At the tender age of 21, Destiny Jones had everything going for her. A promising acting career. A loving boyfriend who adored her. A scholarship to NYU. But it wasn’t enough to quiet the self-doubt that plagued her. She would have to lose it all to find herself. This epistolary “slice of life” novel spans twenty five years between September of 1994 and June of 2019. It is woven together as a dual narrative and told from the perspective of star-crossed lovers Destiny and Matthew. The letters written by Matthew are all set in the fall of 1994 when his beloved was away at NYU and he stayed behind in their hometown of Palm Desert, California. The couple had been together less than a year and this was the first time they were apart. Destiny’s diary entries span the agonizing twenty year aftermath of their eventual breakup.
Title: Sex & Coffee: A Bitter Little Time Capsule of Love
Author: Erika Lee
Pages: 178
My review
Such an emotional roller-coaster!!
Sex & Coffee is an adult romance novel revolving around the life of star-crossed lovers, Destiny and Matthew spanning over twenty-five years. Their deep love hit rock bottom and heights in these years. This is an in-depth analysis of human emotions and our reactions towards them.
The author has adopted a unique storytelling technique in this novel, dual narrative. The story is told through the perspective of both main characters, Destiny and Matthew. We can feel their height of passion along with the pain of losing each other through words. Usually, the story is told through a single perspective which makes it a one-sided and largely partial. But when we get the idea of things that happened on both sides, then only the story completes a full circle. This style uncovers the vulnerability of the main characters. There is no room for justification in this story. We can really understand the situation and takes sides with our character of choice.
The whole story which is spanning over twenty-five years is told through diary entries of Destiny and letters from Mathew, but not necessarily in the chronological order. At first, I thought this will bring some confusion in the story. But surprisingly it does not. The story flows smoothly from beginning to end.
I’m greatly impressed by this novel. It is truly a “slice of life”. The story is very realistic and you can hardly find anything that doesn’t resonate with real life. I was so impressed by this realistic narration. All the raw human emotions are conveyed without losing its delicate nature.
The Ultimate Reviewer 