First book of Sara Pascoe I have read and I am not sure I will read another one. I am not sure what I expected but I found this too slow for me. This is about Sophie and her life which is messy to say the least. She flits from one boyfriend to another and then feels she should be with the one she followed to Australia which turned out to be a non event although he does turn up in her life a few years later. I think I was hoping for some humour as she is a good comic but I guess it is the written word and it did not work for me. Sorry this book was not for me.

Thanks to netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie lives a normal existence working in a bar, living with her boyfriend who she increasingly dislikes. One day, Chris comes into her bar. She last saw Chris when she flew out to Australia for him, to "coincidentally" bump into him so they could fall in love, but then everything went wrong. She's been obsessed ever since, and now here he is, years later, at her work. Will she get everything right this time?

Sara Pascoe tries to blur the dysfunctionality of Fleabag and the awkward love story of Normal People into a relatable narrative that millennials like me should love, but it also falls a little flat at times.

Weirdo is the first book in a long time that I’ve found myself staying up longer than I wanted to because I wanted to read one more chapter. The writing really zooms in to the central character’s perspective to an almost uncomfortable level, which made this a compulsive read for me. Sophie isn’t always a likeable character in terms of the things she does or the choices she makes but because you are so inside her head and each scenario is so acutely described, I still found myself entirely on her side of every situation that played out.

Despite being a novel, the book is structured a bit like a TV series, with there being several distinct episodes Sophie is in each one of them but there are a rotating cast of characters that pop in different parts of the story which draw out different parts of her character. These sections could be self-contained stories in themselves but they combine together to tell a wider story.

There is a general theme of Sophie being surrounded by a variety of terrible men and struggling with the consequences of their bad behaviour. While to some readers I can imagine these men might seem like caricatures because their behaviour may seem extreme but I’ve met men like them in my personal life so didn’t the things they did or said too far fetched.

It’s a while since I read Confederacy of Dunces, but this book reminds me of that quite a lot it, in that both were stories that I enjoyed a great deal despite all the characters being fundamentally unlikeable. Sophie is nowhere near as unpleasant as Ingnatius T Reilly but she does make a series of bad choices in the story.

As Sara Pascoe is known as a standup comedian it’s tricky to come to a novel of hers without expecting laughs but the humour in this book is different to the set up and punchline of a comedy show. There are funny moments but it’s more subtle and infused within the story and the things the characters say and do. So I don’t remember laughing out loud but I generally found the writing to be amusing and Pascoe’s writing is laced with funny observations and turns of phrase which are naturally witty but still serve the story.

This is one of the best novels I’ve read in a long time. It’s gives an interesting and honest perspective on modern relationships which is uncomfortable to read at times but hard to look away from at the same time. I found myself reading in grim fascination a lot of the time.

It really pains me to give 2 stars as I really wanted to like this book but it just didn’t grip me. I could definitely sense Sara Pascoe’s voice in the writing but despite some witty remarks giving a chuckle now and then it just lacked something to keep me interested. The continuous narrative style confused me a little with its meandering ways and I found the characters flat and not particularly likeable at all.

I could definitely feel the struggles that Sophie has been and is going through but found myself drifting away from the story which is never a good thing and not what I would prefer to put in my review but my thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read it in return for an honest review.

DNF - did not finish
I love Sara Pascoe and dived into this book with relish but unfortunately it lost me halfway along and I couldn't pick it up again.
It's about a self-styled "weirdo," Sophie, who leads a chaotic life with a destructive inner, and loud, monologue.
I'm awarding 3 stars because I didn't get to the finish, and I suspect it's because I'm not the right demographic.

"I hated being told I was grown-up. I also hated being told I was young and had all my life ahead of me. I've hated all of my ages and every unnecessary and unasked-for comment upon them."

Weirdo is tragicomic gold — a messy, marvellous masterpiece that reaches into the neurotic parts of us that we all feel but never, ever talk about or acknowledge.

