kricketa's review against another edition
4.0
first read, May 2007: finnamore writes in a tone that reminds me of anne lamott, and everyone knows i love anne lamott. funny commentary of all the insane things that could potentially run through one's head when one is planning a wedding.
second read, August 2021: fun and goes down easy. The main character is pretty awful in a way I didn't notice as much in 2007, probably because I had just planned my own wedding and was also awful.
second read, August 2021: fun and goes down easy. The main character is pretty awful in a way I didn't notice as much in 2007, probably because I had just planned my own wedding and was also awful.
karenbacke's review against another edition
4.0
laughed outloud many times. Reread it a couple years later and still loved it.
conchfritters's review against another edition
4.0
*SPOILER ALERT* it's been awhile since i read this - i picked it up at a garage sale not expecting much from it, but i enjoyed it tremendously. the protagonist is hilarious! she's vain, insecure, petty and neurotic - i loved her. i related to the story a lot, having been engaged (more than once, but who's counting?) and losing my best friend to the same shitty disease.
eberico's review against another edition
More trashy chick-lit. I'm a little embarrassed for myself in retrospect.
superdydy's review against another edition
2.0
It was alright. I guess the problem I had with the book is that I hated the main character. She was annoying. But maybe that was because I got married at 26 instead of 36, so I wasn't as self-centered as she was. blech.
k8brarian's review against another edition
2.0
Otherwise Engaged is a book about a woman who, like many of her species, is anxious to land a husband. In the first several pages, she employs her will and her not inconsiderable knowledge of Psychological Manipulation of the Human Male to get her boyfriend to propose. She is elated for about two days, at which point she begins to suffer buyer's remorse....
The protagonist/narrator of this book is not easy to like, probably predominantly because she is so believable in her insecurity and shallowness. Nothing seems good enough, nothing is easy enough, nothing is the fairy tale she'd anticipated. She loves the idea of being engaged, but not actually BEING engaged. She wanted to be married, but the prospect of actual marriage terrifies her. What if her wedding isn't perfect? What if her man isn't perfect? What if her perfect life isn't perfect?
Upon reaching the end of the book, though, you actually kind of feel for her. After all, the doubts she experiences are only exaggerated versions of those any bride-to-be might feel. The fights, the doubts, the heartbreaks - they're all quite, depressingly believable.
And it's, as advertised, pretty funny.
Still, you just sort of want to smack her and her globetrotting, got-made-partner, expensive shoe-buying ways.
The most telling thing about this book, I think, is that while it is rather obvious that the protagonist DOES in fact love her guy, she never once says the words - to him, or to us as she tells the story.
The protagonist/narrator of this book is not easy to like, probably predominantly because she is so believable in her insecurity and shallowness. Nothing seems good enough, nothing is easy enough, nothing is the fairy tale she'd anticipated. She loves the idea of being engaged, but not actually BEING engaged. She wanted to be married, but the prospect of actual marriage terrifies her. What if her wedding isn't perfect? What if her man isn't perfect? What if her perfect life isn't perfect?
Upon reaching the end of the book, though, you actually kind of feel for her. After all, the doubts she experiences are only exaggerated versions of those any bride-to-be might feel. The fights, the doubts, the heartbreaks - they're all quite, depressingly believable.
And it's, as advertised, pretty funny.
Still, you just sort of want to smack her and her globetrotting, got-made-partner, expensive shoe-buying ways.
The most telling thing about this book, I think, is that while it is rather obvious that the protagonist DOES in fact love her guy, she never once says the words - to him, or to us as she tells the story.
karinalara46's review against another edition
3.0
have to admit that I didnt fall in love with this book right away, even now it could just be fondness. The writing took some getting used to &the ending didn't surprise me and I didnt agree with ! But this book has some up to date problems that portrays how real women would deal with it. Very witty and neurotic I would say. Nonetheless, interesting. Definitely has some things adults can relate to.
lisafer's review against another edition
1.0
A coworker left this book on the counter on a day when I'd forgotten to bring my own book to read. The description sounded like a comical interpretation of an anxiety-ridden bride-to-be, so I was imagining all sorts of wedding-preparation shenanigans.
Instead I got the story of a manipulative woman (who essentially bullied her fiance into proposing, and then "settled" for a $7k ring she wanted by asking for a $20k ring first!) and all of the psychological issues that brought her to this place. It had less to do with realizing whether she wanted to be with Michael for the rest of her life than her dealing with the notion of otherwise being alone.
I think had I known exactly what it was going in I would've enjoyed it more. It was nice to see a book written in the late 1990s just for nostalgia, and I liked the writing style. But the plot let me numb, and there honestly wasn't a character I liked at all.
Instead I got the story of a manipulative woman (who essentially bullied her fiance into proposing, and then "settled" for a $7k ring she wanted by asking for a $20k ring first!) and all of the psychological issues that brought her to this place. It had less to do with realizing whether she wanted to be with Michael for the rest of her life than her dealing with the notion of otherwise being alone.
I think had I known exactly what it was going in I would've enjoyed it more. It was nice to see a book written in the late 1990s just for nostalgia, and I liked the writing style. But the plot let me numb, and there honestly wasn't a character I liked at all.
celiaedf12's review
3.0
Another book by Finnamore - this one is her first novel, I think, written before The Zygote Chronicles, which I read first. I probably enjoyed this a little less than The Zygote Chronicles - I found it hard to relate to the neurotic bride, who is getting married late in life to a man who's already been divorced. She writes (in Finnamore's slightly stream of consciousness way) about her wedding nerves, the process of planning, and her feelings as her other friends' relationships go on around her (edging towards divorce, or the birth of children). But I like Finnamore's style, and it's funny, despite not really being able to relate fully to the characters.
More...