Not my style of writing but if you like lots of conversation and references to current slang, you might find this entertaining. The story is light and I mean REAL light. Hollywood couple getting divorced.

1 star

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book but I just don't. The description was promising but I just kept waiting for the story to get funny and it never happened. The characters are extremely unlikable (even the protagonist-Agnes), and there is no redemption for the story because the comedy just isn't there. Most of the jokes fall flat but there are a couple scattered throughout that make you laugh, just not enough to make the book worth reading.

I was so excited to read this book when I read the description. Unfortunately this was a miss for me. I could not connect with this writing style and I struggled to get through this story.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn’t do it. That’s right. A DNF. I tried to give it a chance because I enjoy a good satire about Hollywood, especially with a dash of sass and wit. Unfortunately, I did not find those elements in this novel. I quit about 20% into the story after trying to determine if I like the descriptions made throughout. The writing was a constant stream of consciousness which I do not enjoy when reading. It was all disjointed and confusing with characters popping up out of thin air and conversations that had no bearing on the actual plot. Nothing seemed to advance the story, although it could have gotten better over the course of the book.

From the jump, I did not connect well with the characters and did not like many of them. I hope others find enjoyment in this novel but I am going to pass on finishing the remainder.

I love books that make me laugh, and books that highlight some of the outrageous behaviors and lives of LA/Hollywood elites. This book focuses on Agnes, who lives this glamorous life, until one day she doesn't. This story is full of snark and had me laughing out loud multiple times. Agnes is a character who many people will adore, and want to read more of in the future.

When I first saw this book, I really expected it to be very funny and I had high hopes for it. While the idea of the story is very good, the execution was not what I was expecting. To me the story seemed to jump around a lot and it did not seem to tie things together very well. Perhaps it is my lack of actual knowledge of how the celebrities live but it was disappointing.
Agnes Murphy Nash is a very talented writer in her own right. I was somewhat surprised at the amount of crap she was willing to put up to tolerate from someone who is the father of her child. The court battle for the divorce was as expected. The win at all costs was apparent from the beginning. Nothing great happens during a divorce.
Trevor is an arrogant, selfish, self-centered hotshot who does not know how to appreciate anyone in his life. While I agree there are people out there, I did not find even one redeeming quality in his character.
Their daughter is caught in the middle and is pretty terrified of what will happen if her mom loses in the custody battle.
My favorite character was Agnes’ sister, Fin. She seemed to me to be a tough but fair person. She had her troubles but at the same time was there for her sister when needed. She did not take any of Trevor’s crap and she loved her niece very much.
A lot of work went into creating this story and overall it was good. The writing style as not my favorite but it did demonstrate the craziness of Hollywood and the appearances people try to keep up.
Thank you to Netgalley for complimentary copy.
Thoughts and opinions are my own.

A few good ideas, but skimmable story. May just be my age of 50, but found the majority of the characters unlikable. Didn't see what any of them saw in each other, and didn't like them myself. Interesting enough to see through to the ending, but struggled with this one. Would recommend if you like irritating Hollywood types that have the social aptitude of a child.

In a world full of second chance at life for women after a divorce, this was one of the better ones. I laughed for sure and really felt for Agnes. A light read when you need a palate cleanser after something more serious.

This book was a miss for me. I rarely stop reading until the last word but this is a book I could not finish. Not interesting and seemed a bit juvenile. Hoped for a new book to love, but this one misses the mark

The title and blurb made the book seem like a lot of fun,however, I found it difficult to follow. There are too many characters and Hollywood insider inferences. The dialogue is staccato and the main character too snarky. There are too many loose conversations with too many people to keep up with or they are never developed as characters.
Read somewhat like a diary of someone with flight of ideas.
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an unbiased review.The opinions expressed are my own.

I first read this author when she was still Gigi Levangie Granger and I remember laughing out loud! Her previous books were complete escape which we all crave now and again! This book however was different? While it was still the same type of Hollywood insider, girl done wrong, the writing was “odd”? It was essentially like reading a book through texts written by someone on far too much caffeine. Little to no character development. To say the characters in the book were devoid of emotion would be an understatement. It read as if even the author herself Just couldn’t be bothered? While a couple lines here and there incited a chuckle, it just wasn’t the fun read I had come to expect from this author in the past.

I honestly couldn't make it past the first few chapters of this book. It was snarky and engaging right off the bat, but I also found it crude, "worldly" in a way I didn't care to engage in, and depressing. I chose to stop reading it after a couple of chapters due to the nature of the book.

