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kyriannaj's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
This book heavily deals with COVID in the immediate summer of 2020 with uncertainty, anxieties, and all other political events that happened in the US during that time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Death, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Cursing, Eating disorder, Police brutality, Addiction, and Alcohol
manaledi's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Despite its title, I didn't find this book particularly either a romance or a comedy but rather a somewhat intense exploration of the gendered politics of attraction and expectation. It felt inspired by why are all these successful beautiful women dating Pete Davidson and at times verged too far into I promise I did my research about what SNL is actually like. But there were funny and poignant parts of it and I quite liked the middle emails.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Addiction, Sexual content, and Sexism
Minor: Cursing, Excrement, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
emilymazzara's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was such a fun read! As someone who has never sat and watched a full episode of SNL, weirdly enough, this has made me want to. The way the author portrays working there has given me a whole new appreciation for the crazy work that they do at that show. Not only that, but the entire portrayal of life in and on the fringes of fame is insightful, realistic, and impeccably charming. I especially adored the way the natural insecurities, anxieties, and neurosis Sally has are written (partially because I feel SEEN and partially because they were done with such an exacting attention to detail).
The love story here was beautiful in all its messiness and flaws. I can’t help but applaud the balance Sittenfeld was able to strike between the MCs communicating like adults and miscommunicating like humans. Truly just delightful from beginning to end!
The love story here was beautiful in all its messiness and flaws. I can’t help but applaud the balance Sittenfeld was able to strike between the MCs communicating like adults and miscommunicating like humans. Truly just delightful from beginning to end!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Death of parent and Sexism
brebooks_'s review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Love the realistic depiction of the 2020 struggles and concerns.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Sexism and Body shaming
abidavisf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Sexy, funny and deeply heart-warming, Romantic Comedy is a triumph.
This story reads like a conversation. It is not filled with drama and action, but raw human emotion and interaction. I’ve never read prose like this before and I loved it. I listened to the audio book and found myself giggling at my desk at the end of Chapter 2.
I’ll now be buying the physical copy because I need to read this again and desperately need to make notes!
Two of my favourite lines:
1. “If you were a musician, you got to be viscerally magical.”
2. “When I’m talking to you, I’m a funnier and smarter version of myself because you are funny and smart.”
This story reads like a conversation. It is not filled with drama and action, but raw human emotion and interaction. I’ve never read prose like this before and I loved it. I listened to the audio book and found myself giggling at my desk at the end of Chapter 2.
I’ll now be buying the physical copy because I need to read this again and desperately need to make notes!
Two of my favourite lines:
1. “If you were a musician, you got to be viscerally magical.”
2. “When I’m talking to you, I’m a funnier and smarter version of myself because you are funny and smart.”
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Excrement, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Medical content, Sexism, Cancer, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
danikajoan's review
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I enjoyed the second and third parts of this book much more than the first, and I trudged through the first part because I’ve enjoyed other books by this author so I was hopeful it would redeem itself, which it only sort of did? My main issue with the first part of the book is that I didn’t find the main character (or most of the sketches she was pitching) funny, with the exception of the dog internet searches. The behind-the-scenes SNL stuff was interesting but I prefer to read Amy Poehler or Tina Fey’s memoirs for that.
later, I really enjoyed the emails and the start of their relationship, but there are so many communication issues and unhealthy dynamics that it was hard to root for them as a couple.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Excrement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Medical content, Grief, and Body shaming
mraddd's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Body shaming
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Cancer
amyvl93's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I love Curtis Sittenfeld so I was quite sad that this didn't hit as much as I was willing it to.
Romantic Comedy follows Sally, a resolutely single woman in her late 30s who writes for the regular comedy sketch show The Night Owls (aka SNL), who meets very famous pop singer Noah Brewster when he is the host and music guest one week in 2018. They appear to connect until they don't; before reconnecting during the pandemic. But famous hot men don't date normie women...right?
The normal person/famous person couple is a trope that is hugely popular in romcoms, and one that I usually enjoy but unfortunately for this book I just didn't feel the chemistry between Noah and Sally until fairly late in the novel. This may be because we're in Sally's head, but I also didn't feel that their conversations and even emails felt that flirty and romantic. Also whilst Sally was a times irritating, she did feel like a nuanced character - Noah had no shades of grey to him, which made him a slightly uninteresting character to root for.
There's also a whole lot of inside baseball about the making of comedy sketch shows which did feel a bit too detailed for my tastes, and whilst Sittenfeld definitely captures the anxiety of Covid-19 very well, there were a lot of topical references that felt a tad on the nose, although that may be because we're still very close to these events.
What worked well for me was the supporting characters; the rest of the writers & performers at The Night Owl, Sally's stepfather and beagle, and the entirely believable celebrity universe that Sittenfeld creates that sits around the characters.
I could see this being a, ahem, romantic comedy fluffy film but it didn't work overly well for me as a novel.
Romantic Comedy follows Sally, a resolutely single woman in her late 30s who writes for the regular comedy sketch show The Night Owls (aka SNL), who meets very famous pop singer Noah Brewster when he is the host and music guest one week in 2018. They appear to connect until they don't; before reconnecting during the pandemic. But famous hot men don't date normie women...right?
The normal person/famous person couple is a trope that is hugely popular in romcoms, and one that I usually enjoy but unfortunately for this book I just didn't feel the chemistry between Noah and Sally until fairly late in the novel. This may be because we're in Sally's head, but I also didn't feel that their conversations and even emails felt that flirty and romantic. Also whilst Sally was a times irritating, she did feel like a nuanced character - Noah had no shades of grey to him, which made him a slightly uninteresting character to root for.
There's also a whole lot of inside baseball about the making of comedy sketch shows which did feel a bit too detailed for my tastes, and whilst Sittenfeld definitely captures the anxiety of Covid-19 very well, there were a lot of topical references that felt a tad on the nose, although that may be because we're still very close to these events.
What worked well for me was the supporting characters; the rest of the writers & performers at The Night Owl, Sally's stepfather and beagle, and the entirely believable celebrity universe that Sittenfeld creates that sits around the characters.
I could see this being a, ahem, romantic comedy fluffy film but it didn't work overly well for me as a novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcoholism, and Sexism
kcarney86's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
lillyreadstoomuch's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism