~~~~~
📕 My Mini Non-Spoiler Review 📕
Wow, this book felt abit slow in the beginning but at the mid way point it hit really hard. The way motherhood impacted the lead character and the haunting voice of the character lingered long after it changed.

Surprised Me

The Out of Line collection has really intrigued me. I love these collections that Audible is doing, especially because they are usually a one-sitting sort of book. This collection isn’t any different. I wanted to include what Audible had to say about the collection since I went into this book pretty blind (honestly picking it first because I love Kristen Bell. Out of Line, an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape.

So, knowing that now, this one makes sense. But Sweet Virginia tells the story of a woman who is struggling. Struggling with a lot of different aspect of being a woman. She’s a new mom but doesn’t feel that bond with her baby that everyone told her she would. She loves her husband but doesn’t seem to be sure if she’s in love with him. All of this comes to a point in the story – and I won’t ruin the ending, but it was a surprise.

The first half was sort of a “okay, we know who she is, what is going to happen?” And the second half was dystopian almost wtf-like. I genuinely didn’t see it coming and I’m glad I didn’t Kepnes threw me for a loop and I loved it. Honestly, I believe this could be a Hulu series on par with The Handmaid’s Tale.

And the point was...?

I waited in vain for the main character - actually, any of the characters - to develop. So many missed opportunities to throw serious shade on the romcomplex.

Interesting

That was pretty interesting. It definitely showcases how many of us feel on a daily basis. Life is hard, let’s be honest. Who knows if we are doing the right things or not. We just have to be the best we can be with what we have to work with.

Pretty imaginative.

This wasn't stellar but it certainly wasn't bad. Had the author's usual underlying flavor and it was well performed and written.

interesting premise but didn't hit home

Interesting listening to this really short story and totally could feel for Shelby. Haven’t we all felt like her before as a woman and mother?
Felt it ended a little suddenly and open to interpretation, but wanted a bit more too.
Narration by Kristen Bell was superb.

Not my favorite.

Kind of like a Hallmark movie. Not a satisfactory read. I would not chose another short story by this author.

Not Caroline Kepnes best

This story was really odd. It's nothing like her YOU series, of course, and one can't expect it to be... but if you are a CK fan because of those books, you may not be able to wrap your mind around this one. The character is totally unlikeable and it's just a weird premise. Kristen Bell is a great narrator though.

Ummm...

I keep typing and backspacing, typing and backspacing.
Although I may not be a member of Mensa, I'm fairly intelligent and this story just flew over my head. I love the You series by Caroline Kepnes, I think her mind is brilliantly deranged in the best way, but Sweet Virginia just did not work for me. I think in a way I understood where she was going with the story, but on the other hand, not so much. I kept hoping Shelby would wake up from a dream, like Pam did in Dallas (did I just age myself there), but that did not come to pass and I'm just left wondering what exactly I just listened to. Thankfully I enjoyed Kristen Bell's narration and was able to muddle through to the end.