G. Bianco, 2019
Elissa Sussman has written many best-selling books, but her most recent novel is sure to be a show-stopper. Set to be released on April 12th, Funny You Should Ask shows how sometimes timing can mean everything and oftentimes the universe has bigger plans for us. Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing—and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned. Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she’s promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes. Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word. This book was a fabulous binge read for me. I quickly became emotionally invested in the plot and loved how the story was told in alternating timelines. The emotions run so high in this book and there's so much tension in the beginning that readers will be devouring this book like I did trying to figure out just what happened 10 years earlier and how our main characters will come to terms with it in the present. The way Chani's emotions are conveyed is so well-written and the way fame and its relationship with the media is explored is so well done. You really get a glimpse at both the celebrity side of things, as well as the journalistic viewpoint of trying to do your job, while also being the force that can impact someone else’s life. The way the past and present parallel with one another yet differ so much only highlights the theme of timing and “what ifs” this stroy offers. Additionally, readers can’t help but root for Chani and Gabe to finally give into the feelings, both the good and the bad, they’ve been holding onto for a decade. I basically felt every emotion while experiencing Chani and Gabe’s story. I laughed, I cried, and I just couldn’t stop reading this book. This was a five star read for me and I cannot wait to see what Sussman will write next! *I received an ARC from Dell/Penguin-Random House in exchange for my honest opinion.
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AuthorHi! My name is Elisa and my bookshelf is quite literally overflowing! Join me in my journey of reading as many books as humanly possible! Archives
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