Oh Roxy. With all of your “goddess” and “Venus” and “grrrrrl” (and not like the “grrrrrrl lemme tell you” but like every time a female was referenced) talk I should have really wanted to punch you in the face. But dangnabbit you made me laugh so I was able to simply chalk it up to her being a vegan. KIDDING!

I requested The Roxy Letters because it was compared to Bridget Jones' Diary. In case you aren’t familiar with how I operate . . . .

EASY LIKE SUNDAY MORNING.

Despite most of the “if you liked, then you’ll loooooove” comparisons completely missing the mark, I never learn my lesson and fall for that trick almost every time. (I also request nearly every book with a house on the cover or the mere hint that it will be about some sort of hillbilly criminal element, but that doesn’t apply here so we’ll save that discussion for another occasion.) The shout-out to my darling Bridget is actually not a terrible one here (I have no idea why my other pal Bernadette was thrown in because huh? wha????) as the “letters” Roxy pens to her ex-boyfriend Everett are actually more “Dear Diary” style since she delivers very few of them. And as I mentioned above, her antics often made me chuckle. From attempting to take down the “man” (a/k/a Lululemon), to finding herself possibly joining some sort of fingerbanging sex cult, to dating 30-year-old skateboarding manboys, to battling the tweakers and the mobile meth lab parked next door, to becoming a better friend, to maybe growing up – all while attempting to Keep Austin Weird - Roxy could certainly be pegged as a millennial Bridget.

I wish I had the capability of slooooooooowing down rather than plowing through books or reading more than one thing at a time because I think I would have enjoyed this even more in smaller doses. Not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because 3.5 Stars obviously means I did. Rounding down because of a spoilery issue at the end regarding Roxy’s decisions on dating. ACTUAL SPOILER AHEAD – DO NOT CLICK IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW. [The one thing Roxy made pretty clear throughout the entire story was that she wasn’t fond of children. There was absolutely ZERO reason for her to feel bad about saying no to a date with someone who had kids. While I understand that one date does not equate marriage/step-parenting/etc., I also understand why she wouldn’t even want to waste her time and risk the potential of catching feelings for someone she couldn’t see herself with for the long-term. There is NOTHING selfish about a woman (a) not wanting to have children or (b) not wanting to co-parent someone else’s. (hide spoiler)]

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this up at the end of December hoping to squeeze it into my 2019 reads. That didn’t happen since I got bored with it so often.

This was in epistolary style with Roxy writing letters to her temporary roommate and ex boyfriend Everett. I was initially put off by that but got over it quickly.

Roxy is a late 20s Austinite trying to make it as a employee at Whole Foods. She has some times with friends and dates a little. There are some really ridiculous things in this book so I just ended up thinking they were stupid and not funny.

I wish this would’ve been a better read for me. I was hoping for a quick fun read.

I wanted to like this one, I honestly and truly did. The cover sucked me in, the premise and blurb were enticing, and it sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, this book was not for me and I struggled to get through it.

I'll start by saying I loved the idea of this book and the way in which it was implemented. What started as notes from Roxy to her ex-boyfriend slash roommate, turned into more of a diary in which she used Everett as a way to get her thoughts out and onto paper so they weren't trapped in her head. I even adored that she mentioned in some of the letters "this one you won't ever see" but still wrote to him. It was a cute idea, and it was executed well. However, the content and the characters are where I had an issue.

Roxy, a 28 year old "sometimes vegan" who works at Whole Foods sounds like someone you could get on board with, right? That's true, to an extent. Unfortunately, while I wanted to love Roxy, she reminded me too much of the "extreme millennial stereotype" and was beyond selfish and annoying. Granted, we all get a bit jealous when a friend gets a promotion, or annoyed when someone doesn't pay us the rent on time, however her personality and the way she handled situations was a bit grating, and I couldn't even remotely identify with her. I honestly wanted her to shut up at some points, but, as we know, literary characters never do what we want.

Once I was about 80% of the way through, I started to come around, largely because we saw growth from Roxy, and she was more tolerable. I won't give anything away, but she becomes a far more vulnerable human, and I respected that, and even wanted to cheer for her a bit. Unfortunately, the book gives us this bit of growth and then just kind of ends, so I was left with an unresolved feeling and a bit unsettled.

This book could have been wonderful. The letter writing, the diary-like entries, the inner-workings of a 20-something-year-old woman's mind; it's all a combination for success. This book just didn't have likeable characters and fell a bit flat as a result.

