{"id":1171,"date":"2026-09-03T06:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/?p=1171"},"modified":"2026-08-29T19:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T00:19:14","slug":"unhinged-characters-in-dark-humor-a-review-of-open-wide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/?p=1171","title":{"rendered":"Unhinged Characters in Dark Humor: A Review of ‘Open Wide’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK<\/strong>
Publisher \u200f : \u200e Harry N. Abrams
Publication date \u200f : \u200e August 2025
Format:  Paperback, audiobook, and ebook
Print length \u200f : \u200e 272 pages
Genre:  Dark Humor Fiction<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “Open Wide” by Jessica Gross<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I heard about this book through one of my favorite BookTubers, and after a while I heard or read another review of the book on other social media. The premise of the book intrigued me as I have never heard a premise like it before; however, it was clear in the review I saw that the main character was borderline unhinged, and I understand that readers like this, but it is not my preferred main character personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I put a hold on the audiobook on Libby, and a few weeks later I was able to borrow it. The narration was well done; however, I was not a fan of the main character, Olive, from the very beginning. It was almost borderline childish, and I clashed with it. The love interest, Theo, was also very puzzling to me, not quite mature, but the fact that he was an oncologist surgeon did not match his personality or maturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book is about Olive, who has been looking and searching for love for a while; she is a successful author and interviewer with her own radio show. Then, during a food bank volunteering afternoon, she meets Theo. They hit it off almost immediately and become inseparable quite fast. During one night, she discovers that she can “open him up and climb inside of him”. Yes, like that. Just like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recently saw a whole video about books that are “weird”; I think this is the first book that I read this year that I can put in that category. The book was entertaining, and I think it was very unique in the storyline, but I definitely finished the book wanting more. I don’t know what exactly, but more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
PREMISE OF THE BOOK AS FOUND IN AMAZON \/ GOODREADS:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Olive is desperate to get close to Theo\u2014really,\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>close. She\u2019s always struggled to connect with people. And now she\u2019s in her thirties, single, and so flustered by relationships that she secretly records her conversations, hoping to decipher social cues and find a way to be less alone.

Then Theo turns up for a shift at the same food pantry where she volunteers. He\u2019s a surgeon fascinated by human organs, a former soccer player, and possibly as weird as Olive.

For the first time, someone seems to crave and understand her. Every recording of Theo is a balm, which just makes Olive more afraid of losing him. The only solution seems to be to bind him to her forever. Luckily, the gap between Theo\u2019s front teeth is just wide enough for something\u2014or someone\u2014to slip inside.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
MY RATING: 3.75<\/h2>\n\n\n
\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span>\u2b50<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\n\n\t\n<\/svg>\n<\/span><\/span>Rating: 3.5 out of 5.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bibliography<\/p>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Wide Open: a Novel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Hysteria: a Novel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOKPublisher \u200f : \u200e Harry N. AbramsPublication date \u200f : \u200e August 2025Format: Paperback, audiobook, and ebookPrint length \u200f : \u200e 272 pagesGenre: Dark Humor Fiction MY PERSONAL OPINION OF “Open Wide” by Jessica Gross I heard about this book through one of my favorite BookTubers, and after a while I heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28057717,"featured_media":1172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"New Book Review! \"Open Wide: a Novel\" by Jessica Gross","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3328],"tags":[7215,178,1747,791128905,791128904],"class_list":["post-1171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-book-reviews","tag-books","tag-fiction","tag-jessica-gross","tag-open-wide"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pf3Dc1-iT","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/friendlybookshelf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/openwide.jpg?fit=993%2C1500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/28057717"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1171"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1177,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1171\/revisions\/1177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendlybookshelf.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}