{"id":350,"date":"2021-09-12T08:28:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-12T08:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/?p=350"},"modified":"2024-10-24T21:37:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T19:37:52","slug":"mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Mad<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Chlo\u00e9 Esposito’s book screams \u201cgirly nonsense” from a mile away. “Chick lit”\u2014 it gently implies that we\u2019re not exactly dealing with the pinnacles of literary achievement here. So, what\u2019s it doing on this SOPHISTICATED blog, you ask? That is mad! Fate must have had it in for me when the second volume of this esteemed trilogy landed in my hands. I skimmed through, and bam!\u2014a line popped out at me: something, well, very sexual. Alas, I can’t remember a single word of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Mad promises an unusual and unpredictable adventure (since I don\u2019t normally read this kind of nonsense) in my frenzied search for that lucky sentence\u2014a quest that doubles as an opportunity to write a nice, snarky review. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chlo\u00e9 Esposito: Grandmaster of Character Building!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then, what happens? Right from the start of Mad<\/em>, you\u2019re face-to-face with a MASTERCLASS in character building! In the first two chapters, here\u2019s what we learn about our heroine, the lovely Alvina: she\u2019s lazy, messy, irresponsible, shallow, jealous, greedy, selfish, a drunk, and promiscuous. Oh, and she\u2019s a pyromaniac too! On the other side of the scales? Just two lonely items: she likes to read and writes haikus. Truly a joy, this kind of protagonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One more surprise awaits you with Esposito\u2019s book: humor. I\u2019m not really the laugh-out-loud type, but I laughed out loud three times while reading the first two chapters. And twice more in the third. It’s all like a stand-up comedy mixed with a big dose of silliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Romance Novel with a Sociopathic Heroine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s about where the good news ends. And where the intro of Mad<\/em> wraps up. After that, I didn\u2019t laugh anymore, and you probably won\u2019t either, even though similar jokes pop up here and there. The main reason is that it becomes glaringly obvious that Alvina, besides her lovely attributes listed above, is also a sociopath, with the emotional intelligence of a nine-year-old. Armed with this mindset and a 28-centimeter vibrator, affectionately called \u201cMr. Dick,\u201d she arrives in Taormina to see her rich, successful twin sister. Who promptly asks her to switch identities with her. Wow, never saw that twist coming!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From this point on, Mad is just another airy trifle. Longing for luxury items and charming Italian men. Obligatory sex scenes with partners\u2019 growing penis sizes. (Thankfully, at least, there\u2019s some restraint shown here\u2014not in terms of sizes, but in that there are only about four or five of these scenes, and they\u2019re not overwritten.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Killing Fun? Sure Thing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then another element enters the mix and takes over: the completely implausible thriller aspect (Cosa Nostra & murders), whose impact dissolves in seconds due to Alvina\u2019s kindergarten-level approach to events. At one point in the plot, our noble heroine decides she wants to be a hitman because it sounds like fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what do you think about a romantic novel whose main character is a sociopath? If you think sociopaths aren\u2019t exactly the romantic type, you\u2019d be spot-on! This is how you write a book that\u2019s also an unintentionally bad parody of itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why stick it out to the end?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1, Damned curiosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2, The author constantly tries to explain why Mad\u2019s protagonist, Alvina is the way she is, and at the beginning, to your surprise, it sort of works, and you feel a bit of sympathy for her. But not for very long\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, why did she turn out the way she did? Why?! Mostly because of that lousy baby formula!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mad (Mad Trilogy #1) by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito
336 pages, Hardcover
Published in 2017 by Dutton<\/a>
—
UPDATE:
