Reviews with content warning for Pandemic/Epidemic - Romantic Comedy

Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

180 reviews

taylorc19's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This is such a great concept for a book but I found myself rolling my eyes at many different parts. I've compiled a list of pros and cons because I don't want to come off as too negative in my review. I did enjoy bits and pieces of this book, however I feel very...passionate about the parts I disliked.
Pros:

I like the premise. A comedy writer who chooses to write a sketch about the phenomenon of wildly attractive female celebrities dating (for lack of better terms) mid-tier men is a really great idea.
The characters felt fully developed and like they could have been real people.
The so-called "third act break-up" was based on insecurities that were totally valid for the female main character to have, and I think I would have done the exact same thing she did if I were in her situation.

Cons:

There is absolutely no warning that this is going to be a pandemic fiction novel. I don't want to read about the COVID-19 pandemic. Like, ever. Maybe in fifty years when I forget the enormous toll it took on our lives, or maybe when I want to reminisce on my high school experience and remember how I never had a senior year, I can come back to pandemic novels. But right now? No thank you.
- A subsection of this: I'm sure there are people who want to read about the pandemic and enjoy that as a setting for a novel, but for God's sake at least mention that the pandemic is a part of the book in the blurb.
I don't think either of the main characters were supposed to be overly political, yet this book was inherently a political book. For example, when Danny Horst and his girlfriend break up he says something along the lines of "Remember in the 2016 election when we thought the worst thing would never happen and then it did?" or when talking about her friendship with Danny, Sally remarks that they bonded while sobbing in each other's arms on election night 2016. Is that really necessary in a romance book? Parts of this book felt like it was straight from a "How to Be a Social Justice Warrior in 2020 for Beginners" guide. Which maybe some people like, but again, give some indication in the blurb PLEASE.
- Another example of this is during the emails section of the book, Sally and whatever the main boy's name is (literally can't remember for the life of me) talk about masks and going to BLM protests. Sally also talks about systemic racism and racism in healthcare, which fair enough but also maybe we don't have a straight white woman protagonist preaching about it? Also I read the acknowledgements section and the author cites an article as her one source for racism in healthcare. It almost feels like she was just collecting woke Infinity Stones and sprinkling them throughout the book. Pick something you care about and develop that; otherwise, your commentary on these topics feels disingenuous and under-researched.
Sally is supposed to be funny and she simply isn't. She's a long-term writer for an SNL-type show and is supposed to be insanely witty and funny, yet none of her pitched skits or jokes landed for me. Sorry I don't find fart jokes funny.

Overall, this book missed the mark for me. If I had known it was set during the 2020 pandemic, I never would have picked it up. If you're into political pandemic novels this might be a great book for you, however I'm not and will probably never be.

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daniofthewood's review against another edition

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lighthearted 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

4.0

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gwenswoons's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-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

5.0

I loved this. It’s my first Curtis Sittenfeld book, and I am so impressed by the detailing and world building here – there’s something really absorbing about both the highly populated setting of the late night comedy show and about all of the relationships inside it that just worked so well for me. I love both of the main characters, and while I was kind of cautious about reading a Covid pandemic-set book, I actually found the use of the pandemic in the plot of this to work so well in framing and tension building. I loved the whole giant section of e-mails back-and-forth - just so funny and relatable and cute. I also think, in a funny way, that the conflicts and miscommunications in the third act (and even earlier in the book) were actually so real and relatable, especially for people were in their late 30s who haven’t dated a lot recently and have all kinds of complicated insecurities and routines of their own that they bring to the table even in a relationship that is basically good. I also just love all of the side characters, from the close friendships to the MC’s stepfather and especially his sweet beagle - such a cutie. Anyway, loved this and will definitely read more Sittenfeld in the future!!

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kleinekita's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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libbyys16's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-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

3.0

This book wasn’t what I expected but a great one to help me overcome my reading hiatus. The pacing is all over the place so my interest in it came in waves. The first chapter/third/part is probably the best just by nature of how interesting the subject matter of being a writer for a late night comedy show is. MMC is ~~nearly flawless~~ perfect which at times can be a painful contrast to how much self loathing and insecurity the FMC has. Once you finally get to the romance in “Romantic Comedy” the book becomes redeemable. The dialogue and introspection that comes from this book is eye opening and inspired some looking inward that I appreciated. Important to note: I’m a girl in her 20s so maybe this level of maturity is the reality of dating in your 30s/40s. Sittenfeld is a good writer that I aspire to write like conventionally; however I ultimately believe this story did not need to be told.
Happily Ever After & no one dies

To add to everyone else’s summaries:
The middle 60 pages are just emails back and forth between the FMC and MMC so that chunk flew by. It is primarily set during pandemic so prepare yourself for endless mask and social distancing references if you, too, are still burnt out from quarantine. The “diverse characters” read as props and have little to no depth to distinguish them from another.

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ophelia's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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cinnamxnstick's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Romantic Comedy is an absolutely hilarious will-they-won’t-they romance and the definition of a page-turner!

I loved this book so much, it was the most perfect holiday read! I completely binged half of it on the plane, and then throughout the rest of my trip I picked it up during every piece of spare time as I just wanted to find out where we were going with this!
I absolutely adored the character development of the FMC, especially how natural and realistic it felt. A lot of the themes and character development resonated deeply with me so I felt very connected to the story.
I have found reading books set during the Covid-19 Pandemic unsettling or upsetting at times, but I found that Sittenfeld used it well and perfectly navigated the nuance within many of our experiences during this time.

I’m excited to dive into the rest of her books!

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elizabethb81's review against another edition

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funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

I loved this book and I related so heavily to Sally that it's like Sittenfeld crawled inside my skin and wrote a version of the wish fulfillment romcom I've always wanted. That said, it felt compressed somehow. Like there could have been more in places and certain moments felt glossed over. I didn't enjoy the way the ending felt flat and the disagreements were never quite fleshed out.

There was never any danger, so there were never any heightened emotions.

I needed just a bit more.

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mels_reading_log's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

This is not your typical romantic comedy and I really enjoyed that. The book is centered around Sally who is a writer at a SNL like show and Noah who is a famous musician and the host and musical guest on that week’s episode. Sally is focused on this phenomenon that happens especially men that she works with. They, normal guys looks wise continue to hook up/ marry super beautiful and successful women, but that is definitely not something that could happen the other way. Exceptionally handsome men don’t go for regular women, or do they? One big Trigger Warning is that about half the book takes place during the pandemic, so if you aren’t ready to read about that, this would be one to wait on.

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vohak's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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