A genre bender… ⭐️ Book Review ⭐ Romantic Comedy Author: Curtis Sittenfeld Book Rating ⭐️⭐⭐⭐✨ I’m seeing a lot of chatter about this book over on Book Twitter, especially from romance authors thinking that Sittenfeld is appropriating their genre and misleading readers with the term “comedy.” Is the term “rom-com” being overly used in marketing when books should really be put in the contemporary romance category? Here’s my two cents. The book is a romantic comedy, period. It follows the rules of the romance genre and I think the book is HILARIOUS. BUT it depends on your type of comedy, which is subjective people! What I really like about this book is that it subverts the 90s rom-com. The heroine, Sally writes for an SNL type TV show, but she is desperate to leave and write a more contemporary rom-com film. She (maybe Sittenfeld?) has a lot to say about the genre and their female leads. I believe every genre SHOULD be challenged and go through evolutions including the rom-com. At her show she develops a crush on host, Noah. They bond over writing and subtle sparks start to fly. After an intense week they part on not so great terms. The two reconnect via email two years later during COVID. After a month of emailing Sally visits Noah to see if there is something there. I only have two criticisms: 🚽 I really don’t want to read about COVID anymore. I get that it works in the story, but I could’ve done without the whole commode narrative. Not sexy! 🤦‍♂️ Noah was a one-dimensional character. If Sittenfeld was trying to elevate the rom-com then she should have worked on the male role too. His dialog and emails were all toooooo perfect. He never really calls Sally out her shit like she deserved. I wanted more tension from the two overall. That being said, I love her writing and the structure of this book. It’s so engaging I had a tough time putting it down. It’s clever, charming and provides the right amount of cheese worth mongering (if you read it you will get this reference). #QOTD - What do you make of the discourse?

Posted by Bettys Book Club at 2023-04-19 13:50:08 UTC