I felt that this book was quite reminiscent of Where'd You Go Bernadette in its tone, and while I loved that book, it didn't quite for for me here. I couldn't really connect to the characters and fr me, that's critical to the enjoyment of a story. I don't need to like them, but I do need them to be interesting to me. Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure it will appeal to plenty other readers!

This book is in a letter format, where every chapter is made of only Roxy’s letters to her ex-boyfriend. But don’t let that stop you from reading this book. It was odd at first but it ended up being more like her diary rather than actual letters to her ex-boyfriend.

This book made me laugh out loud several times. One time I was laughing so hard that my husband asked me what was so funny. I ended up really liking this story and finished most of the book in one day!

I was not a fan of how this book represented young adults. It captured my least favorite parts of Bridget Jones's Diary without much of the charm or humor.

Really slow to start and the first third to half were a bit of a struggle. Roxy was her own worst enemy when it came to achieving her goals, but by the time of the protest, the book picked up and got a lot funnier. I was about to scream near the end regarding her ending with Texas, but ultimately I liked how it ended. But poor poor Everett for dealing with Roxy’s brand of crazy for so long.

While I really wanted to love this book (epistolary!!), I couldn't quite connect with the protagonist, who mainly just struck me as annoying. I thought the literary device was sued well, but couldn't connect with the main character. DNF.

I was excited to read this book when I read it was compared to Bridget Jones Diary, which I loved. Sadly this book doesn't come even close to being as good as BJD. I found the main character to be whiney and controlling. She came across as very annoying and I actually felt bad for the exboyfriend/roommate she was writing the letters to.

Cute cover authors writing style is decent but please do not compare to BJD because this doesn't live up to that book.

Thank you for the ARC of this book.

This book - told entirely through letters written (but never given) to Roxy's ex-boyfriend - covers a pretty big span of topics, from the serious (mental illness and addiction) to the absurd (burlesque protests and pharma trials). Roxy is definitely an odd duck - along the lines of a younger and slightly more hip Britt-Marie (as in [book:Britt-Marie Was Here|27406704]) or an Austin Eleanor (a la [book:Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine|31434883]). But, given the preponderance of these quirky characters, I think I'm just personally over the troupe and didn't find this book very inspiring. Roxy's antics and behaviors just grow a little tiresome, even if I found the ending to be pretty satisfactory.

Thanks to the publisher for providing this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun read. It takes a few chapters to really get into it, but overall it is a great read. This book had me laughing so much at all the quirky things that Roxy got into. It kinda felt very Bridget Jones meets Jenny Han for me. I liked it though! I am definitely the kinda audience this book was meant for.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy.

I had to just put this book down. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Silly really. I didn't even make it thru one fourth of the book. Stupid letters to an ex boyfriend who was renting a room in her house. He's always late with the rent, and she's not making decent money.

Roxy has decided to allow her ex-boyfriend Everett to move in with her while he tries to get on his feet. She leaves him a letter in the kitchen that outlines the rules for his living with her. The rules are fairly comical and definitely outline some boundaries that Roxy is trying to set. This first letter sets into motion a whole spiral notebook of letters that Roxy pens to Everett over the course of a six month period.

As an artist, Roxy has not fulfilled her potential. Her other ex-boyfriend, Brant, ran off with one of her designs and turned it into a logo for a natural products business. This wouldn’t be so bad, but Roxy is a deli maid for Whole Foods, and just about everyone seems to have this product in their baskets. Meanwhile her bestie Annie has moved up to the fifth floor working for the CEO (lite) of Whole Foods. Roxy is in a major funk. But the tides are gonna turn for Roxy when she meets Artemis, a wild and crazy female who along with Annie, inspires Roxy to get back on her feet.

This was an exceptionally fun book. Roxy is hysterical, always praying to Venus and seemingly choosing the wrong paths. Lowry has written a book that is a look at what it’s like to be a young, single female not sure of what comes next for you. I whizzed through this one, wanting to know if Roxy ever gets it right. The format is a nice change from the usual novel, because each letter to Everett gives us all the insight we need into Roxy’s present state of mind.

Loved this one! Highly recommend.


4 stars


This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 24 March 2020 .

This story is told through letters to her ex boyfriend who is now her roommate. I enjoyed the quirky comments she would say thought out the story. I felt like the middle dragged on a bit but overall it was a cute story. I just had a hard time connecting to the main character.

This book was slow to start. I ended up enjoying it but it was not my absolute favorite. I like her bluntness and the format made it a pretty quick read.

