I'm a huge fan of Lindy West and all her various projects, including her "Love Actually" essay that is featured in this book and was the inspiration for it. I would recommend reading in bursts, or moving around different chapters. A lot of the essays read as a blog post would, which is good and bad? This is specific to me, but I hadn't seen several of these movies, or I hadn't seen them recently enough to even know what movie the chapter was about in some cases. I enjoy these as standalone essays, but reading at once was a bit overwhelming. I found myself skipping paragraphs and in some cases, pages.

Thanks to Hachette Books via NetGalley for letting me read this in advance of the release date.

Shit, Actually by Lindy West was the absolute perfect book choice for the recent cold and rainy weekend. This book had me laughing out loud continuously - much to my husband’s confusion. Her smart-ass observations on movies, both good and bad, were hilariously on point. Seriously, how can anyone watch Love, Actually and think that it’s a good romcom and not completely emotionally twisted?! Her comedic analysis of The Fugitive - totally agree! ⁣
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I think her and I being similar in age also helped me understand exactly where she was coming from in her essay observations - especially when she emphasizes opinions changing from viewing films as they were released to viewing them now. My only complaint: there are a few movies I can think of that I would love to hear her opinions on after reading her other essays. But that’s not really as much of a complaint as it is a hope for another book like this one.⁣
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The amount of pleasure a reader can derive from this collection is in direct proportion to their familiarity with the movies West skewers herein. I must admit there were several I hadn't seen (despite going to many), but still, I laughed at parts, cringed at others, and even when I didn't agree, found something to appreciate in each.

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.

Shit, Actually by Lindy West is such a good pick for all of your movie loving friends for Christmas. It comes out this month, and I highly recommend it for any movie buffs who want to laugh out loud.

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!

Although I will continue to line up to read anything new from Lindy West, Shit, Actually was a collection with a few highlights and several misses. I’m looking forward to future writing and sad this one didn’t land for me.

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.