If Mindy Kaling's and Samantha Irby's books had a baby, I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are is it; I cannot count the amount of times audibly guffawed reading this. This book has everything: awkward childhood memories, advice on how to deal with bullies, an insider's look into the entertainment business, a mini musical about musical theatre, Harry Potter fan fiction, and a heartfelt afterword that made me cry. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This book of essays is by Rachel Bloom, who's the creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show that I was a huge fan of. Her TV series was full of witty dialogue, which prompted my initial interest in this nonfiction read. First off, the cover gives me throwback The Babysitters Club book cover vibes, which is so much fun. Then, inside the text is composed of relatable, conversational language that's both funny and impactful. It's focused on a bunch of different stories chronicling everything from childhood, selling the CXG series, to falling in love, and more. Sure, these stories may be full of funny language and jokes, but they all have deeper meanings with heart. The read is told through first-person accounts, make-believe stories, original scripts, her actual childhood diary entries, and even Harry Potter fanfiction! Bloom's tone of voice in this book of essays is very relatable, which makes me laugh out loud because, like, I GET IT. After reading, it makes you realize, 'oh, hey I wasn't normal either and who cares because being me is much more rewarding and fun.' It gives hope to all us theatre kids out there about our futures and that things will get better. It's a one-sitting read because it was enjoyable, funny, relatable, honest, and authentic.

For the Rachel Bloom fan, for sure! I don't know if you weren't already aware of her/her work this would have any interest to you because it is sort of rambly, has maps(!) and poems but if you already enjoy her you will like it.

This book definitely had both funny and relatable moments. I think I was expecting it to be a bit more vulnerable or emotional at times, for this reason I really appreciated the addition of the afterword.

Sometimes you read a celebrity's memoir and you realize that they are not as cool as you once thought they were. This is not the case with Rachel Bloom's soon-to-be-published book, I Want To Be Where the Normal People Are. In fact, as much as I loved Rachel BEFORE reading this one, I think I love her even more after (if that is even possible). Bloom's wildly vulgar humor is in full force in each chapter of this book and she is not afraid to get personal (REALLY PERSONAL). If you are a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fan, you will love this book. If you aren't a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fan, go watch the series NOW because obviously, you haven't seen it yet (you can't have watched the series and not have become a fan). My favorite chapter from this memoir is the one where she talks about all the things she couldn't feature on the show because of network restrictions (and how she got around some of those restrictions). From a literary perspective, this is a solid memoir and if you are as big of a fan of Rachel Bloom as I am, it is imperative that you add this one to your reading list!

Fans of Crazy Ex Girlfriend will enjoy this look at the life of the show’s creator and star. The schedule of bathroom breaks is particularly fun. Bloom doesn’t shy away from the gritty reality of living with mental illness, nor the power of having a diagnosis and a treatment plan.

A little filthy, a lot of fabulous, just like Bloom's humor on My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. As a fellow weird kid who kept an intense diary, I appreciated the excerpts of her's with photographic evidence. Covered a lot of OCD and mental health ground, as well as the standard memoir fare. The normal afterward broke my heart; the book is dedicated to Adam Schlesinger as well. For fans of the show and those who like reading funny women.

I'm going to insist that our Acquisitions librarian buys several of these. I loved it. It's fun, funny, bawdy and insightful. And as a small bonus, it's also a quick, easy, conversational read.

In this series of essays, Rachel Bloom chronicles her life and the ways in which she was never felt normal.  She talks very candidly about her OCD, anxiety, and depression, her love of theater and comedy, and trying to make it as a performer.  This book was not what I expected at all.  All of the essays are completely unique; one is told as a fairy tale, one as a personality quiz, one as a Harry Potter parody, and one from the point of view of her dog.  Bloom has a very quirky sense of humor and is very easy to relate.  I had a lot of fun reading this book.  Readers who are both fans of her work or  new to it will have a great time reading this book.

I loved the humor Rachel Bloom includes in this book, and it’s sorely needed in the world right now. As someone who tries to read widely, I also appreciated the wide range of approaches Bloom included, weaving poetry, essay, and image. Very entertaining!

I LOVE Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and find Bloom to be a really smart, thoughtful writer of comedy. This book had a little bit of that, and a little bit of extra stuff I didn't really need. No huge revelations, nothing life changing, but some amusing insider-y looks at the industry that will likely make you feel better about yourself.

Oh my gosh. This book was just so wonderful. I adore Rachel Bloom and this book is so authentically her. Just like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, razor-sharp wit combined with bluntly crass humor overlays deep and important conversations about bullying, feeling like an outsider, struggles with mental health, rejection, etc. I laughed out loud dozens of times. It takes you through her life from childhood through present day just like any memoir, but in a completely unique way, incorporating entries from her childhood diary, sarcastic advice chapters, a chapter from the perspective of her dog, and - my personal favorite - Harry Potter Fan Fiction about Hogwarts having a drama club (with a footnote acknowledgment of JK Rowling’s recent behavior that really summed up my own feelings well). It doesn’t go into behind-the-scenes stories from the set of CXG like I hoped, but it did connect me to Rachel’s struggles with mental health in a way so that I saw CXG through a whole new lens and feel the urge to rewatch it all immediately (and may have watched the music video of “A Diagnosis” and shed a few tears because I now understood how much that moment meant to Rachel in her own life and what an anthem it is for people struggling and feeling alone). I also really connected to her chapters about college because I, too, was a theater major and she perfectly captured that anxiety. This book is hilarious and honest and raw and hopeful and utterly ridiculous and heartwarming and sad and uplifting. I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think many people are going to love this memoir-in-essays. However, it fell a little flat for me. This book covered a lot of similar territory to other comedian celebrity memoirs. Rachel discusses how she has always been thought of as a weird person, going through different aspects of herself that she believes separated her from “normal people”: her love of theatre, her inability to fit in at school, her unhealthy relationships, her mental health concerns, her career path.  Fans expecting an inside look at Crazy Ex-Girlfriend might be a little disappointed to find that the show is only discussed in the final sections, but some of those essays were great (especially the one where she discusses examples of how they managed to work around FCC censorship guidelines). 

