Stephanie Jane reviewed Everything You Ever Wanted by Luiza Sauma
A great reflection of contemporary aspirations
4 stars
Everything You Ever Wanted tells the story of Iris who, on the face of it, has a typical Millennial London lifestyle. Her job title is pretty meaningless and the hours are competitively long, but the pay is good and she's moving up the career ladder - successfully playing the game. She should be happy, but happiness is easier said than experienced and Iris has problems rooted far deeper than her superficial lifestyle will allow her to admit.
I felt strongly for Iris throughout Everything You Ever Wanted. Despite my now living a very different lifestyle to hers, I could understand how easily she had been sucked into what effectively was one constant hangover, psychological as well as physical. This novel is very well observed. It does get a little heavy-handed with its message at times, but I thought the characters and their relationships were utterly convincing. The mother-daughter awkwardness was …
Everything You Ever Wanted tells the story of Iris who, on the face of it, has a typical Millennial London lifestyle. Her job title is pretty meaningless and the hours are competitively long, but the pay is good and she's moving up the career ladder - successfully playing the game. She should be happy, but happiness is easier said than experienced and Iris has problems rooted far deeper than her superficial lifestyle will allow her to admit.
I felt strongly for Iris throughout Everything You Ever Wanted. Despite my now living a very different lifestyle to hers, I could understand how easily she had been sucked into what effectively was one constant hangover, psychological as well as physical. This novel is very well observed. It does get a little heavy-handed with its message at times, but I thought the characters and their relationships were utterly convincing. The mother-daughter awkwardness was especially well portrayed.
Life On Nyx is essentially a reality TV show with the hook, and the catch, being that it is set on a distant planet. Contestants can be sent there, but there is absolutely no chance of a return to Earth for the lucky 100. Sauma completely understands the modern predicament - our desire for a simpler and more fulfilling way of life, and our need to be seen to have succeeded in achieving it. For the social media generations nothing truly exists unless one's photo of it has been Liked many times. Life On Nyx offers personal fulfilment with the opportunity for global Like reach. Iris can't resist and I admit I was very tempted by the idea of Life On Nyx for myself, right up to the point where library access was limited to one book per month. Per Month!! How is anyone supposed to manage on that ration?!
Everything You Ever Wanted is a great reflection of contemporary aspirations. It's one of those sharply observed novels which holds up a mirror and demands we see just how daft and meaningless some aspects of our lives have become. Although the stories don't particularly resemble each other, I was reminded of how I felt reading Omnia by Laura Gallego and Individutopia by Joss Sheldon. If you liked either of those, I think you will love Everything You Ever Wanted.
