City News

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon is a fun, fast paced romcom. The main character, Shay Goldstein has worked as a producer at a public radio station in Chicago for most of her life. Shay loves all things radio, when she was little, she and her dad used to pretend that they were radio co-hosts together. The radio station that Shay works for is struggling, and the station needs a new concept. Shay comes up with a great idea of The Ex Talk, which is where exes would come on the show together, talk about their relationship, get both sides of the story and to see where the relationship went wrong. The show could also get people to call in and say their opinion about who is in the right about the breakup, and could even get relationship therapists to help guests work through their problems. Kent, the head of the radio station, loves this new idea of the Ex Talk, and better yet, he wants Shay and Dominic Yun to be the hosts of it, or else they lose their jobs. Shay loves the idea of actually being a host of a show and not the producer, and she is so excited that her idea is being used- except the only problem is that she hates Dominic and Dominic hates her. Dominic is against hosting the show because they would have to lie to their listeners about being exes, and that he has no interest in doing a love show. Shay doesn’t love the idea about lying to viewers, but it’s this show or her job and she doesn’t want to have to find another job. Shay is able to finally convince Dominic to do the show with her, and it’s not long before their audience gets invested and The Ex Talk gets extremely popular. Can Shay and Dominic handle being each other's fake exes? Or will the pressure not only ruin the show, but also their careers in radio?

     I absolutely loved The Ex Talk. Shay and Dominic both had super fun personalities that got along well together. The book was quick, fun, and light, a perfect romcom. The story is told through one perspective, which is Shay’s perspective. This book never got boring, and was predictable but in the best way possible. It kept me engaged and wanting to continue reading the entire time. I loved how the book would put in parts of the podcast for us to read, and to see their great banter. I love how at the end of the book there is a small epilogue chapter that perfectly wraps up the book. 

     I am rating this book a 9/10. The only thing that I would have liked to see and is keeping this book from being a 10/10 is having a couple chapters be from Dominic’s point of view. I would have loved to hear his inner thoughts throughout the book after big plot twists happen. Other than that, I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who wanted a fun, quick paced romance book, with lovable characters. 

 Check out the Ex Talk from the Newport Beach Public Library!