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caitywithac's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book. I really liked that it was more about friendship than some type of love story. In so many books it's all about the guy that the girl is chasing, but in this book it's about the women finding the own paths independently. The characters were completely believable and felt really relatable.
I never got a deep message of any sort but still enjoyed reading it.
I never got a deep message of any sort but still enjoyed reading it.
sandhills_kt's review
4.0
3.5 stars. I loved Emily's style of writing and her characters but I didn't just love love it. definitely would read more by her.
andintothetrees's review against another edition
4.0
Click here to read my full review, on my book blog.
cremefracas's review
4.0
One of the first things that stands out about this book is that it is a story with zero male main characters. At first you think there are a few, but in a nice (and realistic) turn, the men all drop out by the end. That this is the case in a story about a pregnancy is a cool turn.
I can't imagine what it would have been like if the most important person in my life had been a girlfriend instead of a husband. Probably severely disassociating. So I thought Bev's story was an interesting story to tell. It felt great to see both these characters figure out at least a thing by the end of the story. And I loved that it ended with their story, and not a baby story, because who cares, babies are boring.
Anyway, this is a terrible review, I realize, but the point is that I very much enjoyed this book. I cared about Amy and Bev, was eager to see what was happy to both of them, enjoyed being inside their heads, and was happy with where they ended up. That, and being pregnant on the subway sounds like a nightmare.
I can't imagine what it would have been like if the most important person in my life had been a girlfriend instead of a husband. Probably severely disassociating. So I thought Bev's story was an interesting story to tell. It felt great to see both these characters figure out at least a thing by the end of the story. And I loved that it ended with their story, and not a baby story, because who cares, babies are boring.
Anyway, this is a terrible review, I realize, but the point is that I very much enjoyed this book. I cared about Amy and Bev, was eager to see what was happy to both of them, enjoyed being inside their heads, and was happy with where they ended up. That, and being pregnant on the subway sounds like a nightmare.
stevienlcf's review
4.0
Beverly Tunney’s “friendship advances” are reciprocated by Amy Schien, the rising star at the publishing house where they meet, and the two young women became besties. After Bev leaves New York to accompany her boyfriend who is attending graduate school, Amy becomes “untouchable” when she mocked the wrong rich, powerful person in a prominent gossip blog and refused to issue a retraction. Bev returns to New York after learning that her boyfriend was unfaithful and is relegated to temp jobs that would allow her to pay back her student loans by the time she was seventy-five . . . if she did not spend any money on food or rent. Amy is also languishing in a soul-sucking job at Yidster, the “third most popular on-line destination for cultural coverage with a modern Jewish angle.” Her well-paying job largely consisted of doing nothing, and she abruptly quits when she is humiliated during the filming of a “Yid Vid.” Jobless Amy is evicted from her apartment, musing as to how “a destitute homeless person [could] be in possession of a Comme des Garcons wallet, a pair of Worishofer sandals, a fridge with Moroccan oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes in it – all these accoutrements of bourgeois stability, but none of the actual stability itself?” Bev finds herself with an unwanted pregnancy, and laments that “a baby was supposed to be the trophy you received for attaining a perfected, mature life, not another hurdle to surmount on the infinite sprint toward that infinitely receding, possibly non-existent finish line.”
Gould does a masterful job of displaying the absurdities of modern life to reveal how her central characters endure pointless jobs to afford the exorbitant rent and overpriced drinks and meals in Manhattan. Yet, she also unearths the frustrations of young people with creative aspirations who find themselves knocking up against the limitations of a post-boom economy and wondering if they will ever achieve the financial stability and satisfying lives that they had assumed would be on the horizon.
Gould does a masterful job of displaying the absurdities of modern life to reveal how her central characters endure pointless jobs to afford the exorbitant rent and overpriced drinks and meals in Manhattan. Yet, she also unearths the frustrations of young people with creative aspirations who find themselves knocking up against the limitations of a post-boom economy and wondering if they will ever achieve the financial stability and satisfying lives that they had assumed would be on the horizon.
mindfullibrarian's review
2.0
only reason it didn't get 1 star is that I actually finished it :-/ One of the most depressing books I have ever read.
offbalance80's review
1.0
Annoying stereotypes making bad choices. Can we please get a novel where the two best friends aren't depicted as a sociopath and a doormat? Please?
mariagarnett's review
3.0
There were flashes of brilliance that sustained me, but mostly I felt that the book had been overhyped.