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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
2.5
“We both know the judgment that comes with this line of work, the risks you take with certain material. And while I always strive to push the envelope on social commentary, I refuse to do it at the expense of someone else’s humanity. I’d rather tell shitty fart jokes and make fun of myself than be an asshole in the name of being edgy.”
➽ Funny Feelings is a feel-good romance about a female comedian! I was drawn in by the premise because the story sounded like it would be so much fun to read. We follow Farley Jones, a rising comedian who gets the chance to go on an important tour, but has to fake date her manager and long-time best friend Meyer! I really liked their friendship and the precious dynamic between Farley and his daughter Hazel, who is deaf. There was a lot of potential in this story, including the romance of friends-to-lovers (and age gap) and the exploration of being a woman working in the comedy industry. Some paragraphs managed to make me chuckle and I liked that quotes from different celebrities were used at the beginning of the chapters!
➽ Unfortunately, I had many issues with how the premise was executed. We not only have a dual POV but also dual timelines that bogged down the story. First I thought that Meyer would narrate the Past chapters and show us how they met and Farley would narrate the present. Instead, POVs and timelines got mixed up and I honestly couldn't tell if there was any structure behind the incorporation of the Past chapters. In my opinion, they slowed down the book and didn't add enough to the story. I also found that the POVs (both in first person) sounded too similar. In general, the story was rather slow and didn't deliver what it promised.
➽ This leads me to my second big problem: there was barely any plot and the fake dating doesn't really play a big part. I feel like if you promise fake dating and a grand comedy tour, you need to deliver. Neither of these aspects had any relevance to the plot and romance!! The main selling points were subplots at best and afterthoughts at worst. Since Meyer and Farley have been secretly pining after each other for ages (each believing it to be unrequited), the fake dating was barely used before they dated for real. It had no consequences for the plot and the reason they were pretending to date in the first place - the comedy tour - only takes place in the final 15% of the book! I was so disappointed, as I would have loved to see Farley go on tour, but we only got a few scenes with her and the other female comedians who are her idols. The plot was literally just Farley and Meyer getting together and learning about their past. Nothing else happened until the very end when the author had to add a completely avoidable miscommunication! Also, why did we need two epilogues??
➽ In general, the story just wasn't as hilarious as I had hoped. For a book about standup comedians, the writing wasn't really that funny and I expected more from Farley's character. Both her and Meyer felt shallow to me as we just got info-dumps about their past, but don't see how it affects them now. Therefore, I didn't feel like they grew throughout the story. Meyer's overprotectiveness began to annoy me towards the end and in general, I didn't see the chemistry between them.
Graphic: Sexism
Minor: Death and Emotional abuse
sebradley29's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
ambercunningham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
_persephone_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
We have two main characters, Farley and Meyer. Farley is a somewhat new, up-and-coming, comedian, and Meyer is her manager. DeWitt uses a lot of pretty common tropes like Grumpy/Sunshine and Age Gap but she twists it different ways to make it her own. Thankfully, Farley and Meyer don't fall into the worse side of those two tropes, Farley in no way acts childish or immature, and Meyer isn't some nearly unredeemable asshole who ends up being sexist to everyone but the WMC like we're supposed to find that hot. Instead, it's pretty much the opposite. Farley acts like the twenty-something year old woman that she is, Meyer, while sometimes can come off a bit asshole-ish, is completely redeemable (painfully sweet, really), and is definitely not sexist.
Which is not surprising considering another main theme of this books is feminism, one that is done very well. Farley talks about how misogynist people in her field can be, widely uplifting male comedians while putting female comedians down. One of my favorite parts of this book is the female friendships, Farley has a wonderful, mother-ish relationship with Meyers daughter, Hazel, one that is obviously very well thought-out and very adorable. Then you have Farley's friendship with her best friend, Marissa, and with two fellow female comedians, they all support and uplift each other repeatedly, and have very hilarious but heartfelt conversations between them.
Additionally, Hazel is deaf, a topic, which isn't even a topic in the best way. It is integrated very naturally into the story. As someone who is not deaf, I will not speak too much on whether it is well done, as I do not know, but I do know that from a writing standpoint, it was very smooth and consistent. The characters facetimed Hazel whenever they wanted to talk on the phone, the author remembered to have them set the phone down somewhere so they could sign, and the writing wasn't redundant, in the way that it didn't make you feel like you were stupid by reminding you everytime that Hazel was there that they were signing ASL as they were talking, they mentioned it when it was needed or relevant but not any more or less than that.
Now, for the reasons this was a 4 star read and not a 5 star. Firstly, the representation. Like I previously mentioned, Hazel is deaf, and, from my knowledge, I believe it was pretty well done, but sadly, that's all there is. The two main characters are obviously white, with the cover showing them as such (and with Farley being a natural red-head). From there you can also assume that Hazel is white, unless she is mixed, which is never mentioned. Then there's the side characters, all of which you can assume are POC if you would so choose but, once again it's never mentioned either way. Then the vague sense of heteronormativity you get when you realize that every non-single person is either dating or married to someone the opposite sex then them, with no mention or hint of queerness from anyone. Even in the characters internal dialogue, sometimes I got the feeling that even they just assume that everyone in the room is straight. It's not like it's a big thing, or even a thing at all in the book, no one is homophobic or, bringing it back to the lack of people of color, racist, but I guess that's the point, it just goes unnoticed, forgotten. Next there's the pacing and timing. The characters would often be at one place, the suddenly, with no real explanation be at the next, and the author wouldn't even say where they were until you were already thoroughly confused. Lastly I feel like certain topics never really got a satisfying conclusion, or at least one topic specifically.
In all though, Farley and Meyer were adorable, and very fluffy, which I suppose is the main thing you want when you read a romance novel. My only complain about them was that, like most romance novels, there was indeed a third act breakup. For the most part, I've gotten used to these and the don't bother me anymore, but this one in particular really bugged me. Through the entire book, Farley and Meyer had amazing communication, they talked through and about everything together. So, imagine my surprise when the TAB was caused by one of them keeping something from the other. It came out of nowhere and didn't even make sense. Not to mention that it added nothing to the plot, and I mean nothing. It didn't develop Farley and Meyers relationship whatsoever and it was too short and nonsensical to actually cause conflict.
Even so, I did truly enjoy this book and will definitely be rereading it.
Rep: Deaf side character
Tropes: Age Gap, Grumpy/Sunshine, Single Dad, Workplace Romance(kind of), Dual POV, Friends to Lovers
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Bullying, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
meganpbell's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Violence, and Pregnancy
samone2's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Death, and Sexism
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, and Pregnancy
sdupont's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Sexism, Medical content, and Pregnancy
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Death of parent
purplepenning's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
dancing_on_ur_muml0l's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Bullying, Sexism, Death of parent, and Pregnancy