Really Good Actually by Monica Heisey
(Format used for this read: Audiobook)
A hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about one woman’s messy search for joy and meaning in the wake of an unexpected breakup, from comedian, essayist, and award-winning screenwriter Monica Heisey
Maggie is fine. She’s doing really good, actually. Sure, she’s broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™.
Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at 4 am, and “get back out there” sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris; her newly divorced friend, Amy; and her group chat (naturally), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life, intermittently dating, occasionally waking up on the floor and asking herself tough questions along the way.
Laugh-out-loud funny and filled with sharp observations, Really Good, Actually is a tender and bittersweet comedy that lays bare the uncertainties of modern love, friendship, and our search for that thing we like to call “happiness”. This is a remarkable debut from an unforgettable new voice in fiction.
I thought I would totally love this book….I saw it described as “Bridget Jones-esque” and immediately I remembered how much I ADORED those books years ago.
But then I thought about it….
I think if I revisted Bridget Jones life, I don’t think I would enjoy reading it as much as I did back in the day. All the body hating and toxic habits to fit into societal beauty standards masked with self depricating humor…hmmm. Doesn’t sound as appealing as it used to.
I guess that means I have grown older and wiser and more selective at this point in my life…look at me being all ADULT LIKE 🤣
I read this book anyway though because I wanted some humor in my literary life.
Welp.
First of all, the narrator’s voice was the COMPLETE WRONG VIBE for this book. She has a wonderful voice but OMGGG it does NOT fit this story AT ALL.
She is WAY too serious sounding to give voice to a semi-comedic book…a thriller or serious drama would be a MUCH better fit for her narrating style and vocal tone.
This story was supposed to be funny at the same time as being sad/depressing…the whole humor in trauma/pain type of thing…but I just felt like the sadness outweighed the laughter for me.
Were there funny moments/dialogue? Sure, there were some.
But IDK…I just felt like the depressing stuff kinda overrode all of them….and I just felt bad for the main character the entire book.
Again…the seriousness of the narrator’s voice did NOT help with this.
A book about divorce and the journey after the split is just gonna not feel great to me, I guess.
Even if jokes are thrown in here and there.
Did not love this one. And honestly….do not have much to say either.
That’s about it lol