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magnoliapigeonbookblurbs's review against another edition
4.0
4/5⭐️
The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale is a super sweet Rom Com surrounding a found family, corn dog pacts and starting over. I really enjoyed getting to know Stephanie Eding’s characters throughout this book and only wish we got a longer look into their future with a epilogue.
*Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The Unplanned Life of Josie Hale is a super sweet Rom Com surrounding a found family, corn dog pacts and starting over. I really enjoyed getting to know Stephanie Eding’s characters throughout this book and only wish we got a longer look into their future with a epilogue.
*Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
2.0
Josie is pregnant and alone.
Her husband has cheated on her she has no money. No job. And her parents have essentially kicked her out (what??)
Craving some comfort food she goes to the County fair when she runs into some of her old high school friends - Kevin and former crush Ben.
When the boys ask Josie to move in with them what choice does she have? Again because her parents … kicked their pregnant daughter out of their house.
Let’s dissect.
What parent would leave their pregnant daughter homeless so they can downsize? So right off the bat I was thrown.
The relationship Josie had with Kevin and Ben felt so immature. I’m not sure if it was the dialogue or the constant mention of beanbag chairs, but I found myself rolling my eyes a lot.
This book went from total mess to neat little bow, and I don’t think life is like that. Felt very unrealistic to me
Her husband has cheated on her she has no money. No job. And her parents have essentially kicked her out (what??)
Craving some comfort food she goes to the County fair when she runs into some of her old high school friends - Kevin and former crush Ben.
When the boys ask Josie to move in with them what choice does she have? Again because her parents … kicked their pregnant daughter out of their house.
Let’s dissect.
What parent would leave their pregnant daughter homeless so they can downsize? So right off the bat I was thrown.
The relationship Josie had with Kevin and Ben felt so immature. I’m not sure if it was the dialogue or the constant mention of beanbag chairs, but I found myself rolling my eyes a lot.
This book went from total mess to neat little bow, and I don’t think life is like that. Felt very unrealistic to me
bronnycooper's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-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
5.0
laurelloaf's review against another edition
The logistics of this story made absolutely no sense. Main character moves 3 hours away but stops by her best friend/former coworker's house for coffee. Guy character just bought a house a month ago but can't afford his mortgage and his daughter normally stays upstairs in the loft but it's also the first time she's seeing the house. Also, MC's parents (with whom she's living) realize she's pregnant before she does and decide now is the time to sell their house and downsize despite the fact that MC is in the middle of a divorce and unemployed. And she can't even take the bed she's using because her aunt "called it" when she about the downsizing. I just... I couldn't.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
misspinkcoconut's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
allysonkrause's review against another edition
5.0
THIS WAS SO MOTHERFUCKING CUTE!!! It had the most cheesy and cringeworthy lines but I ate that shit up. Love love love
mzdeb's review against another edition
3.0
I received a digital ARC from NetGalley.
More like 2.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. This is kind of a very chaste, mild version of "Knocked Up," in terms of, if not exactly involving a bunch of slackers, then a group of people with potential who are down on their luck but who were never exactly ambitious in changing their circumstances.
Josie gets pregnant during a failed attempt at reviving a failing marriage (due to her husband's infidelity) before she moves out. When her parents give her a heads up that they're downsizing from the family home (requiring her to leave again), she's at her wit's end. It's serendipitous when she runs into two childhood buds at a county fair: Ben, her childhood crush and a divorced and confused dad of a sulky tween; and Kevin, a somewhat cocky man-child who doesn't want to run the family business when his dad finally retires. They invite her to move in to Ben's house, and Kevin creates "The Corndog Pact" (named for said treat at the county fair): their group plan to improve their personal, career and financial lives by the time they're 30.
What follows is a lot of humorous banter but a very slow moving story. To say there's a slow burn between Ben and Josie makes it steamier than it really is. Even the audiobook (when it finally came out) couldn't motivate me to completely finish the last third and I had to skim the e-book ARC instead. It may or may not work as a made-for-streaming movie, though, believe it or not.
