Crosstalk

Crosstalk by Connie Willis
On Sale October 4, 2016 by Del Rey
Rating: ★★★★

Briddey Flannigan knows she's lucky to have a boyfriend like Trent Worth. He sends her flowers, takes her to the hottest restaurants, and texts her first thing every morning. Far from being allergic to commitment, Trent has already said the big ILY, and now he's proposing they have an EED to become even closer. It all has the rumor mill at their workplace churning with barely concealed envy. Who wouldn't want their boyfriend or girlfriend to suggest something so romantic? And after only six weeks of dating, no less.

EED is a futuristic surgical procedure that allows couples to communicate emotions instead of just words and helps them connect on a deeper level. Or at least that's what's supposed to happen. Sometimes the procedure fails because a couple isn't emotionally bonded enough, although Briddey certainly doesn't think that'll be a problem for her and Trent.

What Briddey doesn't anticipate is just how well the EED would help her connect... with someone else. Someone who is definitely not Trent.

Maybe she should have listened to C. B., the oddball lab tech who rarely leaves the basement at Commspan, the telecoms company where they work. C. B. spends days warning her about the dangers of EEDs and surgery in general. He warns her the procedure might come with unintended consequences, but she never imagined connecting to the wrong person could be one of them. And try as she might, she can't get the wrong voice out of her head to let Trent's in. She and Trent have never been further apart. Maybe C. B. was right when he claimed more communication would be bad for her relationship.

If only Briddey knew how much more communication was in store for her. Unintended consequences, indeed. And now it seems C. B. might be the only person who can save her from this mess.

This book came close to being a five star read for me, but one thing held me back. This book is at least 100 pages too long. And all the other problems with it stem from that flaw.Briddey has the most over involved, nosy family and coworkers-- ever. To a certain point, it's ok. Amusing, even. But because the book is so long, this dynamic keeps getting shoehorned into the story, and it loses its luster. If the book had been shorter, reoccurring themes like her pushy, over-the-top Irish brood would have seemed fresher and less gimmicky. A lot of scenes were drawn out and repetitive. There's one part where Briddey and C.B. are trying to get from one part of a library to another part of the same library, and it takes them like 20 pages. It didn't turn me off enough to abandon the book, but I could see how it might with other readers. Then there's the name Briddey. Yes, maybe this is petty, but that's a horrible name, even explained as being "short" for Bridget, and I cringed every time I read it.

The good parts of this book outweighed the negatives. It's a romantic comedy with a sci-fi twist, and I happen to really enjoy romantic comedies when done well. Which this one is. I like the whole "couple who spar together stay together" trope. Mark Darcy and Bridget Jones (who no one ever called Briddey, but I digress). George Knightly and Emma Woodhouse. I liked most of the characters in this book, but I did feel Trent was a bit transparent. When you discover the truth about him you won't be surprised. I loved Maeve, Briddey's niece who spends every waking minute trying to outmaneuver her crazy warden of a mother, but I do think the author made a mistake with her age-- she's supposed to be 9 but acts more like 12. And of course this book has a HEA ending that's expected but satisfying at the same time.

Overall impressions: if you've ever thought sci-fi books should be more like romantic comedies, this is the one for you. This is my first Connie Willis book, but I'm excited to read more from her.