Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Who's That Girl?: A Laugh-out-Loud Sparky Romcom!

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Who's That Girl?: A Laugh-out-Loud Sparky Romcom! by Mhairi McFarlane

6 reviews

beate251's review

emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

4.25

Wow, there's a lot going on here. First, copywriter Edie is caught being kissed by her friend and colleague Jack on his wedding day, and because life is unfair and it's always the women getting blamed, she gets bullied and is very happy when she can escape London to her hometown of Nottingham to ghostwrite a book about hot new actor Elliot Owen, also a Nottingham native. She stays with her Dad and sister Meg which causes endless conflicts. Meg is one of those joyless vegans who is incredibly rude to her older sister for no apparent reason bar jealousy. We learn that their mother committed suicide when Edie was 9 and Megan 5, and there is still a lot of unresolved grief. Meanwhile, Edie grows closer to Elliot and tries to both come to terms with unwanted press attention and the fact she is still vilified for her transgression with Jack.

As much as Edie is an intelligent 35 year old, she is also often frustratingly dense, and doesn't think much of herself. Elliot has a hard time telling her that he likes her. She has a small but great group of friends that stick with her, and their cantankerous and colourful elderly neighbour Margot is a fabulous addition to the (literally) supporting characters.

This is extremely well-written, but at least 100 pages too long. To be fair, I say that for just about every book that hovers around the 500 pages mark, although I forgive it here because I loved the characters (except Jack, Charlotte, Lucie and Louis, the utter cockwombles). It's also nice to see a fair, supportive boss now and then.

That cliffhanger ending would have me throw crockery right now if I didn't know that after more than eight long years, a sequel called "You Belong With Me" is coming out on 20 June 24 (it's the reason I re-read this), and, what's more, I hold in my sweaty hands an ARC courtesy of NetGalley, which I will read and review imminently! I can't wait because I'm extremely invested in those characters now, so stick around!

"I notice when you're not around."

Content Warnings

ablaine's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

If I’d read this book in 2016, when Facebook was still kicking and Instagram was the new kid on the social media block, I think I would have related more. As it stands, the context is a bit dated, but the themes are perhaps more relevant than ever: ruined reputation, public perception and cyber bullying. This story also explores the fallout of a toxic “situationship” before that term became common Internet parlance. There were aspects of the story that I loved, but overall, I think I prefer the first Mhairi McFarlane book I read, Don’t You Forget About Me. This was my second read by this author, unless she’s ghostwritten some famous person’s autobiography I don’t know of ;-)

Content Warnings