I was excited to read this book as I am a fan of modern retelling of classics. I recently read a cute update of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth of East Hampton. Do yourself a favor and read that and skip this. Honestly, this book was not for me. I had to DNF. The dialogue was awful. The mom a characture instead of a character. The FMC was intensely unlikeable and had no insight into herself. Maybe others will like it more, but it was a pass for me. Thanksnto Forever and Net Galley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
I really wanted to like this one especially because it has Jewish representation. Unfortunately, I read 18% and I just couldn't get into it. After I received it, I read that it's a Pride and Prejudice retelling, similar to Bridget Jones Diary, which I really didn't like. I definitely see the similarities. Rachel Weiss is an unlikeable main character and I felt like she was super bratty with her friends. Unfortunately, I find it challenging to read books with unlikeable main characters. I'm assuming as the book goes on we learn more about her siblings, but by 18% I didn't even know the twins' names yet. I've read that she does something awful and the reviews about that incident almost made me want to keep reading to see what actually happens, but ultimately, there are too many books to read to spend time reading one I'm not enjoying.
Because I have to give a star rating, I'm giving this a one star here, because I didn't finish it. I will not post this review anywhere else.

I think this book had a lot of potential but I had a hard time getting into it. There was a moment where she made fun of a very sensitive topic with no warning. I thought this was a very bold and wrong choice to make. I struggled to like the main character which is disappointing. I couldn’t really move past some her actions.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the chance to read this book early.

Such a funny and modern take on a chaotic romance! I liked all the topics that were touched on, and honestly I could have spent more time with the characters!

The most extroverted book I’ve ever read. It was fun and lighthearted with some great emotional moments. A great story arc for Rachel and the romance was chaotic in the best way.

I really wanted to like this book because I've been seeing it all over bookstagram. However, I kept getting offended by the main character about really big topics such as mental health, cheating, the me too movement, being politically incorrect, and other very emotionally charged items that I couldn't move past. I wish more time had been spent scrubbing this book with sensitivity readers. The core group of friends Rachel has is so relatable that was the one saving quality of this novel.

Thank you Forever and Hachette Audio for the advance reading and listening copies.

What a fun cute story! Enjoyed the friendship dynamic, the sibling rivalry/sisterhood bond, and mostly the crazy adventures Rachel embarks on.

I wanted to love this one so much, but I found Rachel unbearably immature. She read more like a 23-year-old and not a 29 almost 30-year-old. She does have some decent growth throughout the book, but not enough to make me like her. One of my biggest peeves is how she wrote Rachels's family. I hated how she wrote the mom. It was so unrealistic. I wish she would have picked some of the better stereotypes of Jewish people instead of the overbearing mother who is just focused on getting her kids married and doing borderline illegal things to get her kids into college.

Also, this is marketed as a romance, but I found it more women-fiction-focused. The main hero Christopher, plays a very minor role and you don't actually see their romance on the page. I also found his attraction to Rachel unbelievable, especially considering how minimally they interacted. I enjoyed the focus on Rachel's friend group and their group chat. Their growth as a group and their trials and tribulations were a little more realistic and were a good representation of how friends show up for each other even in the craziest of circumstances.

Read if you like a coming-of-age story about female friendships and growing up with minor romantic undertones. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 9/24

The premise of this book really appealed to me - friendship, love, messy family dynamics; and the format sounded fun too as I usually love books with texts or other forms of communication mixed in. Unfortunately, I didn’t love this book as much as I wanted to. While I really liked the FMC’s sister and her boyfriend, many of the other characters just annoyed me. Also, some of the story lines seemed unrealistic. For the most part I did like the writing style and would be willing to read future books by this author.

First things first, this book is a modern-day version of Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice" but it's not billed as such (and honestly, I would have picked it up sooner as I'd known.) For anyone who knows P&P, from the first character descriptions, realization of the storyline, and a ton of Austen-themed Easter eggs, it is so clear that it's an Austenian adaptation. It was a great one, don't get me wrong, but that's blurb-worthy to me. Author Lauren Appelbaum writes with such compelling language and a relatable main character in Rachel Weiss (the modern, Jewish version of Lizzy Bennet). If Austen books aren't your thing (gasp, I know), then you probably won't be able to tell the difference because it still feels fresh and new.

can we even classify this as a cohesive novel if it's just random scenes of a characters life placed together for 300 pages???

in my humble opinion this was not the best. the whole thing kind of just felt like different episodes of a tv series but none of the main characters were that likable or interesting. owen truly is a saint for dealing with this family. because this was all just random scenes, there was so much going on at once. none of it was all that interesting so it just felt odd to read about minuscule details in a characters life who i didn't care about. there were many jokes that just weren't funny and things were made fun of that should not have been made fun of. someone please tell me why christopher is in love with rachel because i haven't got a clue. this was simply not for me and it it wasn't for it's short length i probably would've dnf'd.

