A review by randi_jo
Rachel Weiss's Group Chat by Lauren Appelbaum

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

I don't really know how to start this review, but I will be honest. It's been a full 12 hours since I finished this and I'm still so mad at it. Like yeah, sometimes comedy pokes fun at big topics and it might be hit or miss, but to have SO MANY in one book?? Unacceptable.

I could NEVER in good conscience, recommend this book to anyone. Not only because it is just Not Good and because it really misses on bringing what made Pride and Prejudice so adored into the mix, but because I would genuinely worry that anyone I recommended this book to, would maybe believe that I also have similar opinions to Big Topics presented in this novel. Some of those things being:

🚩 Capitalism. FMC Rachel hates capitalism (same) but only in the sense that SHE personally is not getting that money. She still slaves away for a cooperation and then ends up moving laterally in the company to something she "enjoys". Still capitalism. And obliquely she hates that capitalist society destroys the planet etc, but even though she TOTALLY mic drops 'fake' Jeff Bezos about not having more awareness for plant based diets in order to create a more sustainable food industry, she cannot go more than two days on a vegan diet. Because cheese, duh!

🚩 The perception of what poverty/getting by is. Rachel complains that capitalism keeps her down, barely able to pay rent and that rich people can't check their own privilege. She herself comes from a family with a home in a million dollar neighborhood, her parents paid for two entire college educations, she CONTINUOUSLY shops at Nordstrom, buys a bottle of wine a day, etc. And while her parent's aren't as financially secure as when she was a kid, it's not like she would be on the streets if she lost her job; I mean her parents let her younger sisters shop at Sephora on a whim with no spending limit. Rachel just sucks at everything in general.

🚩 The views on adultery and that it's OK for women to step out of their marriage and "try new things". I believe Rachel's thoughts were that "people no longer burned women at the stake" for having an affair. BUT THEN, to somehow make this worse, everyone agrees not to tell the woman's husband about it because they RESPECT HER DECISION. And the poor man is basically vilified and lowkey sounded out as if he deserves it because he's sexually insecure, plays Warhammer with his friends (HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING FROM HENRY CAVILL?), and is allergic to cats. If it were me I could not be friends with said person no matter how long I've known them because I find it abhorrent to harbor a secret like that but ALSO THE MAN SHE SLEPT WITH WAS HER FRIEND'S BOYFRIEND and they're just... ok with it? Yeah, no.

🚩 Joking about #MeToo. In any capacity that's just tactless and disgusting, but then to go as far as to NEVER APOLOGIZE and NEVER VILIFY the characters who do it??? Abhorrent. For someone who hates men SO MUCH, Rachel hates women even more. And yes, HER SISTER loses her job for laughing at her #MeToo jokes, Rachel is the lead for SENSITIVITY TRAINING at her job! She should've been fired as well AT THE VERY LEAST! To make it worse, Rachel is never, ever, sorry for her comments. She's sorry she was caught and that her sister suffered for it. Scrubbing the internet of the video and then getting Jane her job back with her BIG BRAIN REPORT was basically just saying Fuck You to assault victims everywhere.

Anyway, there's more but I'm tired of thinking about it. The characters are just big fat caricatures who make absolutely stupid decisions at every opportunity, no one EVER suffers real consequences for their, often, awful actions, and tokenism is present with the token gay Eva and token diversity queen Sumira. Just - no thank you.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Forever publishing for this advanced copy, despite my misgivings of the material itself.