Author: Colleen Oakley
Reviewed by Chloe Fuksa
Rating: 4/5 stars
I recently read a fantastically quirky book that I think would make a perfect beach read this summer: Jane and Dan at the End of the World, by author Colleen Oakley. This book, released in March of this year, is the second book by Oakley that I’ve read, and I’ve really enjoyed both of them. Her stories are hilarious and unique while still being incisive and touching. With Jane and Dan, on the surface it’s a date night gone awry, but underneath that, it’s a wonderful exploration of marriage, motherhood, and middle age.
Jane and Dan are celebrating their 19th wedding anniversary at a very upscale restaurant, La Fin du Monde, complete with “captains” instead of waiters and a strict no-phone policy. For Jane, her life has started to feel a little stagnant and boring, so after she finds flirtatious messages on Dan’s phone, she decides that during dinner she’ll ask Dan for a divorce. The two are barely into their first course – goose barnacles – when a masked activist group suddenly charges into the restaurant with guns, taking the diners hostage. They are novices at best, but then Jane realizes something: the group is replicating the exact plotline from the book she wrote.
There is a pilot with motion sickness in this story, a flying frisbee plate, a hairbrained marketing scheme, a terrible attempt at lip reading – it’s just a screwball comedy. The banter is witty, and the alternating perspectives between Jane and Dan just adds to the fun. If you’re going on vacation this summer, Jane and Dan at the End of the World would be a superb pick to add to your luggage.
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