Reviews with content warning for Death - Funny You Should Ask

I never knew what a favorite book was supposed to feel like until I read this book for the second time and devoured it as quickly and happily as I did the first time. Everything from the writing style to the plot, I am obsessed with every inch of this book and have annotated it to bits. Thank you Elissa Sussman for this masterpiece.

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amandaboyer's review

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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annabananadel's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

"there is nothing just about you."

Bought this book earlier this year and it's been bumming me out that it's been sitting on my TBR for that long already so I decided, finally, to grab it and read it at the start of August. For some reason, it took me a while to finish this book just because I was not being pulled to reading it. Imagine I was on a vacation and I wasn't able to dent it so hard during the trip, that's already speaking a lot. Story-wise, it was a whirlwind, both in a good way and in a bad way. In a good way, because that's how the story is intended. In a bad way, because it was a then and now kind of book set-up and sometimes some Then chapters does not correlate with the Now chapters. I was lost at some point in the story wherein, I was confused what really happened between the two of them. In my opinion, it could have been solved simply by talking about it. But little adults like us don't immediately talk to solve a problem and that's how a book is made up.

To be honest, it's a love and hate relationship for me for the both MCs. I didn't love them but I also didn't hate them. I'm just there listening on how their stories unfold and I'm just existing as a reader. Somehow I didn't feel anything positive when I was reading this book? If that makes sense?

On the positive side, I understand why it's on the pricier side of the books, the physical quality is dead on, the best I've ever held on my hands. I'm also happy that I've read this because I don't have to look at my TBR again and see this on my unread pile. :3

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readwithjules_'s review

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

3.25

While this book was quite enjoyable, I do think it is certainly overrated. I felt like the two main characters didn't have a lot of chemistry and there wasn't really any sort of spark. It felt more like a book about an actor and an interviewer than a love story(thats not necessarily a bad thing). I loved the dynamic between both of the main characters and Ollie. I think there was a lot of moments that were super funny, super sweet, and overall just enjoyable. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't the best I've ever read.

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emmysforeverbooked's review

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Where do I start with this review... The main character felt insufferable for about 85% of the book, the writing style was just idek, and the ending??? Really???

I'm gonna flesh out each of these things just to kind of give you an insight as to why I didn't like each thing. But before I get started, please know that these things are not personal digs at the author, I'm sure she's great. This book, however, just did not do it for me. That's not to say you shouldn't pick it up if you think you'll like it! You read what interests you, these are just my personal opinions while I was reading it.

Chani. Chani, Chani, Chani. I feel weird even typing that because the love interest does, in fact, say that during the smut, which I will touch on later. But for now, I just need to rant about the main character for a sec. I honestly think that for once, if this had been dual POV, I would've enjoyed the guy's POV better. Other than Belly from The Summer I Turned Pretty, this is the most insufferable MC I have ever read about. This whole book felt like "Poor, pitiful me. I'm a famous writer and I have the best life ever but it doesn't matter because my life is actually awful since I didn't get to f!ck this hot celebrity man." Babes... this is like the entirety of stan twt complaining because they didn't get to sleep with a member of BTS. It would be nice, but it's just not going to happen.

And then when it did happen? After she spent 10 years complaining and sulking because she didn't take her opportunity to sleep with him and now she finally can, guess what? Her first instinct is to complain because it did happen 🤦🏻‍♀️

Which I guess brings me to my next point, the ✨️smut✨️ scene. Now my first complaint is that I had to wait 302 pages, nearly the entirety of the book, for her to say "we were tangled up like two horny octopuses." 😐 yep, you read that right. You know what the smut chapter felt like? 10 pages of glorified wattpad fanfiction. Especially when you consider that this man feels like a knock-off Tom Holland or someone like that. The smut in this book was just embarrassing...

Tbh the overall writing style was just... I don't even know how to take it. One minute, there would be fancy words I had to Google the definition of while the only variation of speaker tags we had were "I say" or "He asks". Like there were no other speaking verbs other than those two. Maybe this wouldn't bother someone else, but I'm autistic, I have to have tone indicators to know how I'm supposed to take these things.

Finally, because I could go on forever if you let me, I just need to release my anger for the ending. Because wtf was that? You just expect me to believe they haven't seen each other in a decade, then sleep together the day after they reunite, tell each other "F!ck you!" and basically break up despite not even being together, and their mutual friend sets them back up together all within a span of about 12 hours??? Girl wut?? And then you expect me to believe after they have a single conversation discussing their feelings for all of about five minutes, that they're happily married in the epilogue? I simply cannot compute.

All this being said, I do think this book would've been great as a Y/A book. Someone's thirteen year old daughter would eat this up if there wasn't a smut scene and a scene within the first ten pages of the book where MC thoroughly describes how hot and bothered Gabe Parker makes her feel with one glance over. So I think if you enjoy Y/A romance and celebrity romance, you'd probably enjoy this book. However, for me personally, it just wasn't what I wanted considering I picked this up on the premise that it was a contemporary romance.

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mbichaela's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

3.5

ENG
i loved the format of this book but i could not sometimes connect to characters

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