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natashairene's review
3.0
I like how I could relate to her but at the same time it wasn't helpful, except for making me realize this problem probably isn't going away, any time soon. It's funny but not informative.
christiana's review
2.0
It's a terrible feeling when you realize you might be too old for a book. And that's pretty much how I felt about this one. I was hoping for more Adulting, but this book basically just took me to the pain and struggle of about 22-24. It's bad enough I had to live through that (the struggle, not the time period. I have good memories from the actual time period), it's just asking too much for Alida also to want me to laugh at her foray into it and not be eye rolly about it. Also, if you're going to do early 20s in New York City as your schtick, I feel like you gotta work a little harder for it. "Oh, my apartment is tiny and has no windows and is an 11th floor walkup." Nope. That's all been done before. Try harder.
shanshanshannon's review
1.0
I don't think this aged well, or maybe I should have read it when I was 23?
katelynwilson's review
2.0
I’ve been eyeing this book forever and finally took the plunge. It’s chapter after chapter of her drinking escapades, a bit off-putting when it’s several chapters in a row. I love a good drink- but was hoping for a bit more substance. The chapter about New York at the end was the best of the entire book.
meghan111's review
2.0
Yes, you envision your life so much differently than the reality of spending your evenings watching tv in food-stained pajamas. But this is so obviously a blog turned book - there are many repetitive jokes with the same punchline of drinking too much. It could use some structure and plot - it seemed to me, as a mid-30s-older-than-the-target-demographic reader that it's basically trying to be like the show Girls and describe the life of this freelance writer in New York, but it just didn't seem noteworthy or thoughtful or humorous to me.
kateannarmy's review against another edition
1.0
I started this book when I was 21 and didn’t manage to finish it until I was 26 because it was so bad, but I can’t get rid of a book I didn’t finish. If you are not an alcoholic you will not relate to about 80% of this book. And if you’re able to take accountability for your own life and mistakes, you won’t relate to the other 20%.
dianametzger's review
4.0
Really more like 3.75 stars. A really quick, enjoyable read with some astute insights and a bunch of literal LOL lines. Something that felt missing was that I couldn't picture any of her friends, family, apartments, etc. sometimes more about being clever than any real description and detail...but I think she considers herself more of a humorist than a memoirist so I give her a pass bc she's quite funny, even though her prose isn't great. I look forward to her work getting more interesting as she gets a bit more life experience, but I think she perfectly captures post college early 20s in this book--a perfect college grad gift.
ashleyholstrom's review
4.0
A feel-good (ok, feel-bad but then feel-good because of the solidarity) book with tidbits like this one in her imagined speech at her alma mater’s graduation ceremony: “Nobody is telling you what to do anymore — you are your own teacher, your own boss, your own captain. You have to constantly push yourself to get better, or else you will get stuck.”
Part of a review roundup at Crooked Prose.
Part of a review roundup at Crooked Prose.
craftyscene's review
3.0
More like 3.5 stars. I would have probably said this book was my Bible in my 20s. Amusing short stories about dating, friendships, and trying to figure out adulthood, but her writing is impeccable in the last chapter.