What if we grew up in the early 2000s? What if we lived our supposed best years back then instead of now? Some of these questions have answers in the form of Stephanie Mack’s new novel, Twenty Something Else.
As we’re already past the halfway mark of the decade, it’s only right that we stop and reflect on how the 2020s have been so far. At this point, we can’t help but imagine what our lives would’ve looked like without a global pandemic in the equation.
Twenty Something Else follows one millennial mom’s journey back to her twenties…as she’s on the cusp of turning 40. What if she lived a life different from the one she knows, one without her husband and kids? It’s as chaotic as you might expect, and here are three things we love about it!
Book Overview: Twenty Something Else
Content warning: sexual harassment, cheating, gaslighting, manipulation, mentions of car accident, death of a loved one, drug use, pregnancy, childbirth, and miscarriage
Summary: Sutton Layne is almost-forty and fabulous, with a happy marriage, three beautiful children, and a successful interior design business. But there’s plenty of chaos behind the scenes of early midlife. Her preteen son is going off the rails, her husband is bailing on the party he was supposed to throw her, and that thriving business? If she can’t land her next big client, it might all come crashing down. Then a surprise DM from someone in her past sends her spiraling into what-ifs. What if she settled down too young? Walked away from her big break? Never had her great adventure?
Despite her simmering mini-crisis, Sutton can’t wait for the birthday luncheon and pickleball tournament her friends have planned in her honor. But when an accident on the court knocks her out cold, she wakes up somewhere else . . . and is offered the chance to do it all over again. She can revisit her twenties—out of order and on her own terms. And this time around, anything goes: cities, careers, friendships. Even love.
From star-studded Hollywood nights to the jungles of Nicaragua, from the heat of Coachella to the snowy summit of the Matterhorn, Sutton chases the life she fears she might have missed, with unexpected results.
With a wink to the classic It’s a Wonderful Life, Twenty Something Else is a witty, wistful journey through the dreams we outgrow, the life choices that shape us, and the surprising detours that can lead us home.
Sutton’s Chaotic Journey
If we stopped the present to travel more than 10 years into the past, we’d be as confused as Sutton was in Twenty Something Else. To be dropped into her 21st birthday, the night she would’ve met her now-husband. Or working a busy hostess shift knowing nothing about her surroundings. It’s a swirl of chaos and emotions. We love the character development she goes through to find herself again, deciding whether or not she would actually change anything about the life that she has.
Her Friends
Call us sentimental, but Sutton’s ride-or-die friends are really what make life worth living in our book. Quinn, Sierra, and Camila make up her core friend group. We especially love her friendship with Quinn, a bond more than 20 years in the making. The two of them stay as roommates all throughout college and for most of their twenties. And Quinn remains something of a home base for Sutton every time she travels to a different year. But that’s all we’ll say for now…
The Different Settings
Another thing we love about Twenty Something Else is the variety of travel destinations that Sutton goes to. She’s lived many lives in this new timeline, starting at the heart of Hollywood as an aspiring actress. Sutton also stays in Nicaragua, vacations in Germany, and goes back to California in her twenties. We won’t spoil too much about her potential love interests and what she finds out in each new location. Either way, we enjoyed traveling alongside Sutton, and it makes us think about our own twenties.
An enjoyable journey of self-discovery and a whirlwind of what-ifs, Twenty Something Else by Stephanie Mack really hooked us!
Twenty Something Else by Stephanie Mack comes out June 9th, and you can order a copy of it here!
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