Stuck in You is one of those novels where the beginning itself is fairly intense, and it cools down to introduce the characters properly to you, the backgrounds of the story, the tones it wants to undertake, and the direction it wants to go.
The story starts off with Rachel Shen coming out of the operating room, gazing over to the emergency department where a tall man was carrying a woman, in front of another man and surrounded by nurses. Though for most doctors this is a sight that would not have any sense of familiarity, the man in question carrying the girl in need of help was an acquaintance of Rachel’s.
Rachel joined the group of nurses, followed by the man, Jack, pleading to Rachel to help out his drunk friend who had a particularly high fever. Jack, despite being a relatively composed man, showed more than subtle signs of concern for his companion. The man behind Jack, Michael made a sarcastic remark about the situation at hand to Rachel for which he was ignored.
Michael, in response to being ignored, pondered why Jack hung out with boring women like Rachel, she was beautiful but lacked spiritual enthusiasm which made her dull. After placing the drunk woman on the bed, her temperature was taken and Rachel asked Jack a few general questions as doctors regularly do. Though, one question changed the general atmosphere of the room.
Rachel asked whether the woman had been having intercourse frequently, for which Jack gave no reply despite it being asked numerous times. The weight of this question was amplified by the fact that Jack was Rachel’s husband.
Readers that love Stuck in You also love Sinfully Yours
- Part 1: Main Theme of Stuck in You
- Part 2: Reproducing Realism in Stuck in You
- Part 3: Chapters that Captivate in Stuck in You
- Part 4: Conclusive Remarks for Stuck in You
Part 1: Main Theme of Stuck in You
Stuck in You is a novel that has various themes and actually a great deal of subtle representation of tropes in modern society. Though, one clear-cut main theme that the novel has undertaken is romance. This sort of romance is one which is very heavy on the side of realism and has the most bizarre situations imposed on the characters as a result of said realism.
What modern and not-so-modern novels don’t understand is that romance is never an upward spiral of happiness and love, it is the result, the product of various conflicts and prior history.
Tears, sweat, and even blood at times result in a relationship that is meaningful, which is the source of Rachel’s divorce in the first place, the lack of those factors, and their development in the future. This romance novel is one that understands its genre and takes a passionate approach to it.
The drama, the realism in this novel is one that outperforms the likes of a few television shows and movies. The environment the author created is one that speaks to the reader, speaks to you, and has its own character. The simple act of Jack sleeping on the couch while Michael showed concern looks like a seemingly normal scene on paper, though the scene had a much deeper meaning to it than is made out to be.
The thing that accompanies this exceptional drama is the comedy, it is placed very masterfully and can produce a laugh from the reader with relative ease.
When Jack was stunned trying to answer whether the patient, in the beginning, had been having too much intercourse, Michael cracked a joke mocking her for getting hospitalized through intercourse. The execution was much better in the novel, though you generally understand the gist of the comedy now.
Part 2: Reproducing Realism in Stuck in You
Stuck in You is, as said numerous times before, a very realistic novel. The factors that attribute this quality of the novel are numerous, though we can narrow them down a bit and blame it on the writing and characters.
The writing sets the tone in a way that won’t get the reader to overreact, though it’ll form a connection with them instead. The simple scene of one of Rachel’s friends envied her for the grandeur of her apartment was made so distinct just by the factors leading up to it and the overall writing. It’s one of those things you appreciate when you get into the depths of it.
The characters themselves, for the most part, are interesting. They have intricated and realistic personalities that feel believable. They express emotions, give out their opinions, and interact with their environments in a manner that fleshes them out. Oddly enough, Michael’s character turned out to be one of my favorites with just how laid back he can be at times.
Readers that love Stuck in You also love Sinfully Yours
Part 3: Chapters that Captivate in Stuck in You
The chapter that declares to the reader that it is worth reading is chapter 22: Got Slapped. It had nothing to do with anyone getting slapped, instead, it had to do with the similarity of getting slapped.
Rachel and Jack had been on a phone call, and Jack had said something so provocative to Rachel that she was furious, as if someone had slapped her.
Hanging up, Rachel tried to take a deep breath but instead let out forced laughter from all the frustration, questioning what the point of what she did was anymore. These scenes in the novel speak so much, and you keep going from all the intense yet small moments like a text being ignored by Rachel. Beauty at its peak.
Part 4: Conclusive Remarks for Stuck in You
Stuck in You is a story that takes its title very literally with the story it produced. The two main characters were not only stuck with each other for a year, but they were also, well, stuck in each other (though this time for much shorter periods).
In the process of fleshing out this bizarre ideology, the author created a beautiful story that has numerous realistic elements and intense scenes paired with emotional scenes. At one point, I realized that not only was Rachel stuck with Jack, but I was also stuck with this novel.
Reading one chapter and letting go of the next one was a difficult task as if I was struggling with myself to quit an addiction. I definitely recommend this novel, go give it a read!
While not many other novels match realism this one portrayed along with the uniqueness of Rachel’s character.
