Thank you Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for giving me an ARC copy of this book.

Ahhh..I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book, which is odd, considering it's very light-hearted.

As you may have figured out from the title, <i> The Roxy Letters</i> is written entirely in letters by Roxy, our 28-year old protagonist, to her ex-boyfriend and now roommate, Everett. At the beginning of this story, Everett has just moved in; and thus, the letters mainly consist of house guidelines that he must abide by. But soon after, the letters become more journal entries for Roxy. In fact, only the first few are actually left for Everett to read.
These journal entries make it clear Roxy is in a bit of a rut. She is an artist, but hasn't painted. Her only (meager) source of income is from working an unfulfilling job at Whole Foods as a deli maid. Her sex life is non-existent since she her last messy relationship. Her best friend got promoted to a much higher position working on "the fifth floor", where Whole Foods headquarters is located. Lastly, her hometown of Austin is changing before her eyes--small businesses are dying and being replaced by bigger corporations, raising the cost of living for everyone, and taking away Austin's charm. This latter issue is, ultimately, the catalyst that motivates Roxy to get her life back on track and to do what she can to stop gentrification in downtown Austin.

While I love the elements of feminism and humor interlaced in Lowry's novel, I can't help but feel the writing fell flat for me. I know, as a reader, there is only so much character development to be expected from a book written entirely in letters/journal entries, but it definitely made my initial feelings toward Roxy (which, btw, were primarily negative) remain stagnant throughout the book.

Probably my biggest criticism is regarding the ending. For a "feel-good" book, the ending was VERY rushed. I'm fairly convinced that I read the results of a page-limit constriction, in which Lowry and/or her editors decided to cut corners on Roxy's last few journal entries, rather than removing even one of the countless times Roxy discussed making sacrifices to her goddess of choice, Venus (I'm serious, lol).
This book probably won't change your life, overwork your tear ducts, or inspire you. However, in the off chance that you just finished <i> A Little Life</i> by Hanya Yanagihara and are in desperate need of a light, fun book, this might be a good one to check out next.

Roxy's letters to her roommate detail her daily life in a compelling, outrageously witty way. The heroine jumps off the page as we read her laugh-out-loud funny accounts of her adventures, her tribulations on her job and her frustrating love life. Or a "lack of love" life. If you enjoyed the TV show Girls and love Sophie Kinsella and Bridget Jones Diary, you will love this book!

It is the back and forth email format that I found hard to follow and keep my interest. I had little if any fondness for the lead character. It is tedious and self involved. The plot did not hold my interest and I struggled to finish and in the end I was glad it was over.

I wanted to love this book; I read it fairly quickly - which is usually an indication that it's a great book I can't put down. In this case however, it was more "read it quickly to get it over with."

Roxy is a one dimensional selfish brat of a character. There was a lot of room for development, but nothing was ever done with her. Her routine whining and "oh woe is me" attitude becomes redundant and obnoxious.

The repeated use of full names, like "Brant Bitterbrush" lent more to Roxy being portrayed as a bitter and juvenile ex.

I don't think I'd ever recommend this book to anyone for entertainment reasons, possibly for "I have a few days and I need to waste them."

I wanted to love this book, I just really didn't.

I was excited about reading this book the first words of the description compared to Bridget Jones. Sadly I found Roxy both annoying and frustrating. This was not a fun book to read and I struggled throughout it.

The Roxy Letters took me a long time to really enjoy, but I admit, but the last third of the book, I was hooked! The book is a series of misadventures and comedy of errors, which were way over the top, but were light-hearted and fun to read. It's a very thinly-veiled take-off of Bridget Jones' Diary, only an odder concept of writing letters to a roommate, 90% of which he never reads. She even quotes dialogue in her letters, so it's a big stretch to follow.

An easy read, lots of fun, that might try a bit too hard to be shocking.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC for a fair and honest review.

I really wanted to love this book. The cover was catchy and the description was interesting. However, I just couldn't get into the story. The entire book was nothing but letters from the main character to her ex-boyfriend, and while I can appreciate that being a cool concept, I felt like the story was lacking substance. Some of the letters dragged on and on about how mundane her day was or her life in general. I guess I didn't appreciate how one sided it all was. We never really hear from the other character (the ex). The writing was good, and there were some funny and quirky parts to the story that I liked, but I found myself becoming bored while reading. While this story may be great for others, it just wasn't for me. I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.

ARC kindly provided by Simon & Schuster via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Wow, I can honestly say that this book is unlike any I’ve ever read. Quirky, full of heart, and sometimes just plain weird, diving into the world and mind of Roxy was an experience.

So what is this book about?

Twenty-eight year old Roxy is in a slump; after a rough break-up and betrayal over a year ago, she feels romantically and artistically blocked. To make matters worse, she's still working in her menial deli maid job at WholeFoods after 3 years when she was sure that she'd be making her art full time by now. Oh, and her ex-boyfriend is now her new roommate. That's not awkward, right? A proud Austin native and lover of all the weird that comes with it, Roxy finds a new passion when a beloved local business gets replaced by a Lululemon, sparking a fire in her that starts her personal fight against the gentrification in her hometown. Roxy, along with her two best friends, decide to tackle this fight head on, and along the way just might find new friendships, healing, and even love.