Curiosity got the better of me, and I skimmed the second book, Bad, which immediately demolishes any trace of coherence left in the story with a twist that renders the previous book’s ending meaningless. The quality dips further (5\/10), so I never did find out what that intriguing sentence was. If anyone has plowed through the sequel and still has usable brain cells, kindly post the book\u2019s SEXIEST line here for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chlo\u00e9 Esposito’s book screams \u201cgirly nonsense” from a mile away. “Chick lit”\u2014 it gently implies that we\u2019re not exactly dealing with the pinnacles of literary achievement here. So, what\u2019s it doing on this SOPHISTICATED blog, you ask? That is mad! Fate must have had it in for me when the second volume of this esteemed … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[22,42,203,100,88,33,227],"class_list":["post-350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","tag-adventure","tag-comedy","tag-erotica","tag-female-protagonist","tag-parody","tag-romance","tag-sociopath"],"yoast_head":"\nMad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review - minimal-Critiques<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Murders and Other Girlish Things. It\u2019s Mad! The protagonist of Chlo\u00e9 Esposito\u2019s romantic novel is a damn psychopath!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review - minimal-Critiques\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Murders and Other Girlish Things. It\u2019s Mad! The protagonist of Chlo\u00e9 Esposito\u2019s romantic novel is a damn psychopath!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"minimal-Critiques\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-12T08:28:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-24T19:37:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dr. gunga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dr. gunga\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dr. gunga\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7f4797b9a0ed9b656c3d969beb674b03\"},\"headline\":\"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-12T08:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-24T19:37:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/\"},\"wordCount\":693,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"adventure\",\"comedy\",\"erotica\",\"female protagonist\",\"parody\",\"romance\",\"sociopath\"],\"articleSection\":[\"book\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/\",\"name\":\"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review - minimal-Critiques\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-12T08:28:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-24T19:37:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7f4797b9a0ed9b656c3d969beb674b03\"},\"description\":\"Murders and Other Girlish Things. It\u2019s Mad! The protagonist of Chlo\u00e9 Esposito\u2019s romantic novel is a damn psychopath!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg\",\"width\":520,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Kezd\u0151lap\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/\",\"name\":\"minimal-Critiques\",\"description\":\"A Book Review Blog\",\"alternateName\":\"minimal-Kri'ti:kZ\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7f4797b9a0ed9b656c3d969beb674b03\",\"name\":\"dr. gunga\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review - minimal-Critiques","description":"Murders and Other Girlish Things. It\u2019s Mad! The protagonist of Chlo\u00e9 Esposito\u2019s romantic novel is a damn psychopath!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review - minimal-Critiques","og_description":"Murders and Other Girlish Things. It\u2019s Mad! The protagonist of Chlo\u00e9 Esposito\u2019s romantic novel is a damn psychopath!","og_url":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/","og_site_name":"minimal-Critiques","article_published_time":"2021-09-12T08:28:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-24T19:37:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":520,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"dr. gunga","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"dr. gunga","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/"},"author":{"name":"dr. gunga","@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7f4797b9a0ed9b656c3d969beb674b03"},"headline":"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review","datePublished":"2021-09-12T08:28:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-24T19:37:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/"},"wordCount":693,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg","keywords":["adventure","comedy","erotica","female protagonist","parody","romance","sociopath"],"articleSection":["book"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/","url":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/","name":"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review - minimal-Critiques","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-12T08:28:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-24T19:37:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7f4797b9a0ed9b656c3d969beb674b03"},"description":"Murders and Other Girlish Things. It\u2019s Mad! The protagonist of Chlo\u00e9 Esposito\u2019s romantic novel is a damn psychopath!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/09\/chloe-esposito-mad-book-cover.jpg","width":520,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/2021\/09\/12\/mad-by-chloe-esposito-book-review\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Kezd\u0151lap","item":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mad by Chlo\u00e9 Esposito \u2013 Book Review"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/","name":"minimal-Critiques","description":"A Book Review Blog","alternateName":"minimal-Kri'ti:kZ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7f4797b9a0ed9b656c3d969beb674b03","name":"dr. gunga","sameAs":["http:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2635,"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350\/revisions\/2635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minimal-kritikak.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}