THREE QUESTIONS by Meagan Adele Lopez

THE GIST:

An aspiring actress conducts an epistolary romance with an Englishman she met in Vegas while in the midst of a quarter-life crisis.

THE VERDICT:

This is a fun love story about Adele and Guy, an American girl and a British guy, who meet in Las Vegas and decide to exchange letters to get to know each other from afar. They answer three questions about themselves in each letter, and we get to see the dreams, quirks, and frustrations of realistic characters as their relationship grows. This is also the story of Adele's quarter-life crisis. She's 25 and unsure whether it's time to give up her dreams of being a Hollywood actress. Through the narrative and letters, we see the confusion and joy of being in your 20s and realizing you have no idea what you actually want to do with your life.

As the veteran of a long distance relationship with a British guy (we lived in different countries for 3 1/2 years), it's easy for me to relate to this story. I recognized the uncertainty about whether you'll still get along after a long absence, the anticipation of each email, and the fear that the distance will keep you apart indefinitely. Adele's uncertainty over her future is also something I can relate to because the aforementioned relationship has led to my life taking a very different path than I expected. Adele's concerns are believable and she presents them with a mixture of humor, drama, and solemnity that seems typical of someone our age. For these reasons, I would recommend this book to my fellow 20-somethings (I know there are a lot of you who read this blog).

The details of this story match the author's life very closely. She clearly knows what it's like to be an aspiring actress, attend an arts school, live in Paris and LA, and be in a long distance relationship with a Brit she met in Vegas. She went so far as to name the main character (also a part-Cuban girl from Baltimore) after herself. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that the ending matched the honesty of the book, either in tone or content. It felt like a Nicholas Sparks ending tacked on for effect. I would have liked the story to end the way her own life has ended, the way a real person's story goes after a quarter-life crisis. In my opinion, the lessons Adele learns throughout the story would be more powerful without the twist, though it certainly isn't a reason not to read the book.

THE LINK:

Meagan Adele Lopez's website

THE COST:

I paid $2.99 for the Kindle edition.

THE QUESTION:

If you are a 20-something, do you feel you are experiencing a quarter-life crisis? If you're a bit older, how have things turned out differently for you than you expected?