Thanks Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook.

4.5 stars rounded to 4

I’m not sure why I went into Humor Me with low expectations, but they were totally unfounded… I loved it! It reminds me of Romantic Comedy (Curtis Sittenfeld) with a dash of Just For the Summer (Abby Jimenez) and The Sweet Spot (Amy Poeppel). I can’t wait to go back and read the author’s debut novel!

Probably most of all, I loved the setting - you can’t read this and not want to jet to NYC. It’s a love letter to a city that can chew you up/spit you out and be the most magical place on earth, all in the same day.

The main character, Presley, has been through so much and is so strong - maybe too strong. She forms an unlikely bond with her late mother’s childhood best friend, and through her, gathers the courage to confront the complicated feelings she usually avoids about her mother’s life and death. It’s a story about the true meaning of friendship, friends who become family, and how we all get by with a little help from our friends.

Read if you enjoy books set in NYC, featuring the NYC comedy scene, and/or books about coming of age in NYC, found family, intergenerational friendship.

🎧: Humor Me is narrated by Ferdelle Capistrano, a new to me narrator who does a wonderful job bringing Presley to life. Definitely a good one for audio!

This was a cute, entertaining book about Presley, a 20-something NYC intern at a late-night comedy show. She is trying her best to find THE stand-up act to bring to the show in hopes of a promotion. She spends her days interning at work and her evenings bantering back and forth with her co-worker, Adam, and attending stand-up comedy shows. One day, Presley runs into an old friend of her late mother. Susan is interested in reconnecting with Presley and Presley accepts the invitation as she misses her mother so much and is also unsure how to say no politely. Meanwhile, Susan is constantly throwing her son, Clark, at Presley in the hopes the two will form a connection.

This is a coming-of-age book more than a rom-com. While there is an HEA that is part of traditional romance, the story really flourishes with the friendships Presley forms. I loved the NYC scene and how boldly proud Presley is of her status as a resident. The stand-up comedy and late-night show scenes are not ones I am familiar with so I enjoyed getting to peek behind the curtain here. I adored Clark and Izzy (Presley's roommate and best friend). I loved watching her grow into herself. There is some social commentary within the pages but not so much that it ever felt like a platform for Shook to go on about. It felt true to the story. I listened to this book on audio and really enjoyed it more for that as I could feel it run a bit slow at some parts. The audio alleviated that slower pace. The narration is really well done and I was able to slip right into Presley's world with her.

If you are a fan of Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, you may like this one. I would recommend this to any lovers of the city, the comedy scene, or coming-of-age stories.

If you're on the hunt for a contemporary romance that will make you laugh out loud and tug at your heartstrings, look no further than "Humor Me." This delightful novel masterfully blends humor and seriousness, creating a story that's as entertaining as it is poignant.

"Humor Me" stands out in the romance genre with its unique approach to humor. The author weaves in laugh-out-loud moments seamlessly, bringing joy in ways that feel fresh and unexpected. It's not just about the jokes, though—the humor here is smart, situational, and deeply tied to the characters' personalities, making it all the more enjoyable.

But don't be fooled by the lighthearted title. This book also delves into more serious themes, exploring family dynamics, friendships, and trauma with sensitivity and depth. The protagonist's journey is one of growth and self-reflection, navigating the complexities of her past and how it shapes her as an adult. The way the story addresses these issues feels genuine and heartfelt, offering readers both entertainment and emotional resonance.

One of the most touching aspects of "Humor Me" is how relatable it is. Many readers will see reflections of their own lives in the protagonist's experiences, making her journey all the more impactful. Whether it's dealing with family challenges, fostering meaningful friendships, or overcoming personal trauma, this book touches on experiences that many of us can connect with on a deep level.

In conclusion, "Humor Me" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a well-rounded story of personal growth. It's a perfect blend of humor and heart, offering a refreshing take on contemporary romance. So, if you’re ready to laugh, cry, and cheer for a character who feels like a friend, add "Humor Me" to your reading list. You won't be disappointed!

3.75⭐️

Twenty-five-year-old Presley Fry has a lot on her plate! An assistant at a late-night talk show she is long due for a promotion and is on the hunt for a talented new stand-up comic to be featured on the show which has her exploring the stand-up comedy scene in NYC. It’s been a little over a year since her mother, with whom she shared a complicated relationship, passed away, and Presley is yet to come to terms with her loss. Her social life is mostly guided by her friend and roommate Isabelle, "Izzy," which is fine by Presley since she isn’t too confident in herself. She is also trying to navigate her feelings for a colleague, not quite sure whether the person thinks of her in the same light. When her mother’s childhood friend, the charismatic Susan Clark, who is also navigating a particularly disturbing life situation takes her under her wing, Susan’s friendship, advice and worldview not only nudge Presley out of her comfort zone but also help her to navigate her grief, open up to new experiences and embark on a journey of healing, self-discovery and personal growth.