More like 2.5 stars, but I'm rounding up. This is kind of a very chaste, mild version of "Knocked Up," in terms of, if not exactly involving a bunch of slackers, then a group of people with potential who are down on their luck but who were never exactly ambitious in changing their circumstances.
Josie gets pregnant during a failed attempt at reviving a failing marriage (due to her husband's infidelity) before she moves out. When her parents give her a heads up that they're downsizing from the family home (requiring her to leave again), she's at her wit's end. It's serendipitous when she runs into two childhood buds at a county fair: Ben, her childhood crush and a divorced and confused dad of a sulky tween; and Kevin, a somewhat cocky man-child who doesn't want to run the family business when his dad finally retires. They invite her to move in to Ben's house, and Kevin creates "The Corndog Pact" (named for said treat at the county fair): their group plan to improve their personal, career and financial lives by the time they're 30.
What follows is a lot of humorous banter but a very slow moving story. To say there's a slow burn between Ben and Josie makes it steamier than it really is. Even the audiobook (when it finally came out) couldn't motivate me to completely finish the last third and I had to skim the e-book ARC instead. It may or may not work as a made-for-streaming movie, though, believe it or not.
readswithcocktails's review
medium-paced
3.0
This book was fine. But it did make me think about the conversation thats been happening (again) about whether or not books are political. This book is trying so so hard to be inoffensive and apolitical. And yet, it is expressing a political stance. Sometimes saying nothing says a lot.
Reproductive Rights:
There are two pregnant women in this book. Neither is in a good place to raise a child. We don't see either woman weigh her options in a state that allows for access to abortion care up until viability. Having the child is a valid choice, as is accessing abortion. Even though timing is bad, its clear Josie wants this baby. But the fact that she doesn't consider abortion and say its not the right choice for her is a political move on the part of the author. This is even more true for Josie's student who is pregnant. She lists adoption as a possible option, but not abortion.
Body Acceptance/Fat Liberation
We all feel some kind of way about changes that happen to our bodies. And, while I havent been pregnant, I know the changes that happen can be jarring. But Josie's negative self-talk about changes in her body and her friend Ellie's diet talk are not interrupted. Diet culture and the prefernce for thinness in our society are probably things we don't even notice if we haven't been actively working to interrupt them. However, they have connections to purity cultire and white supremacy. Talking about these things and not interrupting them is also a political choice.
Gender Identity
There is constant speculation abour Josie's baby's gender. Josie has been dreaming of the gender reveal party she would throw when she eventually became pregnant. Once Josie does find out the baby's sex, she starts talking about onesies that say "Mama's Little Man" and making everything blue. The binary is part of how we're socialized, but sticking to that narrative is also a political stance.
Reproductive Rights:
There are two pregnant women in this book. Neither is in a good place to raise a child. We don't see either woman weigh her options in a state that allows for access to abortion care up until viability. Having the child is a valid choice, as is accessing abortion. Even though timing is bad, its clear Josie wants this baby. But the fact that she doesn't consider abortion and say its not the right choice for her is a political move on the part of the author. This is even more true for Josie's student who is pregnant. She lists adoption as a possible option, but not abortion.
Body Acceptance/Fat Liberation
We all feel some kind of way about changes that happen to our bodies. And, while I havent been pregnant, I know the changes that happen can be jarring. But Josie's negative self-talk about changes in her body and her friend Ellie's diet talk are not interrupted. Diet culture and the prefernce for thinness in our society are probably things we don't even notice if we haven't been actively working to interrupt them. However, they have connections to purity cultire and white supremacy. Talking about these things and not interrupting them is also a political choice.
Gender Identity
There is constant speculation abour Josie's baby's gender. Josie has been dreaming of the gender reveal party she would throw when she eventually became pregnant. Once Josie does find out the baby's sex, she starts talking about onesies that say "Mama's Little Man" and making everything blue. The binary is part of how we're socialized, but sticking to that narrative is also a political stance.
heather_n's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? No
4.5