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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I listened to the audiobook for this and I loved every second of it. Funny, sweet and quick. A coming of age story with flawed teenagers, the misery that high school can be and the struggles of dismantling the patriarchy.
funny
lighthearted
funny
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
i dont think ive ever connected with a protagonist as quickly. izzys desire to be a part of something and stand out while also being invisible really hit home with me. cried at the ending, it was incredibly cliche but it felt so deserved.
I have too many thoughts I binged this book, but it was so good and made me FEEL!
“With comedy, when you get to laugh in the middle of something so difficult, you feel… I don’t know, release. Connection.” I swallow. “Hope. It feels like hope.”
This Will Be Funny Someday follow's sixteen-year-old Isabel, who wants to be heard but is afraid to speak up. Between the asshole jock in her Shakespeare class, her controlling boyfriend, her ex-best friend who isn't talking to her, and her garrulously inconsiderate family, she feels powerless. Then Isabel accidentally stumbles her way onto the open mic stage at a comedy club and realizes that she has the attention of an audience. And she has something she wants to say.
Isabel, who goes by the stage name Izzy V, is taken under the wing of a group of college students who have been practicing stand up for years. They become Izzy's friends as they help her gain confidence and learn how to craft a decent comedy set. The only thing is, they believe that she's also in college, and they definitely don't realize they're accompanying a sixteen-year-old to bars. "Izzy" struggles to keep up the lie, while "Isabel" hides her comedy moonlighting from her family and boyfriend. She knows that eventually, as the Bard said, truth will out, and she must decide if she's ready to stand up for herself and what she wants, or continue to be the obedient and non-obtrusive girl she's always been.
Even though I loved Katie Henry's previous books (Heretics Anonymous and Let's Call it a Doomsday) I was intimidated by the stand-up comedy plot of This Will Be Funny Someday so I put off reading it. But I needn't have worried; within the first twenty minutes of the audiobook I could tell that I would enjoy this story just as much as Henry's other works... and in fact, this is now my favorite of hers! My main concern was secondhand embarrassment from the amateur comedy performances, and I definitely did experience that a few times. But I just REALLY loved Izzy's character, and the way Henry crafted the story. Even the little things, like Izzy being an established plant-lover and the book being full of plant-related metaphors that make sense for her character to think, felt so subtle and masterful.
I immediately related to Izzy when she turned out to have an audio processing disorder. While I don't have an (officially diagnosed) disorder, I am hard of hearing and highly related to Izzy's symptoms-- struggling to understand speech in crowded spaces, using lip-reading to compensate, and the embarrassment of repeating "What?" or "Sorry?" too many times. Her disorder is one of the things that Alex, her boyfriend, uses to control her, knowing that she relies on him to smooth awkward interactions and help her understand what's being said. Misogyny is a big theme throughout the book, from Alex's gaslighting, to street catcalling, to a club owner looking for quid pro quo sexual favors in exchange for gigs. I especially loved the exchange in which Izzy's high-powered lawyer mother implies that women who won't leave abusive relationships are weak and beyond help, without realizing that their conversation was actually about Izzy and Alex's relationship. This conversation is addressed beautifully later in the book; and in fact, I really loved how everything is set up and then satisfactorily addressed by the end of the book. So often with YA books, I'm never satisfied with how parent-child issues are waved away. Sometimes I want to tell the protagonist, "Yell at your parents, already!" but luckily Izzy handled that herself in this one! And the fallout of the lies with her new college friends felt realistic and insightful, and OOH the cafeteria scene with the boyfriend and ex-best friend!!
Overall, I just really ended up loving this, despite my misgivings about the stand up comedy aspect. Isabel's journey to finding her voice was exquisite and the way everything came together in the end felt so good. There are several important topics and lessons for teens amongst the pages of this book, and in general I've been really loving what Katie Henry has been doing in YA. She's officially a favorite author of mine now, and I won't hesitate again to pick up anything she writes!
TW: abusive/controlling relationship, gaslighting, misogyny, sexual harassment of a minor by an adult, bullying
❓I read this title for the 2021 Whatever-You-Want-Athon!❓
Katie Henry’s writing tends to be irreverent, darkly funny, and a little disturbing. This one was dark with a side of funny and a big lesson in honesty and self-respect.
Funny and poignant. I loved the conversation with her mom about how it’s healthy and normal that your children are not the center of your world - just a part of it. I will always use the flower/petal image to describe my life now - each piece important and beautiful without one thing always in the center. In addition I love the idea of people being perennials instead of annuals; we don’t grow to one climax but struggle and bloom and die and come back and bloom again at different points throughout our time. I still feel she tackles a bit too much in her books so that not everything has enough focus, but I always come back for her next one. (Lots of language, including F; “nun porn”; adult humor; “blow job”; sexual assault; abuse)
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I appreciated the character growth of the main character and the humor throughout!
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting