Look - it is a pretty unbelievable period of history we are currently suffering through. It feels unique and my feelings, and likely yours too, are complex. I got sick earlier this week and I really felt it. It was a a 24 hour bug, but it knocked me sideways. Well, I want to tell you that I was healed through rest and hydration but the truth is, I think Shit Actually healed me.

This book is every kind of hilarious. It spoke directly to me. I have read lots of Lindy West’s work and just generally find her delightful. This book was no different and in fact, was exactly what I needed.

Each chapter is a sarcastic and hilarious take on the movies you saw in your youth (ok maybe not you, but I did). West explores Jurassic Park, Bad Boys 2, The Notebook, and many others by sardonically explaining the plots, pointing out the many plot holes, and contextualizing old movies in modern times using her trademark sarcasm, wit, and zaniness.

Endless laughs, unending nostalgia, A+ book and perfect escape, especially if you love (or loved) movies!

15/10 DVDs of the Fugitive (which = 5⭐️)

This book is so funny and scathing. I will admit, I have faves that are being skewered here, but I can handle critique! I don't agree with all of West's opinions but this was a delightful read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette for the early copy of this book in exchange for a review.

I am not a big movie person at all, but I really enjoy Lindy West so I thought I'd check out her essays on movies. I have seen a fair amount of these movies and found all the essays to be entertaining. Definitely a fun read!

I will read anything Lindy West writes. This had me laughing within a paragraph. Just what I needed in my current reading moment. I preferred to read these at my leisure (taking breaks between essays), rather than one chapter after another as the plot-summaries format can get redundant, but I will trust West anywhere she takes me. Her critical take on my favorite subject, movies, through the lens of pop-culture and societal values is well worth a read. I feel like this book is going to be my new gift-giving book...My only regret was that I couldn’t listen to this on audio, read by the author herself, as I usually do! Not to miss.

3.5/5 stars - rounded up because the essays I loved, I REALLY loved.

Lindy West is one of my favorites. Her essays are full of heart, humor, and a big ole dose of feminism. In Shit, Actually, West revisits a bunch of popular movies and offers humorous recaps that include pointing out all of the problematic bits including Love, Actually, American Pie, the Notebook, Speed, and Twilight. Confession: I have never watched the Notebook, and after reading West's essay, I don't feel like I need to and also that movie sounds WILD. Ultimately, every movie is rated on a scale of 10 DVDs of The Fugitive, which West has declared the greatest movie of all time.

The first few essays in this collection captured me immediately. I was laughing out loud and couldn't wait to see what movie came next. I did start to feel tired by the end and sometimes her plot recaps felt too long. I am glad she ended with the American Pie essay, which is pure gold. While on the surface level, it appears to be a silly series of essays, West still reminds the reader often that we are in the middle of a pandemic, Trump is still our President, racism exists, and many of the characters and plots of these movies are relevant to American "quote" values (e.g., Maverick in Top Gun taught us to "believe not just that safety is for dweebs but that it's EVIL!"). Shit, Actually serves as both a form of escapism AND a commentary on current events.

West and I are about the same age and experienced many of these movies for the first time at the same time. I, however, now know why I have felt zero urge to rewatch them all these years later. And thanks to West, I still don't feel like I need to revisit them.

If you're into this collection of essays, I highly recommend the podcast "Still Legit." They also rewatch old favorites to point out all of the problematic bits and determine if the movie is "still legit."

Thank you to NetGalley and Hatchette Books for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What can I say, this book is hilarious! I laughed so hard I cried while reading the chapter about FaceOff. I laughed so many times.
It helps that I am close in age to the author and was immersed in the same movie culture that she was as a teen and young adult.
I watched Titanic in the theater three times in 1997 and her takedown of that one was amazing.
Her ability to be hilarious, silly, and then serious all in one paragraph is one of my favorite things about her writing. This is the book I needed right now.

I’m more of a book person but in my former live I did watch some movies. I loved going through memory lane with Ms. West as she compares some of the most popular movies of our generation. I happen to be the exact same age as Ms. West - so that’s what I mean by OUR generation. I have read “The Witches Are Coming” from the author and one of my favorite was how she debunked Adam Sandler movies - I actually wrote it in my review of that book.

It seems like the only movie that I hadn’t watched was the Fugitive - which happens to be the holy grail of movies!! She goes through some of the best movies our my childhood and says all the things that you are thinking as you re-watch these movies as an adult.

Some of the movies that she dives into are:
Forrest Gump
Lion King
Shawshank Redemption
Love Actually
The Notebook
Twilight
Top Gun

This book will make you laugh out loud and want to put the books down for a night and curl up with an old movie.

I was able to receive an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"I love making fun of movies. I love turning pieces of criticism into a piece of entertainment. I love pointing out a plot hole that makes a superfan write me an angry e-mail. I love turning unsophistication into a tool. I love being hyperbolically, cathartically angry for no reason. I love being flippant and careless and meticulous all at once."

Man oh man, where do I even start? Never have I ever laughed this hard while reading a book since reading Allie Brosh's book Hyperbole and a Half.

I requested Shit, Actually from the publisher because I trust Lindy West to make me laugh-- and reading Betty was bumming me out big time. I knew I needed a laugh. What I didn't expect was reading this in the dark, on my kindle, shaking the bed with laughter, while my husband sighed next to me in resigned frustration. This is a deep belly laugh, tears streaming down your face, laugh whenever you think of it, kind of read! Don't we all need that right now??? Yes, yes we do.

Shit, Actually is a collection of movie reviews that she wrote for famous hyped movies such as Speed, Faceoff, The Lion King, Harry Potter, Twilight etc. I can't even put my finger on what specifically got me so hard in the laughs. I think what worked overtime to keep me laughing, was a combination of her spiritual gift of finding plot holes in places most people have just accepted and her ability to shed light on problematic themes in the name of entertainment.

If you are unfamiliar with her work, I am linking two of her movie reviews below as a taste of the wonderful laughter that is to come in the pages of this masterpiece! This is a book that I seriously cannot wait for you all to get your hands on so we can discuss it and laugh together. I did see on Lindy West's instagram that she will be doing the audiobook for this and I will 100% be listening to that the very second it is available to me!!!!!!


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars


You can find this book at your favorite place to shop books on October 20th! Or pre-order it now!


Thank you to Hachette Publishing for a copy of this Shit, Actually in exchange for an honest review!

I will always read anything that Lindy West writes. And there's a 90% guarantee that I will laugh my ass off doing so. This is a nice change of pace from The Witches Are Coming - although that book was one of my favorites from 2019 - there's very little politics in this, it's just Lindy West watching movies and being hilarious. I don't know how else to sell this to you - but that should be enough! Lindy West is funny and awesome, and I want to support her watching some trashy popular movies and giving us her rating out of 10 DVDs of The Fugitive, which she says is "the only good movie."

The only thing I'll note is that you kind of have to be familiar with the movies she's writing about. If not having seen them, then you should at least have a prior idea of what the movie is about. I tried - really tried - to follow the plots of the movies that I haven't seen, but it was a struggle. Many inside jokes were lost on me because I have little knowledge of 80s and 90s pop culture. But for those who are a little older than me or a little more well-versed in popular movies, you'll have no problems here!

Overall, recommend. Go buy her book and all her other books too, while you're at it. Thank you to Hachette for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette for this advanced reader's copy of Shit, Actually by Lindy West.

If you're looking for hard-hitting critiques of art house indies, you've come to the wrong place. If you're looking for an actually enjoyable expose of the ups and downs of movie classics, look no further because this is about to be your new favorite book. For hot takes on such modern classics as Bad Boys II, The Lion King, and the best movie ever made, The Fugitive, look no further. Lindy West has put together a collection of movie reviews that is as honest, unique, and original as she is. Most importantly, this book made me laugh and don't we all need that right now?

I enjoyed these snarky essays written about movies from my younger days. I will say that this book reads better as something you pick up and read one and then set it down. When I tried to reach a handful of the essays at once, I found my mind wandering. I liken it to TV shows - some are great to binge and others work better watching one episode at a time. If I hadn't seen the movie being discussed or hadn't seen it in a looooong time, the essay was less engaging. And my biggest complaint was that the essay rarely says which movie it's about until a few paragraphs in. In one case, not until page 5. Sure, I could figure it out for most, but why make the reader work so hard?

Honestly, what can I say at this point that I haven't already said in praise of Lindy West? I'm so incredibly grateful to Netgalley for honoring an ARC request during this difficult time. Lindy is the most deliciously delightful escapism. She's funny and insightful and always manages to say things you wish you'd have thought of yourself. The nostalgia is especially endearing in this one. Forest Gump, The Notebook, The Lion King - you find yourself laughing out loud and agreeing with everything Lindy has to say for some rare blissful moments of respite. I can't recommend her books enough and Shit, Actually is yet another feather in her cap. Despite my best efforts to savor it, my only regret is that I read it too quickly!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

As a fan of Lindy West's previous two books, I was so excited to get a chance to read "Shit, Actually" prior to its release. This collection of essays is a pure delight to read and definitely something that you can skip in and out of whenever you're looking for an easy laugh. West's writing is sharp, witty, and, occasionally, chaotic in an utterly charming way. I was hooked from the opening essay and had so much fun reading through a few of these essays each day. A great gift for any movie or pop culture lover in your life!

Lindy West has done us all a favor and re-watched some iconic movies of the past 40 years so she could let us know how well they hold up in pop culture history during the dumpster fire year of 2020.
West immediately informs us that The Fugitive is the most perfect movie ever made and it is by this standard that she rates all other movies.

Forrest Gump, The Notebook, Twilight, Terminator 2, and Face/Off are just a few snarky reviews you’ll find in Shit, Actually. There were some literal lol moments here, my favorite being when she compares the energy of young Edward Furlong (in T2) to a current Kristen Stewart. That is such a random but also incredibly accurate statement.

It’s snarky/entertaining, nostalgic, reads like a friend summarizing a movie after a couple drinks, and will eventually feel like a time capsule with the many mentions of current events.

If you like snark, brutally honest movie reviews, lots of all-caps writing and generous punctuation; this is a book worth picking up. I enjoyed reading one or two reviews in a sitting when I had a few free minutes over the course of a week.

Thanks to Hachette Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema is scheduled for release on October 20, 2020.

9 out 10 dvds of The Fugitive

I think I just want to consume movies through Lindy West retelling me the plot of them from now on.

I requested this book immediately because I’m a big Lindy West fan. I love Shrill (both the book and the TV show) and West’s unflinching feminist commentary always makes me both laugh and think.

This book is worth reading for the hilarious “Love, Actually” chapter alone. I also really enjoyed her analysis of “American Pie” and “The Fugitive.” Unfortunately I wasn’t as big a fan of some of the other movie choices. Movies like “Speed 2” and “The Rock” don’t really interest me enough to keep me invested in an entire detailed analysis. A lot of times, a subpar, sexist or otherwise problematic or outdated movie is just reviewed in order to snark on it, which can be fun (as in the case of “Forrest Gump” and “Love Actually”) but also somewhat tedious if it’s an obscure movie you have not seen and have no desire to watch. In the latter case it’s a bit like shooting fish in a barrel and not as funny or interesting as I know West can be.

Though not one of my favorites of West’s books, her writing is as always incisive, funny, and entertaining, so always worth the read. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette and Lindy West for the advance copy to read!

In this book, each chapter is a hilarious description of a popular, classic movie and includes criticism of why it was problematic, particular for women and/or fat characters. I did skip the chapters of movies I’ve never seen and have no desire to (Harry Potter, Terminator 2) but enjoyed the ones about movies I’ve seen multiple times (Twilight, The Notebook, Shawshank Redemption). I was hesitant to read this book because I knew she was going to destroy one of my favorite movies of all time, Love Actually (what the Shit, Actually title of this book refers to). How did I not know she wrote the Jezebel article they repost every December that rips it apart? Anyway, that chapter was very funny and I understand why when viewed under a critical lens it does not hold up, but it is dear to my heart regardless. She rates every film compared to what she describes as the perfect movie, The Fugitive. Sorry Lindy, but that one is super boring! Overall a fun read if you enjoy film critiques.

Lindy West rewatches and recounts several famous movies exposing problematic characters and absurd storylines, and giving mega praise when due. This was just the light read I needed. She mentions covid and our current political climate several times, so for max lulz, consume sooner rather than later.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hachette, for this ARC!

I have mixed feelings on this book. West has filled this book with a bunch of reviews? summaries? commentaries? of a wide variety of movies, from The Lion King to The Shawshank Redemption to Speed. Some were very funny, I particularly enjoyed the American Pie one (those movies are full of terrible people!). A lot of them point out of some really problematic parts of widely beloved movies. Some just felt mean and snarky instead of funny. Definitely think people who enjoyed West's previous work will enjoy this, but only if you're not too precious about your favorite movies because any movie included in this collection is NOT spared.

This is a collection of funny, silly, snarky movie reviews, that actually feels like a stream of live tweets for a rewatching party. The essays are mostly focused on cheesy 80’s and 90’s movies that we loved at the time, know that they really don’t hold up, but still kinda secretly love. I think this is a book to dip in and out of, and not read in one sitting, as the style of each review is quite similar (and I honestly started to find the excessive use of ALL CAPS yelling a little tedious!) But overall a fun read, that will make you cringe and giggle...