Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Romantic Comedy

This book took me a LONG time to get in to. I was going to give up, but I stuck it out, and it definitely paid off in the end! This book is an easy, light-hearted, funny, beach-read type book. It was hard for me to get over some parts, but once I accepted the premise and knowing essentially how the story was going to go, it was much easier to read and I enjoyed the last two-thirds of the book! The book is split up into essentially 3 parts. The first part feels chaotic, with too many characters being introduced and confusing and slightly annoying. However, I was sucked in during the second part, and then I found myself being pulled back to the book to find out how it ends.
Plot summary:

Sally works at The Night Owls (TNO), which is so obviously a rip-off of SNL. This was the biggest part for me that was so hard to get over. It felt annoying and stupid that the writer would put this story within a show that is so obviously something nonfiction that it was irritating. However, I eventually got over this and just accepted it. Anyway, Sally has been a writer at TNO for the last 9 years. She's in her mid-thirties, has previously been married, and just doesn't date because she no longer trusts her instincts and has settled into the fact she won't find love. Noah Brewster, a mega-hot, mega-famous star hosts TNO and she spends a considerable amount of time with him for the week. She feels like there's a flirtation but she must be crazy. At the after-party, she thinks he's going to kiss her, so she freaks out and says something a bit snarky as a jab (since her coping mechanism is snarky comments/humor, obviously). He feels hurt, their flirty friendship ends, and that's that. BOOM - Covid hits 2 years later. The entire 2nd part is in the format of emails to each other back and forth. Noah reaches out to Sally to rekindle a friendship, it gets honest and emotional, as two people during the pandemic are longing for a human connection. It's raw, emotional, honest, and their feelings are shared. These emails span over 5 days, which then leads into the 3rd part. The 3rd part, Sally and Noah start Facetiming and speaking on the phone. It's still early covid times, and she agrees to go out to LA to visit him. When she gets there, its kind of a will we/won't we hook-up, what are we doing, confusing mess. However, the feelings and conversations are so adult and mature, and they're primarily initiated by Noah which is a refreshing take on heterosexual relationships. Sally eventually comes around and shares her honest feelings and thoughts with him instead of her snarky quips. So, they obviously sleep together, they confess they love each other, etc. etc. Sally's stepdad gets sick so she flies out there to nurse him back to health and make sure he's okay. Noah comes out to help, and that's when they both realize, I think, they want to be with each other. It was his "grand gesture" to her to show that yes he loves her, yes he wants to be with her, yes this is real. There's also an epilogue which says they get married a year later, and her stepdad and his beagle eventually move out to LA and live with them.

I think I just love how wholesome the book turns out to be. There's plenty of ways it could take a dark turn or end a little bittersweet, but everything ends so happy and lovely! I wanted to give this book a lower score initially, but that fact alone bumped it up at least another star once I finished the book. And then I came through and bumped it up another 1/4 star haha

Content Warnings

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

Sally is a comedy writer who has sworn off love until she reconnects with Noah, a pop star.

So this IMHO is not a romantic comedy. It is called such because Sally writes for a SNL like show. I didn't really find it funny per se, but the "behind the scene" look at the SNL lifestyle was interesting.

This book felt like it was one giant political statement about how it's unfair that less attractive men can reel in gorgeous women without anyone saying a word, but it's a scandal if the opposite happens. It was rammed down our throats. We get it.

Sally believes that she is unworthy of love because she isn't pretty enough to get the guy. We are hit over the head with this over and over. She is so awkward and I cringed at so many things she said. No matter how much validation Noah gives her, her insecurities get the best of her. She is a successful, Emmy award winning writer who has such little self-confidence. There is zero character development. This woman needs therapy to work through her issues.

The second half of the book takes part during the pandemic. Noah reaches out to Sally via email and they become pen pals. Their email correspondence is all over the place. ALSO it's never really explained why he reaches out after 2 years of no contact...

She is such a a hypocrite, she accused Noah of dating models younger than him while setting her friend up with a doctor 20 years her senior. ALSO calling herself a feminist while constantly belittling other women.

COVID is used as a plot device to push the characters together (not in a good way). We see them get together in this COVID "bubble", not real life. Their "real life" is squashed into a short epilogue. I would have preferred to have seen the progress of their relationship without COVID thrown in. It was unnecessary.

There is a whole section in their emails that felt so preformative. "Did you for to a BLM march?" Was basically the whole conversation. Why have two white characters mention this if that is going to be the whole conversation.

Tropes: workplace, celebrity romance

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ash3687's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

For a book called Romantic Comedy, it was very different from the standards of the genre. The lay out of the book was refreshing. Just when I thought I had the book figured out, the author would switch it up. If you love SNL, this is the book for you. It’s wholesome, realistic, and hilarious. The ending was a tad rushed but I think it fit the flow of the book.

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siena_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

This book made me think about storygraph’s “are the flaws of the main character a main focus of the book?” question because yes, absolutely. from the beginning, Sally cannot imagine anyone finding her lovable. it was sort of annoying but the plot and lightheartedness saved it! I liked the writing style. it was a cute and fun read

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kmaron's review against another edition

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funny 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

3.5

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finalgirlfiction's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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? Yes

4.5

Honestly this book was so cute. The only downside was the realness of covid seeping in but I thought overall it was still so adorable!

Content Warnings

kyriannaj's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

1.0

This book heavily deals with COVID in the immediate summer of 2020 with uncertainty, anxieties, and all other political events that happened in the US during that time.

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manaledi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Despite its title, I didn't find this book particularly either a romance or a comedy but rather a somewhat intense exploration of the gendered politics of attraction and expectation. It felt inspired by why are all these successful beautiful women dating Pete Davidson and at times verged too far into I promise I did my research about what SNL is actually like. But there were funny and poignant parts of it and I quite liked the middle emails.

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