Sophie was a blinding narrator — a woman sick of living in a world that is designed for men, designed for constant productivity, designed to make her conform and make her feel that something is always missing. She was sometimes superficial, naive and petty, but crude, honest and relatable in all the best ways — she was a strange paradox of someone ridiculously obsessed and neurotic but so human and loveable at the same time. Her storytelling was so personable and casual it felt like a conversation or a trip into her thoughts — it was erratic and chaotic, tangents flying and while I don’t always like that kind of storytelling as it does sometimes veer into info-dumping and made for a slightly longer than expected read, but there was something that worked here.

Every single thing she went through was both hilarious and heartbreaking, with plenty of those “I need to laugh or I’m gonna cry” moments — and it’s these moments that drive the story rather than an intricate plot. It’s more of a collection of thoughts, of key moments in Sophie’s journey at a chaotic time and it’s pushed forward by Sophie and her own reflections but with plenty of heart and absurd, deadpan humour and wit.

An over the top messy story about messy people, but it was so much fun.

"Tonight, Matthew, I am going to be grown-up and in control. I respect myself for a moment and then feel sad and sorry that some people are so lonely and there isn't enough love in the world for everyon

Initially, I was so excited about Weirdo and thought I’d love it but it just wasn’t for me. Reading it felt a bit like doomscrolling, it was hard to put down at first but then I was too many pages in to DNF. I found some similarities to My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Weirdo being a strange kind of British version). The book is supposed to make us feel uncomfortable (I think) with its cast of unlikeable characters but I just couldn’t get on board with it all and ended up feeling REALLY deflated and relieved to have it finished.

The story charts the romantic and financial woes of Sophie, as she grapples with a string of boyfriends and credit card debts.

I found this read a hard slog. Sophie has an ongoing inner and outer monologue, betraying her perpetual unease at herself, and I found this wearing. It takes, however, some inventiveness to write a novel in this style.

Written in the first person this tells the story of Sophie who is working in a bar and as a guide on the London tour buses. She has been to Australia, ostensibly to see her father until she realised he was 5 hours flight away from where she was, not realising how big the place is. She is in debt big time on her credit cards and her life is rather a mess from where she is standing right now. Of love and life and the ups and downs therein.

I felt for Sophie almost from the word go as there is a vulnerability about her and a naivety as she struggles through life. It’s a journey through her days and how she sees the world which maybe makes us think about our own position in it. It’s weird, it's wonderful, it’s good and sad and happy and mad. It's perhaps an acquired taste for the writing style as at times it's rather disjointed until you realise this is how Sophie’s mind works. A jazz style if you will with bursts of sax and piano and then adagio for the strings. A different read, a brave one, most certainly unique and weirdo!

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Thank you, net gallery, for letting me read an early copy.

Although I did enjoy this story at times and couldn't finish it quickly enough. It was very hard to understand and make sense of. It's left me very confused with lots of questions about it all

Weirdo is a bittersweet book. I enjoy Sara Pascoe's humour, and there were flashes of that throughout the novel. It's written in the first person and the main character, Sophie, has a butterfly mind, so it's difficult to follow until you get into her way of thinking. She comes across as a bit of a stalker initially, but as you get into the story, you begin to feel sorry for her and the way people treat her. She deserves better friends, family and lovers. I'm hoping Sara will write a sequel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

DNF
Unfortunately this book just wasnt for me so I am putitng 3 stars as a middle value as I cannot judge it. Personally it wasn't something that I enjoyed reading but I wonder if I just am not the target audience for it.

I was sent a copy of Weirdo by Sara Pascoe to read and review by NetGalley. It took me a while to get into the rhythm of this book, with incidental letters and emails etc popping up within the prose, and the protagonist’s butterfly thoughts, but once I got into it I whizzed through it. It was really entertaining, with some laugh out loud funny moments and one-liners, but ultimately I found this to be a very poignant and rather sad look at the life of a woman with low self esteem and feelings of hopelessness. I’m sure that most women will identify with at least one issue or other contained in this novel and I do believe that it might well make us readers think more carefully about what we do or say, and even feel more grateful for the lives we have. It may sound like I didn’t like this book but I did really enjoy it – it’s well worth a read on many levels.

