Emily Vance Brown

by Alexandra Tanner

2/5

This book was interesting and well-written—it just wasn’t really my thing. It follows two sisters in New York City as they navigate situationships, new jobs, and the complexities of mental health. This would be great for fans of novels like Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation. 
Worry is more character-driven than plot-driven (it doesn’t have a defined plot at all), which I sometimes enjoy, but it just didn’t work for me this time. I found the main character to be whiny, self-involved, and mean. She did not grow or change in any recognizable way by the end of the book, and neither did her sister Poppy or her unbearable mother. The conflict between the two sisters, and between each of them and their mother, is frustrating but unchanging, and it never reaches a climax or a resolution. Nothing comes of anything. Although, to her credit, worry was one of the emotions I experienced throughout the reading experience, so I’d rank the title, at least, a 10/10.