A review by bookcheshirecat
Funny Feelings by Tarah DeWitt

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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.
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