I wanted so badly to love this book. Everything about it sounded right up my alley: interesting storyline filled up witty dialogue.
Sadly, it fell a little short for me. It was, indeed, an interesting storyline - although not totally original. I think where it fell flat for me was with Agnes' character. I found her difficult to like and relate to. The plot of the book was a little challenging to follow too.
I did love the dialogue and wittiness of the writing - which was one of the things that kept my interest.
I didn't love this book, but I did enjoy it enough to finish it.

This was my first book by author Gigi Levangie. The synopsis grabbed me and so did the cover, so I was excited to get started.

However, I was disappointed! I thought for sure it would be filled with a down-and-dirty look at Hollywoods divorce, but it was just way too over the top and I couldn't finish it.

I will try other books by this author, but this one just wasn't for me.

I wanted to love this book - truly. I just ended up annoyed...

In these times especially - I wanted a great escape - but I was very let down. I couldn't connect with the characters and was disappointed.

Honestly the main character is not compelling or particularly like able. I have tried picking this one up a couple times and have struggled.

I found this book to be very tedious to read. I found it to be a depressing story and struggled to finish it. I'm not sure I would read anything else from this author if they are all like this book.

The premise of Been There, Married That has so much potential. It would probably make a better movie than a book actually because I think actresses bringing them to life would add so much more depth and understanding. On the page, the characters fell flat for me and were more unlikeable than i think the author intended. It was still a quick and fun read, just not as engaging as it could have been.

I really wanted to like this book but it was a "hot mess" and not the hilarious, glitzy and glamorous novel I was expecting. Maybe the author meant for it to be "messy"?!?! The writing was cluttered with unnecessary remarks and jokes. I found some parts of the book funny but I mostly just didn't care for the characters and found them immature.

As Pat Benatar once sang, love is a battlefield. It’s about ups and downs, romantic dinners and disagreements that seem irresolvable. And in Been There, Married That, author (and former Hollywood wife) Gigi Levangie explores the battle that begins when two people fall out of love.

Full review published on NightsAndWeekends.com and aired on Shelf Discovery

Somewhat of a difficult read for me. I found the characters just not relatable. Thanks Netalley for the ARC copy.

Thanks so much to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press for the complimentary advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog

TW : divorce, custody battle, rehab, brief discussion of eating disorders

Let's start off by saying that I didn't hate this book. I know that there were quite a few fairly negative reviews for this one when it was first published, but I found myself enjoying it. I mean, I love Hollywood drama and The Real Housewives as much as the next "basic white girl," right? But that being said, I also didn't really love this book. It was just kind of a "meh" read for me. It was a read that I almost forgot most of what I had read as soon as I had put it back down again, you know? And I enjoyed it through the lense of a fun, slightly silly, Hollywood satire. But at times it just had a hard time holding my attention.

For the characters, they were all pretty hard to relate to for me. There wasn't any one character where my brain could say "Okay, awesome, this is the Me in this story! I am bought in now." But hey, that's Hollywood, right? I'm not sure you were really supposed to be able to relate to any of them, because that would take away the shiny (and in this case, comical) wall of mystery between the "us" of the normal world and the "them" of Hollywood royalty. But it still made it a bit difficult for me to feel all that invested in their stories. Honestly, my favorite character overall was the lead's sister, who was so off the rails that she seemed at a lot of times like the only character having even an ounce of fun.

Overall I would recommend this book, but only to a specific audience. I think this might be the perfect read for a group of girlfriends disguising drink-wine-and-gossip time as a book club, so they could read it together over too many glasses of Reisling and discuss it, while also gossiping about the HOA, and ending the night with an episode or three of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Make a whole themed evening out of it! And who knows, maybe a dinner of almonds, to really feel like you're getting into the character's head. That is, in my opinion, the perfect setting for this book.

Been There, Married That 👙💍

Shout out to @stmartinspress @gigilevangie @bibliofinder @bibliolifestyle #partner for the advanced finished copy!!

Mini Synopsis: “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.”

This one sounds like the perfecttt beach read! I mean look at that cover! Can’t wait to crack into this one on my next vaca!

This book is very different from what I normally read. It was very confusing to me, but I am sure others would find it funny. The book makes so much fun of Hollywood and how the people live and act. It is not something I would read again, but I am sure there are numerous people who will love the book. I was given a copy through Netgallery.

I don’t even know where to begin with this delightful book! This was such a fun, book to sit down and enjoy! I had such a blast with the characters and all of the shenanigans that they got involved in! I absolutely cannot wait to read another book by this author! Gigi wrote such a fun storyline it was hard not to love the characters. This is definitely a fun pick me up kind of book to enjoy on the beach!

This one just didn’t work for me. The characters rubbed me the wrong way with their shallowness right from the start. DNF about 50 pages in

Meh! This book had potential but fell flat for me. Very shallow characters and the writing had me going crazy “she said” “he said” after every sentence. I liked the premise but I didn’t think it was executed well.

This was a very entertaining book! It felt like I was reading about a reality show. The situations that Agnes found herself in were baffling yet hilarious. Her husband was cringe-worthy and made me worry about the state of Hollywood. :) This was a funny summer read for those who enjoy the inner look at Hollywood's elite!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title,

I was looking for a fast, funny read to pass the time and hoped this one would do the trick. While I did find myself laughing I unfortunately never clicked with the characters and ended up setting the book down halfway through and not picking it up again.

Been There Married That by Gigi Levangie is an unique, intriguing and fun novel. How do you think it would be to be married to one of the most sought after Hollywood movie producer? Exciting, parties filled with A list celebs to rub elbows with even become friends with, being on the set with being being friends of the cast? In the begining, sure, but as time moves on,your own dreams, inspirations or even hobbies have been moved to the wayside, and your husband's own wants, needs, dreams and desires are the only ones that matter.
Agnes is married to that man, A few days after her birthday celebration, she is out with lunch with her friends only to discover that her credit cards and cell phone are no longer working. Truly embarrassed by this, Agnes heads home. You would think that a man could not sink any lower, well Trevor did. Trevor wanted to press the reset button in his life and delete everything with it.
However, sometimes when you press the reset button of your life, everything changes too, not just the things you want to change. Those changes may be no longer want to deal your stuff and everything that comes along with it, and they move on. Been There, Married That by Gigi Levangie was given to me thru Netgalley for a honest review. Trust me, you will love this book. Thank you Gigi for writing an amazing romantic, hilarious novel. Love Agnes.

I enjoyed this book but I didn't LOVE it. It was entertaining enough for me to finish reading it but not enough for me to shout from the rooftops how great it was. I absolutely had moments where I laughed out loud over Agnes' behavior or her sister's. I HATED EVERYTHING about her loser husband Trevor!!!
Overall the plot was pretty good but I just felt that it fell flat a bit.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. https://www.amazon.com/review/R1T4FT5K48IK76/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B07SBQCQLB #NetGalley

I guess maybe I'm just the wrong audience for this book. Maybe it's being older, I don't really know. When I read the description of this book I thought it would be a light, fun, humorous, easy read. It's anything but that. The author tries to be cute and witty in the writing style, but it comes off as painfully bad. It's over the top absurd. The characters were equally unlikeable. I caught glimpses of where I think the author wanted to go, but it never lands. 

What I did like about the book was the title and book cover. Both great. But having said that, Been There and Don't Want to Go Back Again!!!

My thanks to the author, St. Martin's Press and netgalley for a copy of this book in each for an honest review.