Secret Lives of the Unemployed, by Liz Bartucci

In Secret Lives of the Unemployed, Liz Bartucci takes us on a tour inside the minds of the unemployed. These days, more and more of us can identify with this particular mindset.

I've read a few books that examine the recession and job loss; most notably Then We Came to the End. I've found them to be rather contemporary reads, bordering on postmodern in their style and tone. Which I suppose fits well with the topic. After all, we are finding ourselves in a whole new world and these novels mirror the times.

Plot: Lucy, Grey and Zac form the backbone of this story. All unemployed, all with their dark thoughts and hidden skeletons. They turn to each other for survival and, in the process, find their way out of the recession. Throw in a good love triangle full of suspense as to how it will end and you have an engaging read.

Characters: Lucy narrates the story, and I have to admit that she annoyed the crap out of me at first. She was entirely too dark and negative for my taste. But, why shouldn't she be; She's facing seemingly insurmountable odds. But then Grey and Zac enter the picture and over time, she changes and takes a new approach to life which opens up a world of possibilities.

Structure: The book is a series of blog posts from Liz's blog, each their own mini-story that combine to form the plot. As much as I love a good blog, the structure and style of Liz's writing was a bit hard to get used to, but after a "chapter" or two, I was fully ingrained and it because a very quick read.

Full of humor, unique characters, and some truly thought-provoking passages, Secret Lives of the Unemployed is worth a look if you're up for something different or living your own secret life of the unemployed. 3.5 stars.

*I received a free electronic copy of the book for purposes of this review, but the opinions shared here are my own.*