Reviews

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher

kaitiecakes's review

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2.0

I decided to give this book another chance but on audio this time. I didn’t hate it as much as I did the last time but I still think it could have been done so much better!

This book was DISAPPOINTING!!!! I’ve never known I was going to HATE a book from the first sentence let alone the first chapter. This book was garbage, sorry to say it. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and now it’s my least favourite of the year and I’ve read ALOT of disappointing books this year it seems. I hated the writing and the story in general. Everything I had heard about this book said it was bad but I didn’t believe it could be as bad as my was, but unfortunately it was even worse then I had imagined. I decided to torture myself by reading this book so that I could for sure know that I would hate it, and I did. There wasn’t a point in this story at all that I liked until the main female, sorry cis-female, was having a fight with the bitch of the office and the bitch of the office calls her out on being a bitch be had honestly that’s all she was was a BITCH! I can honestly say I’ve never hated a main character as much as I hated Hannah. Jack was ok in parts but Hannah, omg don’t even get me started!
Needless to say I will never be picking up another book by this author and I will be returning my copy to the store I bought it from.

angelrose's review

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4.0

Super cute! Didn’t take me long to get into it but towards the end I was a little slumpy. Worth it though! Also my own fault because I suck at reading this year!
I thought there were a lot of interesting relationship dynamics involved that left me hooked. Loved the little peeks of Catholicism too since that’s not something I normally see. It felt organic and fun without being sacrilegious. Some of the conflicts felt a little forced, but the adorable chemistry between Jack and Hannah made it easy to overlook. And I absolutely loved the twist on How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days. An original take on another piece of art!

lindyspence's review

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2.0

Didn't rip through it like I normally do and I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style but I did finish it.

smallsreadsbooks's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

3.75

I want to thank past me for randomly deciding to get this at half price books and giving it a chance based on the fact that there was a French bull dog on the cover 

We got fake (?) dating (but they don’t know each other fake dating), miscommunication, hard shell female with heart of gold, and kind of golden retriever boyfriend who is trying to be a dick and failing 

Solid book

kingsnail's review against another edition

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*Linda Belcher voice* “Well, I loved it.”

Was it ridiculous and over the top? Yes.
Was it also a goddamn delight? YES. 

It’s essentially a book adaptation of one of the best rom coms of all time, what’s not to love??
Are you telling me that you WOULDNT find the idea of Meghan Markle (the vibe, but not actually her) and Katherine Hahn (actually her) as roommates fascinating? Add the plot of How To Lose a Guy? I was enthralled

kraskin's review against another edition

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3.25

Are there actual brown adults that say “nakey” or “sexy times”? Otherwise enjoyable 

thephdivabooks's review

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2.0

A re-imagined How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the millennial generation, Andie J Christopher’s novel Not the Girl You Marry was a fun book to read, but one that ultimately altered too much of the central aspect to the original movie to work for me. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy here so let’s dive in!

I think there are lots of readers who will and have loved this book, and there were definitely things I liked about it as well. The movie is one of my favorites, and this book somehow managed to be almost exactly like it, and nothing like it at all. It was fun to see what aspects the author wanted to re-imagine. But that brings me to my first point, and one I couldn’t have anticipated until I saw how it played out…

The gender reversal of the original story is problematic--it was a fun idea, but one that did not work for me. When I read it, I didn't enjoy seeing Jack emulate the kind of toxic, misogynistic behavior that men treat their partners with all of the time. It wasn’t cute, or easy to stomach. The original worked because they both in some ways pretended to be into one another but didn’t realize that they actually were. Here, I struggled watching Hannah pretend that Jack’s bad behavior wasn’t a problem. I didn’t like watching her “play it cool” when he did truly appalling and damaging things. I also felt like I struggled to see Jack as the nice guy that he was, when he was treating Hannah so poorly. I was left with the impression that he thought way more highly of himself than he deserved.

Let’s talk about Hannah for a moment. I loved her, and I loved that the author chose to make her biracial. We saw quite a bit play out in terms of how some biracial women may experience dating, and I thought that as great to see in a main stream contemporary romance novel. Hannah herself is tough on the outside, but vulnerable inside. I also loved her friendship with Sasha, who was a really fun character as well. And I think these two are where Christopher’s writing really shone in this book! I also have to say, the event planning space was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed the story of the wedding she was trying to help plan.

Many of these scenes were almost exactly out of the movie, and I think that’s where you see some readers saying this was too much like the film. I thought those scenes were a lot of fun. For instance, in the big party when everything comes to a head, I thought it was a fun re-telling of the original movie and I was so glad to see that scene included!

The problem is, I learned through reading this that delving into the mindset of the two main characters reveals a troubling aspect that the film was able to gloss over. Here we see chapter after chapter of how much these characters like one another and don’t want to go forward with their manipulation. And yet, they still do it. And somehow, seeing how much they didn’t want to do it took a bit of the fun out of the plot for me. The movie worked because neither had real feelings at first. They met because of their work assignments. Here, they actually meet and form a connection before their assignments, and it bothered me.

Let’s get to the

jrv45's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

jenvanderschans's review

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

marieintheraw's review

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2.0

I see the loose threads to How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days, but that is what barely kept me attached to this story. The characters spoke and acted very out of of character for this setting and it overall was unnerving. Overall, this was such a disappointing romance for me.

I received an ecopy of this through Netgalley; however, all opinions are my own