Weirdo is a book I had high hopes for but unfortunately wasn’t my cup of tea.
The book is about a girl called sophie who has had a toxic life and has toxic relationships. She makes very bad life choices and makes this for me an incredibly sad story. Sophie is struggling with debt, this is because she went to Australia to try and find an ex colleague she was infatuated with. The book is told totally in first person and for me this didn’t work. The book is like listening to someone go on and on with no real direction. I found myself skipping pages as couldn’t get myself to like Sophie.
I don’t like to leave a low rating but I have to be honest with this one and it wasn’t for me but it maybe for you.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Faber And Faber for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be very rambly. I was not very interssted in any of the characters or the story line and I found it to be bland, This book is not for me.

Weirdo is written by comedienne and tv personality Sara Pascoe and her frank, dry humour really jumps out from the pages!

Main character Sophie is blunt and awkward, (possibly neurodivergent) and always seems to say and do the wrong thing. She doesn't have any problem meeting friends and getting boyfriends, but for some reason everything seems to go wrong.  She is difficult to like but at the same time we feel for her and can sympathise with her problems.

Funny, frank, heart-breaking in places and a little bit dark!

Sara Pascoe has written a few non fiction books for adults, and Weirdo is her first fiction novel.

Sophie is a thirty something woman in London who is struggling to hold it all together. She’s in a loveless relationship, her sister is marrying her ex-boyfriend and nothing goes right for her. All she needs is that one big thing to go her way, and she’ll be fine.

Obviously, Sophie is not Sara, although at times it’s difficult to not picture her in the titular role - she was a tour guide and is from Essex, like Sara. I think I pictured her like a younger, less funny Sara, to be honest.

TW: I need to say upfront that there are references and experiences of abuse and abortion in this - while it’s sympathetic, there are some sensitive events described.

I really liked the character, and I was rooting for her all the way through - even though she makes bad decisions in basically every chapter. Personally, I struggle with main characters who constantly make the wrong choice - I end up shouting at them like you shout at the person going upstairs in the spooky house: “Don’t do it! Don’t go up there!”. It’s really easy to sit on your sofa and recognise that the guy Sophie’s in love with is bad news for her, it’s much more difficult to see that when you’re in the situation, and when your heart is involved too.

I really wanted to just sit Sophie down with a cup of hot tea and a hug. Maybe because, as irritating as she is and we’re quite far apart in terms of personality, she reminds me of me.
There’s a Christmas day in the middle of the book with her mum and sister, and I recognised so much of the awkward tension, the fear of causing an argument, that I sent some of it to my sister. It’s like Sara was in my head, at some points, her writing was so accurate.

Rather than the romantic relationship, actually, the central one is the sisters as they form their own bond, outside of the tension and competition with the mother.

For readers who like Fleabag and Sorrow & Bliss - modern women finding their way and finding that they can lean on each other for support. I love Sara Pascoe’s comedy and her presenting on Great British Sewing Bee - her writing is just as enjoyable.

This is a frank, well-written story of one woman’s quest to get through life as best she can. The main character, Sophie, finding herself in both debt and a relationship that she is dissatisfied with, has her life turned upside down when the man of her dreams – a former colleague, Chris – turns up at the bar where she works. We then follow Sophie as she tries to navigate reconnecting with Chris while also surviving Christmas with her family.

The fact that the author is a comic is evident, as there are some incredibly witty, laugh out loud passages throughout the book. However, these are lighter moments in what is essentially a rather heartbreaking story. I love the author, and the main character, but found the story rather relentlessly bleak. Therefore, while I enjoyed the writing, I didn’t love the story. I would absolutely read more by this author, however, and would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys offbeat character studies.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

DNF - I read a quarter of the book and the writing style did not appeal. It seemed too formulaic and predictable.

Sorry not for me. I couldn't get into one, it just felt a little all over the place. Unfortunately I DNF at 18%

I really enjoyed this even though it wasn’t what I was expecting!
I felt for Sophie at many points through the novel but didn’t necessarily find her a likeable character, just an incredibly frustrating one. If this is what the author was trying to achieve, she certainly succeeded. I liked the ambiguous ending - a happy one wouldn’t have worked with what had come before but an obviously unhappy one would have been too much with all that she’d been through before.

