Reviews with content warning for Grief - Romantic Comedy

I loved this. It’s my first Curtis Sittenfeld book, and I am so impressed by the detailing and world building here – there’s something really absorbing about both the highly populated setting of the late night comedy show and about all of the relationships inside it that just worked so well for me. I love both of the main characters, and while I was kind of cautious about reading a Covid pandemic-set book, I actually found the use of the pandemic in the plot of this to work so well in framing and tension building. I loved the whole giant section of e-mails back-and-forth - just so funny and relatable and cute. I also think, in a funny way, that the conflicts and miscommunications in the third act (and even earlier in the book) were actually so real and relatable, especially for people were in their late 30s who haven’t dated a lot recently and have all kinds of complicated insecurities and routines of their own that they bring to the table even in a relationship that is basically good. I also just love all of the side characters, from the close friendships to the MC’s stepfather and especially his sweet beagle - such a cutie. Anyway, loved this and will definitely read more Sittenfeld in the future!!

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is not your typical romantic comedy and I really enjoyed that. The book is centered around Sally who is a writer at a SNL like show and Noah who is a famous musician and the host and musical guest on that week’s episode. Sally is focused on this phenomenon that happens especially men that she works with. They, normal guys looks wise continue to hook up/ marry super beautiful and successful women, but that is definitely not something that could happen the other way. Exceptionally handsome men don’t go for regular women, or do they? One big Trigger Warning is that about half the book takes place during the pandemic, so if you aren’t ready to read about that, this would be one to wait on.

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stopprivatejets's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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danikajoan's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I enjoyed the second and third parts of this book much more than the first, and I trudged through the first part because I’ve enjoyed other books by this author so I was hopeful it would redeem itself, which it only sort of did? My main issue with the first part of the book is that I didn’t find the main character (or most of the sketches she was pitching) funny, with the exception of the dog internet searches. The behind-the-scenes SNL stuff was interesting but I prefer to read Amy Poehler or Tina Fey’s memoirs for that.

later, I really enjoyed the emails and the start of their relationship, but there are so many communication issues and unhealthy dynamics that it was hard to root for them as a couple.

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sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

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funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall, I had a good time with this book. I particulalry enjoyed the first chapter and the insight into the world of live, late-night comedy television whilst also seeing the blossoming friendship/romance between Sally and Noah. I also enjoyed the humour throughout the book and laughed out loud a few times throughout.

The relationship between Sally and Noah was cute, and I was rooting for them, but I felt like the conflict in the third chapter was a bit jarring, given the format of the first chapter didn't really give much insight into the flaws of the characters. I think a bit more development of the characters in the first part of the book would've made this feel a bit more natural. The love also did feel a little fast tracked, thiugh I guess thus is relatively normal for people of their age so it didn't put me off too much, but was something that took away slightly from me believing in their relationship. In saying all this, like I said previously, I was really rooting for them as a couple and enjoyed watching their story unfold.

It is also important to note that the second and third parts of this book deal heavily with the pandemic and covid. It didn't completely take me out of the book, but I found that it delved far deeper into these topics than I expected and I don't know if it was necessary. I feel like, to me, that we aren't far enough removed from these events for me to be able to compeltely enjoy a book that deals with these topics. It wasn't enough to make me DNF, and I did still enjoy watching their relationship develop more through these events, I just think similar events through a different point in time could've been better.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and the relationship and the characters, but there was just some things that took me out of the story a little bit. I would be interested in picking up another book by this author, though.

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bessadams's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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analenegrace's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

At the end of the day, I don't think I like SNL enough to enjoy this.

Beyond that, I did not like Sally, and I felt like the writing of this book was incredibly stilted, especially the conversation aspects. The best writing was in the emails, but the rest of it did not sound like real people talking.

I also was just not personally ready for the COVID aspects; I don't yet want that reminder in books. The epilogue also read so weird it pulled me out of the story a lot.

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kit_carmichael's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I've been a fan of Curtis Sittenfeld for many years, and her new book does not disappoint. I had no doubt she could pull off a romance (and yes, this IS a genre romance) and she does so brilliantly. I looooved the first part of the book, which is an almost minute-by-minute breakdown of a week in the production of the SNL-like show the protagonist, Sally, works for. But the book really comes into its own in the second section, which is an epistolary email exchange between Sally and her love interest, Noah. SWOON. One of the best representations of two people falling in love. Sittenfeld really gets to the heart of why and how people fall in love, and how we can stand in our own way when we do.

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