Book Review: My Last Innocent Year by Daisy Alpert Florin

It’s 1998 and it’s Isabel Rosen’s last semester at Wilder College. Isabel is an only child who is still reeling from the loss of her mom her freshman year. Isabel feels like a misfit in college but does her best to fit in where she can. One night, a sexual encounter with a “friend” leaves her feeling even more shaken when her friend, Debra tells her that it was rape.

Trying to put the incident behind her, Isabel suddenly finds herself in a secret affair with her teacher, Professor Connelly. The affair seems to give Isabel more faith in herself that is until incidents unfold that let her know that it all might have been an illusion.

I have no recollection of adding this to my TBR but I tackled it as soon as it became available and it ended up being one of the books I have read the fastest, this year. I enjoyed this one because it was quite different and quite compelling. When I say different, I mean that it was a different style of writing. The plot wasn’t exactly linear and focused on one particular storyline. It was a lot of different pieces of material that ended up as a nice dress.

While Isabel was the main character and focal point, she also served as an axis to many other story lines that wove together. We learn more about her family life and what life was like for her growing up. We learn about her friend group in college and the behind the scenes drama of two of her professors who are also friends with Professor Connelly. It definitely sounds more complicated than it was because it was easy to follow and it made sense as you read the story. I particularly enjoyed the little snippets when Isabel would let us know what happened to someone later in the future.

What I did not enjoy with this book was how much I disliked Isabel. I don’t think this will apply to everyone and I totally understand she was going through a rough patch, but I really just wanted her to pick her head up and make better choices. I felt better when some characters in the bool alluded to the self doubt that was portrayed to us. Somewhere along the line, I think Florin was trying to draw a parallel between what happend to Isabel and the Clinton/Lewinski scandal but I don’t think it connected.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this one and recommend it. While I recommend, I can see how this can be divisive so if you read or have read this, let me know your thoughts!

Taynement