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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
For all those saying they don't know how relatable this is if you are not in your 20's or early 30's... I am nearly 50 and I totally 'got' this story. I think, however if you either don't write about yourself online or have some sort of social media presence then you will find it harder to relate to this story.
Tor is not the most likeable of characters but the situation she found herself in was one that I could really understand. When everything you thought was a thing turns out to maybe be a bit shit but you have based a lot of your work on it being magic. That is fucking terrifying.
This book really gave me some strong feels and made me think really hard about being truthful online even when it's hard to say you got shit wrong.
Tor is not the most likeable of characters but the situation she found herself in was one that I could really understand. When everything you thought was a thing turns out to maybe be a bit shit but you have based a lot of your work on it being magic. That is fucking terrifying.
This book really gave me some strong feels and made me think really hard about being truthful online even when it's hard to say you got shit wrong.
Some of my favourite lines
“The pancakes arrive and we laugh at how small they are and order another stack. I eat them greedily and then hate myself straight afterwards and work out how many extra steps I need to do to alleviate the guilt.”
“There’s a tiny sliver of judgment oozing from both sides and I hate how this happens. How friendship is a constant acclimatisation to your ever-changing life circumstances.”
“Why can’t he support a better football team? One that actually wins? If you’re going to chain your emotional well-being to the outcome of a football team, why pick Aston Villa?”
“What’s so hilarious is I’m not sure I even want commitment. I don’t know if I want marriage and kids and till death do us part and watching the small amount of hair Tom has left disappearing entirely. Part of me wants it only because he’s not willing to offer it.”
“And yet, I have a pouch.
I grab it when I shower. I stand naked sideways and examine it in the mirror. I spend so much time just staring at my reflection sideways on. I hold in my stomach and see my pouch lessen. I let it go and watch”5 the pouch flop out again.
They told me this would happen.”
“Next to me, Tom slurps at a bowl of mussels, and it makes me never want to give him head ever again. Not that he gives me much head anyway. He’s told me once that I tasted funny and wouldn’t do it again.”
“The puddings arrive and I’ve ordered one apparently. I’m so hungry I shovel giant spoonfuls of chocolate mousse into my mouth, hardly even tasting it. The second it’s finished, I hate myself. I can picture it travelling through my bloodstream, depositing itself as cellulite onto my arse. I think about making myself sick. Even though I promised myself, all those years ago, that I’d never do that again.”
“It’s called ‘settling down’ for a reason. Because long-term love always means settling. Settling is the key word.”
“I think about that snake on the board - that arsehole snake you get around square ninety-seven that takes you right back to the start. If I broke up with Tom, it will be like sliding down that really long arsehole snake.”
“A like means… well… it means you’ve done something good enough for people to make that subconscious decision to actually click on the tick. Think about it. Think about what you like or do not like when you’re online. You scroll through so much and you don’t like everything but you do like some things. It’s a subconscious thing… what prompts you to hit the screen with your thumb twice. It’s so subtle, but reveals a lot.”
“I just can’t stop overbearing conversations like this and thinking “men don’t have these conversations”, and feeling like there’s something weird going on.”
“But it’s not the same for you. You’re a guy. You don’t have a use-by-date stamped onto your genitalia.”
“Think about why people have children. Is it simply to give themselves more to talk about? Is the act of procreation merely an exercise in being able to sustain conversation? And, if they are seriously at that point, why are they having a child with someone they are so totally bored of?”
“My hands are throwing shapes around me as I speak - like I’m making balloon animals of lies out of the surrounding air.”
“I’ve been so obsessed with how it looks that I’ve not been worrying about how it looks to whom. Whose opinions matter and who’s don’t. And, most of all, how it looks to myself.”
“The pancakes arrive and we laugh at how small they are and order another stack. I eat them greedily and then hate myself straight afterwards and work out how many extra steps I need to do to alleviate the guilt.”
“There’s a tiny sliver of judgment oozing from both sides and I hate how this happens. How friendship is a constant acclimatisation to your ever-changing life circumstances.”
