What would you do if your ex-boyfriend wrote a movie about your breakup? That is what Callie Dressler has to figure out in Andrea J. Stein's Typecast. I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book through Andrea and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Callie seems to have finally figured out the rhythm of her life. Is it ideal that she lives in her parents' empty house (while they live their retirement out in Florida)? No. But she loves her job and is generally happy with her life. That is, until her Type-A pregnant sister Nina and Nina's husband and four year old daughter move into the house with Callie while theirs is being remodeled. To make matters worse, her college boyfriend Ethan's feature film debut is coming...and the movie seems to be about their tumultuous breakup the summer after college ten years prior. Now Callie has to revisit her previous relationship with Ethan and work through any lingering feelings while trying to figure out what she wants out of life (and dating) in the present.
The premise of this story completely hooked me the second I read it. I mean, could you imagine your dirty laundry being aired out on the big screen like that? I would die.
The more I read of the story, the more I could relate to Callie. At one point, I messaged Andrea and (jokingly) asked if she had been stalking me and if Callie was actually based on me (she's definitely not, but the similarities made me chuckle). While she can be incredibly frustrating at times, I felt like that added to the relatability factor.
Callie's sister Nina is marketed as Type-A and I don't know if I've ever met a more Type-A character in my life. It's easy to feel the tension between Callie and Nina because they have such different temperaments and, at times, I really disliked Nina. But as with all good characters, Nina is fully fleshed out and isn't defined by her need to control every situation.
Throughout the story, it is made clear that Callie never told anyone (including Ethan) why she broke up with him, which of course caused me to create theories in my mind. As time went on, I felt I had a very solid theory of how the story would end, but I was pleasantly surprised when it is finally revealed. I love a good surprise!
The story is told from the POV of Callie and jumps from the past to the present, which worked really well with progressing the story forward. However, the chapters that take place in the past are written in the first person and the chapters that take place in the present are written in the third person. I thought maybe there would be some deeper meaning for this choice, but nothing stands out to me after having completed the book. That's not to say that there isn't some deeper meaning, but I personally did not feel that it was necessary to switch between the two (and it's entirely possible there is a deeper meaning that I just did not pick up on).
All of the relationships in this story were believable and felt very grounded in reality. Each character (including side and supporting characters) felt fleshed out and like a person I could just meet off the street. The story flowed smoothly (though there's some slow burn and I didn't know I hated slow burn until this moment because I am the most impatient human in the world) and the ending was incredibly satisfying.
Typecast is available for preorder now and hits shelves September 13, 2022.
