Reviews

Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes by Phoebe Robinson

danidsfavereads's review against another edition

5.0

I really really enjoyed this one.

I honestly don’t know much about Phoebe. I was still super connected to her stories. I was giggling through some points.

I really enjoyed how she balanced social commentary and comedic moments.

I would definitely recommend this one for anyone looking for something to make them laugh.

(Still feels weird to rate this with stars but it’s a solid 4.5).

seaa's review against another edition

3.0

I could do without the abbreviated words and hashtags but, apart from that, I felt very heard and validated when I read this book. She sometimes goes on rants and it reminds me of really talkative people who talk about one thing and then bring up a story from five years ago as an interlude, and I saw reviews that were annoyed by that, but, like, a vast majority of books written by celebrities or show writers or comedians are built like that.

This book isn’t for everyone. And I love that. It is written for a specific audience, specifically black females. And that’s grand. Of course, anyone can pick it up and read it but there’s content in here that is going to resonate so much deeper if you live the experience of Black females. So when I saw reviews saying they didn’t understand the book or asking who was it for…well, not you. And that’s perfectly fine.

ashley_love's review

5.0

Listened on audiobook and loved it so much I bought a physical copy.

marireadstoomuch's review

3.0

I had been looking forward to this book for a few weeks (three separate bookstores I tried had been sold out of it!) and thus was really excited to finally get my hands on a copy. Almost immediately, though, I found myself a bit disappointed — though largely due to style/personal preference rather than content — and a few of the essays I really enjoyed!

I’ll start with the positives: a lot of specific moments and experiences stood out and were funny (the writing of weights on forearms in sharpie before bungee jumping, for example, was very funny), and I agreed with her on pretty much every sentiment she shared. The essay i mention above, “Black Girl, Will Travel,” was my favorite. It had a perfect mix of serious and funny, and felt balanced and engaging. It also had fewer (in a relative sense) of the stylistic things that kept me from really enjoying the collection.

I didn’t know this beforehand, but truncating words is apparently a really big pet hate of mine: “quar quar” for “quarantine” is one that sticks out, but the truncation is constant (often more than once per page) and distracting/jarring for me. There were also a number of moments of truncation followed by spelling out the full word — “cultch aka culture” — which felt like a waste of time, and some truncations that made it literally hard to understand the phrase at first glance (e.g. “In seas three,” which made no sense until the rest of the sentence added context to give me the meaning: “in *season* three;” “sosh meeds” for “social media” took me a moment to work out). This viscerally impacted how I experienced the book, which was often insightful, even if the jokes at times didn’t land (or the good jokes got lost a bit amidst the mediocre/trying a bit too hard ones).

I wish I would’ve liked this book more, though the three-essay run of “Black Girl, Will Travel,” the titular essay, and “We Don’t Need Another White Savior” was truly excellent, and the final essay “4C Girl Living in Anything but a 4C World: The Disrespect” was brilliant as well. Worth a read despite the stylistic issues, though I think some essays could have been cut to give more space to the real gems. (Those essays are 4.5 stars, the others fell flat to me; if we could do half stars I’d give the full collection 3.5.)

jbeeninga's review

3.0

Loved the last few chapters. I’ll never sit on my bed in my outside clothes again.

sluna13's review

went on leave. need to restart 🥹

stbeaners's review

5.0

I enjoyed every minute of this audiobook. Phoebe is brilliant and true to herself and I miss hearing her POV on the 2 dope queens podcast. Highly recommend, and warn about language and awkward stories. All relevant and useful.

miri3ll3's review

5.0

As always making me laugh, calling me out, feeling seen, then making me laugh all over again! Loved it !

tx2its's review

4.0

Reading 2022
Book 81: Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes: Essays by Phoebe Robinson

I needed an audio book that was lighter than the books I had been reading. Enjoyed the last book by Phoebe Robinson that I listened to and this title grabbed my attention. Also this is book 18 for the #20booksbyblackwomen challenge hosted by @melantedreader.

Synopsis: New York Times bestselling author, comedian, actress, and producer Phoebe Robinson is back with a new essay collection that is equal parts thoughtful, hilarious, and sharp about human connection, race, hair, travel, dating, Black excellence, and more.

Review: Score! Narrated by Phoebe Robinson this book has her characteristic humor. This was the right book, at the right time. While the essays are funny, Phoebe tackles serious issues as well. I think the essay about her and her boyfriend, British Bakeoff (that is her code name for him), having to endure each other during quarantining and the Don’t sit on my bed essay were my favorites. I totally agree about not sitting on the bed in your outside clothes, especially if the bed is unmade. My rating 4⭐️.

serenedancer's review against another edition

funny medium-paced

3.5

 I like her story telling as always, so even if I didn't vibe with everything she said (nothing bad, just like I don't see the need to wear matching bras and underwear) it was still interesting.

Good audiobook.