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sarakfarns's review
dark
sad
medium-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
2.75
vondalism's review against another edition
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this as a quick and easy anti-romance, which should definitely be a new book genre, I’d be all in.
I feel like everything in this story resonated with this bookworm a little too well… Great debut.
Also, great drinking game idea, for every book mentioned in this novel that you’ve read.
I feel like everything in this story resonated with this bookworm a little too well… Great debut.
Also, great drinking game idea, for every book mentioned in this novel that you’ve read.
krista_reads_it_all's review
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
westminstergirlreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
skylarko's review against another edition
3.0
Victoria is a deeply unhappy woman. She was coerced by her lawyer parents into marrying a lawyer - because if she wasn't going to continue on the family profession, at least she could marry someone who would. Her husband Eric is as controlling as her parents, if not more so. He has particular decor options, schedules, hobbies, and expectations. If Victoria doesn't share those, he expects her to at least keep to herself and not disturb his space. All Victoria has really is her job, her friend Holly, and her books. And the occasional fantasy of her terrible husbands untimely and tragic death.
That is until she spots a handsome man reading the same book as her in her coffee shop. And she instantly knows he is the ONE she has been longing for. He wouldn't be anything like her husband! He would understand her. And so begins the hunt to find him and make her notice her and fix her life.
There's no way around it - Victoria is terrible. She is mean spirited and imagines everyone around her is as miserable or more miserable than her. She organizes her husband's death instead of divorcing him - even when she has a clear out because he is having an affair too! Possibly even first! And she notices her creeping in unhappiness at the end, even after she has everything she thinks she wants.
I wanted to be on her side even a little bit. After all, she is in a very controlling marriage and little to no agency, and even her parents would side with Eric than help her be happy. But she is utterly unlikable. And once I hit that point of no redemption (halfway through the book when she compared stealing tea packets at work and eating your boogers to the same level of gross everyone has to binge eating disorder/bulimia and imagining a friends CHILD naked). Thankfully that was the one and only time that comparison was made, but good god. I was done being any level of sympathetic towards her, and finishing the book was painful for me. I am all for a villain protagonist, but I have to be on their side a little at least!
She is a woman trapped by a man who needs the beacon of a man to finally plan an octopus level smart escape. I wish she wouldn't have made that comparison of hidden thoughts everyone has, and I wish she would have had a motivation besides a man to get out and want more. She could have been so much better of an anti-hero.
I did like the ending. At least she was still miserable and the author didn't make the new relationship what redeems her. But not my personal favorite read.
I'd like to read more from the author. It is her debut, after all. I'd love to see how her characters are moving forward.
That is until she spots a handsome man reading the same book as her in her coffee shop. And she instantly knows he is the ONE she has been longing for. He wouldn't be anything like her husband! He would understand her. And so begins the hunt to find him and make her notice her and fix her life.
There's no way around it - Victoria is terrible. She is mean spirited and imagines everyone around her is as miserable or more miserable than her. She organizes her husband's death instead of divorcing him - even when she has a clear out because he is having an affair too! Possibly even first! And she notices her creeping in unhappiness at the end, even after she has everything she thinks she wants.
I wanted to be on her side even a little bit. After all, she is in a very controlling marriage and little to no agency, and even her parents would side with Eric than help her be happy. But she is utterly unlikable. And once I hit that point of no redemption (halfway through the book when she compared stealing tea packets at work and eating your boogers to the same level of gross everyone has to binge eating disorder/bulimia and imagining a friends CHILD naked). Thankfully that was the one and only time that comparison was made, but good god. I was done being any level of sympathetic towards her, and finishing the book was painful for me. I am all for a villain protagonist, but I have to be on their side a little at least!
She is a woman trapped by a man who needs the beacon of a man to finally plan an octopus level smart escape. I wish she wouldn't have made that comparison of hidden thoughts everyone has, and I wish she would have had a motivation besides a man to get out and want more. She could have been so much better of an anti-hero.
I did like the ending. At least she was still miserable and the author didn't make the new relationship what redeems her. But not my personal favorite read.
I'd like to read more from the author. It is her debut, after all. I'd love to see how her characters are moving forward.
slicciardi's review against another edition
4.0
I love an unhinged narrator. This is like the light version of Ottessa Moshfegh weird
mandypandyrox's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
shalif29's review
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
rbalir's review
dark
funny
medium-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
3.0
I think it’s funny that they gave this book a romcom cover but at least the blurb is accurate. Funny, fun. Felt like it needed a bit more complexity - could have been a novella.