*thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review*
My full review can be found at https://curlybookowl.com/2019/04/08/please-send-help-earc-spoilers/ on or after April 8th.


This book was cute and quirky and fun! I’ve never read a book that was told completely in text messages and email exchanges. It was an interesting change from a traditionally written book.

Ava and Gen are all of us and none of us. I’m 24 in my 6th year of undergrad. I have been in Gen’s situation where I didn’t have the money for school, and I HAVE to get this job because it’s the difference between food and none. I’ve also been on Ava’s side: my parents are very supportive and help me in anyway they can...but I also have a strong desire to succeed coupled with anxiety.

I loved this book. I was so pissed at Ben and I was totally on Gen’s side when she offered to fly up and string Ben up. We all need a Gen in our lives. We also need an Ava to help us make sane decisions and recognize our faults.

I did not realize this was a sequel. I was able to follow the book and get the chemistry between the friends without having read it.

I am not the right audience for this book. I did enjoy the format of texts and emails exchanges to chronicle a slice of life between two best friends just out in their first post-college jobs. I also liked that the book focused on female friendships. However, I only ever connected with Ava's character. Gen's voice was abrasive and self destructive in an in-your-face way. She unapologetically catfished someone and never felt an ounce of remorse for it, which just turned me off of her character early on. Her POV was fairly glorifying in regards to her self destructive quality as well. It's one thing to embrace yourself and your truths and own who you are. It's another to embrace your self-destructiveness and excuse all of your pettiness.

I was also turned off by the portrayal of southerners using bad stereotypes as well as Christians. I am both a Southerner and a Christian and I belong to a Methodist church (yes Methodist, which is villainified here in a bad stereotype) and in all of my churches that I have belonged LGBTQ people are welcomed and embraced. Perhaps the author came across a Methodist church like the one mentioned but I sure doubt it Instead, I suspect it was just a lack of research because I live in the south and have NEVER come across one like it (that doesn't allow LGBT people into their homeless shelter and other such un-christian issues). I also don't think the author bothered to research because there was a nun who worked it (that's Catholicism) and a few other such quibbles. Those are not things/terms the methodist church uses. I could ignore this but I think it harms part of the community this novel is trying to reach. Telling gay youth that the entire church doesn't like them (when this is not categorically true) is as problematic as those churches that do shun the LGBTQ community. They both do damage.

All in all, the book excelled in showing a slice of life between two very different friends trying to get started in their own adult lives while simultaneously supporting and leaning on each other. However, it fell down in it's problematic portrayals that took the lazy way out by using shallow stereotypes for cheap laughs or villaney. It also rides the line of glorifying self destructive tendencies.

I hadn't read the first book featuring these characters, but had no trouble jumping in and getting a good feel for them. I love books told through letters, so this modern take told through emails and texts was a fun extension of that genre. I would've liked to get to know some of the other characters better, but that's generally something that doesn't happen with this kind of book--I'd definitely read additional works that focus on some of the others, especially Dana. Overall, this was a fun book that provided a glimpse into young adult life, touching on serious issues with a light touch and creating relatable, flawed protagonists that I wanted to root for, even as they did some cringe-inducing things.

Thanks to NetGalley for access to this title!

There's just something so addictive and entertaining about these books that I can't help by love them! Once again, I really enjoyed the epistolary style that made the book flow super quickly. The characters were just as charming and unique as they were last time and their friendship was so incredibly wholesome. I assumed their friendship would follow a similar pattern it had in the first book, but was surprisingly happy to find that was not the case. While this book did feel constructed better than the first one, I still wish we got to know a little more about the characters lives between the last book and this one. Though, all in all, I had so much fun reading this book and I couldn't recommend this sequel enough. Yay for books about female friendship!!

I obviously chose to read this book because it was the sequel of I Hate Everyone But You, which I adored reading. Just like the first book, Please Send Help was full of life's joys and pains but this time Gen and Ava were in the big real world. And like expected they made mistakes. However, I feel like some of their actions were swept under the rug and didn't have the same consequences as they would've experienced in real life. This kind of infuriated me and made it really hard to get into some of the plot lines. Also, I wanted more about one of the minor characters who was pretty much one dimensional in terms of personality.
Anyway, overall it was a fun light read with the perfect amount of pain and happiness but I definitely still prefer the first book.

A Goldman never pays her debts but she does ruin her enemies with slander!

Please Send Help is the sequel of I Hate Everyone But You, which I did not know when I requested it on netgalley. (I thought it is a thriller! *face-palm*)I am yet to read the first book. But it did not hamper the reading experience, it could be read as stand alone as well. 

The book was hilarious. A very easy read about two best friends who despite of living far way from one another tried to be there for one another. It deals with several issues like depression, mental health, Bisexuality, Work place relationships etc. It was a fun read and very fast pacing but it could not make me love it. 

I did not like any of the friends. Next part of this review contains slight spoiler, so proceed at your own risk!! Or you can just skip the spoiler part!!

