The Q

The Q is filled with lost and lonely people. Reed fills it with a rainbow of diversity and surprisingly most of them are over fifty-years-old. There are heterosexuals, homosexuals, asexuals, and jerks. I will admit to being overwhelmed with the number of characters and who everyone is in Part One. What I remember the most after reading Part One straight through is the feelings that echoed inside me.

“Would someone even look twice at him these days?” Nelson, Loc. 212

I can remember this bar in Boston that everyone seemed to go to and the first time I went there it was filled with people in their twenties. Dancing, drinking, and having a good time. Then among the crowd I spotted a woman with all white hair and showing some age. No one wanted to dance with her and I thought, “OMG how sad. Will that be me in the future?” Well meet Reed's version in Nelson. I relate to almost everything he thought with the exception that I don't actually believe that love is coming. You look in the mirror and think, is that really me?

Reed hits on a lot of the emotions that older people feel who aren't partnered or are living an untruth. I was nodding my head and thinking this is just going to be a sad book...but, who owns the pickup?

I need not have worried though as Reed blends stories so that you always know who you are with and how they connect. There are sad stories, “awww I'm bummed stories”, and “woohoo” stories. Everyone doesn't get a “happily ever after”, but that is life too. Reed keeps it real and doesn't sugarcoat their realities. There are no easy answers and some people just end up “lucky”.

I loved all of the interconnecting stories, even the unhappy ones. I have some favorites, but that would be giving away some of the endings (laugh). I recommend stopping by The Q and meeting the “gang” and let me know who your favorites are.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.