*thank you NetGalley for the ARC*

I didn't care too much for this book. I didn't like the main character at all. I felt she was too full of herself. I read a third of the way through and couldn't do anymore.


Thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for the early review copy.

So unfortunately this book was not for me. Despite it being well written and the intrigue of a modern P&P it was too crass for my tastes personally. Chapter 1 literally starts with her waking up next to a man who she can't remember his name and then in chapter 2 she talks about the state of her underwear while dancing with another man at a WORK event. I honestly didn't read more than a few chapters because I didn't anticipate it getting better.
I do think there is an audience for this book, but it isn't me.

Lauren Appelbaum leans on inspiration from Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones Diary. For all its modern flair, the book didn’t quite land for me. I found Rachel difficult to like at first, although as the book progressed and she became more self-aware, I found myself rooting for her.

Christopher as Mr. Darcy saves the day with online chivalry and anonymous donations, making the parallels to Austen’s classic hard to miss. I just found the characters unrelatable (my “elder millennial” status is probably to blame.)

2.5 stars rounded.

This wasn't the best written book but I stuck with it. The FMC was unlikeable and the "Darcy" character came on very strong for me.

Thanks to everybody who let me have a copy for early review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the chance to read this
This was billed as a Pride and Prejudice retelling (one of my favorites ever) but it definitely leans heavily on the Bridget Jones aspect. Rachel is immediately unlikeable to be honest, which I enjoyed. I LOVE messy female leads and this completely fits the bill. For that its fun. The whole point of this story is a real character growth line, coupled with an overbearing mother and a not-quite-right but maybe totally right boy next door. That all works on paper and for about 50% of t he story.

I did really enjoy Rachels' friends and family, as well as her career trajectory. I didn't mind some aspects of the character growth. But man...where P&P works best is the chemistry between Darcy and Elizabeth, even after the proposal flop. I would have thought in a modern day era with social media it would have worked but this just felt...forced? Contrite? I didn't believe for a second she loved him...more two characters forced to become charicatures of two brilliant characters.

I wanted more romance. The rest was ok.

This was all over the place, kinda like the fmc lol. It was fun but chaotic. She’s trying to figure herself out and navigate relationships, work, and her friends and family. She doesn’t have it all figured out at 30, and that’s ok.

I loved this book! It was probably closer to 4.25 stars for me, if we're being extra specific. It feels like I've read quite a few Pride & Prejudice retellings lately, but RACHEL WEISS'S GROUP CHAT definitely stood out. A modern Jane Austen adaptation with Jewish rep? I was hooked from the plot description alone. I really liked how the story wasn't necessarily a traditional romance—the heart of the book, for me, was the relationship between Rachel and her best friends (the titular group chat!) and Rachel's journey of self-discovery. I always enjoy stories where characters "come of age" outside of the typical time. They're not teenagers anymore, maybe they're in their 20s, or 30s, or beyond, but they're still figuring life out, still discovering where they belong and who they want to be, and Lauren Appelbaum really nails those ideas here. Rachel is a flawed character; she makes mistakes, she can be self-centered, for most of the story, she's stuck working a job she isn't particularly passionate about, and chasing toxic relationships with guys who aren't right for her. But over time, she finds ways to do what she loves, to be a better friend, sister, daughter, to be brave enough to pursue a connection with the right person. Her journey was so well-done and satisfying—even if you feel a little frustrated with her at certain points in the story, you will certainly be rooting for her by the end! I thought this was such a great debut overall, and am looking forward to Lauren Appelbaum's next novel, releasing in the fall of 2025! She is definitely an author to watch. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC.

I was just not a huge fan.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a hilarious book. The humor in the book is top tier. Its not a romance and it only has a loose plot so its hard to describe this book but I enjoyed my time! The ending was a little abrupt for my liking though.