Review: Touch by Courtney Maum

Touch

by Courtney Maum

Publisher: GP Putnam Sons

Pages: 320

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Sloane Jacobsen is the most powerful trend forecaster in the world (she was the foreseer of the swipe ), and global fashion, lifestyle, and tech companies pay to hear her opinions about the future. Her recent forecasts on the family are unwavering: the world is over-populated, and with unemployment, college costs, and food prices all on the rise, having children is an extravagant indulgence. 

So it s no surprise when the tech giant Mammoth hires Sloane to lead their groundbreaking annual conference, celebrating the voluntarily childless. But not far into her contract, Sloane begins to sense the undeniable signs of a movement against electronics that will see people embracing compassion, empathy, and in-personism again. She s struggling with the fact that her predictions are hopelessly out of sync with her employer's mission and that her closest personal relationship is with her self-driving car when her partner, the French neo-sensualist Roman Bellard, reveals that he is about to publish an op-ed on the death of penetrative sex a post-sexual treatise that instantly goes viral. Despite the risks to her professional reputation, Sloane is nevertheless convinced that her instincts are the right ones, and goes on a quest to defend real life human interaction, while finally allowing in the love and connectedness she's long been denying herself. 

Kritters Thoughts:  From the synopsis, I thought this book would be right down my alley.  As a full time working lady, I have known for awhile that I wasn't going to go down the kid road and found a partner who is on the same page.  I read a lot of books about families and family drama and love them all, so I was excited to read a book where I could completely relate to the character and maybe have a quote or two to enjoy.  I will not spoil the book, but the ending really didn't work for me and really made me sad about the whole book.

I will say I loved Sloane as a character.  She was confident both in her professional life and her personal life and I loved that she knew what she knew and was seen as an expert.  Her "husband" was a little from left field and at times was almost distracting and frustrating and maybe there was a reason, but I had times where I wished I could delete him!  

Without spoiling the ending, I will say that I was fine with the conclusion that Sloane came to, but I wish it had come about a different way.  It felt as though the crutch of a "rough" childhood is used often and I was sad to see it used again in this book.  

I loved that the book mostly took place in an office.  Some books forget that characters have to have jobs!  It was interesting to go to an office and the way Courtney Maum described it was so vivid and I wanted to transfer to that office!  

As you can see in my review, I went back and forth with loving bits and pieces and getting frustrated here and there.  This was a middle of the road book, absolutely not one that I despised but one that I would hesitate passing onto to every reader I know.  This was my first Courtney Maum book and am I intrigued to read her previous and her next.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from GP Putnam Sons.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.