Skip to main content

Member Reviews

I loved this book so much! I really enjoyed the then/now story line. I wish there was more plot on Chani and what she did during the ten years. Ollie is an amazing character and of course Gabe is wonderful. I hope this gets adapted because I think it would make an amazing show or movie.

Was this review helpful?

I started this book optimistically. Neither Chanti or Gabe were fully relatable for me. I had trouble with their connection after 10 years. The story’s conflict and recommunication became frustrating and by the end seemed artificial. I did enjoy the method of telling the story through articles.

Was this review helpful?

this made me sob, i can't remember the last time a book i picked up with low expectations made me feel the way this did, the jewish representation meant so much to me, chani felt like someone i went to hebrew school with or met at hillel in college and that feels so amazing, that representation is so raw and real, more than anything i love the way chani and gabe's relationship felt, raw and real, probably going to go buy a physical copy of this now to read it again, and I am not a rereader

Was this review helpful?

A cute rom com! I love that it was clearly fan fiction based on the interview of Chris Evans. It was a quick and enjoyable read. Perfect for rom com fans!

Was this review helpful?

This was the perfect, light hearted romantic comedy I needed. I loved the alternating narrators. It's about a journalist who interviewed the soon to be new James Bond actor, and whether or not she slept with him after an tumultuous weekend together. Set 10 years after the interview, we found out what really happened.

Was this review helpful?

This page turning novel will have you reminiscing of movies like The Notebooks, and of course Serendipity. A rekindle of sorts, written in a unique manner, giving us the past and present timelines. Filled with humor, awkward moments, and little surprises throughout the book that will make your heart whole, and make you keep reading!
Binge it, love it, reread it!

Was this review helpful?

Oh my goodness, "Funny You Should Ask", by Elissa Sussman was so fun, sexy and lovable, I really enjoyed this sneak peak into celebrity life, journalists, and falling in love with an unlikely partner. The writing was clever and entertaining, just a great read! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this book and it was not what I was expecting based on the cover. The characters were well developed and the story was intriguing. I found the conflict and miscommunication a little laughable but maybe that was the point. Either way I will be reading more by this author!

Was this review helpful?

I liked the time jumps and how each scenario matched with the other. Chani was a harder character to like than Gabe. His growth and recovery was believable, hers, on the other hand, felt very one-dimensional. Overall, it was a fun read up until the ending. I thought it could have a bigger payoff.

Was this review helpful?

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I wanted to LOVE it, but it wasn't quite a hit for me.

The pros: Amusing, engaging voice and entertaining banter. Fun second chance/instalove aspects, but...

The cons: Ehh, the questionable journalistic ethics left me feeling uneasy. The flashbacks and article snippets threw me, too. When I first started reading, it took me a while to get settled in. Then, I tended to need a bit of readjustment with each time change or article exerpt.

Was this review helpful?

This is an amazing romcom debut!!!!!! You fall in love with the characters from the first page until the last. This author will go far with her career in this readers opinion

Was this review helpful?

I don't know what I was expecting from this but I didn't really like what I got. I didn't even know it was a romance novel because the cover doesn't show it at all. And I certainly didn't believe the romance. It was incredibly far-fetched and seemed desperate. If she was going for soulmates, that's not how it felt. I liked Gabe and his family a lot. But I didn't like Chani. She was too dramatic and where does this idea come from that female journalists only get scoops because they sleep with the clientele? Blah that's just dumb. Is this factual? I don't run in journalist circles so hell if I know. But that also didn't feel very believable. The epilogue -->Gabe Parker-Horowitz 🤢 Why the hell did he hyphenate his name? I hated that.

Was this review helpful?

Funny You Should Ask begins with a celebrity profile of Gabe Parker, who has recently and controversially been picked to be the next James Bond. The writer, Chani Horowitz, is struggling to make a name for herself and this profile is her chance. Over the course of a weekend, Chani and Gabe get to know each other, starting in a restaurant, heading to a movie premier, and ending at a party thrown at Gabe’s house. The will-they-or-won’t-they tension that percolates sets the stage for a reunion piece ten years later. In the time that has passed Gabe has seen success at the box office as well as personal setbacks, including two stints in a rehab facility. Chani, who’s career took off following the publication of her article ten years earlier, is living in the aftermath of her divorce. Together once again, Gabe and Chani reflect on past events as readers discover what parts of the famous profile really happened, and what was left out.

