DNF @ 41% I am not one to not finish books, but I just couldn’t force myself to get through The Girl Least Likely. I am very sad because I really wanted to like this one. The cover is beautiful and amazing and the plot seemed so interesting. But, the book was really lacking in execution and was not attention grabbing. So much so that I ended up not being able to push through to the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for providing me with an audiobook arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

A rom com for fans of rom coms! Through a series of mis-haps high school junior Gretchen ends up performing stand-up comedy at a local bar. In the process she ends up processing her crush, finding her voice, becoming a good comedian. She also loves classic rom-coms and constantly praises them while finding things to compare with her own life, and making very apt and funny complaints about the ways they fall short. A sweet and fun ride for YA rom com fans

The Girl Least Likely
Author: Katy Loutzenhiser
Rating: ★ ★ ★ (3 out of 5 stars)
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Thank you @netgalley for the audio ARC of The Girl Least Likely in exchange for an honest review.

Review:
Gretchen is awkward, funny, and just trying to find her true self. This audiobook was a great, relatable coming to age story with a great mix of comedy.

As Gretchen begins her comedic journey and begins to write her own jokes, she begins to realize more about herself and that she is truly in love with her best friend, Sam. This book is so relatable, light, and while it wasn’t for me I am sure many will find plenty of joy from reading it.

Gretchen occasionally reads as “I'm not like other girls” but overall I think it worked for this story. The author, Katy Loutzenhiser, made a lot of references to rom-coms so if you're someone who likes the staples this is the book for you. I think the author captures the feeling of knowing that you're going into a transitional period in your life very well. Gretchen's stress and fear of Sam as well as her other friend leaving her once they graduate is something that I think people can relate to whether they're in high school or graduating from college. With the weight of the world has been working in the past two years I think that people are realizing that change is out of our control the sometimes we want to desperately cling onto what we view as a sense of normalcy and this book nails that. I could feel all of the frustration and Desperation that Gretchen had to just keep things as close to the way that they had been if she could in order to maintain a sense of peace that she had. And I think that it's so interesting that the author went into the way that while we try to cling onto a sense of sameness and the way that things have always been we also adapt and change on our own. Watching that internal struggle within it Gretchen with something that I found very interesting to read.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me access to an ARC of the audiobook. I enjoyed the narrator that was selected for this novel.

Thank you for the Audio ARC #NetGalley
Katy Loutzenhiser's The Girl Least Likely was pitched as a mix of adolescent tropes with a mix of All the Boys meets Ms. Maisel. This book missed the mark in my opinion. I was a bit underwhelmed. It could be an issue with the story or a wrong book, wrong time ,for this reader. It took me a long time to get through this book with a synthetic voice.

Now this is what the meaning of romcom should be. This story was so sweet and funny I just couldn’t stop! The entire story was based on a romcom full of cliches and I was enjoying every single part of it. The story has a nice rhythm and it all flows pretty nicely. And I knew I was going to love this since the very first chapter.
I thought it was a cliche idea of the main character being obsessed with romcoms but the fact that she actually wanted to do stand up was something else that added to her personality in an amazing way. I did feel she was genuinely funny and not forced into the character.
I love all the characters… Gretchen/Sabrina, Ethan, Sam and Jeremy. Gretchen was such a fun character to follow and her story might feel flat to some but I thought was perfect for a romantic contemporary YA romance. Ethan was definitely my favorite character. I don’t really know why but I just loved him. Sam, in my opinion, was more mature from what I first thought and I really appreciate that. On the other hand Jeremy always gave me a weird vibe but still was enjoying him so much. The relationship she has with her family was really cute and I thought it was such a good representation of being the youngest sibling and trying to figure out your life into it.
I enjoy this book and would recommend it.
Spoiler ---------
I love the story of Gretchen and Ethan. I knew it was going to happen from the very beginning and I couldn’t be happier about it.
About Jeremy, I knew that the fact that I never really trusted him was part of his character.
I also appreciated the fact that Gretchen didn’t win the competition since it would have been very perfect for the story.

I really enjoyed this book, it had so many interesting relationship dynamics as well as the age old "who am I" that all of us seem to go through at some point, especially in the teen years. I love a story where the character actually goes through difficult things and comes out better themselves without blaming others for all her faults. This story does all that. While the realationships wrapped up nicely the ending still felt a little unfished for me. But all in all a nice easy YA romance read.

A truly heartfelt and surprising high school romantic comedy! Gretchen feels like all her friends have other friends and are moving on without her. She hates change, might be falling for her best friend Sam, and finds herself isolating more and more. A case of stolen identity leads her to standup comedy, new and old friends, and a few kisses along the way!

I really enjoyed this book! It was engaging and actually had an unpredictable twist. I liked the inclusion of many classic romcom tropes while also recognizing that some of them are not ideal foundations for relationships. I loved how Gretchen was a realistic high school comic: she had a lot to learn, many an awkward moment, and was not a once in a lifetime talent by the end. I wish the ending was less rushed, but it is a fun and unique take on a coming of age story!

