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kraskin's review against another edition
3.25
Are there actual brown adults that say “nakey” or “sexy times”? Otherwise enjoyable
thephdivabooks's review
2.0
A re-imagined How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the millennial generation, Andie J Christopher’s novel Not the Girl You Marry was a fun book to read, but one that ultimately altered too much of the central aspect to the original movie to work for me. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy here so let’s dive in!
I think there are lots of readers who will and have loved this book, and there were definitely things I liked about it as well. The movie is one of my favorites, and this book somehow managed to be almost exactly like it, and nothing like it at all. It was fun to see what aspects the author wanted to re-imagine. But that brings me to my first point, and one I couldn’t have anticipated until I saw how it played out…
The gender reversal of the original story is problematic--it was a fun idea, but one that did not work for me. When I read it, I didn't enjoy seeing Jack emulate the kind of toxic, misogynistic behavior that men treat their partners with all of the time. It wasn’t cute, or easy to stomach. The original worked because they both in some ways pretended to be into one another but didn’t realize that they actually were. Here, I struggled watching Hannah pretend that Jack’s bad behavior wasn’t a problem. I didn’t like watching her “play it cool” when he did truly appalling and damaging things. I also felt like I struggled to see Jack as the nice guy that he was, when he was treating Hannah so poorly. I was left with the impression that he thought way more highly of himself than he deserved.
Let’s talk about Hannah for a moment. I loved her, and I loved that the author chose to make her biracial. We saw quite a bit play out in terms of how some biracial women may experience dating, and I thought that as great to see in a main stream contemporary romance novel. Hannah herself is tough on the outside, but vulnerable inside. I also loved her friendship with Sasha, who was a really fun character as well. And I think these two are where Christopher’s writing really shone in this book! I also have to say, the event planning space was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the story of the wedding she was trying to help plan.
Many of these scenes were almost exactly out of the movie, and I think that’s where you see some readers saying this was too much like the film. I thought those scenes were a lot of fun. For instance, in the big party when everything comes to a head, I thought it was a fun re-telling of the original movie and I was so glad to see that scene included!
The problem is, I learned through reading this that delving into the mindset of the two main characters reveals a troubling aspect that the film was able to gloss over. Here we see chapter after chapter of how much these characters like one another and don’t want to go forward with their manipulation. And yet, they still do it. And somehow, seeing how much they didn’t want to do it took a bit of the fun out of the plot for me. The movie worked because neither had real feelings at first. They met because of their work assignments. Here, they actually meet and form a connection before their assignments, and it bothered me.
Let’s get to the
I think there are lots of readers who will and have loved this book, and there were definitely things I liked about it as well. The movie is one of my favorites, and this book somehow managed to be almost exactly like it, and nothing like it at all. It was fun to see what aspects the author wanted to re-imagine. But that brings me to my first point, and one I couldn’t have anticipated until I saw how it played out…
The gender reversal of the original story is problematic--it was a fun idea, but one that did not work for me. When I read it, I didn't enjoy seeing Jack emulate the kind of toxic, misogynistic behavior that men treat their partners with all of the time. It wasn’t cute, or easy to stomach. The original worked because they both in some ways pretended to be into one another but didn’t realize that they actually were. Here, I struggled watching Hannah pretend that Jack’s bad behavior wasn’t a problem. I didn’t like watching her “play it cool” when he did truly appalling and damaging things. I also felt like I struggled to see Jack as the nice guy that he was, when he was treating Hannah so poorly. I was left with the impression that he thought way more highly of himself than he deserved.
Let’s talk about Hannah for a moment. I loved her, and I loved that the author chose to make her biracial. We saw quite a bit play out in terms of how some biracial women may experience dating, and I thought that as great to see in a main stream contemporary romance novel. Hannah herself is tough on the outside, but vulnerable inside. I also loved her friendship with Sasha, who was a really fun character as well. And I think these two are where Christopher’s writing really shone in this book! I also have to say, the event planning space was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the story of the wedding she was trying to help plan.
Many of these scenes were almost exactly out of the movie, and I think that’s where you see some readers saying this was too much like the film. I thought those scenes were a lot of fun. For instance, in the big party when everything comes to a head, I thought it was a fun re-telling of the original movie and I was so glad to see that scene included!