I don’t really know where to start with this one. This book was certainly an experience. I am 100% the intended audience for this book. I love all things trashy chick lit, plus books written as diary entries or letters (epistolary) are usually my jam! This book just did not do it for me. It was extremely bizarre. At some times it read as satire, and other times I felt like the book was not satirical at all and was trying to make serious points (but doing it very poorly).

This book is by no means what I would classify as “unreadable”. I actually flew through it as the author is a talented writer.

This book is about Roxy, an underemployed, single vegan who can’t seem to get her life together. She meets a Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl who assists her with getting her life on track but also steers her off the rails a few times as well. The book is told entirely in letters written to Roxy’s ex boyfriend, whom at the beginning of the novel is living with her to help her pay rent.

I related to Roxy in a few ways- as a Millennial I completely understand the struggle of living pay check to paycheck and working at a completely unfulfilling job. Roxy is also child-free and has ended relationships in the past over her SO’s desire to have children. I appreciated that some of the mental health rep in this book was handled well, however the author could have done a better job in some parts.

Overall this book just did not so it for me. 2 stars.

I'm not sure if my review is fair since this book is so much more Bridget Jones' Diary than I had hoped. I am not a fan of BJD, so I should have known I would not fully enjoy this one. Although because of the setting (also grew up near Austin) I pushed through the first few chapters. I love Austin, and I have seen every side of it. Having said that, Roxy is obnoxious and every part of the stereotypical Austinite. Not everyone in Austin is like this. Austin, in a lot of ways, isn't even like that. But the author is correct in how deep in Austin, the biggest conflict is the vintage vs. the modern. I get that theme, but Austin is still my favorite city; personally I feel like it is a great balance of vintage and modern.

But this is a review for the book, not of Austin. This book was wacky. Honestly, I found it so unbelievable (just like BJD) and unnecessary. And Roxy, oh Roxy. She is not my favorite person. In fact, if I saw her at Whole Foods, I would walk the other way. Hand to head every time she opened her mouth. That's not a good way to feel about a MC throughout an entire book.

I wanted to love this because Austin, but Roxy ruined it for me.

What a GREAT read, I enjoyed this book so much... though I admit, at the beginning it took me awhile to get the groove of the letters aspect, it was awkward at first but after a few laughs I adjusted. There was a bit of a Bridget Jones familiarity to this story, but it quickly became more individual and quirky. This was a really fun and insightful read, I absolutely laughed out loud, loved the characters and felt there was so much to connect with. Will look for more from this Author and I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this work.

Thank you, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me a digital ARC, in exchange for an honest review.. All opinions are my own.

After reading the comparisons to Bridget Jones' Diary, I was excited to read this book. However, that didn't last long as I found the main character to be immature and selfish so it was very difficult to care about her. There were some very funny moments and the writing was good, but there were too many subplots that weren't resolved as well as some things that wer over-the=top unbelievable. Perhaps I'm just not the target demographic for this book and younger readers will enjoy it.

Thank you, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me a digital ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved "The Roxy Letters" by Mary Pauline Lowry. Roxy is like an American version of Bridget Jones. At first, I wasn't sure about the writing structure, (the story is told in unsent letters she writes to her ex-boyfriend and current roommate, Everett.) but it quickly became a favorite after 30 pages or so. The writing and dialogue are hilarious. There wasn't a chapter (or page for that matter) that didn't give me a belly laugh. It's a total hoot. The only negative I can say is there's an abundance of exclamation points. THERE'S. A. LOT! But to be fair, it's part of the book's charm.

Roxy is a 28-year old Austin native who works as a deli maid at Whole Foods. She hates her job but is devoted to her roots until a Lululemon opens in her neighborhood. Roxy is sickened by it to the point where she plans to stage a protest. She is worried Austin is losing all its weird, quirky charm by having so many high-end stores pop up on every corner. With the help of her co-worker, Annie, and a new impulsive friend, Artemis - Roxy will do whatever she can to save her beloved city from gentrification.

Roxy is also a struggling artist and nursing a broken heart. I liked how honest this book was when it came to sexuality. It doesn't shy away from uncomfortable situations. Roxy is an obsessive person but I found her so relatable. She's the kind of character you root for. She's sassy, loyal, ungraceful, and endearing. Even though this is considered chick-lit (I hate that sexist term), I didn't think it was cliché-ridden or predictable. You think the story is going to go a certain way and it totally does the unexpected. Ultimately, the overall message of "The Roxy Letters" is about a young woman's journey at overcoming her insecurities and rediscovering her creative potential.

Release date: April 7, 2020