4.5 stars *Thank you to Harper Audio for this VoiceGalley in exchange for an honest review!*

Audio ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, The Girl Least Likely. Did Katy Loutzenhiser hop inside my brain and bring all of my high school memories, and fantasies to life? Yes, she must have.

The book focuses on Gretchen an easily loveable girl who just hasn’t found her place yet. She is the youngest of three which I don’t totally understand being an only child but I get the impression she’s on the outside looking in a lot. Then she finds stand up and it’s just perfect for her, even in the case of stolen identity.

There are plenty of teenage moments that will bring you back to your own memories to either cringe or laugh along with. It was also really nice to have a YA novel where our lead isn’t just obsessed with sex the romance was there but so were the genuine relationships Gretchen has, builds, and forms through the book overall.
Overall, it’s a great coming of age story that thinks out of the box in regards to the typical YA romance genre and truly allows the character development that many of these stories can be lacking.

This coming of age story is about a teenage girl and stand-up comic, who is learning about herself, discovering who she really is and wants to be.

I expect a lot when a book compares itself to To All the Boys I've Loved Before and this did not meet my expectations. Perhaps twenty year old college students like myself are not the target audience, but as someone who reads this genre often, I found The Girl Least Likely very average. I enjoyed the main character and the personal journey she went on throughout the book, but every other character felt very underdeveloped. There were three love interests, and I knew very little about any of them. Gretchen ended up with who I expected, but I never felt as though the two had an evident connection. And she supposedly cared a lot for her fellow comedians, but we saw very little of their interactions to make the audience believe they had a real friendship.

The idea of incorporating rom-com movie tropes into a romance novel is not new, and I did not feel as though this did it especially well. I would have liked it if the author went for it more, rather than randomly throwing rom-com movie scenes in every once and awhile. That being said, I thought the final grand gesture using these tropes was really cute. The last thing that really did not work for me in this novel was the comedy. I know everyone has a different sense of humor, but it felt more like Gretchen was using stand up comedy as a therapy session and it never crossed the line into funny jokes. I hope some will find humor in it, but it just was not for me.

This was a fun novel - I loved the main character! She loves Rom-Coms and the book actually feels like it's own Rom-Com. It's the perfect summer read, esp for New Age. I laughed out loud in parts! Thank you for my audiobook.

In The Girl Least Likely, Gretchen learns so much about who she is and who she could be if she stopped controlling and judging herself. It was such a beautiful story to see Gretchen learn and grow, and I hope these lessons can become ones young girls can read and learn through Gretchen. You can be your own self-saboteur, so take a moment and think about what you might be holding yourself back from and why.

This book has an amazing message. Sometimes, you put yourself in a box. You might not even realize that you’ve done it to yourself. You hit self-imposed limits and shut down when what you need to do is to learn to start questioning these limits. Do you really, truly, not like xyz thing? Or are you just scared of what could happen if you try it? Are you just scared about what could happen if it turns out that you like it?

For the thought-provoking message, on top of the stellar prose, and hilarious humor, The Girl Least Likely will definitely become a must-have contemporary book for Teen and YA libraries!

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel meets (insert your favorite rom-com) here.Thank you to #netgalley for this ERC which I absolutely loved.

You know that “most likely” section in high school yearbooks? High school Junior Gretchen is more of a “least likely” kind of girl until she finds herself in a situation worthy of a rom-com movie and living a secret life as a stand up comedian.

What I loved: even though the idea of comparing the protagonist to a rom-com is a bit played out, the author managed to write a very fresh take on it. At some point the ending did start becoming somewhat predictable, but that didn’t take away from some very unexpected twists and all of the laugh out loud moments. As a fan of stand-up comedy I really enjoyed witnessing the way Gretchen turned the not so great moments in her life into really funny stand-up sets.

This book was very cute- not your typical YA Rom-Com. This book felt like it was Mrs. Maisel for YA!

The narration made it hard to follow, but once I got into the book I really liked the story. It was fun and funny and I would definitely recommend!

What a fun comedy! Loved the progression of the main character finding herself through putting on an act. The romance was slapstick silly and the friendships were very nice.

I did not care for the narration.

The Girl Least Likely was a sleeper book for me. Once I got used to the synthesized voice on the Audiobook ARC, I really enjoyed the story. There were times during the "stand-up sets" that I found myself laughing out loud. The start of the story is a slow burn. It takes a moment for the meat of the story to come through, but once it does it is a book that is truly entertaining.

Laugh out loud funny in parts. Gretchen is highly relatable and the story has just enough surprises to keep the reader guessing. Some drinking and swearing but otherwise very PG. Thank you NetGalley the ARC.

A high school student finds herself lying about her identity and participating in a stand up comedy competition as she navigates how to be her truest self.

This was such a cute young adult story and I devoured the audio in two days. Gretchen was a great main character who is trying to come out of her shell and figure out what she wants. She is funny and relatable as she navigates friendships, relationships, and her budding interest in comedy.

I liked watching her find her confidence and find the courage to go after what she wants. I enjoyed the story and recommend it for fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or To All the Boys I've Loved Before.