Who You Think I Am by Camille Laurens: A Review

                       
I heard about Camille Laurens' novel Who You Think I Am from Shelf Awareness.  When I read what the book was about, I was intrigued because it sounded a lot like Catfish, the movie and television show about people who pretend to be someone they are not in order to seduce or harass people online.  When Claire Millecam, a teacher, is treated cruelly by her boyfriend, Joe, she creates a fake Facebook account as Claire Antunes and befriends Joe's friend, Chris.

I found this book very difficult and cumbersome to read.  Most of the book is told with only one side speaking so there are times when the narrator answers questions that we, as readers, are not privy to.  Reading a string of "Yes.  No.  Yes.  Yes." when I have no knowledge of the questions being asked is frustrating.  Most of the book was told from the perspective of a psychiatric patient and I believed that the author was trying to make this felt in the writing until the psychiatrist's point of view was also written like this.  It may be an interesting experimental writing style but it didn't appeal to me.  The story also moves so slowly that it becomes uninteresting to read.  It is too bad because this book touches on important themes, such as the worth of women as they age and honesty online, but the poor writing and slow story made this a very difficult and tedious read.  

Reviews of books like this one:
Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler
All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg
Leave Me by Gayle Forman

This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.