[2] The novel received critical acclaim, and was often likened to the work of Sally Rooney, a fellow Trinity College Dublin graduate.
[13][14] The novel follows a 22-year-old Dubliner, Ava, while she is teaching English in Hong Kong, and her relationships with Julian, an Oxford-educated banker, and Edith, a corporate lawyer from a wealthy Hong-Kong family.
[15] The New York Times described it at as a novel where "jealousy and obsession, love and late capitalism, sex and the internet all come whirling together in a wry and bracing tale of class and privilege.
[16][17] In May 2020 it was announced that Exciting Times had been optioned for a US television series by Black Bear Pictures,[2] and in August 2021 it was revealed that Phoebe Dynevor would star in the adaptation and act as executive producer.
The Guardian gave it a mostly positive review describing it as "funny and direct" while musing, "Dolan more often uses her wit simply to parcel out insights and provocations among her cast rather than using them to build personalities we really care about.
"[20] In a positive review The Telegraph lauded Dolan's skill as a writer noting, "This book confirms her as an artful comic novelist with a distinctive signature style.