I had to give up on this story about 30 percent through because I was having a really hard time connecting with the 2 main female characters. I dont want to taint anyone else's opinion of the story but it just was not for me.

This book was simply not for me, though I feel like it might be for another audience. Like the protagonists of this story, I'm also in my 30's. I know that stories like this one typically speak to women within the 20 - 30 age bracket ---especially single women. However, I didn't enjoy being in these character's heads because there was so much honesty, self deprecation and cringe. It sent me back to a very eating disordered, immature mindset of my 20's that I do not wish to return to.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random Publishing House, and the author for providing me with the e-ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

Joy, Annie, and Celine are all mid 20's, early 30's ladies trying to figure out themselves and their lives. All having their respective faults and insecurities—this book took relatable discomfort and ran with it. I found this difficult to read because of how much I relate to the subjects within... it gave me vivid flashbacks where all I could do was cringe for my past self. It put me through all of the emotions from happy to sad, depression to longing, and especially anger. It's like looking into the heads of women struggling in this current world dynamic.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't really get far in the book because I couldn't get past the whole self-loathing the main character had for herself. I certainly couldn't connect to her either.

Thank you netgallary for this ARC.
This story follows 3 women in their 30s through their relationships with men each other and themselves as they struggle along the way. I think every woman can relate and found things though out the book very relatable. I really suggest this to all my female friends in their 20s and 30s.

Possibly this is a generational thing (I'm a gen x'er), but I just couldn't really connect with the three main characters in this novel and, ultimately, did not finish this one.

I enjoyed this book well enough that I rounded up from 3.5 stars to 4. The synopsis provides a little more intrigue than the book delivers, but it was rewarding in other ways. It did a really great job of portraying the nature of female friends who are also sometimes frenemies. It is truthful in its telling how women can find themselves being overly generous to the men in our lives at the cost of ourselves and it shines a hopeful light on how to navigate our way out of that situation. With an August release date, it'll be a great summer read - light-hearted but still grounded in reality.

Rating: 4/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Random Publishing House, and the author for providing me with the e-ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I was initially intrigued by this novel based on the cover alone and didn't know that much going into it. This made for an incredible payoff as I felt emotionally wrapped up in the lives of Joy, Annie, and Celine. I was able to relate with them and also be annoyed by choices they made. They were all complicated and messy but still very real and relatable. I am still in my 20s but I was able to recall times where I stayed with a partner for way longer than I should have but was just so unable to see that he wasn't "kind," as one of the characters has to come to terms with in this book. I loved the writing style of going back and forth between characters and felt like I could empathize with some of them more due to this. Overall, this was a great novel about friendship, family, and relationships.

Not for me. It seemed only a step above YA as far as the emotional level of the characters in the first part of the book and I did not finish it.
Joy has never had a relationship before and doesn't know how to rank her relationship with Hot Theo until her roomie tells her that Joy is in love. Sitting there watching movies together without any romance or affection week after week? Is this love? Hmm... Then Hot Theo brings his girlfriend home. Cue Joy's tears.
In the meantime, the roomie only wants to move in with her boyfriend who doesn't sound like he's the kind you'd ever return a phone call, let alone feelings, so who is she to give advice?
That's as far as I got and am not interested in knowing more.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

I absolutely love the cover, but the contents were not my cup of tea. I couldn't really connect with either of the three women that we focus on in the novel, and although I kept coming back to it and finished it, I feel like I won't remember this book going forward. It did not stick out to me, but was simply fine!

This was an exciting read in that I didn’t really know how the story would unfold. We follow Joy, Annie, and Celine, three women in their thirties as they struggle with their careers, self-love, and relationships. We are immersed in their respective perspectives and there were fascinating contradictions in how they perceive themselves and how others perceive them. I appreciated the overarching theme of “men are terrible” and Joy, Annie, and Celine finding their own versions of happiness. I really enjoyed this!

One thing I noted that felt odd to me is that the story is set in the present but didn’t necessarily read that way (perhaps it was the Jenny Craig references? Or that the characters aren’t constantly on social media?). A very minor point is that I don’t think Trader Joe’s has coupons.

Read this if you enjoy stories about women told from women’s perspectives, love and dating, journeys of self-discovery, friendship, and finding your place in the world.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for an opportunity to read this ARC. My review will be posted to Goodreads and online retailers on the publication date of August 2, 2022.