The Roxy Letters is the kind of book that throws you in head-first (literally) into the crazy brain and life of our main character. Written in letters to her new roommate / ex-boyfriend, Roxy chronicles her struggles at work, her romantic failings, and so much more. And while the letter formatting of the book was difficult to adjust to at first, I ultimately began to enjoy seeing everything from Roxy's biased POV, even if it left me wanting to know more.

If you aren't familiar with Austin, this book gives you an inside look at all the beautifully-weird people that make the town so unique: there are quirky local businesses, offerings made to Venus and Mars, sex cults, and so much more that make every adventure and twist of Roxy's life so hilarious, and it'll leave you so curious to find out just what will happen next.

What I love so much about this book was the focus that it put on positive female relationships. One could argue that this book is about Roxy finding love, or getting back in touch with her artistic side, or even saving Austin, but I would argue that this book is first and foremost about friendship. The book begins with Roxy down on her luck in every way, and while it takes us the whole book to wade our way through each aspect of her life, it is her new friendship that starts the book off beautifully and spring-boards Roxy into her adventures. The consistent love, support, and growth that comes out of the multiple female friendships in this book is so empowering, and speaks to the true healing that can be found in a good friend. If it were up to me, I would've loved to see these friendships be focused on even more in this book.

"There is so much cultural hype about boyfriends and husbands, but I am starting to think that having good girlfriends really is the greatest thing on earth"

Unfortunately, sometimes these beautiful relationships took a backseat to Roxy's quest for love (or just a reprieve from her year-long man drought). While lots of points surrounding this plot led to many hilarious encounters, I felt like this plot was the most confusing, mainly because there were just so many men. Add that to the fact that the letters themselves (while they eventually just become a diary and she doesn't give them to her ex) are written to her ex-boyfriend, and you've got a very convoluted love map. Yet even though this part of the plot was a bit messy, it was incredibly relatable as well. Roxy's struggles with love and sex are the struggles of so many millennials that you can't help but nod your head along and say "yep, I've been there!"

All in all, this book leads you on an Austin-weird journey through Roxy's life that will make you laugh, warm your heart, and give you hope. Buckle up for a lot of hilarious shenanigans, soul-searching, epiphanies, and beer.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book in the near future with an honest rating and review.

Roxy is in her late twenties and she hasn’t quite found her way. Set in Austin, TX and told in the form of letters to her ex, The Roxy Letters is a fresh take on the classic rom-com.

As someone who lives in Austin I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and name dropping of some of my favorite places and Austin’s staples.

Roxy is hilarious, not always so self-aware, and a bit judgmental when you get right down to it. But she loves her friends, has real passion for bringing down “the man”, and while she IS afraid to try new things, she does it anyway; see the chapters on orgasmic mediation.

This book had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a good palate cleanser. Think Bridget Jones with a little more confidence and a whole lot of funny quips.

I was initially intrigued by the description. It sounded like something that would be right up my alley. I’ll admit, when I first realized it was a story of letters, I was a little nervous. I worried that it wouldn’t hold my attention. Boy, I was wrong. This book had me laughing, not just a chuckle, but out loud. There were some moments I went back to re-read so I could laugh again. I absolutely love Roxy. She is so quirky and funny, but so real. She beats to her own drum and her honesty is refreshing. I loved so many of the characters. Definitely recommend!

I received an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book, due April 2020, through NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you for providing me with this advanced copy! I enjoyed the epistolary style novel, which starts out with Roxy writing letters to her ex boyfriend Everett who stays with her for a while. The novel is set in 2012 Austin, Texas, a groovy town I'd like to visit one day, in a more innocent time, politically much less stressful for sure. Roxy is a vegan deli maid at Whole Foods, with an art background and a college degree who is arguably underemployed. She is also very single, and not quite over the betrayal of her ex Brant Bitterbush (great name btw) who used her artwork for his new product with his new wife. Roxy's adventures in 2012, making new friends, getting out of her art rut by protesting the Lululemon store, and her romantic escapades are hilarious. I didn't want to put down the book. Retreating to a world in which carbon emissions are reduced by bicycling to work, eating mostly vegan, and caring about animals was definitely nice! This would definitely be a different book if it took place after 2016. I definitely recommend this book for reading pleasure when it comes out next spring.

A somewhat frustrating novel of a 28-year old millennial living in her beloved Austin. Roxy gets herself into any number of hijinks, which can mostly be attributed to her utter lack of self-awareness. She’s selfish, annoying, and really only interested in how things affect her life. Her best friend moves out? It’s his fault she’s now lonely at home, even though she basically kicked him out. It’s all things like that that rule her life.

I couldn’t tell if it was a satire in that she is clearly one of the rich hipster kids she’s so mad at. They’re “destroying” her beloved old Austin, but it all seems so faked. Like, does she really not know she’s a gigantic stereotype? I’ll have to read what millennials think of this book, because it just doesn’t resonate with me.

All that being said, it’s a quick read, and I think the author has a good voice.

