Thank you Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
At first, I was excited to read Rachel Weiss's Group Chat as it seemed like it was about a woman who was about to turn 30 and the challenges she faces. Unfortunately, it was more about a self absorbed, serial dater party girl who has nothing going for her. Rachel Weiss is self centered, egotistical, immature, and has no drive to do anything productive. The first half of the book was super hard to get through. There were lots of eye rolling and omg really?! going on in my head. But while it's easy to look at Rachel's bad qualities, looking at the kind of mother she has makes it a little easier to understand why she's the way she is. I almost DNF'd this book but am glad that I pushed through. Rachel redeems herself and actually is more likeable by the end of the book. That ending however was a little forced and rushed.
If your looking for smut or romance, this book is not for you. But if you're looking for a book about a woman who grows, and becomes a better version of themselves, you may like this book. And while it's a Pride and Prejudice retelling, it also gave me Magnolia Parks vibes.

This was messy, chaotic and so much. I loved the mess and found it to be a fun and easy read! I wish there was more romance. I'm looking forward to more from this author!

Read This Book If…you love to hate Mrs. Bennet from Pride & Prejudice!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
Rachel Weiss’s Group Chat by Lauren Appelbaum

Genre: romance / chick lit
Spice Level: 1/5🌶, closed door
Setting: Seattle, WA
POV: single, 1st person, past tense
Tropes: opposites attract

My Thoughts:
In my opinion, if the two leads spend less than 20% of the book together, you can’t really call it a romance or romcom. That being said, this was pretty good as chick lit (although I hate that term). It’s a great story of working on yourself and maintaining friendships in adulthood.

This is a pretty straightforward Pride & Prejudice retellings, with a little Bridget Jones and Sex & The City woven in. Rachel’s mom reminds me a LOT of the moms in Mrs. Maisel.

Overall, I liked this one just fine, but I was craving more romance and the ending lost me a bit.

Memorable Quote: “Who would have thought I would round out the year having landed not only myself in employer-mandated therapy, but my sister too?”

Thank you to the publisher for my advance copy!

Do you ever read a book waiting for the unlikable main character to redeem themselves? I think sometimes there is just nothing to like

Our MC, Rachel Weiss, is many things: selfish, immature, superficial, and using alcohol as a crutch. She is in a dead-end job, seeks emotionally unavailable men, and has a mother desperate to marry her off. The writing depicts her in such a harsh light that I just wanted the book to be over by the time she begins working on herself.

I am grasping for positives, so I will say that I enjoyed the formatting of this book and the use of text messages and DMs to move along the plot, but I honestly wish there was more of that and less of Rachel’s inner thoughts.

Perhaps Applebaum could have excelled with this concept had the characters been in their early 20s rather than turning 30. Their actions seemed more relatable to someone who had just graduated college than to someone who was 30 years old.

A considerable miss here was the lack of connection in every relationship. We got brief glimpses into each: Rachel and her mother, Rachel and her sisters, and Rachel and her three best friends, but none of them were thoroughly flushed out, and often, once they were the center of attention, they disappeared from the plot. I think fewer side plots would have done this book wonders

There was a somewhat diverse cast of supporting characters, but again, there were so many that I didn’t get the depth I craved from any of them!

Finally, don’t even get me started on the romantic subplot with no connection or interaction, and then they fall in love?! It wasn’t easy to read.

The writing felt like it was supposed to be ironic, but unfortunately, it just fell flat, and Rachel’s flippant nature dominated the narrative.

Also, in the year of our Lord 2024, I cannot support any book that has people crying over being single at 30… just so shallow.

To end on a positive note, I did find parts of the writing numerous… swipe for quotes.

Rachel’s mom wants the best for her daughters, and for Rachel and Jane - that means marriage. Jane is set but Rachel is another story, she’s very single. When the house next door is bought by a young and cute millionaire, Rachel’s mom’s heart is set on him for Rachel. In a Jewish twist on Pride and Prejudice (although much more loosely based than other retellings I’ve read) - Christopher and Rachel clash until they don’t.