The “then” portions of this book are based on a real 2011 GQ profile of Chris Evans written by Edith Zimmerman in advance of his filming of Captain America. If you read this book and then go back and read the profile as I did, you can see how closely Sussman stuck with not only the events that took place but also the writing style of Zimmerman’s original piece. The “now” sections of the book are, I have to imagine, an invention of Sussman’s imagination of what could have been if what took place between the lines played out in reality. The result is a charming and clever read, in which I unwittingly became immersed.

Was this review helpful?

A super fun, cute, smart, sexy rom com. Perfect for readers who loved THE EX TALK and second chance love stories!

Was this review helpful?

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- my favorite romance trope is 100% celebrity and norm! FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK is as delightful as everyone says it is. A high concept story that only an author who is acutely in tune with pop culture could pull off. The idea that a journalist and a movie star (a James Bond movie star, no less) could have such chemistry and come back together 10 years after a fateful weekend is just too juicy to ignore. I loved it and thought the end, especially, was supremely swoon-worthy.

Was this review helpful?

I really wanted to like this one, and it WAS entertaining… it just fell a little flat for me. The articles inserted didn’t add much to the plot, and I thought the ending felt a bit rushed. Disappointed because I know people who raved about it but in the end it left me wanting more.

Was this review helpful?

This book was witty, cute and very enjoyable! Definitely an easy read. I loved the slow burn relationship between Chani and Gabe and the juxtaposition between the then and now timelines. I didn’t feel that it was confusing to follow and really enhanced the overall plot.

Also the cover deserves 5 stars on its own! The most eye-catching, unique cover I’ve seen in a while.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I am sick and miserable and it is very hard to find anything I want to do right now. But know what I did? I listened to Funny You Should Ask all the way through and it took me away from my runny nose and cough drops and hot tea and fully transported me to another world.

Ten years ago, Chani was hired to write a profile piece about her favorite actor - Gabe. They had an amazing connection and the article helped launch both of their careers and led many to question how well they really knew each other. But they haven’t been in contact until Chani is asked to meet with him again for a follow up profile ten years later.

I loved this book and the alternating timelines. Perfect escape! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free review copy.

Was this review helpful?

Although there were some lovely bits, I found this read ultimately anti-climatic. Especially with the second chance nature of the romance - I was looking for some emotional payoff, but it sort of read as a hallmark movie ending more than anything else.

Was this review helpful?

I love the cover of Funny You Should Ask - but that's all I love (or like). Bonus points for the Jewish representation though. I hate to do a brutal review, but this book was really not it.

Funny You Should Ask is a twist on second chance romance with Hollywood magic. In Funny You Should Ask, Chani Horowitz is hired to write a profile of her celebrity crush, Gabe Parker. They spend three days together. The infamous article comes out and everything assumes they slept together (they did not). 10 years later, Chani and Gabe meet again, continuing their *love story*.

Ethics aside, Funny You Should Ask was painful to read.

- The book keeps switching between their meet-up 10 years ago and present day, so it was just plain confusing (and added to the disconnect in their love story)
- Are we supposed to believe that people fall in love that quickly? Call me a cynic but...

I understand what the author was trying to do. In an interview with Shondaland, the author, when asked about her inspiration for the book says, "The idea was inspired by Edith Zimmerman’s interview with Chris Evans, but also [Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s] Tom Hiddleston interview, and then there’s the Channing Tatum one. It was interesting to see female journalists inserting themselves in the story in a way that played with our ideas of parasocial relationships and how celebrity exists. It was very self-referential about how weird those interviews were. So, that sparked the idea: What if that happened to you?" But I have issues with the execution.

Was this review helpful?