My favorite of the bunch! Naina Rao moves to NYC after ending a relationship with her older girlfriend, Sofia. As she chases a creative career, she meets David, an aspiring filmmaker, and their connection forces her to question her sexual identity and life goals. I adored the friends-to-lovers trope here and the friendship between the main characters. I’ve never read anything with a plot quite like that and it was chef’s kiss, perfection.

I am once again the target audience for everything 831 publishes about messy millennial women.

This was so honest and so tender and hit all the right notes. The lead character Naina felt so real in her uncertainty and her journey was extremely relatable. 831 has a knack for publishing stories that feel expansive even though they’re novella length. They also sure know what they’re looking for, this is another 5 star for me.

Naina just broke up with her long-term girlfriend and moved to New York for a fresh start. She ends up at David's birthday party through connections with mutual friends. They both stick their feet in their mouth during their first meeting and can't let it go. The relationship continues to develop from there, giving Naina an identity crisis as she's never developed romantic feelings for a man.

I've enjoyed all of the 831 Stories as quick, cute reads. However, I don't love a (spoiler alert) cheating trope. I empathize with Naina's identity crisis and completely understand it could be argued that Naina didn't cheat when she slept with her ex. On the other hand, I despise the logic that "sleeping with someone else made me realize my feelings for you were real." Overall, I did enjoy the story and the characters, but my dislike for that trope is a personal preference.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I read set piece as an arc and loved it so much!! I also read big fan by 831 stories for my book club and was a big fan *wink wink* but this one just didn't hit it for me! I felt no connection towards the characters or chemistry between them!


thank you net galley and 831 stories for the e-arc though!

This is the third book from 831 Stories and I love how they are all so different and so satisfying. Comedic Timing is the story of Naina, who has just broken up with her girlfriend—her only one ever—by moving to NYC. She goes to a party at a friend of a friend’s apartment and meets David, who she feels drawn to. The book is Naina working through her feelings and David working through his as they navigate friendship and the possibility of more.
Barath’s story is funny, sad and romantic. I couldn’t put it down! While I was rooting for Naina and David to end up together, I also rooted for Naina to come into her own and sort through her feelings. All in all, a solid, enjoyable read!

I did not finish this book as I couldn't get past the drug use in the first chapter. Just not my thing. In the spirit of reading for pleasure, I did not continue reading the book. That said, the cover and branding of the book were eye catching, and I actually liked the relatively short length because sometimes it's nice to just finish a fun read in one sitting, so I would be interested in trying other books from this publisher in the future. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!

i really enjoyed comedic timing. something that’s hard for me with novella’s is to get the buy in that the characters actually like one another in an authentic way but comedic timing definitely had me convinced. i think the pacing was great and i enjoyed the themes it explored. naina is a bit of a messy & relatable bi queen and i loved her sm.

831 forever!

A book that celebrates not only discovering a new kind of love, but also friendship and New York City.

I didn't love Comedic Timing -- and it's likely just because it wasn't what I wanted it to be. This would be more accurately marketed as a "finding yourself" book which isn't what I was necessarily in the mood for; there is very little romance in this. The writing is good so I still breezed through it!

Honestly it was a lot of fun. It was a great read for valentines . Highly rec it to romance lovers everywhere

This story was fantastic. Both characters were mature and emotionally intelligent. The characters' chemistry was fantastic, and I thought it was great how Naina's queer identity was explored and accepted. Seeing a realistic bisexual character made me very happy.

3.5 stars! I've been wanting to try a book from 831 stories for a while now because their concept is really interesting. I loved the novella length of this and am excited to try more books from this line.
Naina was a very "real" protagonist to me. If you love Sally Rooney characters, she is the girl for you. I appreciated the bisexual representation and it was vulnerable to read about her struggle falling in love with a man for the first time and how that relates to her queerness.
The novel in general felt very real to me, this is how people meet and fall in love in the real world. The vibes and aesthetic of the story were lovely. I thought David as the love interest was okay, but he was easily the most uninteresting part of this story. I loved all the side characters and am in awe how much plot and character development Barath was able to weave into this shorter length book.
(Thank you to NetGalley, Upasna Barath and 831 Stories for providing me with an eARC for this book in exchange for my honest feedback. All opinions in this review are my own.)

I liked Comedic Timing, but it didn't really draw me in to the story enough for me to really love it. The characters, while complex, felt flat and I couldn't understand their connections to one another. If it hadn't been a novella/quick read, I don't know if I would've finished it.

beta read this for 831 and adored it - charming, complicated, messy. for the people who watched Girls and The Mindy Project and also something wholly new that no one has written quite yet

A fun and honest exploration of bisexuality, packed into a punchy novella. I devoured it! I love what 831 is doing with the romance genre and I cannot wait to see what they have up their sleeve.

Thanks to 831 Stories and Netgalley for this eARC.

I’m in love with 831 Stories, and Comedic Timing was no exception. I love bi representation in books - which Comedic Timing SO delivered on, aaaaand I adore messy women, which Comedic Timing SO delivered on; the only thing better than messy or bi representation is messy AND bi representation. Loveeeeeeeeeee

Reckless, quarter life crisis meets the NYC creative hustle—with a side of romance.

Read this for:
🎭 messy twenty-something uncertainty tackling queer identity, creativity, breakups– all in 170 pages
🎬 a will-they-won’t-they between creative collaborators
🌆 dating, queerness, and ambition colliding in New York City

Naina Rao is determined to make this her year. She’s got a steady job, she’s newly single, and she’s ready to finally break into a creative career. But NYC doesn’t make it easy—until she meets David, a filmmaker who makes the city feel a little less lonely. Their connection is instant, and that makes her question everything she thought she knew about herself.

This ambitious novella takes on a lot – mid-twenties uncertainty, big dreams, messy starts and stops of relationships, carrying the weight of grief, wrestling with heteronormativity. The premise is so compelling: a queer 25-year-old falling for a man for the first time and spiraling into an existential crisis. But in its race to be hyperrealistic and self-aware, it veers into lit-fic-with-a-romance-subplot territory. It’s a love story where I wasn’t necessarily rooting for the couple to end up together, which is a cardinal sin in the genre.

831 Stories brings us yet another strong, quick, and sharp novella in a fresh new package and this one leans all the way into the messiest parts of ourselves… but Big Fan remains solidly the supreme leader of the bunch.

I ended up Purchasing this book because I have a collection of 831 Stories books and let me tell you it was everything I needed to read! The story, the connection and setting. It was a realistic and true retelling of what dating in late 20s- early 30's is like in todays worlds ! David the MMC was just perfection, he was what we all hope we can find in our world today! Oh, and the audio on Spotify also so good! I love how it is told!

Relatable, messy, short, & sweet.

Love the bi representation and everything that 831 Stories is doing! Personally, I enjoyed Big Fan more but will continue to read everything they publish.

Another lovely little book snack from 831! Loved this exploration of the various types of grief (losing loved ones, losing versions of ourselves), sexuality and identity, and how the stories we tell ourselves can alter our perspective. So fun to see the Mischief song mention (nod to Big Fan) in the first chapter — makes me want to read it again to see if there are any other 831 Universe Easter eggs!