“Why can’t he support a better football team? One that actually wins? If you’re going to chain your emotional well-being to the outcome of a football team, why pick Aston Villa?”
“What’s so hilarious is I’m not sure I even want commitment. I don’t know if I want marriage and kids and till death do us part and watching the small amount of hair Tom has left disappearing entirely. Part of me wants it only because he’s not willing to offer it.”
“And yet, I have a pouch.
I grab it when I shower. I stand naked sideways and examine it in the mirror. I spend so much time just staring at my reflection sideways on. I hold in my stomach and see my pouch lessen. I let it go and watch”5 the pouch flop out again.
They told me this would happen.”
“Next to me, Tom slurps at a bowl of mussels, and it makes me never want to give him head ever again. Not that he gives me much head anyway. He’s told me once that I tasted funny and wouldn’t do it again.”
“The puddings arrive and I’ve ordered one apparently. I’m so hungry I shovel giant spoonfuls of chocolate mousse into my mouth, hardly even tasting it. The second it’s finished, I hate myself. I can picture it travelling through my bloodstream, depositing itself as cellulite onto my arse. I think about making myself sick. Even though I promised myself, all those years ago, that I’d never do that again.”
“It’s called ‘settling down’ for a reason. Because long-term love always means settling. Settling is the key word.”
“I think about that snake on the board - that arsehole snake you get around square ninety-seven that takes you right back to the start. If I broke up with Tom, it will be like sliding down that really long arsehole snake.”
“A like means… well… it means you’ve done something good enough for people to make that subconscious decision to actually click on the tick. Think about it. Think about what you like or do not like when you’re online. You scroll through so much and you don’t like everything but you do like some things. It’s a subconscious thing… what prompts you to hit the screen with your thumb twice. It’s so subtle, but reveals a lot.”
“I just can’t stop overbearing conversations like this and thinking “men don’t have these conversations”, and feeling like there’s something weird going on.”
“But it’s not the same for you. You’re a guy. You don’t have a use-by-date stamped onto your genitalia.”
“Think about why people have children. Is it simply to give themselves more to talk about? Is the act of procreation merely an exercise in being able to sustain conversation? And, if they are seriously at that point, why are they having a child with someone they are so totally bored of?”
“My hands are throwing shapes around me as I speak - like I’m making balloon animals of lies out of the surrounding air.”
“I’ve been so obsessed with how it looks that I’ve not been worrying about how it looks to whom. Whose opinions matter and who’s don’t. And, most of all, how it looks to myself.”
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
God this book was a depressing read! I’m 25 but now dreading turning 30 if this is what it’s like. Maybe I’m not the target audience but I’m lucky enough to not relate to Tori much. I just couldn’t understand why she didn’t communicate how she was feeling to anyone ever or why she stuck with Tom when their relationship was dead! Some of Tori’s commentary was funny but always with such a bitter edge. I feel sad for anyone who can relate to her.
Hmmmm... What to say about this book. It was book that was hard to read because it hit home too close sometimes.
Tori seems at the beginning like not very likeable character but while you reading you realize that she is that way because of her own insecurities. She is also not very likeable because I would say that almost every women can see herself sometimes in Tori and sometimes it is not in very nice situation. But I am not gonna lie, Tori was driving me crazy because she saw what it wrong with her behavior and her relationship with Tom but still, she did nothing to fix it. She also thinks that just because you are not married and don't have children that that means that you are something less than when you do have all those things. She imagines this wall between peopel who has those stuff and those who doesn't and thinks that just because she is on the other side of the wall people think that she is not worth it till she crosses the wall.
Tori is also very obsessed with her online appearance and it drove me crazy, for example - she goes to see her best friends baby and her thoughts are that on bus is hot and she is sweating and therefor she will not look great on the picture with the baby; I was shaking my head. But it is also relatable, because we all want to put on social medias the perfect life we want to live, we don't want to show the ugly parts of our lives.
