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omnomicons's Reviews (139)
OKAY I have to admit it’s not as good as the first one… obviously… but I still really enjoyed it. Fielding does a good job keeping the banter and drama of mark and bridget alive even though they get into a relationship at the end of the last book. the friends are expanded on nicely, and though Bridget’s continued obsession with her weight takes me out of the narrative here too, all in all it’s an enjoyable read that’s stood the test of time! I don’t think I can read any more though because these are the only ones released before the first movie came out and I just know the quality will be worse.
Um, wow. I actually had to make annotations on Kindle because I had that many thoughts.
I love romance books! I haven’t read a good one in quite some time, but this premise intrigued me. I love comedy and I’ve thought about this rule of schlubby comedian bf/insanely hot gf often, so I was super excited to read this. A few problems arose. First, I felt that the set up was dragging on a bit and then looked down and noticed that TWENTY FIVE PERCENT OF THE BOOK WAS OVER. I was shocked that it had been that long without seeming to get to the central plot. We also must discuss the characterization of Noah, the male love interest. Bro made me cringe with my whole entire chest. It’s clear the author wanted him to be perfect, considering he doesn’t really demonstrate any major flaws the entire book. I’m supposed to believe a world-famous star who is hella rich and white somehow respects women more than the FEMALE PROTAGONIST does and also has every correct opinion ever… and his only fault is loving her too much… I need to practice this level of delusion in my life. Speaking of, the social justice messaging in this book is way too heavy handed. We have email exchanges between our two white MCs asking each other if they went to BLM protests and the aforementioned superstar writing a think piece about how he didn’t wanna be performative… right. What’s next, they’re going to deconstruct the model minority myth together using the example of a conveniently-Asian side character? Lastly, I hate to bring this up, but the sex scenes were atrocious. If you don’t know how to write erotica, DON’T! And if you want to learn, go to Ao3. They know what they’re doing over there.
The book had some redeeming qualities. Wokeness aside, Sally was well-characterized and I found both her sense of humor and anxiety-induced self-sabotaging extremely realistic and engaging. The dialogue was pretty witty in some places when it wasn’t preaching.
This might be the longest review I’ve ever written. The betrayal of such a good premise with fairly horrible execution really grinded (ground?) my gears (which must be obvious). All I can say is: when I found out this author was also responsible for the novel Rodham (please go look it up, you won’t be able to believe it either), everything fell into place.
Also I wish they had just killed Jerry.
I love romance books! I haven’t read a good one in quite some time, but this premise intrigued me. I love comedy and I’ve thought about this rule of schlubby comedian bf/insanely hot gf often, so I was super excited to read this. A few problems arose. First, I felt that the set up was dragging on a bit and then looked down and noticed that TWENTY FIVE PERCENT OF THE BOOK WAS OVER. I was shocked that it had been that long without seeming to get to the central plot. We also must discuss the characterization of Noah, the male love interest. Bro made me cringe with my whole entire chest. It’s clear the author wanted him to be perfect, considering he doesn’t really demonstrate any major flaws the entire book. I’m supposed to believe a world-famous star who is hella rich and white somehow respects women more than the FEMALE PROTAGONIST does and also has every correct opinion ever… and his only fault is loving her too much… I need to practice this level of delusion in my life. Speaking of, the social justice messaging in this book is way too heavy handed. We have email exchanges between our two white MCs asking each other if they went to BLM protests and the aforementioned superstar writing a think piece about how he didn’t wanna be performative… right. What’s next, they’re going to deconstruct the model minority myth together using the example of a conveniently-Asian side character? Lastly, I hate to bring this up, but the sex scenes were atrocious. If you don’t know how to write erotica, DON’T! And if you want to learn, go to Ao3. They know what they’re doing over there.
The book had some redeeming qualities. Wokeness aside, Sally was well-characterized and I found both her sense of humor and anxiety-induced self-sabotaging extremely realistic and engaging. The dialogue was pretty witty in some places when it wasn’t preaching.
This might be the longest review I’ve ever written. The betrayal of such a good premise with fairly horrible execution really grinded (ground?) my gears (which must be obvious). All I can say is: when I found out this author was also responsible for the novel Rodham (please go look it up, you won’t be able to believe it either), everything fell into place.
Also I wish they had just killed Jerry.
A fantastic book that reflects on class, caste, and religion in India. Bombay almost feels like a character in this novel, rather than a setting, and Parsees are at the forefront of the plot for the first time in my experience. This novel raised a lot of questions and reflection for me. Highly recommend.
TAYLOR JENKINS REID FUCKING GOT ME AGAIN!!! I only begrudgingly read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and then swore never to read her again, but then I got all these Fleetwood Mac TikToks and the way Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham look at each other… Um… I have to go lie down. Anyway, this novel does a pretty good job of capturing this energy but can’t quite get it (I mean, what can) and overall was enjoyable but not spectacular. I have to go watch another live performance of Silver Springs now.
Like… I definitely read it. Not gonna lie, Katy and her mother are wayy too close for my tastes, and it did make me slightly uncomfortable while reading this lmao. But I can honestly say I did not guess the twist at all so I guess that’s good.
Spends a LITTLE too much time speaking favorably about French cuisine for my Francophobic tastes, but I guess that can be forgiven. A really cool, insider look at the restaurant industry! I’m not a usual nonfiction fan but Bourdain’s voice is wry and self-aware.
If I wasn’t on a plane… I would’ve deleted this book. Normally I’m a fan of Celeste Ng’s work (Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere were both quite captivating) but this one just fell flat for me. The premise is trying too hard to be realistic and not achieving that mission whatsoever, the plot’s a little all over the place, and the book feels like it ends about 30 pages before it should. This feels like one of those ridiculous “what happens when cancel culture goes too far” kind of books but written from the left instead of the right (which doesn’t make it less ridiculous) (and I AGREE WITH HER POLITICALLY!) Anyway. Celeste Ng, please go back to writing novels for divorced women in their late 40s.
I LOVEEE the movie and wanted to see what the source material was all about. It didn’t disappoint! Bridget is deliciously realistic as a character, and even when you’re shaking your head at her antics there’s something so likeable about her. The book is significantly more dramatic than the film (really wasn’t expecting that ending) but just as full of whimsy. HELEN FIELDING PUT DOWN THE PEN WE DIDN’T NEED ALL THOSE TERRIBLE SEQUELS!!
A cute little mystery, easily finished in one or two servings. What you see is what you get: it’s straightforward, kitschy, and a little cliche, but gets the job done if you want to be entertained for a few hours. The ending fell behind as quite cartoonish but the novel as a whole was saved by some lovely characterization.
The characterization, plot, and prose are all not great. Bad, even. But this book earns 3.25 stars solely on its commitment to the belief that teenage girls can solve murders by gossiping and being on social media.