<spoiler>
Gen manipulated Baeu in the worst way possible. And her excuse was laughable! Also I agree Ben was manipulative and I hate him for that, but Ava was the first who made a move! Why girl?!! He is your boss!! Learn some workplace ethics -_- Also I wanted to see Dana still there when Gen moved in.. Why after she moved in all I get to know is DANA SHIFTED?!! WTF!! He was there for Ava on her worst time!!! Is it too much to ask for a proper goodbye?!!! :(

For above reasons my rating for this book came down to 3.5 stars insteed of 4 stars!

*Thank you St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the review copy.*

Thank to netgalley and the author/publisher for the Arc for my honest review.

This can be read as a stand-alone, but it may be easier to jump into after you read the first in the series.
Interesting and unique format as it’s written in text/email format. That makes it easy and enjoyable to follow along of course.

This was an enjoyable book. Gen and Ava are on their own after college and learning how to survive the working world. If you haven't read the first book in this series, I HATE EVERYONE BUT YOU, I highly recommend that you read it before this book. It can be read as a stand alone but you will be ready to jump right into the story if you already know what's going on with Ava and Gen. I enjoy the format of this book. The emails and texts between the two girls have a great flow and tell the story from both of their points of view without big narratives.
I am grateful I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I suggest you grab this book when it goes on the shelves in July 2019!

I was really surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I was expecting it to be more like a teen book then what it was and it was so much fun! I didnt read the first book in the series 'I Hate Everyone But You' so I wasnt sure it would make sense. But you really dont need to read it. I totally understood the characters and it made sense!
I enjoyed this so much because I could really relate to the story with the way it is written. Gen and Ava are so honest, sarcastic, dramatic, hilarious, and exactly like me! The emails and messages they send to each other is exactly how I email and message my besties! This book had me laughing out loud more often than not and it was such an enjoyable book!
The decisions Ava and Gen made at times were so cringe-worthy and I honestly couldnt help myself but be like 'nooo why did you do that for??'. I was shaking my head and giving my own opinion like I was one of their best friends!
All up this book was great! Really lovable and relatable characters and hilarious! I will definitely be seeking out the first book in the series and giving it a go!

Thank you net galley and st Martins press for sending me an arc of ‘please send help’ by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin in exchange for an honest review. To be honest when I first started this book I didn’t think I’d enjoy it due to the format being a combination of emails and texts rather than traditional pov chapters. I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to connect to the characters, but that couldn’t be further from truth. ‘Please send help’ is a fun fast paced story about long distance bffs trying navigate their way through their post college lives. Gen and Ava are not perfect character they are flawed and make mistakes but I think that’s what makes their story so relatable. I would definitely recommend picking up a copy when it hits shelves on the 16th of July 2019.

This book was not for me. I found the story boring and it had explicit content that I didn't like. DNF

Please Send Help is the story of two friends in their early twenties, just starting out their careers, Ava in NYC as an intern for a tv talk show, and Gen, as the new staff reporter for a small local paper in Florida. It is written strictly in the format as a series of emails and texts between the two friends. It deals with a number of issues, from totally random ones, like how to capture a feral cat and make it one's pet, to relationship issues, issues of sexuality, and situations within the workplace. While Please Send Help is the follow-up book to I Hate Everyone But You, it definitely read as a stand-alone novel easily enough. Overall, I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. Parts of it had me snickering, other parts I thought were a little over-the-top, but overall is was a quick read and perfect when you need something light to read.

Thank you to St Martins Press, Wednesday Books, and Net Galley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read the first book, I Hate Everyone But You, spring of last year and while I don't remember specifics, I do know I have a generally icky feeling when I think back to it. I remember some rep stuff not sitting well with me, and honestly just disliking both of the main characters. I couldn't tell you why I picked this one up except that book 1 had some funny moments and epistolary novels tend to fly by so quickly. I'm happy to say I did enjoy Please Send Help a lot more but it wasn't perfect.


First, this book was just genuinely funnier than the first volume in the series. These characters are now college grads and they're trying to navigate the adult world on their own for the first time. I obviously could relate more to their situations, so the humor struck me more often this time. I had some laughing out loud moments while reading this book. Both the subtler attempts at witty humor and the in-your-face toilet humor worked for me.


The characters were less asshole-ish this time, too. Gen in particular was such a snob in the last book, but she mellowed out a lot here. I found Ava's anxiety to be incredibly hard to read about last time, and while the representation was still on point here, it wasn't so hard to read. I was overwhelmed by her being overwhelmed in IHEBY, but in PSH it was just relatable, if not a little over the top.


So while the reading experience was overall enjoyable and fun, I found the book to be lacking in depth in some more important areas. One of the characters is diagnosed with an incurable STD, and while she spent a good amount of time freaking out about it, I felt like it was brushed off rather easily. Yes, stigma around STDs should end, however, it's still a big deal and a life-changing moment. The other main character was making very questionable drinking choices to the point where the word "alcoholism" was being used, but again, it was brushed off. I think these books would have been better without the two very serious issues thrown in, instead of going the other way and fully unpacking them. Keep this as a comedy.