The narrative is presented from Presley’s first-person POV. A lot is going on with the characters, but the narrative is fluid and the plot never gets convoluted or difficult to follow. The character-driven elements were stronger than the plot-driven aspect of this novel, which made this an interesting and enjoyable read.

The pacing is on the slower side, which suits the nature of the story. Cat Shook writes with wit, humor and much emotional depth and addresses sensitive themes such as complex mother-daughter relationships, alcoholism, the #MeToo movement, grief and infidelity with maturity and compassion. Her characters are real and relatable. We might not agree with all of their choices, but you can understand them. Presley is an endearing character and I was invested in her journey as she navigated her personal and professional struggles, her grief and much more. Susan is an interesting character and I enjoyed her dynamic with Presley. The romance angle was well-developed and deftly woven into the narrative. I enjoyed the insight into the NYC comedy scene, though I would have liked this aspect to have been featured in more depth. The ending is a bit too neatly tied up and convenient, but stories such as these are mostly predictable, so that’s not surprising.

Overall, I enjoyed Humor Me by Cat Shook and thought it was a well-written novel.

I paired my reading with the audiobook narrated by Ferdelle Capistrano, which made for a delightful immersion reading experience.

Many thanks to Celadon for the digital review copy and Macmillan Audio for ALC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Recently, I've read more than my fair share of novels that include narcissistic, emotionally abusive and/or neglectful mothers. In this one, Presley's dead mom—who was also an alcoholic—is an outsized character, given that she's not physically present during the time of the narrative. The mother's childhood best friend, Susan, of course, had a very different experience with Presley's mom, which makes her awkward efforts to forge a friendship with Presley all the more difficult. Susan persists, and the relationship develops in surprising ways—in turns poignant, amusing, and sometimes still very awkward.

There are romantic relationships, but none are the primary focus. Presley's job is a major focus of the story. I liked her dedication to discovering new stand-up comedians and trying to help launch their careers. Also heavily present are feminist issues, the Me Too movement, and sexism. Despite all of that, the book is occasionally quite funny—in some instances even hilarious.

The audiobook is narrated by Ferdelle Capistrano, who is new to me. She did well voicing different ages, genders, and accents.

I'm glad I didn't dismiss this book automatically because I bailed on Shook's debut. I would have missed out on a solid, multilayered story.

3.5⭐

3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4

Humor Me feels very different than Cat Shook's first book If We're Being Honest, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Instead of being a family drama, it's more like a romcom. But a romcom that I found more enjoyable than most. In some ways it reminded me of Curtis Sittenfeld's Romantic Comedy, but without all the intricacies that go along with working on a show.

In Humor Me's case, the main character Presley works as an assistant on a late night show. Her job is to discover up and coming comedians to feature on the show and so she's often out and about at various NYC comedy clubs. She's never had a boyfriend and has a serious crush on her coworker, Adam, who instead of confessing her feelings to, she simply becomes best friends with. She had a rough childhood with an alcoholic mother who passed away last year and has just started to reconnect with one of her mother's childhood friends, a very wealthy NYC woman named Susan.

I enjoyed Presley as a character and thought many of the happenings in the book were very true to the life of a 20-something living in the city, in terms of jobs, friendships, and romance. But a few things drove me crazy about her. I didn't love how she dealt with her feelings for Adam and I also didn't like how we didn't get any information about how she felt about Susan's son Clark as she was becoming friends with him.

Overall, I found the book to be an entertaining listen with some funny moments. It made me wish I spent some of my 20s in NYC!

I enjoyed the premise of this book and would recommend it if you're looking for a day-in-the life type of story about a young woman in the city, a la Sex in the City.

The FMC Presley is in her mid-20s and works in the comedy scene in New York. I lived in NYC in my twenties so I could relate to the theme of a coming-of-age story in the big city. Presley, however, is a commitment-phobe/serial dater who has a thing for a coworker.

There are lots of extraneous plot lines and I often felt unsure where the story was going. For example, Presley reconnects with one of her mother's old friends, whose husband has been accused of an inappropriate relationship with his employee. This plot line didn't really go anywhere and I felt that the book lacked cohesion in the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my review.

Rating: 4.5 stars!