I really REALLY wanted to love this one but, well I just didn’t. Rachel’s character wasn’t a particularly appealing character and Christopher’s feelings for her just never made sense to me. Rachel and her friends (the titled group chat) also didn’t seem like particularly good friends to each other. That being said, the author did turn one traditional romance concept over on its head (I can’t tell you what because it would ruin it) but it was fun to read and the best part of the book. I listened to about half of this one and read about half and the narrator was really good. But in the end I couldn’t root for the couple because I only liked the male main character and honestly, I thought he could do better.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC to review

I honestly can’t decide if I loved this book or not.
The main character drove me nuts at times and made me laugh out loud at other times!
I feel like that’s how some friends are though, you can’t tell anybody what to do, you just want them to be happy.

This was definitely a fun, quick read!

At 50%, I was debating a DNF, as Rachel's inner dialogue and decisions were really hard to get through. It almost felt like a coming of age story, yet she was turning 30 and I often was reminding myself of that fact as she made one judgmental and self-absorbed decision after another. All of the characters in this story were pretty awful (the mom, wow) and the friendship group seemed to have weird dramatics that also felt juvenile. The only character I liked was the love interest, but it was a weird enemies-to-lovers scenario where who even knows why they were enemies. Especially when Rachel so easily forgives her friends discretion - why are we hating on the guy who repeatedly showed how genuine he was. The third act drama sealed the deal that this wasn't the book for me. The drama Rachel and her sister cause was extremely disappointing and I felt reinforced that she hadn't done any actual growing up.
Thank you Forever for the copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I dived into the book reading the blurb thinking this book was for me but I did not like the female main character at all. it was not that she was unlikeable but more like annoying with no morals. TI wished it had more romance aspect but humor was was kept me engaged!! I just had high hopes from this book

Understanding that not every book is for every reader, I knew early on that I was not the reader for this book. However, I continued reading in an attempt to find anything that would change my mind. After reading the book in it’s entirety, I can honestly say I failed to find a single thing.

Rachel Weiss is the single most infuriating character I’ve come across in a long time. She’s selfish, insipid, vacuous, vapid, shallow, and unpleasant - and those are her good qualities. She never once deviated from being insufferable.

There’s too much going on in this novel to keep plot lines or characters straight and, honestly, I didn’t care. I simply wanted it to be over. While this was not my cup of tea, others may find it entertaining. Good luck. Let’s just say I understand why Rachel’s father hid in the pantry.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Forever for the advance copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

On the precipice of turning 30, Rachel is still trying to figure out who she is and what she wants out of life. I really enjoyed how this book told the hilarious-yet-accurate story of navigating the tumultuous world of online dating. While overall, I felt like the story was more of personal growth and friendship than it was romance, it was still a heartwarming chick lit book that will resonate with those in their late 20’s/early 30’s who still don’t feel like they have life figured out. Does anyone really? Luckily Rachel has an amazing group of friends, who albeit can sometimes be a bit chaotic, they’re ultimately there for each other the best they can be.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the opportunity to read this digital ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Could not have loved this book more. Love a retelling of pride and prejudice with the excellent addition of some Jewish rep.

Rachel hates her job, is bothered by her twin sisters, and constantly picked on by her Jewish mother. She dates guys she does not expect a relationship to develop and when she does meet a nice guy, she is ugly to him. I thought it was not realistic for Christopher to do all he does for her. I did like the special relationship she had with her sister Jane. Rachel’s mother was too obsessed with finding a person for her to marry. Rachel was too self-absorbed and shallow. I did like that she finally tried to redeem herself, but I believe it was a little too late.

Rachel Weiss's Group Chat is a phenomenal read! I feel like it was written just for me. It was hilarious but also a reflection on friendship, family, and getting older. There was so much I related to. Further, it's a modern Pride and Prejudice. I have read/watched pretty much every retelling out there and this is one of my favorites. It's more Bridget Jones than Austen and that's perfect! The friendships were in the forefront of the relationships in this book. The romance is a little more on the backburner but also worth it.