The amount of bathroom, masturbation, and mental health jokes probably won’t surprise anybody who has watched her show. Many of her one-liners were really funny, but some of the humor just didn’t land for me. However, if she is recording her own audio, I’m sure she’ll nail the delivery of even the cheesiest lines. 

I personally didn’t love the format. She is very open about the hard things in her life, like experiences with bullying in school and the workplace, and her undiagnosed mental health problems in childhood and in her early career. But, even if she was telling us hard things, we might be told the story through fake resumes, musicals, or fairy tales. Sometimes these choices made perfect sense for the topic; other times they felt like gimmicky creative essay prompts.

Thanks NetGalley and Grand Central Pub for the e-copy of this one! Releases in Nov 2020.

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you SO much for the opportunity to read this book early. I loved Rachel Bloom in Crazy Ex Girlfriend and would pretty much watch her do anything. The book starts off with a chapter about bullying, something she experienced in middle school like many of us. One thing you should be set straight on is her facetious sarcastic comedy. It seemed at first she suggested that any bullying the reader experienced paled in comparison to what she did- later you can see she's kind of playing with / testing the reader. I'll admit, for a second I was put off by the idea. 

However I kept reading and fell in love- and laughter with 95% of her book. At times she captured the feeling I had as a child in my swing flying into the air, whimsy, laughter and a hint of terror. Her candid chapters about her mental health struggles with anxiety and OCD really meant a lot to me. Her writing kept me going and read the book rather quickly. I absolutely recommend this book. We need a good thing this year. Also she noted that while there were Harry Potter references, she acknowledged the problematic nature of the creator JK Rowling being a TERF. She dedicated the book to the memory of Adam Schlesinger who died from covid as her daughter was born.

You don't have to be a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fan to enjoy this book but you should probably go ahead and also watch it and stop being an idiot.
Rachel Bloom is so honest and hilarious and- it's a cliche to say it at this point but- I wish she was my best friend so we could have conversations that get way too personal and detailed. But in the meantime, there's this book and it's a perfect placeholder. And while I look forward to all of her future projects, I selfishly hope she enjoyed writing this and we get more books.

Before beginning my review, I want to note that (admittedly) I have never seen Rachel Bloom's TV show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I was familiar with her because of her Golden Globes win and I've been meaning to watch her show for years, but I have little knowledge of her life or career. I'm noting this because I want to express that having little knowledge of Rachel Bloom did not take anything away for the enjoyment of reading her book. If anything, this brilliant memoir solidified my status as a Rachel Bloom fan for life. You might be wondering, though, why I was drawn to this book in the first place? I was drawn to this book because of THE BRILLIANT COVER THAT MADE MY 90S HEART SOAR. 

In I WANT TO BE WHERE THE NORMAL PEOPLE ARE, Rachel takes us through her life experiences (so far). Some of the topics she tackles are mental health, lackluster dating, and comedy writing (in a room full of men).  would describe this book as violently funny.... like, UNBELIEVABLY funny. I cannot recall the last time a book made me laugh this hard. Rachel's unfiltered story-telling and aggressively self-aware sense of humor made this book so relatable from beginning to end. As a fellow neurotic child, Rachel's chapters about childhood mental health issues made me feel so validated and I started to wonder if I was actually just reading my own childhood diary. Her chapters dedicated to musical theater were laugh-out-loud funny. **Let me just say that here that I love anyone who can simultaneously love something and make fun of it mercilessly. Rachel has mastered this art. 

What stands out about this already brilliantly bizarre book is the various mediums Rachel uses to tell her stories. Instead of just telling us about her relationship with musical theater, she writes AN ACTUAL musical about it. Instead of just telling us what it felt like to win a Golden Globe, she tells us the entire experience from the point of view of her dog. She takes the concept of the celebrity memoir and somehow makes it fresh and brand new (just when I thought it couldn't be done). This book is absolutely unmissable.

I absolutely enjoyed Rachel Bloom's first book! I wish there were more mental health related things but I look forward to the next one!

If you loved watching My Crazy Ex Girlfriend, then you will definitely love this book. You get to know the author on such a best friend level, that you will feel like you are reading her diary or sitting on the couch listening to one of her therapy sessions. You can see how and why My Craxy Ex Girlfriend was all about. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who would like to learn more about this author.

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be best friends with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend co-creator Rachel Bloom, this short volume is your best chance. Bloom is unflinchingly honest about her childhood OCD issues, being the weird kid, toilet-training as a four-year-old, and more. As a fan of her show, I was hoping for more CXG anecdotes, but I enjoyed her musings on a variety of topics, including the amusement park she'd like to build for adults. 

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.

First, I have to say I'm a big fan of Rachel Bloom and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I'm also one of those dreaded straight musical theatre guys. Alas.

I really adored this book. Bloom brings her signature comedy to the page, talking about subjects that make lots of people and readers cringe: mental health, the body, female anatomy, etc. If you know any of Rachel Bloom's work, however, none of this comes as a surprise. It is the mix of unflinching honesty and witty humor that makes these discussions work so well in this book. Bloom tells one section from the POV of her dog, another in the form of a CV, yet another in the form of a screenplay. She mixes experiences and form freely.

Overall, a quick, funny, great read.