Weirdo? Less weird than a raw and constant inner and outer monologue covering the fears, bruises of the past and weaving in all the baggage that someone has as they take on each new day. As her primary teacher told her - it is I possible to switch off your brain and your thoughts are always there. This is a collection of thoughts, shaped by each event and woven into the debt ridden life.

Having been amused by Sara Pascoe on 'The Great British Sewing Bee' I was intrigued as to what her writing style would be like as a book author. I enjoyed 'Weirdo' with some interesting characters carefully crafted with the humour often coming from their personalities. I was left wondering if there would be a follow up book to continue the story.

I love Sara Pascoe’s work and her non-fiction is always excellent. I was very excited to read this book in advance of its release thanks to Net Galley - in return for an honest review.
I spent a lot of time worrying about the protagonist’s mental health and whether or not she was reliable as a narrator. Repeatedly, the narrator reveals she’s let people down or disappeared on them and we never quite hear how this has impacted on others. In fact, we learn very little about anyone other than Sophie and her obsession with a guy that barely knows she exists.
The plot gapes a little and perhaps the journey Sophie undertakes is to find herself but I don’t really feel she does.
I wanted to like this so much but I just found it had little of the observational humour I think I’d been anticipating - Pascoe’s work is often very perceptive but the depiction of Sophie’s colleagues and family is shallow. It might be I’m missing a big more literary point here: Pascoe is extremely intelligent and her non-fiction is a testament to that, as is her comedy. So it is very likely this fell flat because of the reader not the writer.
I think it’s a 3.5/5.

This was such a fun, light read. There isn't much direction in terms of plot, but it was actually really nice to pick this up wherever and whenever while using zero brain power to read. I love Sara Pascoe's humour, and I could just imagine her narrating this book in my head - it was great! If you want an easy read but don't mind some awkward tension, then this book might be for you!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of Weirdo in exchange for honest feedback.

I so wanted to love this book as i adore Sara Pascoe, but I’m afraid it just didn’t hold my interest. DNF. Sorry!

As others have said, this book had a chaotic nature to it but this does suit the main character. I did find it hard to get into, but once I did, I wanted to know how it ended and I did enjoy it, once I got my head around it!

Sophie is working in a pub, trying to make ends meet. She is struggling with emotional and physical debts, and can’t get her life together. She can’t seem to act like a regular, well-adjusted person, and at times speaks her inner monologue out loud, further emphasising her oddness. Her love life is a sexless relationship, her family hate her, and her fantasies revolve around an unobtainable crush that she followed from the UK to Australia. Possibly more of an obsession than a crush? So when the object of her obsession seemingly coincidentally walks into the pub she is working in one night, Sophie feels like it has happened for a reason. Maybe it is time to dump her boyfriend, Ian, stop her pathological lies, start getting on with her mother and sister, and finally get the man she thinks wants. She can finally be a regular person, without bizarre paranoias, and fit into society just like everyone else.
I love Sara Pascoe and her sense of humour, so I was looking forward to this book. There were some elements of her humour and wit in the character of Sophie at times, but overall Sophie and the other characters were flat, unlikeable and somewhat insipid. The story was disjointed and not particularly engaging. I figure the discombobulated nature of the writing was to reflect the main character’s narration, life and personality. However, for me, the style didn’t work, and the story dragged on too much without a hugely discernable direction. Perhaps my expectations were different, expecting more of Sara’s style, rather than that of the character of Sophie. There were some redeeming moments in the self-awareness towards the end, but overall Sophie was not a particularly likeable person and the story was not a hugely entertaining read.

*I received this book from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.