Reviews with content warning for Alcoholism - Romantic Comedy

I am to my core, a rom com girly, so of course I loved this!!!!!! Also I am obsessed with the TNO storyline. I mean we’ve all gone through snl obsessed phases before right? So it was super cool and interesting to read the bts of the show!! I could read a million chapters of diffeeent TNO hosts. ALSO CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW GOOD THE FRIENDSHIPS WERE IN THIS BOOK?!? *chef’s kiss*

Minus some points bc y’all know I despise

covid in books

but I understand why it was included in this book. The relationship was also rushed in some places and like I wanted more of them, but I didn’t get more bc the book ended. Idk I just felt I needed a little more, and I don’t know how to explain it further lol

Anyways I really enjoyed and def recommend for a fun and cute little read!!

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jaynovara's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

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milesofkiles's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-paced

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

2.5

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katiejohns's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective slow-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

2.5

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

Title: Romantic Comedy
Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: April 4, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Observant • Light • Clever

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Sally Milz is a sketch writer for "The Night Owls," the late-night live comedy show that airs each Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.

But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actor who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show—and in society at large—who’ve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called the "Danny Horst Rule," poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman.

Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder whether there might actually be sparks flying. But this isn’t a romantic comedy; it’s real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her...right?

💭 T H O U G H T S

Well, well, well if Romantic Comedy isn't the first 2023 release where I fell complete victim to an intriguing title, catchy cover, and false marketing. This book was not on my radar until it started to pop up absolutely everywhere and was selected as a BOM pick. And I'll be the first one to admit it sounded promising - not the case!

What I like:
• characters in their 30s. It was a breath of fresh air to be introduced to more mature, thriving adults.
• a healthy romance. Sally and Noah's relationship felt mature with open communication, and a mutual respect and understanding for one another.
• the email corresponding. I am here for epistolary (in this case emails) novels every. single. time. As someone who communicates better in written form, I appreciate this aspect in a new relationship.
• the friendships. There are some seriously strong friendships sprinkled throughout and I liked these better than the actual romance.

What I didn't like:
• the chemistry. I definitely wasn't convinced. Maybe it was the structure. Maybe it was my lack of caring about the two characters involved. I'm really not sure. The romance definitely takes a back seat.
• the structure. There's a prologue, three 'chapters' and an epilogue divided over 300 pages. Even without doing the math, it's easy to tell those aren't really chapters! Each section jumped in time and it felt scrambled and rushed at times. It just didn't seem to work.
• it's not all that funny. A couple of funny lines from characters with cameo appearances and that's about it.
• the extensive detail. There's so much detail on the creative process and behind-the-scenes of working in the industry that I just didn't need or enjoy.

A solid plot idea but very poorly marketed and executed. Additionally, at this point in time I am just not sure I'm ready for novels with a focus on the pandemic as a central theme and plot. If you're looking for a book with romance and/or comedy this likely isn't it.

**Reminder to self: falling victim to the buzz surrounding books not already on your radar rarely works out.**

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• SNL fans
• readers looking for a take on modern love

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"It was a belated realization to have, but it occurred to me that perhaps this was how grown-up conversations worked—not that your communication didn’t falter, but that you both made good-faith attempts to rectify things after it had."

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meggiemeggie52's review against another edition

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funny 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

3.5

Overall, I liked the book! I thought the break in the middle for the email conversation was interesting, and I enjoyed the self-aware kind of take on the celebrity/non-celebrity trope and that the characters were finding love in their 30s. I appreciated that the love interests got to know each other first before their romantic relationship developed further than crushing--it made for some good riffing off of each other, and most of their interactions were really cute.

However, Sally kind of irritated me at times with all the self-sabotage during nice moments that were happening to her. I get why she did it, but girl. Come on. He's just trying to be nice!

The majority of the book was a veeeeeery detailed look into the behind-the-scenes of a week creating a show that's definitely not SNL. Now I love a good behind-the-scenes look and I found it super fascinating, but it almost went on a bit too long? Between that and the lack of traditional chapter breaks (there were only 4-5 chapters so they felt more like parts to me), it threw the pacing off for me. I appreciate a slow burn, but that almost made it too slow.

I also feel like the book didn't need to be partly set in the pandemic in order for it to still work. In fact, I might have preferred it without the pandemic. I don't know, it's like... I just lived it, so I don't want to be reading about it again?

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sebradley29's review against another edition

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3.5

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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hopeful medium-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

2.0

Blurb:

Sally Milz is a thirty-six-year-old sketch comedy writer with a reputation for writing about feminist issues and themes. She takes a cynical view toward her lackluster love life and frequently ruminates over the tendency of conventionally attractive female celebrities to couple up with less conventionally attractive male comedians—noting that this sort of coupling rarely occurs if the gender roles are reversed. She’s forced to reconsider her philosophy when she meets Noah Brewster, an attractive superstar who takes an interest in her.

Review:

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld takes place in three stages. The first half of the book takes place during the week leading up to a late-night live show (called The Night Owls in the book, but which is VERY clearly a stand-in for Saturday Night Live, down to the smallest details). The next part is an email exchange between Sally and Noah, and the final section of the book follows the protagonist as she meets the love interest in person during the COVID-19 pandemic. The structure contributes in large part to the main issues I have with this book. The first half of the book takes place in a week span, but only a handful of scenes actually contribute to the main plot. The rest is chock full of details about how the live show works, Sally’s coworkers’ lives, and other minute details. As a huge fan of Saturday Night Live, I appreciated these details for adding a sense of realism to the story, but they are purely superfluous from a storytelling perspective. Even outside of this section, Romantic Comedy consists mainly of expository details that add to the story’s realism, but that detract from its momentum. In other words, this book is in need of editing and restructuring.

One thing that I appreciate about Romantic Comedy is that the romance between Sally and Noah feels much more healthy, developed, and mature compared to most relationships in romance books. The main characters communicate their feelings and expectations, and their attraction to one another forms equally out of their respect and admiration for each other as their sexual attraction. That being said, Sally is much less mature than Noah. For the first half of the book, she’s insufferable—her only real personality traits are that she likes her job and that she’s a feminist. She unfairly judges others and treats people with disrespect. Moreover, it’s unclear why Noah finds her attractive. The conceit of the book is that her relationship with Noah switches the gender roles in a common dynamic in which a conventionally attractive, female superstar falls in love with a less conventionally attractive comedian for their humor and charm. The problem with this is that nowhere in the book is Sally shown to be funny or charming. Sure, she supposedly writes hilarious sketches (although a lot of her sketch ideas sound awful on paper), but she displays none of that humor or wit in her actual personality. She’s a wet blanket of a human being, and poor Noah is forced to act as her therapist because she’s not emotionally mature enough to act like an adult in their relationship.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Romantic Comedy if:

· You love comedy and/or Saturday Night Live, and want to read about how a show like SNL is put together AND

· You are looking for a romance built on shared interests and communication more than raw attraction

You might not like Romantic Comedy if:

· You don’t want to read about the COVID-19 pandemic

· You are looking for a traditional rom-com book (this book leans more toward literary fiction than traditional romance, contains very little humor, and is not "smutty")

· You like fast-paced, efficient books that don’t dwell on unnecessary details

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