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A review by victoriakuo13
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
That same confusion that a bunch of other reviews have expressed..... I have it too. From the outside this seemed like a book that I'd absolutely love. I bought it after reading just the prologue because it seemed like it was right up my alley. In general it was an interesting read and I read it pretty much all in one sitting (to be fair I was on a plane but still). I really liked the additions of the assorted articles that interrupted the chapters (some of them took me out of the story but most of them were interesting), but there was just something that was lacking in the narrative.
The character study here was somewhat similar to Evelyn Hugo; it was just done in a worse way. Of course there's an element of suspended disbelief when you're dealing with celebrity/fan relationships. But it was just that the suspended disbelief had to be suspended continuously when Sussman continued dropping reasons for it to be unrealistic. BAM falling in love over the course of a weekend BAM he was in love with her from the start BAM he invited her to parties after knowing her for two hours.
Chani herself also made me uncomfortable from the start. Of course you can say that the guy is hot, attractive, muscles of steel, whatever. But the sheer amount of times she emphasizes how he is a god on earth, how he's her celebrity crush, how she's this crazed fan looking at his body, etc was unnerving. It's things like this that make it clear why the celeb trope is usually celeb/person who hates that celeb initially instead of celeb/fan who loves them.
I also could not imagine these characters as close to 40 years old. They seemed so much younger because of what they were saying and how they were saying it. I'm not sure if it was just because I had them as mid 20s in my head from the "Then" chapters and it was hard to shake that mindset for the "Now" chapters, but they did not seem middle-aged !!
Finally, the story was predictable. Though it was a then/now story that hyped up the ending, all of the puzzle pieces fit together exactly how I thought they would. There was no complexity to their reconciliation and no added issues. I thought Chani's conflict of worrying about her image and reputation if they were to be in a relationship was a valid one, especially since she'd been grappling with it for a decade. How is it that Gabe was able to soothe all that worry with two sentences? There was just so much more room for more here.
I know I said finally, but now I mean it: that ending was so abrupt. I wanted to know more! What happened when they went public? What did the articles say? How did they do it? How did they prove them wrong? What book did Chani write? Literally SO MUCH opportunity here that wasn't taken.
The character study here was somewhat similar to Evelyn Hugo; it was just done in a worse way. Of course there's an element of suspended disbelief when you're dealing with celebrity/fan relationships. But it was just that the suspended disbelief had to be suspended continuously when Sussman continued dropping reasons for it to be unrealistic. BAM falling in love over the course of a weekend BAM he was in love with her from the start BAM he invited her to parties after knowing her for two hours.
Chani herself also made me uncomfortable from the start. Of course you can say that the guy is hot, attractive, muscles of steel, whatever. But the sheer amount of times she emphasizes how he is a god on earth, how he's her celebrity crush, how she's this crazed fan looking at his body, etc was unnerving. It's things like this that make it clear why the celeb trope is usually celeb/person who hates that celeb initially instead of celeb/fan who loves them.
I also could not imagine these characters as close to 40 years old. They seemed so much younger because of what they were saying and how they were saying it. I'm not sure if it was just because I had them as mid 20s in my head from the "Then" chapters and it was hard to shake that mindset for the "Now" chapters, but they did not seem middle-aged !!
Finally, the story was predictable. Though it was a then/now story that hyped up the ending, all of the puzzle pieces fit together exactly how I thought they would. There was no complexity to their reconciliation and no added issues. I thought Chani's conflict of worrying about her image and reputation if they were to be in a relationship was a valid one, especially since she'd been grappling with it for a decade. How is it that Gabe was able to soothe all that worry with two sentences? There was just so much more room for more here.
I know I said finally, but now I mean it: that ending was so abrupt. I wanted to know more! What happened when they went public? What did the articles say? How did they do it? How did they prove them wrong? What book did Chani write? Literally SO MUCH opportunity here that wasn't taken.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia