This book was in total, just ok for me. Some of the dialogue was excellent- witty and giggle out loud funny. I really liked some of the characters- especially the best friend character.. I found Georgina irritating. I love a list and planning— but her attempts to checklist her way into a happy life, as well as her choices and behavior toward other characters was unrelatable at best and at its worse, grating. For me, the best part of the book was toward the end, when she realized that all of her assumptions were. completely wrong. In fairness, this was an Emma retelling, so it shouldn’t have surprised me. But somehow, with Emma I was able to connect with the character much better..
Still, overall an enjoyable quick read, if mostly because I enjoyed reading the dialogue so much.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for an advance review copy

I think this book had potential. It seemed unrealistic to me that Georgina and her friends immediately jumped on board in regards to swinging and sex parties. I know that the Georgina character was supposed to be a take on Jane Austen's Emma, who is a flawed character. Georgina is certainly that but still likable, which kept me reading. I think maybe I would have preferred if one of the characters had actually truly loved the "lifestyle" and stayed with it. It would have been a good twist and take on a romance.

Georgina is pretty certain she has the perfect life - that is, until she walks in on her husband, Nathan, cheating on her with Georgina's junior associate, Meredith. Instead of leaving Nathan, she decides all they really need is a spark back in their marriage. So she decides they will become swingers. Not only that, but she ropes in her two best friends (and their respective partners) to take on this new adventure. But, at her first swinger's party, she runs into an ex-boyfriend and suddenly everything feels just a little bit more confusing.

I really liked this book, especially knowing it's a debut novel. It was fun, fast paced, and kept me interested the entire time. The sex scenes, though still open door, weren't quite as open doors as I expected they'd be based on the description of this novel, but I think that makes it more accessible to more readers. I felt like this book was an interesting take on marriage and what it means to take someone for granted. Each of the couples featured in this novel had their own issues they were working through, and though becoming swingers might've been extreme, I think it made for such an interesting discussion on what you do when your life is suddenly blown up in your face.

I didn't care for the main character, Georgina. She felt too know-it-all for me and kept pushing her beliefs onto other people. But I do think that was Hanh's intention. Georgina walked through life ignoring her own problems while attempting to solve everyone else's - so in that way, it made sense that I didn't love her character overall. The ending was a bit predictable but still enjoyable and this is one I'd definitely recommend to people.

This book will be featured on episode 37 of the Reading Through Life podcast, "What We Read in April", available May 4th.

Firstly, I’d like to say how much I adore this cover! It’s so lovely and I couldn’t stop staring at it while reading the book.

Secondly—this book! I was nervous because this has been an anticipated read of mine but I had no reason to be. I enjoyed the main characters and their relationships. Taylor does such a beautiful job curating these endearing and wonderful characters with seemingly real personalities and ambitions. I absolutely busted out laughing so many times! This book was so fun, witty and honest!

Any who, I AM SO HONORED I GOT THE CHANCE TO READ THIS NOVEL. It hooked me immediately and I love how much we focused on all the side characters as well.. I really enjoyed the storyline and wow my heart melted so many times. This was more women’s fiction than romance, which suited me just fine.

I think this one even topped so many other women’s fiction novels this month, and I can't wait to tell everyone to buy it when it's in stores or be annoyingly persistent about it when I’m at the library.

I adored all the characters and the atmosphere so much and I hope the author continues putting out more books like this!

“The Lifestyle”…..is written by the gorgeous lawyer/writer from Los Angeles….Taylor Hahn.

It’s no secret…..this novel is about the Swinger Lifestyle…

Why I wanted to read it? ….. it’s also no secret— not even with our adult children - [judge me if you want] — but Paul and I had a few years experience in this Lifestyle….
Our stories are better 😉
but I had fun reading Taylor Hahn’s book.
It made me feel zippy, sexy, and playful (even if I’m almost entering the official old fart age of 70 next month)…

…. Quick facts about Paul and I…
We had been married 22 years - as straight and ‘vanilla’ (a term we learned)….as any American couple could be.
Our relationship has always been great….with love, and respect….neither of us has ever cheated. We were never not NOT happy….as a monogamous couple.
But one day we became introduced to ‘The Lifestyle’.
So….
Paul and I ‘did’ engage in this world for a few years.
Those late night -crazy fun days were a kick.
Our ‘own’ stories are juicier, funnier, as well as more intriguing depth, truth and growth ….
But Susan’s storytelling was fun!

The dialogue and discussions were good. Watching the characters evolve were done well.
The entire book is charming, hilarious, adorable, lovable, messy, and even a little insightful without being too serious.
It’s not perfect - but I wasn’t looking for perfect.