Yes. A million times yes. The NYC adventures, the comedy clubs and the secondary tone of a romance was my absolute favorite. We follow the main character around NYC while shes scouting for the new big comedian. Shes battling a relationship she remembers with her mom, a friendship keeping her afloat, and a potential budding romance. There was a spicy chapter towards the end that felt weirdly out of place in comparison to the incredibly mild nature of the rest of the book which is the only reason my rating dropped from a 5 to a 4.5.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞 explores the life of Presley Fry, a working twenty-something who actually loves her job. She is an assistant at a late-night show and does the bookings for comedians. It takes up a lot of her time, but so does the pain that still grips her heart from losing her mom.

When Presley is introduced to Susan, her mom's childhood friend, they enter a complicated and somewhat unlikely friendship.

This centers a lot on grief, loneliness, unresolved feelings, and finding the person who just gets you. Presley is not only dealing with the grief from her mother’s death but also has a complicated relationship with Adam, a friend from work. As Susan helps Presley better understand what her mother was like, Presley feels like she can start forging her future path. I liked watching her growth, not only the healing from grief, but also the fact that she began to stand up for herself.

I was rooting for Presley. She was one of those characters who needed a win. I kept hoping Adam would wake up and see what he had in front of him! Her roommate, Izzy, became such a sweet and loyal friend. And I loved the time we got with Presley’s precious grandparents.

If you love character-driven novels filled with the reality of work, friendships, the tangle of relationships, and the sights and sounds of New York City, then I recommend you pick this one up today.


Thank you @celadonbooks for the gifted book.
Thank you @Macmillan.audio for the gifted audiobook.

This is the second book by Kat Shook that I have read in the past few months, and this one just gave me all the warm fuzzies! The story against the setting of NYC was so atmospheric, and I just felt like I was right there along with the characters. Since I grew up in a southern town, I find that I really relate to Kat Shook’s characters since most she has their childhood take place in a small southern town. This story was the perfect amount of lighthearted, funny, sweet, but had the depth to make it feel realistic. This book solidifies Kat Shook as an auto-buy author for me, so I really look forward to reading more from her in the future! I was lucky enough to get a signed edition of her first book, so I’m now on the hunt for a signed edition of Humor Me to add to my shelves 🙌 Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

On the surface, Humor Me may seem like just another fluffy work of chick lit—with the main character going through one comical mishap after another on the way to her happily-ever-after. But it’s much deeper than that. It’s an entertaining but often emotional story about grief and friendship—about creating connections with other people and opening up to the messiness of life.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery.

A heartwarming mix of rom-com and slice-of-life coming of age story set in the nighttime TV show world & NYC. Although very low-stakes, I liked many of the characters in this book and enjoyed listening to the audio galley. Recommended for fans of slower paced, character-driven books about friendship, NYC, grief, and found family.

I expected Humor Me to resemble the HBOMax show Hacks, but told from the POV of the writer (or assistant in the case of Humor Me). However, this did not live up to my expectations of humor and wit with the comparison I had made based on the synopsis.

In fact, there is a bit of this audiobook that I must have tuned out or glossed over because I don’t honestly remember too many of the details. I did enjoy the exploration of navigating of relationships in your 20s.

I would have liked to see more of Susan’s growth and as a person. I enjoyed Presley and Susan’s budding relationship, but it felt like her character wasn’t very dimensional.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio, this was a great book to read and listen to, I thought the narration from Ferdelle Capistrano was excellent and really captured Presley's voice and made Cat Shook's book resonate in a fun engaging way. Great audiobook! I also had a review copy from Celadon so I did a read and listen combination!

My review:
TLDR: I really enjoyed this contemporary coming of age rom com that leaned nicely into themes on grief, friendship and self-growth. A great ode to NYC as well as the complex but exciting personal and professional challenges that many 20 somethings experience. The audiobook is a great way to get into the pace and tone of the book!

I really liked this blend of romcom with coming of age themes and how deftly Shook gave space to Presley to grow, a balance of a young person figuring things out, making some mistakes (though I hesitate to say mistakes as much as perhaps necessary parts of growing up...?), and learning about what she wants, who she is, and what is important to her in relationships. I loved her friendship with her roommate, the book is such a testament to the importance of found family and having people who get you and show up for you.

The romcom allusions are there with themes on figuring out who is the right and the wrong person for you, learning that some relationships just aren't that great after all, and that figuring out what you want can help you see people, and yourself ,more clearly. This was nicely explored in a way that honored the tropes but also blended nicely with the bigger themes on self growth, growing up, and for Presley also gaining her own strong sense of self.

Humor Me also is a story of grief, what it means to lose a parent to alcoholism and to grapple with what that has meant and may continue to mean for identity and growing up. At the same time, I thought Shook wove in the role of Susan, Presley's mother's best friend but also Presley's work mentor, effectively to showcase care and nurturing that Presley needed but also to give Presley a sense as to who her mother was outside of/before addiction took over; I thought this was deftly done and I think added to the themes on grief and coping in valuable ways.