A big thank you to Lauren Appelbaum, NetGalley, and Forever for this eARC!

Very good read! I enjoyed the character and plot lines. I was pretty quickly immersed in the book and enjoyed reading it. The moth was so frustrating but also realistic in a way. This really highlights the struggles of a single girl in her late 20/early 30 era and the centering of herself as she develops

To be honest, this book just wasn’t for me.
I really didn’t like the main character. She was extremely full of herself, but it was just so over-the-top with everything. She hated the love interest so intensely for seemingly no reason at all other than the fact he was a millionaire who worked in tech? Even after she learned about how kind he was and the good he was doing, she still seemed to dislike him which was odd. The characters didn’t have much depth to them and it felt kind of cartoony with how they were depicted. (Especially the mother).

It was also strange that Christopher and Rachel didn’t really have much conversation or time together before he was confessing his love for her. It didn’t feel genuine unfortunately and I wished they explored more of them getting to know one another.

I also thought it was icky that Rachel didn’t seem to care at all that her best friend cheated on her husband with HER BOYFRIEND? And then her friend decides not to tell her husband that she cheated on him and the main character just goes along with supporting this? I feel like this didn’t seem like they had much beyond surface level to their friendship because even if you love your friend, you’d think there’d at least be a conversation about whether or not that is fair to her spouse or something. Also, the way she went viral for making fun of the #metoo movement and how they handled that making the focus more on getting her sister her job back rather than actual accountability and understanding just felt uncomfortable.

I didn’t mind the tone of the main character sometimes because it reminded me of an early 2000’s movie the way she narrated. I also thought the way the author wrote the ending with her and Christopher getting together and that last scene was done well and made me wish all the more that there was more of that kind of writing for them throughout the novel.

Again, just wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I appreciate getting the opportunity for an ARC copy from NetGalley!

Not well written with a potential storyline buried somewhere in the book.
The main character is really annoying and hypocritical / rude. Her relationship with her family and friends is ridiculous. I felt like all she did was end up at a bar, drink too much and try to find a guy.

Rachel is months away from turning thirty and her life is stagnant. She’s a serial dater, hates her low level tech job taken to pay rent and never moved on, and can’t seem to figure out how everyone around her is becoming a grown up with fiancées, careers, and goals.

Her mom is trying to fix her up with the new neighbor’s son, Christopher, but she’s dismissed him out of pocket because he’s rich.

She has a group of girlfriends, each with her own set of problems and a group text among them that appears occasionally.

There’s a SAT cheating scandal, a family vacation, a viral video, and ten other subplots.

This one has vague Pride and Prejudice vibes: a mom obsessed with appearances and marrying off her daughters, oldest sister in a bland but happy relationship, youngest girls twins who are a chaotic mess, and Rachel, who makes bad choices, drives away anyone who might be good for her, and sabotaging everything with self centered choices.

But it’s like everything was turned up to 11. And let’s be clear, that wasn’t a good choice.

I didn’t enjoy this one. Rachel is vapid, childish, and obsessed with looks. She doesn’t show growth and is unlikable. There’s absolutely no reason Christopher would fall for her (it’s a ridiculous insta love to boot). And on top of that, there are too many things happening and each subplot seems to spiral for 10% of the book and then is either resolved or forgotten.

In fact, I liked this less and less the deeper I got into it. It tries to do too much, doesn’t present anyone to root for, and Rachel is no Elizabeth Bennett.

I tried and tried. I wanted to love this. But I review every book I fully read and knew this would never be over 2 stars. I may come back to it, but for now this is a DNF.

A light hearted, entertaining read that will grab you from the opening line and keep you engaged until the end.

This book was hilarious, it's a Pride And Prejudice retelling, which I wasn't quite expecting!
While I did find it funny, there wasn't a ton of romance in it, which is kind of what I came for.

I adored how it's about life, and growth and friendship.

Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc!