From the Bookshelf of Just One More Chapter…

Exalted

Anna Dorn

Why we're reading this: February 19th, 2024

Shen: Reading this book was like watching a car crash and the two cars involved in the…more
[close] February 19th, 2024

Shen: Reading this book was like watching a car crash and the two cars involved in the incident are both at fault in their own terrible way. If you want to read about two women being horrible in the most banal, ridiculously petty ways, this is the book for you. The things that they do and the events in this book are like watching Bojack Horseman, except without the guilt or regret, or the self-reflection. I’m always on the lookout for terrible women and Dawn and Emily absolutely fit into that category.

The last 20% of this book is hysterical and I don’t want to say anything else and spoil it. It definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but if you have a dark sense of humor, I think you’ll enjoy it.

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Jan 25, 2024 Shen rated it really liked it

Inside of every person is a thousand different people. Think of someone you know well. Are they not filled with contradictory personality traits? To quote the renowned poet Walt Whitman (Gemini), “Do I contradict myself?...I contain multitudes.” To quote myself, a millennial astrologer, “Do I contradict myself? All fucking day.”

Reading this book was like watching a car crash and the two cars involved in the incident are both at fault in their own terrible way. Exalted is told from two persp
Inside of every person is a thousand different people. Think of someone you know well. Are they not filled with contradictory personality traits? To quote the renowned poet Walt Whitman (Gemini), “Do I contradict myself?...I contain multitudes.” To quote myself, a millennial astrologer, “Do I contradict myself? All fucking day.”

Reading this book was like watching a car crash and the two cars involved in the incident are both at fault in their own terrible way. Exalted is told from two perspectives: Dawn, a forty-something woman who’s just been dumped by her girlfriend and finds comfort only in a popular internet astrologer, Exalted, and Exalted herself, whose real name is Emily (but don’t call her that). Similarly directionless, Emily becomes obsessed with a man and starts stalking him and a series of coincidences leads to the two women colliding with one another.

If you want to read about two women being horrible in the most banal, ridiculously petty ways, this is the book for you. The things that they do and the events in this book are like watching Bojack Horseman, except without the guilt or regret, or the self-reflection. I’m always on the lookout for terrible women and Dawn and Emily absolutely fit into that category.

Dorn’s writing easily immerses you in these women’s lives and her humor shines. Her characters make fun of others and Dorn makes fun of them by inserting just enough sharpness into the book. At 293 pages, the book also doesn’t overstay its welcome or try to give some easy forgiveness or redemption to these women.

I am the gayest sign. I’m sick of being gay. Being gay has ruined my life. I had so much power over men. With women, I have nothing. I mostly just frighten them.
As terrible as they are, there is something relatable and awfully human about their desire to be more impressive than they are, at wanting intimacy without reciprocating it, and at blaming everything they can’t control for their lives so they don’t have to change. Neither of them are changed by the end of the book, but that was fine with me because I loved the ride.

The last 20% of this book is hysterical and I don’t want to say anything else and spoil it. It definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but if you have a dark sense of humor, I think you’ll enjoy it. ...more

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