A few tidbits….
After Georgina caught her husband having sex with another woman at the law firm where they both worked —[before they entered the swinging lifestyle together]…..That naughty husband, Nathan of hers….
Georgina told her best friend, Norah that….
“And it wasn’t their first time!”
“How do you know? Norah asked”
“THEY WERE BOTH COMPLETELY NAKED ‘WITH’ the lights ON”

Another great line:
“When your wife says she wants to swing, you don’t say no, you say when”

Three G rated vanilla girlfriends talked about setting boundaries before swinging… they were all about to be newbies-stepping into the dark side of swinging.
Norah said to Georgina and Alina,
“I want you guys to come to my kids’ birthday parties without remembering what I look like naked. You guys are off limits for me”.
Alina said,
“personally, I have never had a problem engaging in the experience with friends. It’s better in some ways, because you trust one another already”.
Georgina chimed in. She agreed with Nora, her best friend. She didn’t want her best friend having sex with her husband Nathan.

The couples (all in committed relationships) were invited to their first swingers Saturday night party.
They talked about what they might be afraid of. Was it touching a stranger? Or fear of their own desires?

Georgina joined the lifestyle to save her marriage after catching Nathan - in the act of cheating.
But everyone wanted something different.
Marco wanted to trade fantasies.
For others it was the pulse of anticipation, the thrill of newness, the audacity of desire.

What was ‘really’ funny to me —was watching how swinging fit into a mother’s busy life with children to care for the next morning after a late night of erotic sexual escapades.

Norah and Ari had three young children.
Their daughter Hannah was allergic to everything. A porridge of mashed banana and rice milk was about the only food she could tolerate.
Their five-year-old son, Simon was in a bacon face and would only eat that.
And their oldest daughter Rachel had recently become a vegetarian.
“Norah had to use a different set of pans for Hannah’s porridge than those she used for Rachel‘s eggs, which couldn’t dare touch Simon‘s ‘evil, drug-peddling meat’”.

There were many funny scenes in this book that were not only about swinging ….
but how swinging fit into their every day lifestyle.

In the end ….this book is a little teaser look into the swinging lifestyle….
….ways it strengthens a relationship and ways it doesn’t.
….the dangers, the joy, the benefits, the growth into oneself.

I enjoyed the ingenue spirit.

Thank you Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Netgalley, and Taylor Hahn


3.5

Other than the fact that main character is a bit of a busybody, I didn't really find this to be much a retelling of Clueless. It started off well enough, a wife finding her husband in a compromising position with a junior associate and her reaction was incredibly well written. Sadly after that the characters became caricatures and it become a more lurid exploration of the swinging "lifestyle". From that point on it wasn't particularly relatable or interesting and their various adventures became repetitive.

I liked Hahn's style, and would've enjoyed more a retelling of Emma, but this was not it.

I love all things Jane Austen so I was intrigued about the Emma comparison. I thoroughly enjoyed this book but other than the character enjoying matchmaking, that's where the similarity ends. But I still really liked this book. It was funny and warm and insightful.

Unfortunately, this one is a DNF for me. Initially, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. But the further I got into it, the more I didn't like it. I didn't establish a connection with any one of the characters, and Georgina was so unlikeable, I really didn't care what happened to her, hence the DNF. Such a shame because I was really excited to read this.

Unfortunately, I am not a fan of this book, I don't think the writing was bad but the story was just kind of abhorrent. I hated the characters except for maybe Felix. In addition, the way the "swinger" life was presented was just not something I enjoyed reading about or cared to read about. Georgina, the main character, and typical busy body was just awful and so overbearing. I am sorry I could not find a way to rate this better because I would still read a different kind of book by Taylor Hahn.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

With the caveat that Emma has never been my favorite Austen (though of course I love Clueless -- I'm not a monster!), this was a pretty enjoyable read! Another reviewer commented on how sympathetic and eventually likeable almost all of the characters end up being, and I thought that was a real strength of this book. Ultimately, Georgina's great love story was a bit underwhelming for me, but Norah and Ari's storyline felt very real and emotional, with a well-deserved and hard-fought HEA.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

I wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t my thing. It caught my eye with it being a retelling of Emma/Clueless. However, I don’t think there are any similarities at all.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a copy of this book in return for my honest review.

Infidelity, swingers, open marriages. It just wasn't to my liking from page one and just got worse.