"Presley Fry is an assistant on the Late Night Show. She scouts comics hoping to find the next big thing. She struggles with dating and relationships. And she's still grieving her mother's death."

This is the "single girl living in New York City and figuring things out" trope. I struggled to relate to that part of Presley. I think writers sometimes forget how different NYC is from the rest of the country. I did appreciate the decriptions of Presley dealing with her mother's alcoholism. It's pretty accurate without being overly dramatic. There are several instances where Presley has her emotions under control - much better than I would in those same situations. Her friendship with her mother's old friend is an interesting choice - but it works. The magic mushroom scene is hilarious.
Presley does figure some things out in this book. It's always good to see a character grow and change.

Ferdelle Capistrano does a great job with the audio. She makes you see Presley.

Fans of character-driven contemporary fiction should enjoy this one.

Thank you Cat Shook, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio! This book was surprisingly light considering the very tough topics it tackled (the me too movement, alcoholism and death due to alcohol addiction etc.) which I appreciated. There was also a undercurrent throughout the book about women in the workplace being overlooked and passed over for deserved promotions for men who are less deserving and the disrespect women face in the workplace. Setting these tough topics juxtaposed to a book set partially in the stand-up comedy scene was an interesting choice and I think it paid off. Overall I really enjoyed this book but would have loved to get more of the stories after the relationships were made official.

Presley is an assistant on a comedy show in NYC and she is determined to find the next big comedian. She is struggling after her mother passed away and she runs into her moms childhood best friend who also lives in NYC and they strike up a friendship that neither of them expected. This book was different in that it had a small romance storyline, lots about her job and wanting to be successful, and her friendship with her moms childhood best friend. There were time when I was laughing and others when I was upset for Presley, but overall just a solid story.

This gave me Late Night (movie) & Hacks (hbo series) vibes, so I enjoyed it. It centered around NYC, comedy, friendships, family relationships and romance. I liked that romance wasn’t the main focus of this, it’s true in that it does feel more like a love message to new york, because the way i’m ready to hope on a plane and go! I thought this was an easy and relaxing audiobook to listen to, while also offering some depth into relationships, especially with family in those difficult times.

I liked the narrator and think they did a great job with the multiple characters, hitting the comedic points and progressing the story forward by making the words stand out.

Overall, I liked this and will probably listen again because it was also pretty comical.

Thanks to Celadon, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my gifted ARC and ALC of Humor Me in exchange for my honest opinion.
Fresh off a trip to NYC, I was swept right into this story set in the city. Presley is a recent college grad, living with her college best friend and hustling at her assistant job, trying for a promotion. She works for a late night show, trying to find the next big name in stand up comedy for their Friday episodes, meaning she spends a lot of her time scouting fresh talent at comedy clubs. Humor Me follows Presley as she navigates dating (or not), work, friendship, and her grief handling her mother’s death from one year prior. Female relationships, both familial and friends, are at the forefront of Presley's journey to establish herself.
This New Adult book is written well, which is a strong endorsement from me, considering I typically avoid the genre. I took a chance on reading this after enjoying Shook’s previous release, If We're Being Honest. Presley’s character is written with a maturity that allowed me to relate to her more than most characters in their early 20s, and I loved how sarcastically funny (maybe satirical is the better description) the book shows her early life out of college. It's not laugh out loud humor, but I found myself chuckling and rolling my eyes a lot. I mostly listened to the audiobook, and the narration by Ferdelle Capistrano was engaging and clear. The book and audiobook will be available this Tuesday!

✨ Genre: Contemporary fiction/romance
❤️ Steamy rating: Moderate
⚡️ Profanity: Moderate

This was such an unexpected delight! I binge listened in one day.

Born and raised in Georgia, Presley is now an assistant at a late night comedy show in NYC… a job she loves. She and her roommate Isabelle are single and loving NYC commitment free, though Peesley’s fear of commitment could come from the grief and trauma she experienced watching her mother drink herself to death. Out of the blue, Presley runs into her mom’s childhood best friend, who also lives in NYC. The two spark up a unique friendship that changes both of their lives.

This one was not what I expected. It wasn’t a hardcore romance, but it did have some romance and spice. The characters in this book are special. Plus, it was quite funny with a binge worthy plot. I loved that the author was able to write about serious topics but still made the book feel light and funny. I also love stories of young people living in NYC.

Triggers: death of a parent, alcoholism, infidelity, and sexual harassment

Thank you so much @macmillan.audio for the early copy of Humor Me! I absolutely loved it and feel honored to write a review.

#macaudio2024