A Touch of Jen
Ratings2
Average rating4
A young couple's toxic Instagram crush spins out of control and unleashes a sinister creature in this twisted, viciously funny, "bananas good" debut. (Carmen Maria Machado) "Um, holy shit...This novel will be the most fun you'll have this summer." —Emily Temple, Literary Hub Remy and Alicia, a couple of insecure service workers, are not particularly happy together. But they are bound by a shared obsession with Jen, a beautiful former co-worker of Remy’s who now seems to be following her bliss as a globe-trotting jewelry designer. In and outside the bedroom, Remy and Alicia's entire relationship revolves around fantasies of Jen, whose every Instagram caption, outfit, and new age mantra they know by heart. Imagine their confused excitement when they run into Jen, in the flesh, and she invites them on a surfing trip to the Hamptons with her wealthy boyfriend and their group. Once there, Remy and Alicia try (a little too hard) to fit into Jen’s exalted social circle, but violent desire and class resentment bubble beneath the surface of this beachside paradise, threatening to erupt. As small disturbances escalate into outright horror, we find ourselves tumbling with Remy and Alicia into an uncanny alternate reality, one shaped by their most unspeakable, deviant, and intoxicating fantasies. Is this what “self-actualization” looks like? Part millennial social comedy, part psychedelic horror, and all wildly entertaining, A Touch of Jen is a sly, unflinching examination of the hidden drives that lurk just outside the frame of our carefully curated selves.
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I haven't really delved into surreal literary horror like this before. Based off the blurb I saw this going one way and couldn't have seen where this was headed. I had a quick reaction of WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST READ so I am understanding more of the polarizing reviews.
I think this is an interesting book because I really wasn't rooting for anyone except Jake (the roommate). Remy and Alicia are obsessed with Jen, one of Remy's old coworkers. They turn on post notifications, look at Jen's photos together, and even incorporate Alicia-as-Jen into their sex life. Remy would be the guy you know but would never want to hang out with ever. Alicia is very much a stand in and disappointment to Remy by simply not being Jen. In many ways they perpetuate the worst qualities about one another.
I won't go into much more but I can see now why this book gets recommended. This certainly won't be a book I will forget.
Contains spoilers
Really liked the writing and the suspense the author sets up throughout the first half, but really wish it didn't take the supernatural turn it took in the second half. Keeping the monster on the periphery of the action (like it was the night Alicia choked Jen in her sleep) would've kept the same tense, ominous tone but allowed me to believe the monster was purely metaphoric/imagined by Remy instead of the actual antagonist. Maybe I'm biased because I don't like supernatural/"monster" horror to begin with, but it felt unnecessary to turn the second half into a literal monster story when Remy and Alicia are set up to be plenty monstrous themselves.
Really astounding. Every single time I thought I understood what this book was about it took a hard left turn. First it was maybe about how parasocial interaction feeds toxic relationships, then it was about how people change (and how they don't) with their environment, then it was about how grief and technology intersect. Very briefly it was about ghosts. With the last 10% of the book I'm not even sure anymore if it can be said to be about one thing but I do know I want to talk about this book with anyone who will listen.
