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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
Reading this book is exactly what it claimed to be: like a funny conversation with your besties.
Whoa, this book; as I read “Never Have I Ever,” Katie Heaney’s witty, confessional exploration of her young adulthood of perpetual singleness, I was amused and a little weirded out at how familiar it all sounded. As another (formerly, sigh) 20-something Minnesotan, raised in the suburbs of the Twin Cities, who went through life unsure about how this whole “relationship” thing works, where most people seemed to have it figured out, there was so much that I totally identified with. Heaney’s breezy memoir provides, as she sketches out her experiences with love and not dating from grade school to college to grad school, she also writes with a self-depreciating honesty that never loses its sense of humor. This chronological structure really suited the fun subject matter as Heaney reminiscences about the defining moments (of a sort) that shaped her attitudes towards friendships and relationships. I particularly enjoyed her use of nostalgia; D.A.R.E. was a big influence in my early life as well (after all, ours was the suburb well known as “Most Of Us Need Drugs,” so one had to be careful) and the Sims have always been really bad role models for relationships.
Much of what Heaney writes resonated very much with me, I found myself in much the same position as her over my first 25-years. It is not like I tried to remain single for my first quarter decade, but perhaps that is the problem and Heaney is great at expressing and dissecting these tendencies for self-sabotage, obliviousness to flirting, just plain awkwardness, feelings of panic when it is found that someone really does like you, and so on. Good to know I wasn't the only one who leapt up and paced around the house after receiving an OkCupid message. It is a great comfort to know that one is not alone in this, and it is particularly interesting to view this from across the gender divide as well.
You start to think maybe something may be wrong with you, but Heaney illustrates just how full a life you have and it is a great awesome to see that, really, you are not alone and others face the same issues and its all not really that big a deal. I feel that, while Heaney never stoops to dropping “advice” just seeing her analyze her experiences allow the . It is great to see a positive, funny personal tale of singleness and I also really like seeing how, gender-aside, so many of her concerns are in common.
Much of what Heaney writes resonated very much with me, I found myself in much the same position as her over my first 25-years. It is not like I tried to remain single for my first quarter decade, but perhaps that is the problem and Heaney is great at expressing and dissecting these tendencies for self-sabotage, obliviousness to flirting, just plain awkwardness, feelings of panic when it is found that someone really does like you, and so on. Good to know I wasn't the only one who leapt up and paced around the house after receiving an OkCupid message. It is a great comfort to know that one is not alone in this, and it is particularly interesting to view this from across the gender divide as well.
You start to think maybe something may be wrong with you, but Heaney illustrates just how full a life you have and it is a great awesome to see that, really, you are not alone and others face the same issues and its all not really that big a deal. I feel that, while Heaney never stoops to dropping “advice” just seeing her analyze her experiences allow the . It is great to see a positive, funny personal tale of singleness and I also really like seeing how, gender-aside, so many of her concerns are in common.
This book was unexpectedly hilarious and completely insightful - a joy to read.
When I spotted Katie Heaney’s memoir Never Have I Ever on Netgalley, I thought it sounded really great. I don’t read many memoirs, because they’re difficult to review; after all, you’re reviewing an actual person’s thoughts instead of a fictional story, but I was really intrigued to read Katie’s story and everything the synopsis tells you is very true: you will laugh, you will love Katie’s friends, and you’ll love Katie herself, she’s super funny, and I hope her next writing effort will be fiction, because the girl can write.
I was hooked pretty much from the off. In the first chapter I highlighted two sections that made me laugh out loud, and I knew I was on to a winner. The first sees Katie describing lighthouses, about how some of her friends are like lighthouses and boys flock to them, although that’s not how lighthouses work (they’re there to keep the boats AWAY from the marina, not to bring them in) and she says,
“If lighthouses really wanted to keep people away from rocky shores they’d be big audio speakers that played scary ghosts sounds.”
The second is even funnier, about the Bermuda triangle:
“It’s just that Bermuda doesn’t know how to handle itself when somebody sails into its territory, because that hardly ever happens. It hasn’t had much chance to practice, and it’s used to things going a certain way. So if a sailor DOES come around, it gets a little nervous, freaks the f– out, and creates a hurricane-like devastation in every direction around it. And then it gets embarrassed and sad and calls its friends.”
That makes me chuckle just reading it now. Sadly, I didn’t find any more quote-worthy bits the rest of the book, but those two right there made me laugh and totally endeared me to Katie and her life. The book pretty much follows all of Katie’s crushes from kindergarten right the way up to her life now, and it’s a fun look into how scary it can be to try and get yourself a boyfriend. It’s crippling, painful, and you’re not always sure whether they want to be friends, or more. It makes a refreshing change to meet someone who’s never had a boyfriend. All you ever hear about is how early people have boyfriends so it makes you feel sorta weird if you haven’t had that yourself yet, so it’s quite brave of Katie to put herself out there and announce that, and I totally cheer for her for doing it.
