Book Review: The Situationship by Taylor-Dior Rumble

‘The Situationship’ by Taylor-Dior Rumble was published in 2023. It’s an empowering story of navigating the corporate world and the realm of dating apps. It is Rumble’s first novel.

The story follows Tia, a woman in her twenties living at home with her family in London. She’s struggling to progress in her career and is battling imposter syndrome. Her friends are all making strides in their lives; Hannah wants to move in with her boyfriend, Luca is making progress with his career in law, Aaron just finished eight months in America working for Google, and Tia is still a researcher at LCN. The same place she’s been for three years.

To make things worse, her on-again-off-again romantic situation with Aaron ended with kisses before he left for America, and yet, when he got back, he had a whole girlfriend! Red flag alert!

I really enjoyed this book. The way Rumble navigated the different elements of Tia’s life like a work-life balance in corporate London, institutional racism in the workplace, imposter syndrome and, of course, the struggles of casual dating, wanting commitment but getting frustrated with how flippant and relaxed the situation was.

Although the story is marketed as a romance-y minefield, the way that the casual dating and romance with Nate, our male lead, is woven into the story makes it sound like it really is a series of coincidences. Who would think a researcher for a newspaper and a photographer who is grappling with artistic integrity versus making enough money to live, would have a relationship in the industry? Especially when the aforementioned researcher’s project has the outcome it does. Note the sarcasm.

I loved the strong sense of character voice. The way Tia and her friends spoke in dialogue was fun and silly, while also making all of them sound authentic. I really enjoyed the sense of personality you get from everyone around Tia. You really get a sense of how their group dynamic functions, and the way Tia really is holding back at work. You see just a glimpse of her through and through when she’s around Gbemi, one of her only black colleagues, with whom she has a confidant.

A character I wanted to give a shout-out to, though, was Yvonne. She is a black woman who has climbed up the corporate ladder at LCN, achieving a senior role, with only a few rungs left to grapple with. Yvonne was an amazing character and mentor figure in Tia’s life and is very humble. I really enjoyed seeing her relationship with Tia evolve. She was a confident, empowered woman who goes through her own journey in the background. One Tia only catches glimpses of during the months when the story takes place. I loved how they worked together, and was so happy to see how Yvonne’s story ended.

I would have loved to see more instances alongside the subtle camaraderie etc. between Tia and Eloise, and although I am a fan of how their story ended, I would have loved to see a bit more of Eloise, maybe if there was another fifty or so pages? But that is the most minor gripe!

I really enjoyed the humour and voice behind ‘The Situationship’ and I would definitely recommend it!