Update: I originally rated this book four stars. After reading How to Fall Out of Love Madly and moving on to other books, I found myself thinking of Joy, of Annie, and a few remembering moments during which I laughed out loud. These characters are staying with me, as are the wry observations of the experiences of being a young woman in America.

3.5 stars
The story is about three different women in their thirties and their relationship with their bodies, their families, and men. As a thirty-year-old woman, I really enjoyed this read- it was relatable, endearing, and heartbreaking. The themes in this book are well-articulated and relevant, offering thoughtful commentary on the issues that women face. However, this story has a very specific audience. It’s a book about millennials for millennials.

Thanks to Net Galley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Highly recommend!! I loved this book and all its messages of female empowerment. This was my first book to read by this author but I will definitely be on the lookout for more since I really adored this book from start to finish!

3.5 stars.

As a woman in her late twenties constantly dealing with finances versus working in an industry I love and carving out a domestic space for myself, this book almost immediately clicked with me. Reading about Annie, Joy, and Celine's troubles—personal but also wrapped up in gender and the cultural expectations foisted upon women—reminded me that my worries and anxieties and fears aren't so unrealistic, that it's an experience others share in, that I'm not as isolated as I sometimes feel. How to Fall Out of Love Madly is so much about love, but it's the love between friends and families and the love for oneself that makes this novel remarkable. I personally wanted more interaction between Joy and Celine though, especially as they navigated around one another while orbiting the same man, and there could have been more individuality when it came to the three different perspectives. That, and some of the stereotypes about men and rape left me uncomfortable.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept of how “real” this book is. The cover is what initially drew me in. In practice I didn’t connect with the writing style. Thank you for the chance to preview!

I really enjoyed this book I found it a book easy to get into.I enjoyed the women the story lines stayed up late reading I was so involved.The author has an excellent style of writing.#netgalley #randomhouse.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of How to Fall Out of Alice Madly for an honest review.

I liked this book. I think the characters were well written and and the insecurities each of them faced were relatable in their own way. We all have been that girl or know that girl and it just felt very real I guess.

I would round this book to 3.2 or even 3.5. If you're interested in a solid character development of 30 something year old women, this book is worth picking up.

Synopsis:

Joy and Annie are friends and roommates whose thirtysomething existences aren't exactly what they'd imagined for themselves. Struggling to make ends meet, they decide to rent their extra bedroom to Theo, who charms Joy with his salt-and-pepper hair and adoration of their one-eyed cat. When Annie goes to live with her boyfriend, Theo and Joy settle into a comfortable domesticity. Then Theo brings home Celine, the girlfriend he's never mentioned and who is possibly the most stunning woman Joy has ever seen. Joy resolves to do whatever it takes to nurture the bond she and Theo have forged. Anything Celine might deny him, Joy will grant. Distracted by her need to please Theo, Joy fails to see that Celine's beauty doesn't protect her from her own insecurities. Celine is so haunted by an event in her past that she can't access the confidence she yearns to exude.

Annie is worried about Joy's senseless devotion to Theo, but she has her own troubles. Eager to please her commitment-phobic boyfriend, she can't stop parsing his texts and pretending to be the easy-going, cool girl he wants. At work, where she leans into her natural assertiveness, Annie is a star. But then an anonymous letter lands on her desk accusing her esteemed and supportive boss of sexual misconduct, and Annie is forced to decide who and what she's willing to stand up for.

My thoughts: I thought this book was OK. There were just a few things that didn't do it for me BUT this did incite a lot of different emotions within me which is a good thing.

So there's this certain kind of millenial women's novel that is sort of, all anti-hero and very slow paced and just slow unravelings of everyone that make you like them less. It appears to be popular! But it is not a thing i like!

I also felt like the balance of chapter narrators was somehow off.

I would probably have DNF'd this if i didn't feel like i needed to finish it for a review. THAT SAID! I have never really liked a book in this particular subgenre, so some of this is definitely just my personal taste.

I know it’s only January and I know this is only my 6th book of the year and I know I will read many, many more in the coming months, but I also know that no matter how many I read, this one will be among my favorites!

This book is simply incredible. I cried and laughed (until I cried). I cringed and felt sadness and happiness and hope and despair. I was angry and indignant and often ready to scream. It felt so relatable and insightful.

This is a book for every woman, no matter the age - and every man as this is an education and sermon we all need equally.