Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This book is about a woman who for the first time finds herself attracted to another woman, who already has a girlfriend and is older. They are infatuated by each other, the older woman Finn keeps pulling back, they repeatedly set boundaries which the both keep breaking. The young woman seems confused by what she wants and let’s this short relationship take over her life and it ends in heartache for her.
Easily read though I did not particularly like either of these two women

This novella explores sexual confusion, female friendship, being a woman and a daughter.

This is a tale about a love affair and intimacy between women. It's written in the first person point of view. An account of a woman's first same sex relationship.

I can see why some people might find this novella problematic. To start with, any book blurbed by the always controversial Lena Dunham carries with it a slight twinge of uncertainty about the content. However, this a quietly beautiful book about sexuality, women and a lesbian affair that shakes the worlds of those within it. Written almost like a memoir from the central character, the novella presents the confusing nature of female sexuality and the ways we can deny and accept things subconsciously. Without getting too personal, there were a number of passages in this book that really spoke to me and really got under my skin, which made it an even more riveting read. I wouldn't say this book had the best LGBTQIA+ representations, as occasionally things do resort to stereotypes, but I can't really comment on that or discuss its success as a representative because I am not part of that community. However, it's a soft-spoken little book that is definitely worth the read.

This book has left me divided. I’m not sure why I read it. I was drawn to the description of the book. I like books that make me think about other people’s perspectives (in my quest to be open minded and non judgemental). This book is full of turmoil from the point of view of the main character. What was her name? That’s interesting, I can’t remember - were we ever told? The characters are beautifully described. Finn & the main character became visions in my head of what I thought they looked like but then I felt my visions were possibly stereotypical of what society perceive as gay women. This, in my opinion was supported by the book particularly with Finn - this I’m not so happy about. Gay women shouldn’t fall into a stereotype. The writing was easy to follow, possibly a bit repetitive at times but maybe this was intentional to show the intensity of the relationship and how it tended to go round in circles emotionally & physically. I wondered where the book ‘was going’ would it even have a solid ending? I thought not and it really didn’t. Again - intentional? Worth reading but I think it’s an acquired taste. Not sure all my book lover friends would rave about it.

The story of an obsession: an addictive personality falling in love with another woman. This new experience turns her life upside down, but does not bring the happiness she craves. Written in a style that is at once breathless and apparently detached (written after the fact), it reminded me a little of Nelly Arcan.

Such a quick and gogod read. Honest, thoughtful and I can see how easily this lady changed her life.
I enjoyed this a lot.

Women is an uncomfortably personal book, and I mean that in a good way. Caldwell is uncompromisingly frank, and also honest about the fact that she is only telling her main character's story, and that others of the people involved could have different opinions and memories. I feel like that's sometimes overlooked when a book is in first person, and particularly with a book like this, which is highly detailed and sometimes quite graphic, I appreciated that this was noted openly.

Caldwell remarks a few times, particularly later on in the book, about the fact that this book has been re-written since its original publication in 2014. The main point of the re-writing was, from my understanding, to include the existence of Finn's girlfriend. I can definitely understand why, without that context, the book, and particularly the main character's relationship with Finn, would be confusing. The girlfriend doesn't appear directly, but is mentioned a number of times, and her presence is constantly colouring the the relationship between the main character and Finn, affecting everything from where they can go to what time they can spend together to the friends they can spend time with.

Throughout the book, the main character comes across as very calculatedly self-aware. There were points where this grated on me a little, as it seemed to be used as a tool to negate poor choices or bad behaviour, as if pointing out the issue stops it from being an issue. At its heart though, this is a book about someone going through a tumultuous time in their life. There were times when I didn't particularly like the main character and was frustrated by decisions she made, but I appreciated that Caldwell didn't shy away from relating those decisions and situations.

