Nothing to See Here – Kevin Wilson

100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: Out of the blue, Lillian is contacted by her former private school roommate — and current U.S. Senator’s wife — Madison, and asked to be the governess for her stepchildren while he’s vetted for appointment as the next Secretary of State. After years of being underemployed and underwhelmed with life, the opportunity is a godsend for Lillian, but there’s a catch: the children can spontaneously combust when agitated.

Expectation: A kooky, scifi comedy with political themes and “After School Special” lessons on tolerance and second chances.

Reality: Funnier than expected with a fair amount of heart, its mostly feel-good plot starts to fall apart near the end.

Recommended For: Fans of quirky yet thought-provoking novels, like Ottessa Moshfegh’s “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.”

Why I Read It: It was buzzed about upon its release and my SIL had a copy in her Audible account.  

My Take:

My next listen was intended to be TJ Klune’s “The House in the Cerulean Sea,” but my fellow library patrons are taking their sweet time with it, so I had to find something relatively short to fill the (hopefully brief) gap. Enter “Nothing to See Here” a wisp of a novel — compared to my usual reading/listening — that I ended up enjoying much more than anticipated.

It had been on my TBR list for almost two years, and frankly, it sounded stupid as hell, so I didn’t have high expectations. But I was hooked almost immediately, in large part because of the phenomenal narration by Marin Ireland that was chock full of charm and sarcasm and had me laughing out loud regularly.

Her work helped elevate Kevin Wilson’s snappy dialogue and quick pacing, but it becomes clear at the halfway mark the story can only end one way, and the last third ended up a bit overcooked with too many loose ends getting tied and the humor you came to expect mostly absent.

While it’s disappointing when a novel fall apart, this was still a relatively solid effort. Lillian and the children creating a quasi-family is the best part of the story, and her efforts to keep their affliction under control and build a level of stability is the perfect mixture of heartwarming and humorous.

However, Wilson slowly adds too much into the plot, and most of it is revealed in the last couple chapters, which makes it seem disconnected from the rest of the story. In some ways it felt like this was initially a longer novel that an editor (wisely) told him to cut down, but that means a lot of revelations end up being head scratching rather than illuminating.

Wilson also never goes too deep on some of the themes he brings forward — classism and privilege, perceived disabilities and isolation and soul selling in pursuit of power — which is a shame, because he shows a keen sense for human nature but would rather use his comedic talents for hijinks rather than social commentary.

I know just as many people love “See” as loathe it, and I can see why. It’s kind of pointless and overhyped, but at the same time you can’t help but get wrapped up in the journey. This may be an instance where the audiobook narration truly made something mediocre seem better. 

Rating (story): 4/5 stars

Rating (narration): 5/5

Formats: Audiobook (SIL’s library)

Dates read: March 3 - 7, 2021

Multi-tasking: Good to go.