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No Hard Feelings (Genevieve Novak, HarperCollins) 

The protagonist of Genevieve Novak’s debut novel will be relatable to many younger millennials. Penny is battling the dread of the fact that life in her late 20s looks nothing like she’d hoped, and as her best friends Annie and Bec enjoy career success and impending nuptials, she feels left behind, finding comfort in her growing friendship with her charismatic housemate Leo. Indifferent about her job at a digital marketing agency, Penny bends over backwards to please her domineering boss and spends her time monitoring the intervals between text messages in order to come across as the ideal aloof cool-girl for Max, her commitment-averse on-again, off-again boyfriend. Novak creates a concrete sense of familiarity as Penny weaves through everyday experiences in inner-city Melbourne, and it’s refreshing to see millennial angst set against a local backdrop. Some of the most rewarding parts of the novel are Penny’s sessions with her therapist who, much to our heroine’s chagrin, is perceptive and direct, pointing out how Penny’s beliefs and patterns sabotage her intentions. Seeing the protagonist grow and incorporate her insights from therapy into her life is gladdening, but the speedy and almost fairytale-like outcomes in both Penny’s career and romantic life at the end diverge from the grounded and steady build-up and tone of the rest of the book. Nonetheless, overall, No Hard Feelings is a gratifying, warm and funny debut. 

Shivani Prabhu is a freelance writer and nonfiction editor for Voiceworks. 

 

Category: Reviews