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A review by meggiemeggie52
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Overall, I liked the book! I thought the break in the middle for the email conversation was interesting, and I enjoyed the self-aware kind of take on the celebrity/non-celebrity trope and that the characters were finding love in their 30s. I appreciated that the love interests got to know each other first before their romantic relationship developed further than crushing--it made for some good riffing off of each other, and most of their interactions were really cute.
However, Sally kind of irritated me at times with all the self-sabotage during nice moments that were happening to her. I get why she did it, but girl. Come on. He's just trying to be nice!
The majority of the book was a veeeeeery detailed look into the behind-the-scenes of a week creating a show that's definitely not SNL. Now I love a good behind-the-scenes look and I found it super fascinating, but it almost went on a bit too long? Between that and the lack of traditional chapter breaks (there were only 4-5 chapters so they felt more like parts to me), it threw the pacing off for me. I appreciate a slow burn, but that almost made it too slow.
I also feel like the book didn't need to be partly set in the pandemic in order for it to still work. In fact, I might have preferred it without the pandemic. I don't know, it's like... I just lived it, so I don't want to be reading about it again?
However, Sally kind of irritated me at times with all the self-sabotage during nice moments that were happening to her. I get why she did it, but girl. Come on. He's just trying to be nice!
The majority of the book was a veeeeeery detailed look into the behind-the-scenes of a week creating a show that's definitely not SNL. Now I love a good behind-the-scenes look and I found it super fascinating, but it almost went on a bit too long? Between that and the lack of traditional chapter breaks (there were only 4-5 chapters so they felt more like parts to me), it threw the pacing off for me. I appreciate a slow burn, but that almost made it too slow.
I also feel like the book didn't need to be partly set in the pandemic in order for it to still work. In fact, I might have preferred it without the pandemic. I don't know, it's like... I just lived it, so I don't want to be reading about it again?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism and Death
Minor: Pregnancy and Death of parent