Romantic Comedy (Reese's Book Club): A Novel

4.5 Stars ⭐️ [rounded up]Romantic Comedy offers a behind-the-scenes look at working at an SNL-style comedy show & features believable, mature, clever and driven characters. This book was equal parts smart & fun - I’d definitely recommend adding it to your TBR!Thanks to Random House Publishing & NetGalley for the ARC!

I actually ADORED this story. I definitely enjoyed the first half of the book more than the latter half. I felt very involved in the TNO setting. Curtis Sittenfield is a master at putting you right into the story. I also loved the email exchanges— it felt very genuine and believable.There are two things that I didn’t mind, but I know might ward some rom com readers off.1. There is COVID as a secondary plot point. This is actually one of the better renditions I’ve read since the pandemic, but I know a lot of other readers don’t want to read it’s reality. It doesn’t overshadow the story though. It’s actually a really useful tool in the reconnection of our characters.2. Obviously given the blurb of this book, there are pretty deep feminist undertones. I do think there were two small instances of it teetering on the edge of preachy. It wasn’t distracting or overbearing though. I do love that we got a REAL fmc. 36, divorced, funny, and arbitrarily average!? LOVE IT.I definitely recommend this read, it just might not be everyone’s jam.

I've seen some mixed reviews on this one, and I can definitely see where every side comes from. I personally enjoyed this one for the most part, but definitely wouldn't call it anything super ground breaking by any means. It was fun to experience and get a behind the scenes feel of what real life shows like SNL are like. However, I do feel like there was maybe a little too much background and detail given, which maybe the author should have focused a little more on building up a more realistic connection and development of the relationship between the two main characters. I mostly enjoyed Sally as the female lead - but while she was a strong character in some scenarios, there were other times where she was just way too unconfident and self sabotage-y, which became irritating at times. I'm not the biggest fan of the narrative when the lead is their own biggest obstacle 🙄 But I did like that the author seemed to make her a "real" character. She was very relatable in that aspect. And her uh, anxieties, when it came to how one relieves themselves when in a new relationship was a very humorous bit 😆The other bit of criticism I have is that the author was very forward with where her stance is on a lot of real life topics, and this book mentions a LOT about Covid. That kind of thing doesn't always bother me, but to have a good chunk of the book to be taking place during Covid and lock downs kind of ruined the magic of disappearing into a fictional story for me, and it was just too much for me. Having to deal with that in real life was good enough for me, I'd rather not read about it when I'm trying to escape reality, thanks. And it just wasn't necessary, there could have been other scenarios used as a catalyst to get the same story across. For that reason, I can understand where a lot of people did not enjoy this one.All in all, was an enjoyable read, but not one I'd recommend to everyone.

Love her writing style. Had to order 2 of her other books! So good.

This story is about a writer for a show like Saturday Night Live falling in love with a musical guest after both kept their feelings quiet for two years, then hooking up during Covid. I thought the story jumped a bit in the first half and all in all I enjoyed the book but think it was a short story made into a long story.

100/5 starsCurtis Sittenfeld is a god-tier author in my world. When this book was released, I thought I must be on hallucinogens. For a favorite author to have written about my favorite thing- comedy, but specifically, SNL... truly, this felt written just for me. And it doesn't disappoint. The late-30s ages of our main characters. The chemistry! The banter is truly some of the best I've ever read. The (spoiler alert?) summer 2020 time jump pandemic setting and resulting PEN PAL relationship?! I am a sucker for pen pals. An absolute fool for them. And truly, I loved Sally and Noah so much. Sally feels real and anxious and devastatingly smart and so nuanced. Noah is so thoughtful and a real partner to Sally and grounded in reality while being a mega celebrity. Sittenfeld is just stunningly good at character development and Noah feels like a grown up and actualized version of Cross from "Prep", and I loved that feeling. This book is excellent. No notes. A top tier favorite for me.

I have read couple of books this year that have been set during COVID. I’ve always liked reading historical fiction where the author ties in the fictional storyline with events that actually took place, like WWII and how it affected different countries and the influx of Cubans that had to come to American because of the turmoil in their country with dictators. It is entirely different to read a book set during a catastrophic time that you actually lived through, like COVID. This book is on the lighter end, of course, being a romantic comedy. I liked all the pop culture references that were relatable and the main characters being older and established in their lives. It is a quick read!

Words cannot express how much I loved this book. I literally couldn’t put it down. I read it while eating dinner with my family. Lol. I loved the behind the scenes SNL-type inside scoop. I LOVED the character dialogue and the relationships that Sally had with her friends and family. And I loved the love story. I think Sally’s insecurities are something many of us can relate to. I laughed out loud several times, Noah made me swoon several times, and I just thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Novel is promising and original in parts. Then descends into cliche towards the end. Pretty good vocabulary and relatively strong heroine are the big selling points.

Maybe you shouldn’t start a review by talking about another book, but my introduction to Curtis Sittenfeld was “Eligible” which made me laugh so hard I felt I’d done a hundred sit-ups.So this book wasn’t what I thought I was getting. It’s hilarious and screwball and warm and all the other things she does so well. But it’s also tentative and thoughtful and really - revelatory, for want of a better term.If you want self-awareness and genuine flaws with your romantic storyline, this is the book for you. And if you just want a caper with a hunky leading man, you’ll get that served up too.

4.5 stars. A rare (for me) book that I found hard to put down till I'd read right through to the satisfying ending. The characters are believable and realistic. The behind-the-scenes look at the frenetic world of TV sketch comedy (a la Saturday Night Live) was to me quite fascinating. The romance was a bit of a slow burn, but it felt totally believable.I liked that Noah was not the cliche of celeb/pop star hero that so often feels shallow and not realistic when depicted in books. In this case, both he and Sally were drawn convincingly. Both were likeable, but somehow neither had ever met a person they could have a long-term real and satisfying relationship with. They were attracted from the start, but it did take a while for things to develop between them. I fully enjoyed the journey, and I was completely sucked in to their lives and their story. For me, a very enjoyable read.

I had a hard time with the first half but once the emails started I was hooked!! I love Sally and Noah together ❤️