Everything's Fine

pick

This was a good read, but I just felt like shaking the protagonist, Jess, sometimes. I gave her some leeway, because she was on her early 20‘s and at that age you are still trying to figure yourself out.

I don‘t feel this should be marketed as a romance and funny š¤” read, but more as a look at how your environment, race and privilege shape who you are.

āļø¸āļø¸āļø¸āļø¸ (Working on my #NetGalley backlist š…)

Reggie Oh man. I read this while waiting for an oil change and just started crying when she realizes she didn‘t get a toy like the guy did. And then she finds out there‘s a party for the success of the project that she was so much a part of and didn‘t get an invite. Then the guy says you can be my plus one. He will never see her. It made me so sad for her. Ughhh this book. 4mo

Amor4Libros @Reggie The plus one invite made me so upset! And when he had so many toys that he had to start putting them on his drawer because he ran out of desk space and she had none? So sadā€¦And when Barbara braided her hair š�ŗ 4mo

24 likes2 comments

kbuggle

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

so-so

I‘ve seen a lot of mixed reviews on this, and I have a lot of mixed feelings. Calling it a romance feels inaccurate and limiting. The whole thing left me frustrated.

Cinfhen Agree, DEFINITELY NOT a romance but I kind of liked it. I didn‘t think it deserved all that horrible backlash. 9mo

9 likes1 comment

Reggie

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

pick

We follow Jess, a Black woman, working in finance. There‘s Josh, a white conservative who also works with Jess and has been around since college. The author calls this a love story but this put me through a lot. It was well written. I read it in a day. It was funny, maddening, and there were times I cried for Jess. A brilliant young woman who was only seen for the color of her skin and her gender at times. I want to discuss this book. Pick!

Bookpearl This is our book club pick! I haven‘t started it yet but definitely will crack it open this weekend. 9mo

Reggie @Bookpearl feel free to come back and post thoughts. I hope you like it. 9mo

sarahbarnes This sounds very good! 9mo

See All 7 Comments

SG2014 You have a way of convincing me that I MUST READ THIS BOOK! 9mo

Reggie @sarahbarnes I liked it. It takes place between the Obama and Trump administrations. I want to know what they look like 4 years later. This is a very book clubby book. 9mo

Reggie @SG2014 If you read I hope you like it! 9mo

Rissreads It‘s a fantastic cover too! 9mo

77 likes3 stack adds7 comments

Sara_Planz

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

pick

Talk about a novel that came out at the right time! I started this book the week of the Supreme Court ruling regarding affirmative action and this was the perfect read to help me deal with my feelings about that decision. This book is smart, surprisingly funny, deeply emotional and will start conversations and discussions. I think this one would be great for a book club because there is so much to dig into!

39 likes1 stack add

Megabooks

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

so-so

Fitting to finish this politics-heavy romance novel while watching fireworks yesterday!

Enemies-to-lovers is my favorite romance trope, so this book started strong for me. And as a liberal living in the South, there are people I love who vote very different than me. HOWEVER a romance novel getting super bogged down in political arguments totally killed any kind of fun, sexy vibe. And I will say I often found Josh‘s views abhorrent. 2.5āļø¸

Cinfhen

Cinfhen I thought this novel was pretty insightful but I never really got the relationship between Josh & Jess. It seemed more of a physical connection then anything else.. . 10mo

Megabooks @Cinfhen yeah, I can see what you‘re saying about the insight. They‘re two people who are ingrained in fundamentally different ways of viewing US politics in a very real way. But if I‘m going to read a romance novel, which is what this is (I don‘t think it‘s literary fiction), then just make it fun please! š‰ (edited) 10mo

squirrelbrain There was a *lot* of bogging down in politics wasn‘t there?! It didn‘t work if it was meant to be a romance, but it certainly isn‘t literary fiction either. 10mo

See All 11 Comments

Cinfhen Yeah - I hear what you‘re saying - but I don‘t think the author or publisher would categorize this book as romance š™„im pretty sure they see it‘s genre as literary fiction. 10mo

Cinfhen Also pretty fabulous fireworks š’� 10mo

Megabooks @squirrelbrain @Cinfhen definitely a caught between genres read. I‘d probably read the author again if she changes subjects. š¤·š¸»ā€¨ā™€ļø¸ thanks C! I always watch the DC one on PBS. Family tradition! 10mo

Reggie I get when the author says this story is a love storyā€¦However when Jess sees that toy that Josh has for closing a deal that she also worked on but she herself didn‘t get. Then to find out that there is a party and he thinks his offer of being his Plus 1 will suffice. That is when I would have checked out of any potential future. Here is a man who can‘t see outside the scope of himself as white, as a man. And then it was total bullshit because š‘‡š¸¼ 9mo

