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avafarquhar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
gstree's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t even remember why I had flagged this book as one I was excited to read when it came out. It was just about reading a woman’s bad choices one after another and being let down by a lot of the people in her life (before she obviously made things worse between them and had to be the one to mend fences). I liked maybe 1 or 2 of all of the secondary characters, and I just desperately wanted the protagonist to make better decisions ever but it wasn’t until the very end. It felt like she did her apology tour but no one else took responsibility for being jerks themselves. Just a mess all around.
amrowe716's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pekey_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
4.0
A really sweet and nicely put together book, funny and creative and extremely relatable if you're of a similar age and lifestyle. I found the story believable and there was a lot of resonance for people and experiences I've known. Would definitely recommend.
gcrunnels's review against another edition
4.0
4.83 ⭐️
This was like reading the diary of a millennial in 2018, but somehow wasn’t cringe, just very enjoyable, very funny (laughed out loud a lot). Also for me, very relatable - I too am a grad-school-educated white bisexual lefty millennial woman who was living in a large city in my late 20s and who married the person I started dating as a teen, and a lot of the very specific details and references in this book were super familiar (reading this, I was like that meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the TV). Really fun to read, kept wanting to pick it back up and keep reading.
Overall, I would say this book was really good, actually.
This was like reading the diary of a millennial in 2018, but somehow wasn’t cringe, just very enjoyable, very funny (laughed out loud a lot). Also for me, very relatable - I too am a grad-school-educated white bisexual lefty millennial woman who was living in a large city in my late 20s and who married the person I started dating as a teen, and a lot of the very specific details and references in this book were super familiar (reading this, I was like that meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing at the TV). Really fun to read, kept wanting to pick it back up and keep reading.
Overall, I would say this book was really good, actually.
strxngef1owers's review against another edition
3.0
This was such a struggle bus. I know that was the whole plot of the story, but I was just honestly tired of it all lol. Glad I listened to the audiobook vs. purchasing when it released a bit ago!
squid_vicious's review against another edition
4.0
I got my hands on a copy of this book after seeing it featured on Heather O’Neill’s Instagram; I’d be lying if I said that the beautiful and messy cover illustration didn’t also help.
As I read this book, I chuckled at the familiarity of some aspects of Maggie’s story, and snorted in bafflement at other things she says and does, as she navigates her new reality as a 29 year old divorcée. I went through a major break up at that age, and it wrecks you, like any break up does, but the fact that your 30th birthday is around the corner adds a very specific sort of stress for women, even if you have spent most of your adult life railing against ageist stereotypes. It was a long time ago, but I do remember doing some pretty crazy shit, so I had a decent amount of compassion for Maggie.
Nevertheless, this book doesn’t really reinvent the wheel: it is funny, sometimes painfully familiar and often cringey as hell, but it’s about that cycle most adults go through of one relationship ending, the struggle to get one’s brain back on track, the often rocky healing process and the eventual realization that they’ll be OK. I don’t know if predictable is quite the right word for “Really Good, Actually”, but it does sound like a story you may have heard before.
I would have rated this book 3 stars, but one line caught my eye, and I felt it rather strongly as one of the most relatable thing I’d read in a while:
“I looked at my body in the mirror and thought, ‘you know what, fine’.”
For that bittersweet line alone, it got rounded up to 4 stars. Light, sweet, silly but not without it’s moments of truth.
As I read this book, I chuckled at the familiarity of some aspects of Maggie’s story, and snorted in bafflement at other things she says and does, as she navigates her new reality as a 29 year old divorcée. I went through a major break up at that age, and it wrecks you, like any break up does, but the fact that your 30th birthday is around the corner adds a very specific sort of stress for women, even if you have spent most of your adult life railing against ageist stereotypes. It was a long time ago, but I do remember doing some pretty crazy shit, so I had a decent amount of compassion for Maggie.
Nevertheless, this book doesn’t really reinvent the wheel: it is funny, sometimes painfully familiar and often cringey as hell, but it’s about that cycle most adults go through of one relationship ending, the struggle to get one’s brain back on track, the often rocky healing process and the eventual realization that they’ll be OK. I don’t know if predictable is quite the right word for “Really Good, Actually”, but it does sound like a story you may have heard before.
I would have rated this book 3 stars, but one line caught my eye, and I felt it rather strongly as one of the most relatable thing I’d read in a while:
“I looked at my body in the mirror and thought, ‘you know what, fine’.”
For that bittersweet line alone, it got rounded up to 4 stars. Light, sweet, silly but not without it’s moments of truth.
honeybee77's review against another edition
2.0
2 and a half because i feel generous. Idk i had so much hope for this book but it just felt like some millennial who was trying to fit in with gen z simultaneously. what was the whole weird harry styles sub plot?? like i was genuinely shocked by some of this book. I thought i was reading a fanfiction at some parts.
marilyn37's review against another edition
2.0
Good writing, needs an edit. Main character becomes wearying and overly annoying, actually.