The problem is, I learned through reading this that delving into the mindset of the two main characters reveals a troubling aspect that the film was able to gloss over. Here we see chapter after chapter of how much these characters like one another and don’t want to go forward with their manipulation. And yet, they still do it. And somehow, seeing how much they didn’t want to do it took a bit of the fun out of the plot for me. The movie worked because neither had real feelings at first. They met because of their work assignments. Here, they actually meet and form a connection before their assignments, and it bothered me.
Let’s get to the
jrv45's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
violetsnickerdoodlereads's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
marieintheraw's review
2.0
I see the loose threads to How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days, but that is what barely kept me attached to this story. The characters spoke and acted very out of of character for this setting and it overall was unnerving. Overall, this was such a disappointing romance for me.
I received an ecopy of this through Netgalley; however, all opinions are my own
I received an ecopy of this through Netgalley; however, all opinions are my own
myb1023's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
danileighta's review
2.0
Interesting idea, but after seeing the word d*** for the billionth time, I got annoyed and stopped reading. Also, I know the author was speaking from her own experience, but it got hard to see how much the main character hated herself and thought she was undateable, how she wasn't classy, how she was just someone guys used, etc. Obviously the world has put those messages in her mind, but there was something about how often she had those thoughts without us being shown other pieces of her internal landscape that rubbed me the wrong way.
lapon's review
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
keberwick's review
5.0
“Because they were never looking for a girlfriend, especially not her as a girlfriend.”
Jack has been blessed by good looks, charm, and a gentlemanly kindness that has left him with a string of girlfriends constantly telling him, “it’s not you, it’s me” and a boss insisting that his face is too handsome for hard hitting political stories. He’s desperate to get out of the “listicle” thing and get put on the political beat. Even though he has the lead, his boss is hesitant to let him out of the website’s biggest hit: his listicle videos. In order to get the story he wants, he has to write a how-to guide: How to Lose the Girl.
Hannah is an event planner blessed with a resting bitch face and a take-no-prisoners attitude to match. She’s tired of being treated like an exotic commodity and being told that “she’s not the girl you marry”. So when she gets the chance to work the wedding-of-a-lifetime with her best friend Sasha, she’s willing to do anything--even tell her boss she’s not as wedding adverse as she seems because she has a serious boyfriend!
While their first meeting isn’t a meet-cute, there’s no denying the two are attracted to each other. Even though Hannah initially plays hard to get, the promise of working the wedding and Jack’s persistence eventually wins her over. But will the two be able to salvage their relationship when everything comes out in the open?
Not the Girl You Marry is an amazing gender-bent version of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days . I was expecting this to just be a cute love story, but it was so much more. It also deals with the nuances of race in a seamless way. I really loved hearing Hannah discuss her racial identity, and how receptive Jack was. This book talked about so many different relationships--friendships, romance, familial-- and treated each of them with respect and how they all intertwine to make up our world view. I’ll definitely be looking for other books by the author!
Jack has been blessed by good looks, charm, and a gentlemanly kindness that has left him with a string of girlfriends constantly telling him, “it’s not you, it’s me” and a boss insisting that his face is too handsome for hard hitting political stories. He’s desperate to get out of the “listicle” thing and get put on the political beat. Even though he has the lead, his boss is hesitant to let him out of the website’s biggest hit: his listicle videos. In order to get the story he wants, he has to write a how-to guide: How to Lose the Girl.
Hannah is an event planner blessed with a resting bitch face and a take-no-prisoners attitude to match. She’s tired of being treated like an exotic commodity and being told that “she’s not the girl you marry”. So when she gets the chance to work the wedding-of-a-lifetime with her best friend Sasha, she’s willing to do anything--even tell her boss she’s not as wedding adverse as she seems because she has a serious boyfriend!
While their first meeting isn’t a meet-cute, there’s no denying the two are attracted to each other. Even though Hannah initially plays hard to get, the promise of working the wedding and Jack’s persistence eventually wins her over. But will the two be able to salvage their relationship when everything comes out in the open?
Not the Girl You Marry is an amazing gender-bent version of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days . I was expecting this to just be a cute love story, but it was so much more. It also deals with the nuances of race in a seamless way. I really loved hearing Hannah discuss her racial identity, and how receptive Jack was. This book talked about so many different relationships--friendships, romance, familial-- and treated each of them with respect and how they all intertwine to make up our world view. I’ll definitely be looking for other books by the author!
ordinaryroyalty's review
3.0
Dinged it a star because of the language in it. Loved the plot but the language was so excessive it was hard to get past it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content