a refreshingly, realistic depiction of grief, depression and relationships. Virginia is a stand up comic in Toronto, navigating life following her mother’s passing and other traumatic events.

I enjoyed the honesty and candid, relevant nature of the writing and the character dialogue - it felt like you were having a conversation with friends instead of observing.

I found the relationships very complex and intriguing - her friend with depression, her mom’s former partner, her assailant. Virginia has very conflicted thoughts and feelings about the people she knows but it was great for the storytelling to provide a well rounded opinion so the reader could make their own judgements on each character.

While the book felt like a trauma dump, it was delivered in a deeply personal way like reading someone's diary. It made the charecters, experiences, feelings all the more real.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc 🫶🏻

DNF - There is certainly a readership for this book but I am not among them. I could not connect with the style in which this was written so I kept feeling unmotivated to go on. This felt at once very online & yet within the surface level banter, there was something more, the story just never explores it.

3 stars
I received this arc for an honest review!
I definitely overhyped myself for this book, however still enjoyed it for the most part.
The success in this work was the raw and real person feelings that made it relatable.
The struggles of being in your 20s and navigating grief in the comedy world is a unique take for a novel and she executed it very well.
I did find myself not so interested in the actually comedy shows which was a drag. The story itself had more comedy to it then the shows did.
Also, all the Canadian references gave me so much joy!

Absolutely loved this book. It’s was so heart wrenching and a great one if you love those messy women type fiction books.

This book was so good!!
I found the book to be very well written and very engaging. The author manages to talk about serious topics, while also making the book incredibly funny. I loved seeing the female friendship dynamics in this book, as well as the author’s take on grief and sexual assault. Bonus points for all of the Toronto references. As someone who was lived here her whole life, it pulled me into the novel even more. Please be sure to check out this book when it hits book shelves.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley who gave me an early ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

A very raw take on the difficulty of navigating your early 20's, with a dose of toxic friendship and living in a big city. Read the trigger warnings before proceeding. Thank you Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for the e-arc.

This book was not created equally among all of the many other literary fiction books floating around in the book sphere. What I originally expected to be a quip at the lives of young comedians in the internet era evolved into a complicated, devastating insight into coping in its many forms. The blows just do not stop coming for Virginia. If you want to know what it feels like to be a woman in your early 20s who just can’t catch a f***ing break, this is the closest you can get to tragedy without living it. Quick, sharp, and daring; I couldn’t have written this book if I tried. An absolute pleasure to read.

3.5 stars rounded to 4. Nobody Asked for This feels like eavesdropping on a casual Sunday meanderings with your closest friends. From the very beginning, this book was funny, charming, and extremely captivating. The voice felt so authentic—full of those natural "um's," "uh's," and "like's" that make it feel so realistic. At times, the book pushed boundaries and tackled taboo topics, and some moments really took me by surprise. The subject matter was occasionally difficult for me to digest, especially the depiction of sexual assault, which I hadn’t anticipated and would have appreciated a heads-up about. I also found V’s relationship with Haley hard to read, as it hit a little too close to home for me, making it a bit uncomfortable at times. That said, this is no fault of the author; it just felt a little too raw and relatable for me in some parts. Despite those moments, I really enjoyed the book overall. I’m especially excited to support Georgia Toews' writing, as she’s from my hometown, and I truly admire her work.

i loved this. cynical yet uplifting, and brutally honest in a way that makes you feel so seen. all of it just encompasses the early 20s so well. as a 23 year-old girl in a big city who went through an eerily similar situation with a life-long-friend-turned-roommate, maybe this just spoke to me directly. i really enjoyed the pace and virginia's voice, and had a great time immersing myself in the comedy scene

I really enjoyed this book, I couldn’t put it down. It was well written, funny, sad and more than anything it felt like such a genuine slice of life. It brought me back to living through my early twenties and the confusion and messiness that comes with being young.

As a Canadian, I enjoyed the setting of Toronto, it made a good backdrop to the story. The characters were well explored, flawed and believable in their description.

*Trigger warning* The sexual assault is hard to read but at the same time such an honest and relatable portrayal. Unfortunately, situations like that are familiar and probably resonate with many. Everything about this book just felt so true to reality. The description of growing out of friendships and the awkwardness and anger that can come with that was really well done.

Also the comedy bit about “cat men” is gold.

Can’t wait to read more from this author. 5⭐️

This was very well written. It felt like you were a part of it all. Funny at times, heartbreaking at times. A big ol trigger warning for sexual assault. The comedy show monologues were really not funny, though, and that took me out of it.
Either way, a good one. And by Miriam Toews daughter no less!

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the arc.