Reviews

I Take You by Eliza Kennedy

gwendolyn_kensinger's review

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2.0

I wanted to say how much I loved this book despite it being slightly controversial. However, although I was able to overlook the characters flaws I was not able to overlook the lack of detail and the constant degradation nor the sloppy ending. I'll gonna lay it out for you. Lily is getting married in a week to a seemingly amazing guy. They are headed to Key West, where Lily grew up to have the wedding. But while wedding plans are underway Lily is off flirting and sleeping with any guy that strikes her fancy. Add to that she drinks, a lot and does coke with her best friend Freddie (female). So basically you have a bride that seems to not care one little bit about what marriage means. There is a back story as to why Lily left the Keys and became the "lawyer extraordinaire", but it's sort of lame and unfulfilling. As much as Lily goes on and on to say how much she loves her job and is good at her job the one time we get to see her in action she bombs it.

While Lily tries to figure out if she loves Will and should get married she sleeps around, bar hops and does a few lines of coke. Not indicative of the clear head that would likely figure things out. The days leading up to the wedding Lily wavers back and forth on her feelings for Will. The day before the wedding she finally decides she does love him and she needs to be honest with him. What happens after that was completely shocking and sadly I think it was meant to be just that - shocking. While unexpected I can't say it did anything for the story itself.

The redeeming qualities of this novel are: it is Eliza Kennedy's debut and the writing itself is fast paced, funny and modern. I think there were some missed opportunities with I Take You, such as the deposition and the ending itself. Hopefully the next story Kennedy writes has memorable characters, less shock value plot points, and pays more attention to the details. I rated I Take You by Eliza Kennedy 2.5 out of 5 stars.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

mmattmiller's review

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1.0

I still feel guilty that in my first update on this book I said "Why do all the bad books get made into movies?"

I shouldn't have called it a bad book. It's not bad.

However, I did not like it. I could not stand the main character (not just because of her sexual activities), but because of her personality, her character. I can still like a book though, even if I don't like the main character. But I didn't like many of the characters at all! Maybe I didn't like any of them! And they weren't the kind that you love to hate. I just don't like them. The writing itself I didn't like either. The plot, the side stories... I just didn't like this one. It might make a good movie, but this book was not for me.

lucyself's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

mftaylor's review

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2.0

I decided to give this book a try as a change of pace. Many reviews mentioned the book as being funny, hilarious, and clever. Sorry, I have to disagree. Yes, there a couple of funny lines throughout but it's far from a funny book. The main character, Lily, is a young, alcoholic, drug-using, immature, unfaithful, confused lawyer. She is getting married in a week, to a great guy (her words) that she has dated for 6 months, but she is cheating on him every chance she gets. Most of the characters are pretty unlikable and I found myself wondering where is this story going? Maybe it's a push for equality and feminism, that woman should be able to sleep with anyone they want whenever they want and it should be viewed the same as when men do it. Maybe it's a push for open marriages. Maybe it's a push for being who you are no matter how unconventional. Whatever it was meant to be I was left feeling disappointed.

melannrosenthal's review

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4.0

Ahh I had a lot of fun with this read. Not your average chick lit.

It has accumulated several terribly unflattering reviews and I didn't know why as, from the start, I was laughing often at the audacity of the main character, Lily. In the beginning it seems like Kennedy has painted another formulaic "she has it all, but..." scenario, but this New York lawyer and all-around philanderer/party girl has a bit more comedy paired with the inner turmoil which, in this case, focused on whether or not Lily does love her fiancé Will, or if she's just trying to keep herself accountable for her sexcapades (and not become her often-married-more-often-divorced father) by settling down instead of continuing to fool around. The book starts 1 week before their wedding date and there is MUCH deliberation between Lily and her best friend Freddy as well as unwanted advice from Lily's mother, grandmother and 2 stepmothers. Chapter to chapter Lily's own plan and feelings fluctuate in tandem with, then in spite of the advice she receives- until a bombshell revelation 2 days before the nuptials.

Seems like other recent reads ([b:Mr. & Mrs. American Pie|36411207|Mr. & Mrs. American Pie|Juliet McDaniel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1530035532s/36411207.jpg|58106429] and [b:When Katie Met Cassidy|36412963|When Katie Met Cassidy|Camille Perri|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1508008435s/36412963.jpg|52357552], even [b:Pretend I'm Dead|25490313|Pretend I'm Dead|Jen Beagin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430943726s/25490313.jpg|45264934]) had prepared me well for this sort of tongue-in-cheek exploration on the double standard thrown at women who cheat and thoroughly enjoy sex. I flew through it, desperate to see if Lily would actually walk away, if she would try to be "better", or if she'd fully self-destruct.

alittlebrittoffun's review

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4.0

Incredibly random story but really interesting ideas about marriage and relationships and quite funny.

nathaliej13's review against another edition

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5.0

Extremely funny and fresh book, Lily was a very interesting protagonist who kept the book playful and fun. Thought this book is considered 'chick lit' I like that it had a bit more edge to it than normal. Overall a perfect summer read.

zzaakkiiyyaa's review against another edition

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5.0

I've seen a lot of people hating on this book and while I understand their point of view, I know I don't agree.

Many reviewers have expressed their opinion on the plot, the topics the book covered, and the actions of the main character. Some say they can't relate to it at all (fair enough, it presents a unique view on monogamy and infidelity) and others stating that the book wasn't what they expect from the genre, nor did they want to read about "this stuff".

Okay, I get it. But the synopsis gave you everything you needed to know about the topics involved. Therefore, it seems (to me at least) pretty unfair to rate I Take You based on this fact.

In my opinion, it was one of the best books I've read this year (so far). Not only was the writing style excellent and more than fitting for the genre, but the plot took twists and turns when I least expected it (although, it should be noted that I could've guessed they were coming, still, I loved it).

Oh and I loved the cover! It's bold, colorful, and looks pretty nice on my shelf. I know that isn't what you should judge a book on, but it's important to me and was definitely a bonus to the well-written story.

*my full reviews will be on my blog when I start it☺️*

marnienicole's review against another edition

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3.0

Well, a quick read but very heavy handed and preachy for most of the themes through out the book. I would be interested to see something else from Eliza in the future but yeah not my favorite.

I will say that I love the friendship between Freddy and Lily. I love the support and the understanding and lack of judgement. A true friend.