Maybe it was supposed to be humorous, but for me it fell flat. Lacked any depth. Poorly developed plot and characters. Had to force myself to finish. Can not recommend.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
So first I have to say that I am not a big fan of Emma which this book was compared to in the description, but this book kept my attention so I read it pretty quickly. Georgina catches her husband cheating on her and decides to save their marriage by becoming swingers. This book details their journey through becoming swingers and deciding if it will in fact, save their marriage and their friends' marriages as well. This book does have some graphic sexual scenes which made me wish my husband was around while I was reading. I enjoyed it.

I received The Lifestyle for free in exchange for my honest opinion on it. Here it is— I loved it. It was excellent. I was sad when it was over. It was not just a pornographic sex book either. I was worried it would be. I loved how the main character changed and grew.

I think this story is absurd, if my boyfriend/husband cheats me with someone else the only thing I'd want to do is never see him again.

This is not a retelling of Emma or Clueless, so far away for that.

Thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this book! I haven't read Emma, but after devouring The Lifestyle, it's on my list. Georgina is a meddling thirty-something lawyer who works extremely hard to maintain a facade of perfection. Georgina is the perfect mix of unlikable and understandable, and after walking in on her husband having an affair with a first-year associate, these traits are expanded upon when she begins swinging. I loved it all--the quirky characters, the second-chance romance, and Georgina determining what really matters. Definitely pick this one up!

I’m not an Austen reader so I can’t compare this to Emma, but I can say that the premise was interesting - Georgina’s husband has an affair, so she decides that they should become swingers to save their marriage. What ensues should be funny and sexy and entertaining, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I never connected with Georgina. She spent all her time trying so hard to manage everyone else’s lives that I felt like she was herself one-dimensional. The writing also had a stilted quality that might have been partially because that fit the character, but made it hard for me to get swept up in the story because it all felt so clinical. I did enjoy the concept, and I liked the way that other relationships in the book changed and developed, so it might just be that Georgina wasn’t the character for me. If you enjoy a portrait of a marriage trying to figure itself out, New York City, and the idea of checking out “the lifestyle” vicariously, this book might be right up your alley even though it wasn’t up mine.

Thank you Knopf Doubleday for the chance to read and review The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn. I am going to review this one in two ways, one as a general reader and one as someone who values different identities and unexpected plots and books that cover women's lives at all ages and recognize that women have complicated and changing desires, needs, and relationships.

As a general reader, this is a 3 star read for me as I did not fully connect with the plot and the characters lives and experiences, I felt a bit distant from the story at times. I was also expecting more of a Jane Austen vibe and that wasn't present for me; sometimes going into a story looking for a certain feeling or style of story matters and here my experience was perhaps limited by what I was hoping for versus what was written. That does not mean the story was not good, just not what I was looking for.

However, there is a lot to note about this book for potential readers, particularly those looking for a book that has a woman exploring swinging/different relationships BUT also, importantly, thinking and learning about herself. I love a book that has a woman valuing herself, and being written as multidimensional and as ever changing, even in midlife. I also think representation of different approaches to relationships is always welcome and appreciated and this was present throughout the narrative in many ways. This might mean the book is just right for some readers and audiences and also good for a discussion and book club!

Overall, this is a 3 star read but also a respected read for me, 4 star for ideas, content, and novelty.

First and foremost, this wasn't a retelling of Emma, nor was it close to Clueless. The Lifestyle is its own beast, and beyond the similarities between the main character and Emma, you won't find much else to cling to, let alone find any connections with. I'm not quite sure why that had to be a selling point for this book, but I think it did it a disservice, rather than aid it in getting people to enjoy the premise that much more. Beyond that, this is just a book that mostly felt empty. I'm not sure I liked the characters, but I mostly believe that it's because none of them were given well-rounded personalities, especially Nathan and Whitaker that were so flat, they might as well have become wallpaper.

Georgina is incredibly dislikable, and not in the way in which an Emma or Cher manages to charm you, just in a way that isn't even fun to read about. Nothing she does makes sense. Nothing she does endears you to her. We are told time and time again how great she is, and yet nothing about her actually backs that up. For a main character, there isn't much to root for. With the exception of how she treats Meredith.

All in all, especially as a Jane Austen fan, this was a book that didn't have much of anything to offer me. I'm giving it two stars because the writing wasn't horrible, and it had an interesting enough premise. I just don't think it did anyone any favors, especially not the characters, nor anyone who enjoys Emma or Clueless. This book would be a skip in most circumstances.

A wonderful read a book that took me places I never expected.I enjoyed from beginning to end and found myself laughing out load.I predict this will be a big hit.Thanks#netgalley#knopdoubleday