3 out of 4 stars
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In Euphoria is a novel written by Donna D. Vitucci. The book takes place in a Midwest town called Euphoria. It starts with a power outage that brings two people together. Pauline goes to a Goodwill store to kill time while the power comes back in her house. Jared is doing his community service by working there. The two start a relationship even though Pauline is married to Tom. As their affair progresses, Pauline remains unable to decide between the two men in her life. Jared grows tired of her indecisiveness. He decides to leave town to force Pauline to make up her mind, but by doing that he also violates his probation.
Jared is, in my opinion, the main character of the book since his perspective is given the most time. During Jared’s childhood, his older brother Sten was his teacher and role model. Sten is still a constant voice in Jared’s head commentating all his actions. Pauline’s story is about the men in her life. Tom was her childhood friend with whom she reconnected later in life. He was reliable and, “He’d been the one who taught Pauline the good of Goodwill.” Pauline and Jared are both vulnerable when they meet each other. They both struggle to let go of the past.
This is a book that’s more focused on its characters rather than the plot. It explores who they are as people and delves into their past. They think back about their lives and the friends and family members that made them who they are. The best way to describe In Euphoria would be as literary fiction. If you’re a fan of that type of writing then this is a book for you.
The best thing I can say about In Euphoria is that it’s a well-written book. The language was highly poetic. It’s a book you have to read slowly and pay attention to every sentence. The themes are subtle and carefully crafted. There are small scenes that you later realize were metaphors for the entire story.
Unfortunately, there were a few errors present throughout the book. They mostly consisted of wrong or missing words that made the entire sentence seem weird. Also, the font size of the PDF file was too small to comfortably read on my six-inch ebook reader. I wouldn’t call this book badly edited, but it was not an ideal reading experience. Due to its content, this is not a book that’s suitable for everybody. There’s strong language as well as scenes depicting physical and sexual violence.
Ultimately, it just wasn’t a book for me. I’ve always liked stories with a strong plot, but In Euphoria just didn’t have that. At times I felt bored and lost as to what was going on. That and the few editing errors makes me give this book 3 out of 4 stars.
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In Euphoria
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