Reggie We had to hear him say he struggled or didn‘t have it all that great and he was obviously middle upper class AND he knew Gil from way back when. And I wanted to be mad at Jess for her love of money but I can‘t cause she was brilliant but couldn‘t succeed in the system that wasn‘t made by her or built for her. I was so upset. And I hope they lived happily ever after but how much of yourself are you supposed to mute and give away to keep some kind 9mo

Reggie of equilibrium. In Weike Wang‘s Chemistry the mother tells her daughter to never be with someone more successful than her and I kinda see that now. But I had to take my Camry to the shop today and straight up cried angry tears when she realizes she didn‘t get the toy or the part invite and then the patronizing plus one. Ughhhhhhhh. Thanks for letting me vent Meg! 9mo

Megabooks @Reggie I love discussing books with you because you always see little moments I don‘t. I think I had trouble relating to the whole situation as an aromatic person. (Reading romance is like reading SciFi for me! š‚) there were a number of times I would‘ve checked out, and many were due to his being totally dense about how and why she was being treated differently. But something kept her coming back even though they always seemed ā¬‡ļø¸ 9mo

Megabooks To be talking at cross purposes when it wasn‘t about their bubble together. If they lived on the little prince‘s asteroid, I think they could‘ve just had hot sex across the universe, but I think the stresses of the real world would‘ve eventually torn them apart. But I have seen so many women put up with that much shit for a lot less than she was getting out of it (financially definitely and the good emotional parts too). 9mo

65 likes11 comments

squirrelbrain

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

pick

I‘m embarrassed to say that I was dissuaded from reading this by all of Goodreads reviews calling it out as ā€racist‘, so I‘m glad that @Cinfhen persuaded me to give it a go so I could make my own mind up.

As a book, it‘s just a soft pick for me; nothing special as a story and a bit clunky in places, but it doesn‘t deserve the controversy aimed at it. I actually checked out the author as I thought she must be white due to the vitriol sent her way

squirrelbrain ā€¦so I‘m not sure how she can be ā€excusing racism‘ if she‘s telling her own lived experience? If that makes it difficult to read, either as a black or white person then so be it. Sometimes we need to have our shiny little bubbles popped and to see that life isn‘t all kittens and flowers. (edited) 10mo

Caroline2 Oh dear. It does get me down a bit lately the way the twitterati go after authors. Like you say, if this is her lived experiences then why can‘t she share them?? All this extreme offence and cancel culture can easily slip into censorshipā€¦. 10mo

Crazeedi I just ignore horrible names that others feel they have to spew. It's very sad that happens. I'll make my own opinion on what I read. 10mo

See All 8 Comments

TrishB Great review Helen. When a book makes me feel uncomfortable I look at myself first and try to see why. Shouldn‘t we all be learning something then. 10mo

Cinfhen I‘m glad I went audio, I thought it added to the otherwise somewhat clunky dialogue šˇ§and your review is so spot on! This idea of cancel culture is so ridiculous! Also, I thought the author drove home some very interesting ideas about how one might see themselves through others. 10mo

MicheleinPhilly I absolutely loathe the GR ā€pile-onā€¯ culture where everyone gives the book a single star and then copies and pastes their ā€reviewsā€¯ from somewhere else. Talk about sheep. Grow up. š™„ 10mo

The_Book_Ninja I went and had a look at the GR reviews. Not my cup of tea but it seems the bad reviews are done by people who haven‘t even read the book. 10mo

Megabooks Great review! I just found the political banter annoying eventually, but as a person with supple-side Republican friends, she definitely got their thoughts right! 10mo

61 likes3 stack adds8 comments

Cinfhen

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

pick

Im not sure how I got to this audiobook & I certainly wasn‘t aware of all the controversy surrounding the book but wow was it compelling!! Its the story of Jess & Josh - two opposites who despite their core experiences and beliefs to be radically different are very attracted to one another. The sexual build-up is intense but it‘s the way they react to the world around them and each other that‘s really thought provoking. Fresh, current & authentic

69 likes1 stack add

kelli7990

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

Today, I‘m sharing another physical ARC I received in the mail today along with a cool sticker and this paper. The back of the paper has a letter from the author saying why she wrote this book and I thought that was really interesting. This one was sent to me by Simon & Schuster. I‘m looking forward to reading this. It sounds interesting.

On Sale: June 6, 2023

simonbooks

8 likes

Violetsunrise84

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

so-so

The book was okay. I see what the Book Tok girls were saying. I‘m not sure how this relationship works. š¤” I finished reading this story pretty quickly though so that‘s a plus. #Everything‘sFine #ceciliarabess

4 likes

Violetsunrise84

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

This post contains spoilers

show me

I feel like this is a bad idea. People already feel like you are sleeping with your boss as it as but to make out with him in a public place. What if someone saw them? š¤¦ā€¨ā™€ļø¸ #EverythingsFine

4 likes

Violetsunrise84

Everything's Fine | Cecilia Rabess

I know that people say this book is bad but so far it has my attention. #Everythingsfine #ceceliarabess

7 likes