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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
2.5 stars
Coming off reading the most sense and detailed biography of my life, I needed an easy read and this delivered that.
That being said. I can’t help but being a little disappointed with this one. The plot synopsis is about Tori, our protagonist, being in a dead end relationship, living a lie online and her friend Dee falling madly in love. Other than Dee’s pregnancy. This is the whole plot. None of which is resolved until the last 10 pages and then it doesn’t even feel like the character has truly grown.
Tori is a very difficult protagonist to route for, while we all have our moments of hating our looks, feeling inadequate and jealous - I think the level of hatred towards her own friends is hard to get on board with. She really truly does pick and choose when she is a feminist - props to her for going on that panel and talking about how many “equal” relationships are anywhere near that but she literally has no sympathy for any of the women in her life, is obsessed with being prettier than them and literally relishes in their misery. Also the hymen comment!! (iYKYK)
The saving grace of the book is that Tom, her partner, is irredeemably worse, and that’s what kept me reading. I wanted to see her tear him to shreds, for gaslighting her, for taking advantage of her and for not moving on when he should’ve.
Which is why the ending is so disappointing because she just says I love you very much but we aren’t happy anymore - that’s not even half of it!
Finally on the pregnancy and kids - I feel like what Dee says at the end comes out of nowhere. i get her colleague foreshadowed it, but it truly tars all women with the same brush that once they’re pregnant they lose themselves completely and I just think that’s a bad message. Do I think there’s women out there who become mothers and then condescend those who aren’t - OMG YES!! But Dee is not that person, she does not change through her pregnancy at all! And I think it’s swept under the rug that Tori basically says well I don’t need a baby I have a career, and says her friend is “just a teacher”.
Hot take - I don’t understand why Tori wants a baby (or says so at the end) because she is SO unbelievably self absorbed I find it hard to believe she’d be able to look after another human being.
As I’ve said all that negative stuff, I will say I did find it very funny. While Tori’s reactions to things annoyed me, the scenarios themselves were incredibly relatable.
I think I’d quite like to read this book from Dee’s perspective?
Coming off reading the most sense and detailed biography of my life, I needed an easy read and this delivered that.
That being said. I can’t help but being a little disappointed with this one. The plot synopsis is about Tori, our protagonist, being in a dead end relationship, living a lie online and her friend Dee falling madly in love. Other than Dee’s pregnancy. This is the whole plot. None of which is resolved until the last 10 pages and then it doesn’t even feel like the character has truly grown.
Tori is a very difficult protagonist to route for, while we all have our moments of hating our looks, feeling inadequate and jealous - I think the level of hatred towards her own friends is hard to get on board with. She really truly does pick and choose when she is a feminist - props to her for going on that panel and talking about how many “equal” relationships are anywhere near that but she literally has no sympathy for any of the women in her life, is obsessed with being prettier than them and literally relishes in their misery. Also the hymen comment!! (iYKYK)
The saving grace of the book is that Tom, her partner, is irredeemably worse, and that’s what kept me reading. I wanted to see her tear him to shreds, for gaslighting her, for taking advantage of her and for not moving on when he should’ve.
Which is why the ending is so disappointing because she just says I love you very much but we aren’t happy anymore - that’s not even half of it!
Finally on the pregnancy and kids - I feel like what Dee says at the end comes out of nowhere. i get her colleague foreshadowed it, but it truly tars all women with the same brush that once they’re pregnant they lose themselves completely and I just think that’s a bad message. Do I think there’s women out there who become mothers and then condescend those who aren’t - OMG YES!! But Dee is not that person, she does not change through her pregnancy at all! And I think it’s swept under the rug that Tori basically says well I don’t need a baby I have a career, and says her friend is “just a teacher”.
Hot take - I don’t understand why Tori wants a baby (or says so at the end) because she is SO unbelievably self absorbed I find it hard to believe she’d be able to look after another human being.
As I’ve said all that negative stuff, I will say I did find it very funny. While Tori’s reactions to things annoyed me, the scenarios themselves were incredibly relatable.
I think I’d quite like to read this book from Dee’s perspective?
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Make better choices.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me 2 months to finish it, not because I wasn't into it but because I could only read it in small doses. It's almost as if you're looking at yourself in the mirror, in some ways, and it's too painfully real to acknowledge that you do care about stuff you shouldn't care about.
I did feel like a lot of it was repetitive though, and because of that it felt very slow at times and I just didn't feel like picking it up. It felt like all the characters who are different from the main protagonist are pretty much all the same, and it felt like, although the main protagonist is obviously flawed, everyone else around her was just MORE flawed, and I was just a bit bored of the tone. Look, I'm not even going to try and say not all mothers are the way they are portrayed in this book because the truth is, I have no idea. But I do think a bit of nuance would have been great.
However, sometimes it does feel like there's a team of "women-who-have-their-shit-together-by-a-certain-age" and "the-rest-of-us" and, in that sense, I thought it was great to address this in the book.
I did feel like a lot of it was repetitive though, and because of that it felt very slow at times and I just didn't feel like picking it up. It felt like all the characters who are different from the main protagonist are pretty much all the same, and it felt like, although the main protagonist is obviously flawed, everyone else around her was just MORE flawed, and I was just a bit bored of the tone. Look, I'm not even going to try and say not all mothers are the way they are portrayed in this book because the truth is, I have no idea. But I do think a bit of nuance would have been great.
However, sometimes it does feel like there's a team of "women-who-have-their-shit-together-by-a-certain-age" and "the-rest-of-us" and, in that sense, I thought it was great to address this in the book.
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Hard copy
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mixed reviews on this book. I found the main character quite annoying for the most part. I really enjoyed the ending but felt it was rushed and would have been nice to hear more about afterwards.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a funny, thought-provoking book filled with highs, lows, and everything in between in the life of a 30+ year old woman.
From being stuck in a dreadful long-term relationship, to worrying about her looks, the ‘ticking clock’ of her body and online appearance, all while trying to write her second book, Tori is one of the most relatable characters I’ve read about.
A must-read!
From being stuck in a dreadful long-term relationship, to worrying about her looks, the ‘ticking clock’ of her body and online appearance, all while trying to write her second book, Tori is one of the most relatable characters I’ve read about.
A must-read!