nbrickman's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first book I have one from a Goodreads giveaway. I am at a loss for what to say about it since I don't really relate to the main character. I can't imagine becoming that hateful towards my husband (maybe I need to give it 5 years since according to the title after 7 years on marriage one becomes a bitch). I was startled by some of the crazy randomness that went on in Isolde's head. I can't say that this book meant much to me personally, but it was certainly laugh out loud funny in parts and I found myself giggling and sharing certain lines with my coworker. I enjoyed reading it, but it did not rock my world.
karils410's review against another edition
3.0
Jumped around a little bit at first and some weird crude humor. As I kept reading it got much better. It was an easy read. Perfect for the beach or pool in the summer.
pepper1133's review against another edition
2.0
Really wildly uneven. This was just a poorly written book that gives me hope that something I write someday could be published, because I'm pretty certain I could write better than this. The author left plot lines hanging, and there's one plot point, about going to India, that I'm not even sure how she got there. Overall, the best part of the book is the title. Once you read that, you're pretty much done.
thepickygirl's review against another edition
3.0
You know how sometimes you have a friend who has a real asshole for a husband? You know you do. Maybe they're not always an ass, but for much of the time you've known them, the husband does crazy things? And you know how you can't really say anything because when your friend makes up with her husband everything is all honey and manna? This. Book.
Isolde is an ex-hedge fund manager, and she has a small son. Her husband has been attempting to start up a small publishing company for a while. And, well, he's sort of a jerk. Like on their son's first birthday when he tapes over the baby blowing out the candles, taping a faux (read that as "supposed to be funny") suicide note. Because poor him, his life is so hard because he got to quit his job to start up a publishing company, while relying on his wife's income, and he's just. so. miserable.
Now. This isn't to say Isolde is easy to live with. She's caught up in getting a nanny, even though the only work she is doing is reading essays for magazine contests. Then she talks about the guilt of hiring said nanny and throws herself into the nanny's infertility and private life.
And then there's this deliciously-handsome and wildly-rich man who has held a torch for Isolde for years. And just when she's thinking about ditching the husband (because, well, who wouldn't want to?), she finds out she's pregnant. And though it was a stretch to leave her husband with one child, she certainly can't leave him when she has two children.
Though it sounds like I didn't like this book, it was seriously like candy. I picked it up as soon as it came in the mail...just to see what it was about and sat there for an hour reading.
Read this: If you're in the mood for something different and a bit lighter.
Isolde is an ex-hedge fund manager, and she has a small son. Her husband has been attempting to start up a small publishing company for a while. And, well, he's sort of a jerk. Like on their son's first birthday when he tapes over the baby blowing out the candles, taping a faux (read that as "supposed to be funny") suicide note. Because poor him, his life is so hard because he got to quit his job to start up a publishing company, while relying on his wife's income, and he's just. so. miserable.
Now. This isn't to say Isolde is easy to live with. She's caught up in getting a nanny, even though the only work she is doing is reading essays for magazine contests. Then she talks about the guilt of hiring said nanny and throws herself into the nanny's infertility and private life.
And then there's this deliciously-handsome and wildly-rich man who has held a torch for Isolde for years. And just when she's thinking about ditching the husband (because, well, who wouldn't want to?), she finds out she's pregnant. And though it was a stretch to leave her husband with one child, she certainly can't leave him when she has two children.
Though it sounds like I didn't like this book, it was seriously like candy. I picked it up as soon as it came in the mail...just to see what it was about and sat there for an hour reading.
Read this: If you're in the mood for something different and a bit lighter.
unabridgedchick's review against another edition
3.0
Say you have friends who seem, to you, to have an awful marriage and are terrible parents, but since it's none of your business, you can't really say anything about their staying together and having more kids. Well, that's a bit what reading this novel is like.
Actually, this book had two feels, really. On one hand, this felt a bit chick lit-y, as if Bridget Jones finally got married and had to face turning 40; on the other hand, this had the kind of quirky tone I associate with Aimee Bender or Lauren Groff. There's not much plot other than the drama heroine Isolde creates, but author Jennifer Belle paints an evocative (and slightly exaggerated) picture of Manhattan-based motherhood and marriage.
My waffling about this book derives from my feelings on Isolde. On one hand, Isolde is deeply empathetic and curious about the world and those in her life (unlike many of her Manhattanite acquaintances); and yet, she's so clueless and so insensitive, it's almost criminal. Maybe I disliked her so strongly because she was ultimately wholly unapologetic about her behavior. I'd think, 'have you no shame?', but perhaps that's not actually a flaw. Her unapologetic, hopeless, best intentioned but irrevocably inappropriate behavior brings her heartache but also allows her to take her life as it is and embrace what is good (a skill I have yet to perfect!).