Katie Heaney is my new hero. I want to move to Minneapolis and be her friend, and be Rylee’s friend, too, and live with them in their apartment and just be AWESOME with them, because they are super awesome. I really enjoyed the book. Most of the anecdotes are fantastic to hear, although some are a little long, I will admit, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I’m so glad I read it. It was like having a sleepover with your best friends and spending the entire night gossiping and laughing, and chatting, very much a winner in my book!
I was hooked pretty much from the off. In the first chapter I highlighted two sections that made me laugh out loud, and I knew I was on to a winner. The first sees Katie describing lighthouses, about how some of her friends are like lighthouses and boys flock to them, although that’s not how lighthouses work (they’re there to keep the boats AWAY from the marina, not to bring them in) and she says,
“If lighthouses really wanted to keep people away from rocky shores they’d be big audio speakers that played scary ghosts sounds.”
The second is even funnier, about the Bermuda triangle:
“It’s just that Bermuda doesn’t know how to handle itself when somebody sails into its territory, because that hardly ever happens. It hasn’t had much chance to practice, and it’s used to things going a certain way. So if a sailor DOES come around, it gets a little nervous, freaks the f– out, and creates a hurricane-like devastation in every direction around it. And then it gets embarrassed and sad and calls its friends.”
That makes me chuckle just reading it now. Sadly, I didn’t find any more quote-worthy bits the rest of the book, but those two right there made me laugh and totally endeared me to Katie and her life. The book pretty much follows all of Katie’s crushes from kindergarten right the way up to her life now, and it’s a fun look into how scary it can be to try and get yourself a boyfriend. It’s crippling, painful, and you’re not always sure whether they want to be friends, or more. It makes a refreshing change to meet someone who’s never had a boyfriend. All you ever hear about is how early people have boyfriends so it makes you feel sorta weird if you haven’t had that yourself yet, so it’s quite brave of Katie to put herself out there and announce that, and I totally cheer for her for doing it.
Katie Heaney is my new hero. I want to move to Minneapolis and be her friend, and be Rylee’s friend, too, and live with them in their apartment and just be AWESOME with them, because they are super awesome. I really enjoyed the book. Most of the anecdotes are fantastic to hear, although some are a little long, I will admit, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I’m so glad I read it. It was like having a sleepover with your best friends and spending the entire night gossiping and laughing, and chatting, very much a winner in my book!
DNF @ 42 pages
I don't think I care this much about obsessive crushes and kindergarten boyfriends - if I ever needed a book to make me feel "not normal" (ie, demisexual - probably, sexuality is fluid and such), this one would do it. Not bad, I don't think, but I don't care about dating and crushes in the way that a reader of this book probably should.
I don't think I care this much about obsessive crushes and kindergarten boyfriends - if I ever needed a book to make me feel "not normal" (ie, demisexual - probably, sexuality is fluid and such), this one would do it. Not bad, I don't think, but I don't care about dating and crushes in the way that a reader of this book probably should.
This book started out less than ideal, but ended on a very high note. More later.
This was a fun quick memoir to read, but not something I would feel the need to read again or recommend.
I picked this book up, because as a dating late bloomer myself I thought it would be interesting to see it from someone else's point of view.
In the end, I ended up thinking that Katie must be a REALLY good friend to still have friends willing to put up with her shit. Like you're sad "Spruce" started dating someone else when you liked him. Then maybe don't jump up on a step at the end of your first date to keep him from kissing you and don't hold your arm weirdly away from him on your second date so he couldn't possibly hold your hand. He thinks you're not interested because you act like you're not interested.
I also ruined the book a bit for myself. During the high school chapters I searched the author to see if she had written any other books and I saw she had a book out soon about her experience coming out in her late 20s and being in her first relationship. So now I'll never know if it would have been as obvious that she was not into men, if I hadn't known up front.
In the end, I ended up thinking that Katie must be a REALLY good friend to still have friends willing to put up with her shit. Like you're sad "Spruce" started dating someone else when you liked him. Then maybe don't jump up on a step at the end of your first date to keep him from kissing you and don't hold your arm weirdly away from him on your second date so he couldn't possibly hold your hand. He thinks you're not interested because you act like you're not interested.
I also ruined the book a bit for myself. During the high school chapters I searched the author to see if she had written any other books and I saw she had a book out soon about her experience coming out in her late 20s and being in her first relationship. So now I'll never know if it would have been as obvious that she was not into men, if I hadn't known up front.