I am going to give Tori BROWNIE POINT for one thing, though. She was at the panel at some Femme Fatal talking thing and they were talking about stuff and they got to talking about protection during sex. One of the other talkers said that her boyfriend said that if there would be a pill for man to take for protection against unwanted pregnancy he would take it and Tori said that IT IS EASY TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT BECAUSE THERE WILL NEVER BE A PILL FOR MAN TO TAKE BECAUSE GOD FORBID THAT SOMETHING MAN SHOULD TAKE HAVE SIDE EFFECTS, and if that ain't THE TRUTH. It doesn't matter what these pills do to woman because it is woman but we will not making some horrible pills for man because they have some side effects...
In the end, it was kind of hard to read it because I saw myself in some situations that Tori was and it was not nice to see myself there and also this book made me think about my life and how I live it. Maybe it is time to change some things.
Tori seems at the beginning like not very likeable character but while you reading you realize that she is that way because of her own insecurities. She is also not very likeable because I would say that almost every women can see herself sometimes in Tori and sometimes it is not in very nice situation. But I am not gonna lie, Tori was driving me crazy because she saw what it wrong with her behavior and her relationship with Tom but still, she did nothing to fix it. She also thinks that just because you are not married and don't have children that that means that you are something less than when you do have all those things. She imagines this wall between peopel who has those stuff and those who doesn't and thinks that just because she is on the other side of the wall people think that she is not worth it till she crosses the wall.
Tori is also very obsessed with her online appearance and it drove me crazy, for example - she goes to see her best friends baby and her thoughts are that on bus is hot and she is sweating and therefor she will not look great on the picture with the baby; I was shaking my head. But it is also relatable, because we all want to put on social medias the perfect life we want to live, we don't want to show the ugly parts of our lives.
I am going to give Tori BROWNIE POINT for one thing, though. She was at the panel at some Femme Fatal talking thing and they were talking about stuff and they got to talking about protection during sex. One of the other talkers said that her boyfriend said that if there would be a pill for man to take for protection against unwanted pregnancy he would take it and Tori said that IT IS EASY TO SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT BECAUSE THERE WILL NEVER BE A PILL FOR MAN TO TAKE BECAUSE GOD FORBID THAT SOMETHING MAN SHOULD TAKE HAVE SIDE EFFECTS, and if that ain't THE TRUTH. It doesn't matter what these pills do to woman because it is woman but we will not making some horrible pills for man because they have some side effects...
In the end, it was kind of hard to read it because I saw myself in some situations that Tori was and it was not nice to see myself there and also this book made me think about my life and how I live it. Maybe it is time to change some things.
Read the book in one sitting and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. It's sad to see how a young and successful lady can be so negatively affected by her relationship, how fears and anticipations on how her partner will react to everything affects her every thought. Tori needs and wants, whilst normal in every relationship, is often manipulated such that everything is her fault irks me so much. I don't enjoy reading whenever she is being highly cynical of everything in general prolly coz I'm afraid I'll adopt such thoughts when I enter my thirties, but a good NTS to re-read should I ever find myself lacking in the ability to move on from an unhealthy relationship.
I really enjoyed reading How Do You Like Me Now? even though I couldn't always connect with Tori, the main character. I couldn't always understand her actions and at times it was so annoying to read her thoughts.
I feel that this book didn't read as fluently as I hoped it would due to Tori's monologue. However, I feel that Bourne focuses on some important things that society expects from all of us. Tori definitely feels that pressure which made it interesting (and sometimes irritating) to read from her point of view.
I feel that this book didn't read as fluently as I hoped it would due to Tori's monologue. However, I feel that Bourne focuses on some important things that society expects from all of us. Tori definitely feels that pressure which made it interesting (and sometimes irritating) to read from her point of view.
This book is so relatable. It's honest and funny and brilliantly written and I was hooked from the start. The characters were intriguing and their actions sometimes flawed, but understandable. The way that social media was portrayed was so truthful and it made me think about how I act when it comes to posting to Instagram. I round myself nodding along to so much of this, and I will definitely be recommending it to all my friends.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.*
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.*
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-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
