Jordan meets two best friends at college in the 80’s, Sam & Yash, the smartest boys in class. Getting accolades on a paper from their professor is the catalyst for Sam to ask her out. From then on they’re inseparable, Jordan becomes immersed in their friend group, practically living at their house. Unfortunately the relationship is filled with tumult, Sam is religious and takes things too seriously. In comparison Yash is easy going and understands Jordan wordlessly. A love triangle begins, testing the boys loyalty to each other. What matters more, the lover or friendship? All of this takes place from Jordan’s point of view.
A short read, the author covers a decade of the characters lives succinctly in three parts. The protagonists of this story are complex and morally ambiguous, which makes the book interesting. Based on the brief references regarding their family dynamics, the reader is able to see they’re products of their environments. How those foundations play into their interactions with each other. It’s easy to criticize their behavior without taking into account the era they’re in. The 80’s wasn’t a decade of healing, political correctness and self-actualization. Priorities were different, yuppies, greed, me, me, me. Security after hippy disillusionment plays a factor in how these people were brought up and operate. This book left me questioning: what’s a real happy ending and what quantifies as true love?
Spoiler:
A deeper dive for those who’ve read the book. While I rooted for Yash and Jordan to work out, I couldn’t get over how he abandoned her in New York City. Yash and Sam were book smart, but emotionally stunted and needed to grow the fuck up. Basing your love life on a friendship of a borderline abusive, self-absorbed, immature person isn’t cute. Sam was a self-righteous, hypocritical man child. Easily the least likable of everyone. Knowing damn well he barely dated Jordan and she made Yash happy, he should’ve gotten out of their way.
I believe the emotional neglect Yash receives from his father keeps him seeking approval from other men, like Sam. The way he treats women is also a reflection of the father he attempts to distance himself from. Both of them berate his mother and treat women as an afterthought. Yash’s attempts at reconciliation were paltry, insolent. Jordan could’ve stayed in Paris, he could’ve stayed in Paris, instead he made this whole fuss about being a writer in New York, makes her move and ditches her last minute. Absolutely not. He doesn’t even become a writer, he doesn’t have the courage. Yash ends up playing it safe as a lawyer. Writing requires a vulnerability he doesn’t possess. While Jordan is the ONLY one of them to live out their artistic dreams successfully. Queen behavior.
What was the happy ending? Definitely marrying Silas, who accepted her as is. It’s when he says her REAL name at the end that I question what category of love she and Yash had. Daisy, Jordan, Hink, dude called her everything but Casey. That singular line stating her government reframed the whole book for me. What does that say about their entire relationship and her identity within it? Jordan’s bad relationship with her parents is why she tolerated this. As the starting point, families are a compass for the people you attract, what boundaries you have and more. It’s up to you to figure out how to navigate from there. Via: Amazon
Update: 10/9/2026 6:01am
