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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
I might not be a slice-of-life, romance person. Or maybe I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't an audiobook? I liked Nina ok, but didn't really enjoy Tom. He was great at first, but he was a huge red flag when he wouldn't respect her enough to leave when she needed alone time. I've had people like that in my life and it is enough to make you scream when they don't listen to you. It's hard to get down with romance when you get the ick, ya know? I related to Nina and her story about her family a lot, so maybe that's also why I didn't really enjoy it. It was humorous and the characters (except Tom) were great, so it was ok in general. Not something I'd buy for my shelf after listening to it though.
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun and quirky writing style, but the ending felt abrupt and unfinished
This is probably more like a 3.5 but I really, really want to give it a 4, purely because I have never related to a fictional character the way I related to Nina Hill. I have never read a more accurate description of being a socially anxious introvert who likes being alone but also doesn't fully want to be (why must brains be so contradictory).
"Nina worried she liked being alone too much; it was the only time she ever fully relaxed. People were... exhausting. They made her anxious. Leaving her apartment every morning was the turning over of a giant hourglass, the mental energy she'd stored up overnight eroding grain by grain. She refueled during the day by grabbing moments of solitude and sometimes felt her life was a long-distance swim between islands of silence. She enjoyed people––she really did––she just needed to take them in homeopathic doses; a little of the poison was the cure."
This book just gets it. I felt so UNDERSTOOD as I was reading it. Nina feels fictional characters are just as real as real people, and she says absurdly awkward things because she just can't act like a normal human being because ANXIETY, and she loses herself in fiction and weird facts to keep her overactive brain from making her rock back and forth in a corner, and sometimes she just really can't hold a conversation because she's on the verge of a panic attack. Also this:
"In public Nina was a quiet, reserved person; in private she was an all-singing, all-dancing cavalcade of light and motion. Unless she was a quivering ball of anxiety, because that was also a frequently selected option."
No one has ever managed to capture what it's like to live in the uncomfortable half-isolation of being an introvert with social anxiety who prefers books to the real world like Abbi Waxman has captured it here. For this reason, I want to give this book four stars.
But (how sad am I that there's a but) I just didn't feel the romance the way I wanted to. This is definitely chick lit and not full romance, so the story is just as much about the heroine's character growth, but I still wanted a bit more spark from Tom and Nina. I wanted to be making squee-ing sounds in the middle of the night as much as I wanted to be crying a little bit watching Nina go through the same struggles I go through. Alas. You can't have everything.
A delightful, funny, witty, quirky book about a millennial book lover and her friends.
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
A cute lighthearted novel for the family. Nina was essentially reflected in all the characters which allowed her to comfortably be herself wherever she was. It's a nice piece of escapism and would sooth the book lovers soul.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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:
No
Really enjoyable read- a bit of romance, family drama and literary references. Lots of laugh out load moments. Very enjoyable and would highly recommend.
I really, really enjoyed this book! So why the 4 stars instead of the full five? Well, the first 3/4 of this book was an absolute delight! I loved Nina's quirky ways and her love of trivia/facts (and her snarky cat Phil). I enjoyed the premise of the story, and found myself chuckling and downright laughing out loud at times (especially page 192-193...I had to put the book down I was laughing so hard!). As for the love interest part of the story...it started out OK, but I felt that Nina was....super high maintenance in some ways and just plain aloof, making the romantic portion of this novel non-existent. The last 1/4 of the book seemed rushed, like Waxman got word from her publisher that she was up against the deadline and slapped together a mediocre ending that would tie up some loose ends (although sloppily) and still meet the deadline. Still, I really liked this book, and (with the exception of the hasty ending) Waxman's ability to flesh out flawed, realistic, likeable characters, and look forward to reading her books in the future.
I loved this book...especially the characters! A happy read!
It's fine. Millennial references I found amusing, not super cringey, decent character with anxiety. I think I need to stay out of this genre for the most part - while books with romance in them are nice, romance as the whole plot is pretty boring.