A Brief Review of Just Some Stupid Love Story

 

Image provided by Flatiron Books

I'm excited to share a Q & A session with author Katelyn Doyle to promote her debut romantic comedy Just Some Stupid Love Story later this week. But before that goes live I wanted to share a brief review of the book with you to give you a feel for this novel and its homage to classic rom-com films. I found it to be a clever and modern take on many of the rom-coms I grew up with in the 80s and 90s from filmmakers like Nora Ephron or Penny Marshall.

Just Some Stupid Love Story is a very fun and at times, touching rom-com about second chances and first love. This novel's premise was most reminiscent for me of the movie When Harry Met Sally; a Nora Ephron classic. However, in this story, the cynical writer, or screenwriter in this case, is Molly the female lead, and Seth her love interest is the happy, extroverted and sometimes over-the-top optimist, making for a nice twist. Also, we get a much deeper look in the book of why Molly is so cynical about love and so afraid of being hurt by it. But the timeline scenario of them meeting up after a fifteen-year absence and sometimes reconnecting, sometimes not for the remainder of the book, which spans five years, is very much like the movie in its structure. Unlike Harry and Sally though, Molly and Seth were once high school sweethearts and Molly broke Seth’s heart near their high school graduation.

After meeting up again at their fifteen-year high school reunion, they make a fun bet about who is right about whether or not soul mates exist. I felt like that was similar to Harry and Sally's debate about whether men and women could be platonic friends in the film, though they don't make a bet about it. In the novel, what ensues is a five-year span of Seth and Molly staying connected as friends even though both long for more. I will admit at the start of this book Molly is so snarky, cynical and really just sad, that I wasn’t sure I would really be able to connect with her as a character. I often have a hard time reading dark comedy style books or watching them as films. However, Seth was so likeable and so unbelievably optimistic, that Molly balances his Pollyanna persona nicely. The fact that Seth is a divorce lawyer with a conscience also makes for a nice change of pace from the typical stereotypes about attorneys.

As someone who loves the Nora Ephron movies and really rom-coms in general, I enjoyed picking out the Easter eggs to this movie genre as I read this book. All in all, I give this one 5 out 5 stars and would happily read this novel again. It would almost be a relief reading it a second time knowing how it ends. The realism of the emotional scars both characters bear made it hard to be sure there would be a happily-ever-after or even a happy-for-now end. However, it is a romance so… 

I was privileged to receive a free eARC of this novel from NetGalley, Flatiron Books and Katelynn Doyle in exchange for this honest review.

Tune in again on June 6 to read the fun Q&A I got to host with Katelynn Doyle about Just Some Stupid Love Story. Hope you enjoy it, and if you love romantic comedies then definitely pick up a copy of this book!

My next book review will be of an advanced reader copy of T. Kingfisher's latest fantasy A Sorceress Comes to Call. As Kingfisher is currently one of my favorite fantasy novelists, I am super excited to get the opportunity to read the eARC of her latest work.