Definitely humorous but probably most appealing to a millennial. The main character could get quite annoying.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46404204

Synopsis:
Encouraged by her ex-deli counter comrade Annie—now assistant to the Whole Foods CEO and planning an animal rights revolution from the inside—and her new friend Artemis, a vivacious and mercurial man-eater with a string of personas and paramours all over town, Roxy decides to take action. But can this spunky, unforgettable millennial keep Austin weird, avoid arrest, and discover good sex, true love, and her purpose in life in the process?​

I didn't love this book. I can see how some with love it and some will not. I was in between. The letter commentary was fine, but I wasn't in love with it.

Epistolary novels tend to be hit or miss for me because of how they’re structured, depending on how successful they are at grasping then preserving my interest within their style limitations. This one tottered over the line of diverting mediocrity, in my opinion. It was neither bad nor great. I liked it but wasn’t wholly engaged.

I say that because, while I found some of Roxy’s foot-in-mouth quirks and “fingerbanging” commentary to be amusing not to mention tacitly vulgar, absurd, and endearing in places, all of which helped to highlight her witty shenanigan-riddled nature in spades, I felt the plot suffered a bit by sticking exclusively to one-way letters to her ex-boyfriend, Everett. I suppose I wanted more than what I received stylistically, you know?. What I mean by that is I think I would’ve liked to see her start with letters only to then branch off into other mediums (email drafts, phone notes, unsaved documents, etc.) because it would’ve broken the chain of monotony, thereby adding a kind of modern day technological normalcy and suspense for the readers. It would’ve added something extra. Something more unique. Also, by the halfway point, her continuing to write unsent narratives to her ex, whom she hardly interacted with throughout the book anyway, grew to be a bit tedious.

The love interest subplot felt rushed and underdeveloped as well. It didn’t spark much of a reaction from me because their connection was bland. Or perhaps unremarkable is the better word? Utterly forgettable.

Despite that, I found Roxy to be an amiable, spirited character. She’s cut from a similar mold as Bridget Jones and Anne Shirley, meaning she’s constantly hurtling herself from one Austin-sized scrape into the next without realizing it until it’s too late. That allowed for a decent amount of comedy and familiarity. For instance, the vegan bologna-ing of a meth van incident reminded me a little of Lorelai and Rory devil egging Jess’s car on Gilmore Girls. And don’t get me started on the “Girls Run the World” pasty dance protest in front of Lululemon. Hilarious!

Although I took issue with certain elements of this book, I must admit her character as well as her peculiar circle of Whole Foods friends and colleagues grew on me by the end. Roxy is essentially Millennial Disaster incarnate so I think a lot of people can relate or, you know - laugh - at her “gotta get my shit together” conflicts. I know I sure did.

For those of you who like or who are not averse to raunchy humor, to screwball behavior of many variations, then I’d say this is worth a read. In fact, it’ll probably make you feel how your own life is much more “together” than you think.

I’ve never read Bridget Jones Diary although it is on my evergrowing TBR list so I don’t have that to compare this to.
What I can do with this book is fairly judge it for what it is and what it did to me and that is that it made me laugh out loud with both its wit and absurdity.
Written in letter format to her roommate and former letter this is a book that doesn’t hold back on the snark and I enjoyed it for what it was.
It’s original, sweet, and and has a way to keep you engrossed in the story. It does its job and more.
Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC.

Lots of wacky hijinks in this novel! I didn't quite get the comparison to Bridget Jones' Diary but it is about a woman who is looking for something. It was pretty funny and entertaining. I felt like it could have been tightened up a bit, some parts seemed sloppy or repetitive but I liked the Austin setting. I also learned a lot about working in Whole Foods!

HOW? HOW DID I NOT FALL HEAD-OVER-HEELS FOR THIS BOOK?! I'm still reeling from my own disappointment. Sure, maybe I expected too much-- but hey, they promised Bridget Jones, with a Whole Foods employee (let's just say my love for WF runs deep). This should've been a home run for me. But alas, it was so far from a home run. I put it down at the half-way point and couldn't muster up the strength to continue. The one-way epistolary style was probably what ruined it for me, as I just couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to buy into the idea that she'd be writing all of these letters to Everett. Had it been set up as a diary (a la Bridget Jones), or had there been responses to her letters, I might have been able to get into it more fully. But the level of delusion required on my behalf, to go with the pretense that this woman is continuing to write to a completely disinterested and mostly absent man is beyond the realm of possibilities for me. I also just didn't connect with Roxy's desire to bring down Lululemon. It felt so contrived. I did, however, like her sidekicks, Artemis and Annie. I'd be interested in reading a book about Artemis, in particular. But Roxy? Not so much.

Thank you to the publisher and author for providing me with a digital ARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was excited to read this title after the bright, whimsical cover caught my eye. The synopsis sounded like a fun, clever, creative book that I looked forward to reading. I thought the format of the book being written in notes left for her roommate was clever and well executed. There was some humor evident from the start. Unfortunately however, it was also evident from the start that the book was full of crude characters and strong language that personally was offensive. I won't be finishing this one.