Monica HeiseyReviews

Nothing too deep but consistently amusing, sometimes laugh out loud.

Being a very recent divorcee, I thought that this book would be something I could relate to and understand in a deeper way; however, it made me cringe. The book was basically one woman’s neurotic word vomit at how she was too young to be getting divorced at 29/30! She had many friends and they just stood back and watched this happen and never thought she needed serious intervention. I don’t know, but it was wayyy over the top especially since it went on for almost a year! This was the entire book and that’s it!

I listened to the audiobook and I think that was the only thing that helped propel me to finish. Julia Whelen was the narrator and she is my favorite. I gave it 2.5 stars for the audio portion. It would have been a dnf if not.

Couldn't read past page 25, not my style at all about a self indulgent life, hopefully she'll find herself??½

When I saw this book in B&N, and saw her sad, manic face on the cover I instantly thought "I can relate". I didn't pick it up right away, but 45 minutes later when I was about to check out, I went back and grabbed her.

It was like going to a pet shelter. I didn't choose her. She chose me.

I loved every second reading this book. I wish it would have never ended. But that's kinda selfish because that would doom Maggie to a lifetime of being miserable and never finding happiness. (But I still kind wish...). I laughed out loud so much. Literally LOL-ing. I never ACTUALLY LOL. LOL is a state of mind, not an actual thing people do. Unless, it turns out, you're reading this book.

I posted on my IG stories that I was reading this book and Monica Heisey shared it and I felt manic about it in the same way I feel like Maggie would have. Is that what the kids call "meta"?

This book reeled me in with its amazing cover and great reviews! It tells the story of Maggie, a 29 year old who going through a divorce. She might be a surprisingly young divorcée, but she's doing fine. Really good, actually. The book follows Maggie through her first year of single life as she neglects her graduate thesis, tries dating apps, takes up new hobbies, interacts with old and new friends, and so much more.

This book reads like a stream of consciousness of all of Maggie's many thoughts, ranging from light to dark, mundane to deep, but somehow it's all very relatable. Her story is painful, yet funny, and I found myself cheering for her, while also wanting shake her into getting her act together, lol. Definitely recommend!

Terrible book. A bad romance and just horrible story line. Boring and stupid people.

Holds a decent claim to sit beside Heartburn and Bridget Jones in the canon. It never quite breaks through to the sort of Serious Look at Modern Love territory of Catherine Lacey or Lauren Oyler, but then again their books aren't nearly as funny as this. The Harry Styles cameo will live long in the memory.

Maggie is a Grad Student, married, renting an apartment and owning a rescue cat - until suddenly she is on her own. When her husband leaves her Maggie believes her life is over, aged 28. She wallows in sadness and self-pity, throws herself into various activities, overspends and indulges in lots of sex with lots of people. However sympathy for Maggie is growing thin and Maggie needs to face up to herself.

I am not the demographic that this book is intended for and I found it hard to read at first, simply because of the graphic sexual references and the Millennial vibe. However once I got into the rhythm of the book I started to find it very funny and very clever. OK, Maggie is a deeply unsympathetic character to me but the hilarity of the 'woke' activities and actions, the utter selfishness and the self-help got me hooked!

Monica Heisey ventures into novel territory, with a switch from comedy screenwriting to penning a contemporary fiction. The Schitt’s Creek writer does not leave behind her sense of the absurd and the human foibles that make characters both relatable and exaggeratedly bizarre. Maggie is a young woman in crisis, and she is not handling it very well. Unmoored by the dissolution of her short marriage, she is forced to grapple with her dashed life expectations and a restart for which she is unprepared. The plot generally tails Maggie as she realizes her gaps in knowledge about adult life and the dependencies that she had been able to ignore as part of a couple. She flounders in her unwished-for freedom, her attempts at independence providing many moments of zany adventures and awkward interactions. Her well-meaning friends also relentlessly bombard the poor woman with unsolicited advice and platitudes—spinning her more toward chaos than self-sufficiency. Through narrative and interspersed emails, lists, and conversation summaries, Heisey avoids succumbing to the obvious tropes of the genre. Like the tv scripts she has written, Really Good, Actually is funny and irreverent, at times even crass and cringe-worthy. Readers who appreciate kooky heroines and parodies of romantic comedy will find this debut a delightful diversion.

Thanks to the author and William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.½

I received an advance copy of this book, thank you

I didn't enjoy the book, not because it was poorly written, because it wasn't. Infact, Monica Heisey developed the characters perfectly. I could 100% picture Maggie, her best friends, her hookups, her colleagues at work and even her therapist, and picture the out-of-control situations that Maggie made happen with her self-centered obsessions. So convincing a character did Monica Heisey create, that more than once I wanted to reach into the pages and give Maggie a shake, and tell her to stop what she was doing. I'm not the audience the author was targeting, is my guess, so I believe some people will love this book.