Book Review; "The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing"

This novel caught my eye while I was at the bookstore a few weeks ago, and I was excited to start it. It's not actually a novel, but a collection of 7 short stories, 6 of which star the same heroine and one random one. The short stories focus on the 'coming of age' of Jane Rosenal, our protagonist, and we watch as she transitions from a teenager curious over her brother's relationships to a young assistant editor in a relationship with a much older man. We follow her as she falls in and out of love, faces challenges at the workplace, and struggles through various personal problems.

When we first meet Jane Rosenal, she is a suburban teenager, trying to understand what it means to be grown up and be in love. Jane is quirky and witty, keeping the reader entertained as she interacts with her family and her brother's new girlfriend. As the next story progresses, we learn that she has moved to New York City, working as an assistant editor. She quickly ends her relationship with her wandering-eye boyfriend, Jamie, and embarks on a serious relationship with a much older man, Archie. Smack dab in the middle of all of this is a random story about a completely different family, which throws the reader of their game because none of the characters are relevant to Jane Rosenal's life. By the next story, we get back to Jane and her dealing with her ailing father as well as her own health problems, and hear nothing about this random family again. The stories continue to follow Jane as she finds love in all the wrong places until she finally finds the right man, but has to decide if she's willing to let her guard down and be herself.

“You will say good-bye for all the right reasons. You're tired of living in wait for his apocalypse. You have your own fight on your hands, and though it's no bigger or more noble than his, it will require all of your energy."

I was honestly a bit disappointed by this novel. I was expecting thought-provoking, witty greatness and this novel fell short of that. I've read a variety of coming to age novels throughout the years and seen my fair share of 'coming to age' movies, and unfortunately, I don't think this held up to par. While the novel is in fact a collection of short stories, it seems a bit disjointed, and during the second story, it took me a few pages to figure out who was narrating. Furthermore, the one random short story in the middle that has nothing to do with Jane Rosenal makes absolutely no sense. We get a snippet into a different family's life and their problems, but it holds no relation to the rest of the stories or to Jane. I was also a bit surprised by the flatness of Jane's character at times; it was a bit disappointing to see her so two-dimensional. "The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing" is definitely a quick and light read, and while I wasn't a huge fan of it, I wouldn't expressly discourage anyone from reading it, because I think it all depends on how you relate yourself and your experiences to the book.