February 5, 2018
Cohen’s charming, if uneven, debut finishes strong after a slow start, and will appeal to fans of boy-meets-girl comedic stories in the When Harry Met Sally tradition. As in Ephron’s screenplay, New York is a character in this witty and romantic story, which opens in 2005 and features Eve Porter, a music writer with psychological struggles. She’s in her 20s and never recovered from her father’s abandonment and her mother’s death on 9/11; she overanalyzes everything and constantly waits for the other shoe to drop. Her love interest, Ben, a structural engineer working on the Freedom Tower, may be a bit of an overgrown college boy, but he exudes logical calm. Their paths cross more than once over the years before they finally hook up, and Ben gently nudges them toward becoming a couple, a label Eve wants to avoid. All is adorable until Ben reveals disturbing information he shouldn’t have kept from Eve. Cohen overdoes the zaniness in the early chapters, but the characters come into their own as the story progresses and Eve and Ben get closer. After that, the narrative becomes a living thing, and once a little of Eve’s quirkiness rubs off on Ben, readers will know they can expect a satisfying ending.
December 15, 2017
As Columbia University undergrads, English major Eve and engineering student Ben have nothing in common besides a handful of peripheral acquaintances. Over the following decade, the two cross paths time and again, Eve calling it fate while Ben chooses the logic of synchronicity. Inevitably, they get together, and their eccentricities mesh in perfect harmony. They share many happy nights of Ben staring quizzically at Eve while she explains some facet of music journalism, and of Ben venting about the difficulties of working on designs for the Freedom Tower. Unfortunately, their blissful symbiosis is marred by a serious stroke of darkness: Eve's mother and Ben's father worked at the same firm in the World Trade Center and were together on the morning of the 2001 attacks. Ben's father survived, Eve's mother did not. This discovery and Eve's subsequent self-sabotaging behavior draw them apartbut luckily, Cohen's delicious debut comes with a happy ending. It's When Harry Met Sally for a new generation, with all the humor, heart, and smarts that writing neo-Ephron entails.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)
Starred review from December 1, 2017
In her promising debut, Cohen follows two New Yorkers as they deal with jobs, relationships, family, and all the other tribulations of being 20-something.Eve Porter has a lot of baggage, and she isn't ashamed of it. Her father abandoned her family when she was a child, and her mother was killed on Sept. 11. Now she's a worrier, one who thinks that by observing everything and expecting the worst, she can predict catastrophes before they happen. She's an aspiring music writer who loves words and emotions; when she meets laconic Ben, an engineering student, she immediately writes him off. He's far too normal and not nearly tortured enough to suit her. But, years later and after the end of a particularly toxic relationship, Eve runs into Ben again. This time, things are different. Ben falls for her almost immediately, but Eve is more hesitant. Can she really be vulnerable enough to let someone in, or will her self-destructive nature take over? Eve's funny, biting voice is what really makes the narrative sing--her musings on loss and anxiety are heartbreakingly honest without ever dipping into saccharine territory. Cohen creates characters who feel real enough to jump off the page, as if readers might run into them on the street. Eve and Ben are the standouts, but the side characters are also perfectly described: Eve's surly sister, Ben's goofy friends, Eve's disappointingly human father. Although this is Eve and Ben's love story, it's also an ode to New York City, an exploration of loss, a rumination on 9/11's effects on a generation, and a tale of two people navigating their 20s.An edgy, updated take on Nora Ephron that's full of humor and wit.
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