Overdue by Stephanie Perkins

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Ingrid and her boyfriend Cory have been together for eleven years, since their literal first day of community college. They have never dated other people, like EVER, and have settled into a life where they are real adults who live together, but haven't actually considered whether marriage is in their future. When Ingrid's sister announces her engagement to a woman she's been dating for a mere two years, Ingrid and Cory decide they should explore their options. In other words, take a month to see other people, and then come back together to either move toward marriage, or...not.

Ingrid is a library clerk in a small branch in a North Carolina mountain town. She enjoys her job, but possibly more because she enjoys working the circulation desk with her co-worker Macon, rather than having a true calling to be a librarian. Macon is her friend, but there has always been something between them and Ingrid's mind goes straight to him as soon as the possibility to date other people opens up. But of course, Macon is way too much of a gentleman to take advantage of her.

Obviously, the story continues with Ingrid and Macon figuring out their feelings, but to say more on that would be a spoiler.

This was good, but could have used some editing for length. The audiobook was almost 13 1/2 hours long, and it dragged on in places. I never was tempted to put it aside, but there were points where I was wondering how in the world Ingrid could take the long way around the metaphorical block AGAIN as her life took several twists and turns. This title is described as the adult debut of a bestselling young adult author, so maybe she (and her publisher) thought that adult books required more.

I do have one very specific issue with something that Ingrid did. While scoping out potential dates in her time away from Cory, she checked to see if the men had library cards, and if so, what were they reading. (At this point, library people should be shocked and appalled!) We would NEVER invade someone’s privacy like that for personal reasons. Borrower records are sacred, and library staff will defend your right to privacy practically to the death. The author’s bio says she used to be a librarian and a bookseller, so I found this very much out of line with what I expected from the main character. Overreaction on my part? Maybe, but you can rest assured that your reading records are safe here at your local library.

I still enjoyed the book with its vivid descriptions of books, libraries, bookstores, plants, food, paint colors, and Edmond the cat. Every book needs a cat.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.