Anyway, I don't find this series to be absolutely remarkable, but they're easily digested even with my quibbles. I love reading epistolary novels and these, with their text and email formats, go down quick and easy. I didn't love the unexplained time jump, but I did enjoy these characters a bit more grown up with more relatable issues for me. If you're looking for a light, funny read, check these out from the library.

I honestly don’t remember requesting this one, but it certainly was not for me. I am definitely not the target audience on this one so perhaps other readers will enjoy.

This book was just what I needed - lighthearted and realistic. I'm 25 now, but I've been here. Navigating the adult world isn't as glamorous as it looked when I was 16. And keeping friendships? That's another world. This book was an enjoyable ride from start to finish. I felt like I knew Ava and Gen out here in the real world. I'd recommend this to all those about to graduate high school and anyone in their 20s, because this is one that you'll enjoy and don't want to miss.

2.5 stars.
I didn't realize this book was the second in a series when I originally requested it on NetGalley. I ended up tracking down and reading the first book before I read this one, and I didn't enjoy the first book. I still gave the second book a chance, and it was moderately better than the first book, which is why I gave it 2.5 stars, but still wasn't very good.
A major problem with the first book was the toxic relationship between the two main characters. It was slightly better in this book at first, but then fell back into a pattern of one character treating the other like garbage a lot of the time. I don't know if their relationship is meant to be toxic in order to carry/create the "story" (there isn't really a plot, otherwise?...), or if the reader is expected to see this relationship as normal, but either way, it doesn't work. Very little actually happens in this book, and the communication between the two characters becomes so uncomfortable to read that it's hard to ignore the many reasons they just shouldn't even be friends.
I just couldn't really understand the point of this book. There is no interesting/unique story being told. The characters are not particularly unique. The way the characters interact is borderline abusive at times, and it's treated as a normal friendship instead of pointing out the problems with this. I think the only "unique" thing that this book has going for it is the fact that it's written entirely through texts and emails, but that doesn't matter at the end of the day if there's no actual story being told.

What a fun read! Reading the exchanges between Ava and Gen is almost like cyber-stalking someone's Facebook account. You're prying into their private conversation, but it's so interesting you can't stop. At times I was shaking my head over their attitudes, but they were so realistic for that age group that I never felt like they were just fictional characters. I was caught up in their dramas.
I didn't read the first book, but I didn't feel like it was necessary. However, it's going on my list and I will read the first one soon.

3.5 Stars

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reading copy of Please Send Help by Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin. I can't wait to start this book. Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin are YouTube personalities.

This book is a sequel to ”I Hate Everyone But You.” It is about two best friends Ava and Gen. They have known each other since high school. This novel takes place in their adulthood while living across the country from one another. This book is formatted through emails and text messages and was a nice change of pace. I love that the main focus of the plot was on friendship rather than relationships (although there are relationship talks within it).

For a book that is humorous, light hearted, and an easy read it did cover a lot of topics and issues. There are frequent discussions of sexuality and mental health. There are also conversations about past and present decisions that both girls make about their futures. I also liked that Gen was very openly feminist and was a voice to the LGBTQ+ community. Whereas, Ava is very anxious and suffers from bouts of depression.

I think that someone who suffers from mental health issues (such as anxiety, OCD, and depression) and people who identify as LGBTQ+ would enjoy this book and be able to relate to these characters as this is an own voices novel.

Thank you to Net Galley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review.

I think Im going to give this 2.5 stars. There were a lot of important things talked about like sexuality and STI’s, but the only interesting part were the pages between 220 and 300. If the book had kept its good pace til the end it would have gotten three stars.

Onto the characters, the main characters are the stereotypical Type A and Type B personality. There isn’t a lot of cross over between personality traits and I understand that peopel are like this but it just made the characters seem like empty shells of what they could be. The characters also made some wierd ooc choices. Like Gen, she is sturggling for money yet she does something that could get her fired and when she gets fired shes upset she cant afford to live anymore. SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS. No rational person would lose their job when they are in desperate need of money. I guess its supposed to be casue shes “unpredictable” but seriously?

The plot was kind of lacking, honeslty i dont even think there was one. It was driven a lot by character and I liked that. I dont really have much else to say.

I liked the ending, it made me happy and reminiscent of my friends. This was a sequel and I never read the first one and honestly i dont think you need too? The beginning is very expostionaly heavy, to the point that the writing lacks because of it, so you get the gist of everyone characters and where they’re going and what their goals are.

Yeah so that was that book, it could have been better but it was ok none the less.

Wow, ok so i actually struggled so much with this book and actually following along with the story line. The emailing back and forth was so hard to follow, which i felt really took away from the story, which was ok.