I’m quite surprised that this book has attracted such harsh reviews because I really enjoyed it. Sophie isn’t the most likeable protagonist but since when did that matter?! Pascoe is a good writer, as she has demonstrated previously in her non-fiction, and I thought that her humour translated well to fiction. Weirdo has some excellent throwaway lines that really floored me, and I was really rooting for Sophie by the end (perhaps I’m in the minority there!). Overall, this fits nicely into the millennial fiction subgenre; perhaps readers have found it more relatable than they want to admit.

Sophie is working in a bar trying to pay off large debts mainly accumulated chasing a man to Australia and trying to decide if she is still in love with her boyfriend Ian.
She thinks she’s a bit weird but really she is just a self obsessed, neurotic individual living off the men in her life. At one point I thought this was trying to be a Bridget Jones but if fails fantastically on that front least of all because it’s 2023, society has moved on and the humour just isn’t there.
This really wasn’t for me but thanks to NetGalley.Co.uk and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I love Sara Pascoe’s non-fiction and her comedy so had high hopes for her novel but it just wasn’t for me.

With character driven novels I need to be able to connect and empathise with the characters in some way but I just didn’t like Sophie at all and that really affected my reading experience to be honest.

I’m sure people will like this one but it wasn’t for me.

I liked the blurb for the book and was looking forward to reading it but found the book slightly awkward.

I did finish it but I don't think I really enjoyed it and probably wouldn't read another book written by her.

Refreshingly different, so much so I’m not sure this book sits comfortably in the romcom genre. I think most of us occasionally/often wonder if there’s something a bit abnormal about us and this book both brings comfort that that trait is in fact completely normal, and reinforces that perhaps everyone is worried about something. But there are lessons to be heeded from this lead character about the repercussions of chasing someone halfway round the world.

I really enjoyed this book. I like the writing style, it seemed very real. I was totally rooting for the main character, I wanted her to sort her life out and be happy. I have read some other reviews that didn’t like the ending, it’s a slice of life and you just get to drop in and then it’s done. I definitely recommend this book, I think it might be marmite, for me, I loved it. Thank you #netgalley

This wasn't for me - I love Sara Pascoe's non fiction, but this book dragged for me. I didn't particularly warm up to Sophie or the rest of the characters, and while it definitely has laugh out loud funny moments, this book won't cheer you up! The writing is good, but I think I was maybe not in the mood for this sort of humour. Might be enjoyable for others.

I love Sara's non-fiction books so I was really looking forward to reading this book. Sadly it was disappointing and a real slog to get to the end. It was very depressing, and very disjointed hopping from one thing to another with no clear break in between. I imagine it was meant to portray the chaos of the lead character's mind and life, but it made for really hard reading.

Personally I'd recommend skipping this book and reading her non-fiction books instead.

I started this book and got into it very quickly. I immediately liked the style of writing, I was drawn to whatever was happening in the story, and I really liked the voice of our narrator. It’s one of those character focused books of a girlie just trying to get through every day as it comes, so if you’re into those this could be a massive hit for you.

This was interesting it reminded me of the Oliphant book that I read for book club. I am glad that I read it but found it really difficult to connect with the characters but I would like to try another book by this author as generally I find her very talented. I could hear her voice throughout if that makes sense.

I was given an advance copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

It was always a risk, wasn’t it? I find Sara Pascoe very amusing and likeable in her TV appearances, so this (yes, I know, entirely unreasonably) sets up an expectation that the book has a good chance of being entertaining and humorous. But the reality is a bit of a come down. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a perfectly serviceable novel, centred around Sophie. It’s written well and there is a reasonably well constructed narrative, but the author’s intention, presumably, to get her readers to engage with Sophie - and even relate to and like her - mean that the reader feels sorry for her and I’m not sure that’s the best outcome for a novel like this.
So, in summary, not for me, but could be a good read with a different set of expectations.

I wanted to love this book as I find Sara Pascoe very funny, you can hear her voice in the story but unfortunately I struggled with it and nearly gave up half way through. Sophie and the dysfunctional people in her life are quite hard to like, but I did warm more to Sophie towards the end of the book.
It seems to be a collection of bad choices, questionable decisions and manipulative people making a slightly depressing story with one or two funny moments.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read Weirdo.