Unfortunately I couldn't finish this book. There was so much LA, famous people only, rich people problems in the descriptions leading up to actual plot that I couldn't keep up/lost interest easily.

Not for me.
This was very hard for me to read. I feel like it was written by a child. Not at all something I would recommend to my circle of reader friends.

DNF at 21%
This one was a bit of a mess, and i just couldn't get any further through.

Sorry to the publisher and author. I am sure many will really enjoy this story.

Enjoyed this LOL novel. Great characters & I loved the story line! However, I do love fun chick-lit! This one was just perfect! Thanks St. Martins Press & NetGalley for the ARC!!

While the story is captivating and full of drama, the writing style is choppy and abrupt, skipping ahead from one point to the next. You never truly get into a mind of protagonist Agnes' perspective as she keeps her reverting to her former Hollywood wife status, it's annoying as a reader who so desperately wants to see character growth. The ending was abrupt and nothing was really resolved. The novel as a whole was fine.

This one was a miss for me. I was really looking forward to a funny story I could get lost in but this fell flat for me. I was missing the funny.

Publisher’s description: When he changes the locks, she changes the rules.

Agnes Murphy Nash is the perfect Hollywood wife – she has the right friends, the right clothes, and even a side career of her own as a writer. Her husband Trevor is a bigshot producer, and from the outside it looks like they’re living a picture-perfect celebrity life, complete with tennis tournaments and lavish parties.

But the job description of a Hollywood wife doesn’t cover divorce, which is the way Agnes’ life is headed after she comes home one day to find her credit cards cancelled and the security passwords to get into her enormous LA home changed. Oh, and there’s a guy there whose job it is to tase her if she tries to enter…which she does.

Needless to say, Agnes’ husband is dead set on making sure she loses big time, but Agnes isn’t the type to just lie down and take it. In a world of fremenies and hot nannies, personal psychics and “skinny” jello shots, Agnes may be losing her husband, but could that mean getting her own life back?

Been There, Married That is a drop-dead hilarious battle of wills that will make you laugh out loud, cringe, and keep turning the pages to see what crazy disaster will happen to Agnes next…and how she’ll rise from the ashes.

*************
After finishing Gigi Levangie’s “Been There, Married That,” I was shocked to discover that she was the creator of the story for the movie “Step Mom” because I love that movie and I hated this book. Maybe “hate” is a strong word, but I couldn’t find anything to like about it, and I didn’t think it was even remotely funny. The writing was disjointed and disorganized. There were so many places where there wasn’t a transition to indicate that a scene was changing, and the book was so stream of consciousness, I found myself rereading things that still didn’t make any sense.

Based on the description, I thought I would really enjoy this. This book is every cliche we hear about Hollywood — people with more money than they know what to do with, drug addicts and alcoholics, everyone sleeping with someone besides their spouse. Agnes is supposedly a successful author in her own right, but she and her friends are all vapid caricatures who sit around at lunch gossiping about the latest scandals until Agnes becomes the scandal and all but one stop taking her calls.

***SOME SPOILERS AHEAD***

Agnes has been a Hollywood wife for 10 years, but when her powerful producer husband tells her he wants a divorce, somehow she thinks it will be amicable and doesn’t listen to her friend Liz who tells her she needs to get an attorney immediately. She lets her husband dictate everything, including things like putting their house up for sale and doesn’t tell her that a potential buyer is coming to stay in the house for a weekend so she has to pack up their 11-year-old daughter and find somewhere to go for a weekend...after he cancelled her credit cards so she can’t check into a hotel! The buyer moves their grand piano out of the house to see what the room would look like with more space, steals her sheets and towels, and she doesn’t call the police??? She calls the realtor, who assures her the piano will be returned and she accepts a check for the sheets and towels because she needs the money.

That’s just one scenario. After a book full of these, when Agnes’s divorce is finalized, we see her on a movie set where her convicted felon sister, who has no experience making movies, is co-producing a movie with her now ex-husband, directed by a man her husband supposedly hates and she slept with in the midst of the divorce. WHAT?!?!

I don’t know. Maybe that’s the way things are in Hollywood. It certainly did not make for an engaging or funny read. I had no sympathy for Agnes. The whole thing was just pathetic.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review. This title will be available on February 11, 2020.

I tried. Really, I did. I made it to about the 20% mark and then I had to stop. This is a did-not-finish title for me. This book is gross. As in spectacularly trashy. There's a time and a place for snarky humor and crass language, but this goes way too far. The blurb sounded fun and interesting, but the quality of the writing is poor so I didn't feel compelled to care about the heroine or her struggles. Thank you for the opportunity. I will not post my review anywhere.