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colleenpence's review against another edition
4.0
Like all of Weiner's books I found this one tough to put down. I love it when I can't get enough of a book! It's a great follow up to Good in Bed. Fascinating to see the characters 13 years down the road. Cannie and Joy's mother/daughter struggles, told from both of their separate viewpoints, reminded me of what my mother and I went through (groan) and what Delaney and I will probably go through in about ten years (double groan). There was one thing I didn't like near the end of the book but I won't write about it here for fear of spoiling this one for anyone. Email me if you want to know what it is!
denakg's review against another edition
3.0
I was disappointed in this book. I was annoyed with Cannie and annoyed with Joy. I was eager for the book to be over.
bookishlifeofbrie's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 rounded up to 3 stars.
I recently read Good in Bed (the first book in this short series) and really loved it so figured I should carry on and read Certain Girls. I liked that it picked up more than 10 years later from when the first book ended, but overall I didn’t love this book as much as Good in Bed.
The Cannie I loved in that book was not the same Cannie in this book. Granted, a lot of time had passed, and circumstances shape us, so it’s not unrealistic that she changed. I just didn’t particular love this new Cannie. In Good in Bed, Cannie is a strong heroine, making the best out of her life in sometimes not so perfect situations. She’s funny, witty, loveable and full of perseverance. In Certain Girls, she’s a housewife hiding in the shadows, coddling her only child. As a mother myself, I struggled to relate to her as a mother and the choices she made. When she knew her own daughter was digging around, looking for answers on what truths lied in the book Cannie wrote when Joy was just a baby, why didn’t she use that opportunity to have some heart to hearts with her? Why on earth she found it so hard to just talk truthfully and openly with her own daughter is beyond me.
This book is told in alternating chapters from the POV of Cannie, and her 13 year old daughter, Joy. Joy is your stereotypical, brat of a teenager, but what really irked me about her was how she thought about her own mother, particularly her mother’s weight. Gosh I hope my own children are never so disgusted with me.
And the ending? Absolutely unnecessary. Also made the book a lot longer than it needed to be, but also made it feel rushed to wrap up.
Sigh. I love most of Weiner’s books I’ve read, so I’m going to chalk a lot of this one up to not just not aging well.
I recently read Good in Bed (the first book in this short series) and really loved it so figured I should carry on and read Certain Girls. I liked that it picked up more than 10 years later from when the first book ended, but overall I didn’t love this book as much as Good in Bed.
The Cannie I loved in that book was not the same Cannie in this book. Granted, a lot of time had passed, and circumstances shape us, so it’s not unrealistic that she changed. I just didn’t particular love this new Cannie. In Good in Bed, Cannie is a strong heroine, making the best out of her life in sometimes not so perfect situations. She’s funny, witty, loveable and full of perseverance. In Certain Girls, she’s a housewife hiding in the shadows, coddling her only child. As a mother myself, I struggled to relate to her as a mother and the choices she made. When she knew her own daughter was digging around, looking for answers on what truths lied in the book Cannie wrote when Joy was just a baby, why didn’t she use that opportunity to have some heart to hearts with her? Why on earth she found it so hard to just talk truthfully and openly with her own daughter is beyond me.
This book is told in alternating chapters from the POV of Cannie, and her 13 year old daughter, Joy. Joy is your stereotypical, brat of a teenager, but what really irked me about her was how she thought about her own mother, particularly her mother’s weight. Gosh I hope my own children are never so disgusted with me.
And the ending? Absolutely unnecessary. Also made the book a lot longer than it needed to be, but also made it feel rushed to wrap up.
Sigh. I love most of Weiner’s books I’ve read, so I’m going to chalk a lot of this one up to not just not aging well.
erinmp's review against another edition
3.0
Certain Girls, the sequel to Good in Bed, takes place about twelve years later. Joy is a teenager and Cannie is an overprotective mother who writes sci-fi books in her spare time. The book is about mothers and daughters, and as any book about that topic, this one is full of misunderstandings and frustrations. Peter wants them to have another baby; while Cannie's life is taken up with obsessing about Joy. Joy desperately wants to escape her mother's constant hovering and is trying to make her way through junior high, navigating the all-too-familiar pains of trying to fit in with the "certain girls" while maintaing old friendships.
I haven't read Good in Bed since it came out years ago, so my memory of it is a bit hazy. I remember really liking it and had heard that this novel was not as good as the first. Based on my fuy recollection, I'd have to agree. This wasn't bad by any means, but I remember loving Good in Bed and merely liking this novel. Definitely worth a read, but don't get your hopes up.
I haven't read Good in Bed since it came out years ago, so my memory of it is a bit hazy. I remember really liking it and had heard that this novel was not as good as the first. Based on my fuy recollection, I'd have to agree. This wasn't bad by any means, but I remember loving Good in Bed and merely liking this novel. Definitely worth a read, but don't get your hopes up.
gaderianne's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up on a whim at a used book store..no idea it was the 2nd book of a series. (Although the author did a great job not making me feel like I jumped in the middle of something. I didn't know it was a was a 2nd book until I went to add the book to Goodreads.)
I liked the story - even if it was a bit predictable. I didn't like the point of view - the switching first person narrative between mom and daughter every other chapter interrupted the flow of the story. This made an otherwise enjoyable story less of a pleasure to read.
I liked the story - even if it was a bit predictable. I didn't like the point of view - the switching first person narrative between mom and daughter every other chapter interrupted the flow of the story. This made an otherwise enjoyable story less of a pleasure to read.
samtastic27's review against another edition
4.0
This turned out to be a great book. It was hard to get into (just like "Good in Bed") but I enjoyed reading it. Cannie is hilarious and the situations that she faces with her daughter are classic. I loved her sarcasm.
sequoiawhitney's review against another edition
5.0
I felt like the book was just so good.I was really surprised that it didn't mention the surrogate more than the write wrote about and Joy loved her character. I see a book all about Joy in the future.
camsbookcase's review against another edition
4.0
Jennifer Weiner has been my most read author so far in 2022, and Certain Girls was the 5th novel that I have read by her this year. I think it is safe to say that I am a big Jennifer Weiner fan.
Certain Girls is a sequel to Weiner's first book, Good in Bed, but Weiner wrote it seven years later, and the novel takes place thirteen years later. Throughout the book the narration switches between the main character, Cannie, and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Joy. Cannie is just as quick-witted and hilarious as she was in Good In Bed- her humour had me laughing out loud many times. I found myself immersed in the characters' lives, and excited to see what would happen next. There was quite a shock in the plot near the end that changed everyone's perspectives.
I highly recommend this one!
Certain Girls is a sequel to Weiner's first book, Good in Bed, but Weiner wrote it seven years later, and the novel takes place thirteen years later. Throughout the book the narration switches between the main character, Cannie, and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Joy. Cannie is just as quick-witted and hilarious as she was in Good In Bed- her humour had me laughing out loud many times. I found myself immersed in the characters' lives, and excited to see what would happen next. There was quite a shock in the plot near the end that changed everyone's perspectives.
I highly recommend this one!
marthagal's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely sequel to Good In Bed; I was so happy to be able to read more Cannie! Traumatizing ending. I finished it a week ago and I'm not sure I'm over it.
katieparz's review against another edition
4.0
This is the sequel to "Good In Bed" by Jennifer Weiner. It was a good book, but not as good as the first. The end kind of shocked me. I teared up!!