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Stranger in Love by Teymour Shahabi
Taylor and Jamie’s love journey is presented solely through texts, emails, diary entries, dating profiles, and social media posts in Teymour Shahabi’s novel Stranger in Love. The majority of it is expressed from Taylor’s perspective, but through his messages, emails, and social media posts, we learn more about Jamie’s personality.
Reading books I intend to review can occasionally feel like work since writing book reviews is labour. I feel the need to emphasise that reading this book didn’t feel like effort at all, not even for a second. I ate it up and enjoyed it. Although it seemed too brief, it felt like it contained an infinite number of thoughts. It simply blew my head.
Getting into the review proper now, the style of the book is what immediately caught my attention. Although using mixed media is somewhat risky, the author did a fantastic job of it. This writing style felt very appropriate for the modern era in which the book is situated and effectively captured Taylor and Jamie’s perspectives.
The writing style was the second aspect of this book that I liked. It was jam-packed with analogies, profound insights, and odd inner musings. To get to the deep pool of honesty, it cut through shallow pompous. It was quite sincere and gave you a palpable sense of the characters’ personalities. Though highly poetic, it always maintains a simplicity that gives each insight the impression of being a rephrased version of your own thoughts.
It’s also incredibly funny and witty, and it keeps you entertained from the very first line to the very last. The characters were the third aspect of this novel that I adored. They were meticulously planned and never ever felt like characters. They had flaws, were egotistical, and were easily irritated. This increased the relatability, which is crucial in modern fiction in particular, in my opinion.
I could list a thousand more minute details that made this book special, but I’ll let you find them on your own. Personally, I think everyone should read this book. But as a reviewer, I’ll focus on individuals who like modern romance novels and those who adore literary insights that romanticise life and the universe. Anyone who is at least 12 years old can do this.
About The Book
Taylor (sometime lawyer; can’t sleep on planes) is convinced this one might be different. Jamie (almost architect; terrible at wrapping gifts) agrees to meet. What happens between them is told entirely through text messages, social media posts, dating profiles, emails, and journal entries. Their genders are left up to the reader.
This is the (almost) true story of two strangers trying to solve the oldest problem of all in a modern world—love. Teymour Shahabi is the award-winning author of the young adult novel The Secret Billionaire. He lives in New York City.
The Review
Stranger in Love
9 Score
It is unusual to refer to a book as delectable, an adjective usually associated with culinary delights. Yet, that is exactly how I would describe ‘Stranger in Love’ by Teymour Shahabi. Like a sumptuous meal, it is made up of delicious ingredients (words), unexpectedly tossed together to arrive at a savory mix (phrases), that delights the senses with surprising delightful taste (prose). The book narrates the world of an anachronistic romantic in the world of abbreviated seconds-long interactions; like John Keats on Snapchat. The prose segments, appearing as diary inserts, are every bit as romantic and deeply emotional as any of Keats’ Odes or Chopin’s Nocturnes, yearning for connection with the beloved in an impossible world of dating sites, chat rooms, text messages, and emails.
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