In the end, I think I felt for Isolde as I might for a casual acquaintance: bemusement in small doses. When I read this book in long stretches, I started to get a big seasick from the repeating up-down bounce of Isolde's emotional roller coaster. There's a sort of vignette-y feel to this novel -- large chunks of time pass without comment -- and so the chapters and characters seemed a bit disconnected to me. The vignette-y feel is further compounded by the dropped plot moments: after a horrifyingly inappropriate obsession with her nanny's fertility challenges, both Belle and Isolde forget about the nanny once she's pregnant; nor are the shocking, credulity-straining, and damaging things her husband does during his son's birthday parties ever addressed or revisited.
I definitely over thought when it came to this novel, for good and for bad, but it certainly inspired conversations with friends on marriage (especially hetero marriage), parenthood, self-identity, and urban living. I'm probably not the target audience but I found this novel unexpectedly entertaining (if not maddening) and that's not a bad thing!
Actually, this book had two feels, really. On one hand, this felt a bit chick lit-y, as if Bridget Jones finally got married and had to face turning 40; on the other hand, this had the kind of quirky tone I associate with Aimee Bender or Lauren Groff. There's not much plot other than the drama heroine Isolde creates, but author Jennifer Belle paints an evocative (and slightly exaggerated) picture of Manhattan-based motherhood and marriage.
My waffling about this book derives from my feelings on Isolde. On one hand, Isolde is deeply empathetic and curious about the world and those in her life (unlike many of her Manhattanite acquaintances); and yet, she's so clueless and so insensitive, it's almost criminal. Maybe I disliked her so strongly because she was ultimately wholly unapologetic about her behavior. I'd think, 'have you no shame?', but perhaps that's not actually a flaw. Her unapologetic, hopeless, best intentioned but irrevocably inappropriate behavior brings her heartache but also allows her to take her life as it is and embrace what is good (a skill I have yet to perfect!).
In the end, I think I felt for Isolde as I might for a casual acquaintance: bemusement in small doses. When I read this book in long stretches, I started to get a big seasick from the repeating up-down bounce of Isolde's emotional roller coaster. There's a sort of vignette-y feel to this novel -- large chunks of time pass without comment -- and so the chapters and characters seemed a bit disconnected to me. The vignette-y feel is further compounded by the dropped plot moments: after a horrifyingly inappropriate obsession with her nanny's fertility challenges, both Belle and Isolde forget about the nanny once she's pregnant; nor are the shocking, credulity-straining, and damaging things her husband does during his son's birthday parties ever addressed or revisited.
I definitely over thought when it came to this novel, for good and for bad, but it certainly inspired conversations with friends on marriage (especially hetero marriage), parenthood, self-identity, and urban living. I'm probably not the target audience but I found this novel unexpectedly entertaining (if not maddening) and that's not a bad thing!
sarahconnor89757's review against another edition
2.0
I guessed this would be middle-aged chick lit, and it is.
Belle's humor and pov is not universal. You have to be "there" to get it and "there" isn't even on my map.
Belle's humor and pov is not universal. You have to be "there" to get it and "there" isn't even on my map.
imbookingit's review against another edition
3.0
I almost gave up on this book several times before getting to the halfway point, but it picked up for me after that.
I think I was (once again) having trouble with the wealthy New York setting. It's so foreign to me, but it doesn't look like it should be. The rules of life aren't what I'm expecting, and it throws me.
The characters are more outspoken, with much harsher language than I'd expect. And yes, the protagonist is a bit of a bitch. And a snob. And even given than I don't really understand the world it's set in, the situations didn't ring true to me.
I'm reading through, trying to figure out whether the author means for there to be this much distance between the reader and the book? Am I just out of it, not edgy enough for this one? Or is it failing to deliver.
I decided to give it one more chance, then pick up something else if it still wasn't working for me.
And finally, it started to come together. Not a lot, but I became interested in what was happening, even if I still didn't relate. Even if I still wasn't sure I was on the same planet as the New York this book is set in.
I think I was (once again) having trouble with the wealthy New York setting. It's so foreign to me, but it doesn't look like it should be. The rules of life aren't what I'm expecting, and it throws me.
The characters are more outspoken, with much harsher language than I'd expect. And yes, the protagonist is a bit of a bitch. And a snob. And even given than I don't really understand the world it's set in, the situations didn't ring true to me.
I'm reading through, trying to figure out whether the author means for there to be this much distance between the reader and the book? Am I just out of it, not edgy enough for this one? Or is it failing to deliver.
I decided to give it one more chance, then pick up something else if it still wasn't working for me.
And finally, it started to come together. Not a lot, but I became interested in what was happening, even if I still didn't relate. Even if I still wasn't sure I was on the same planet as the New York this book is set in.
notinjersey's review against another edition
3.0
funny in parts, but the main character was pretty unlikeable, like Becky Bloomwood in the Shopaholic series but with much less likeable characteristics!
notinjersey's review
3.0
funny in parts, but the main character was pretty unlikeable, like Becky Bloomwood in the Shopaholic series but with much less likeable characteristics!
notinjersey's review against another edition
3.0
funny in parts, but the main character was pretty unlikeable, like Becky Bloomwood in the Shopaholic series but with much less likeable characteristics!