There are some interesting comments on and around gender in the book. As an example, the main character's partner, Finn, describes herself as being in 'the sweet spot' between man and woman. Whilst I appreciate the sentiment behind that expression, I felt that it could have benefited from some additional investigation or commentary. I think, on reflection, that for me, the book as a whole lacked some depth. It skates along nicely on the surface occasionally ducking under so we can see what's going on underneath, but always coming up again too quickly. As with the above, it sometimes felt as though, by mentioning things, Caldwell felt that she had done her duty and didn't feel the need to dwell any further.

Overall, I did enjoy Women, but was frustrated at times by its lack of depth and its surface-level skimming of some very relevant issues and experiences. But if you enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty of people's lives when they're dealing with incredibly personal situations, it's worth picking up.

An interesting read about a female relationship, the ups and downs, an insight to how different a female relationship is to how it is with a male

I received a copy of this book and whilst I quite enjoyed it I could not really empathise with the characters.
I felt that I was reading a diary and needed more background information.
For fans of this genre I feel you would enjoy this book and on that basis I think you will have a good read

A young girl moves to the big smoke, and after having exclusively dated men up until that point in her life, then gets involved with an older attached woman, who seemingly bewitches her to the point of craziness.
A self-confessed addict, the girl seems driven by getting her fix of whatever it is that is currently floating her boat - sex, drugs, alcohol, or just good old drama. From stalking her love across social media, to trying to scratch the itch with other people, this is a car crash of a relationship. The fact it's with a woman doesn't actually make much difference, as the protagonist's behaviours could be directed towards any potential paramour.
What I loved about this book was the characters, who display a wealth of both good and bad human traits as the story progresses - vanity, narcissism, obsession, jealousy, Caldwell pretty much checks off all seven of the deadly sins as the story rolls along. Richly drawn, somehow familiar, the heart of the story is the women who you will love, hate, pity, want to give a good shake. Any book that can create those kinds of emotions in the reader has to be good!

Book received from Netgalley for an honest review

This is a woman’s journey of falling in love with a woman for the first time and how their relationship plays out. It’s written from the first-person point of view giving only the writer’s feelings, actions and experience. There is no direct dialogue and I don’t think I ever found out the writer’s name. I didn’t find it a difficult style to read, which was greatly helped by the book being quite short, but I did feel distanced from main character and her emotions. This is an excerpt of pretty much how the whole novella was written:

“I never knew her birth name. She would not reveal this. She’d changed it to Finn when she was twenty-two, long before I met her. She liked drinking Salty Dogs and champagne and dark beers. She was nineteen years older than I was and called me ‘champ’. She wore men’s clothes, usually from high-end shops and she wore her jeans slung low.”

There is little to no insight into Finn’s motivations but we do know that she is in a 10-year relationship which the writer was reluctant to admit. There are other characters that the writer befriends and her relationships with them are haphazard and often odd but very interesting. I think that in some ways the way it is written made it much easier for me to read than if I had become emotionally involved. I think the emotional turmoil the writer goes through would have been devastating if I was more invested.

“Women” does not fall into the romance genre which is my current comfort zone. In spite of the emotional distancing I enjoyed the prose and the story. I would not, however, recommend this to someone wanting neat bows or happy endings.
3.5 stars rounded up.

Women is a novella about a love affair between a thought-she-was-straight woman with a bunch of issues and an older butch woman, written in a choppy and immediate style in the present tense. The main character is prone to periods of addiction to different things and this is the story of a complicated love that could be another of her addictions.

The novella has the feel of a modern screen comedy-drama combined with a kind of poetic memoir style: messed up and at times unlikable characters describing bad choices, jealousy, and mental health. The unnamed main character is very self-interested, using her friends as token parts of her stories, and there’s a self-consciousness about the narration (it is self-aware and the main character is a writer) that implies she knows she is doing it.

Women may be painted as a love story—and indeed the love story it tells is undoubtably very relatable to a lot of people—but in style and character it feels more like a portrait of a difficult time, told with both immediacy and hindsight. It is a quick read, but at times it feels more like it is going through the motions than actually being engaging (which does, I suppose, reflect how the main character seems to be living in the book).