3 stars
book review

I was interested in reading the story when I first came across it but I was left disappointed. It may have been the writer's style of writing, some of the events that occur in the story, or the lack of connection with the main character but this story was just not for me.

Perfect for fans of Mrs. Maisel. I loved this book packed with humour and heart!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was overall confused by the concept of this book. It was very Mrs Maisel-coded, which I thought I would enjoy, but I had a tough time envisioning what was actually happening to the characters and what effect the comedy had on them. The writing was nice and I'd be open to reading something else by this author, however.

A stunning debut taking place in WWII, featuring a queer coming of age with more than a hint of magic. Quietly devastating and empowering in equal parts, When Franny Stands Up is a must read.

If magical realism met Mrs. Maisel, this book might be their lovechild. I just wish that I'd liked, no loved, these characters more. I delayed posting a review because I didn't want to drag down ratings.

I really struggled to get into this & could not continue. I rarely DNF, but this one I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Unfortunately this one did not work for me. It just dragged and didn’t really pull me in. I had high hopes but if feel flat.

I finally gave up on this book: the magic powering the "Showstopper" was so jarring and out of place. Maybe it was supposed to be a metaphor, but it felt wildly unneccessary.

a fun and lighthearted take on what it means to be a female comedian during wwII. For anyone that I know loves the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this is the first book I recommend.

This was a fun story through mid-20th century Chicago! I loved this smart, funny book! Franny wants to be a comic in a world where women comics can harness small amounts of real magic. I was pulled in from the start and just loved Franny!

Franny's story begins when she is a young woman trying to get into the Empire Room in her curiosity about Boopsie Baxter and her "Showstopper". This begins Franny's journey into adulthood and finding herself. Years later Franny finds herself running away from her best friend's wedding, still in her bridesmaid's dress, to the Blue Moon where Boopsie Baxter performs. She ends up in the comedy scene and gives comedy a try. Franny ends up finding a release in comedy from her troubling memories, from war time effects and from everything else in between. After a series of issues and misunderstandings, Franny leaves Chicago to go to Miami and finds her happiness and freedom there. It's a story about the oppression of the 1950s, societal expectations both as a women and as an outcast to a degree for being Jewish. In my opinion, it was not the smoothest read but it was an interesting take.

This is a story of finding your own voice, its power, and what happens when you speak your truth simply because it is a truth. Historical fiction + magical realism that was similarish to Marvelous Mrs Maisel (a *favorite* show of mine) in that Franny is a female Jewish comedian in the US in a postWW2 society. WHEN FRANNY STANDS UP confronts antisemitism, homophobia, and racism as well as the realities of PTSD in veterans. This story is funny and dark and real.
{While Franny + Midge Maisel have such incredibly different stories, I recommend the comparison as an entry point into Franny's world}

This one is a DNF for me. I really thought I would like it with its Marvelous Mrs. Maisel vibes and elements of magical realism but I got through 50% and I couldn’t go any further, I found myself bored and I honestly didn’t care what happened to any of the characters. I’m disappointed; I had really high hopes.

While I enjoyed "When Franny Stands Up," I didn't love it - when I finished it, I felt like something was missing. Taking place in post-WWII Chicago, Franny is a young Jewish woman trying to find her voice. She finds her way into an all-women's comedy club full of colorful characters and learns to process personal trauma and expectations through her stand-up routine.

There are some big topics discussed throughout the book: antisemitism, racism, sexual assault, PTSD. These storylines fell short for me, primarily due to the magical realism element ("showstoppers"). The concept of Showstoppers took away from the story. If the author had left that out and focused on fleshing out Franny through the more serious storylines, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

There was definitely potential and I liked the author's writing style. I would be open to reading more from the author in the future. Not quite 2.5 stars, not quite 3 stars, but rounding up.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC. Available now!

I loved this book so much! It totally took me by surprise! I enjoyed the characters, their development from the beginning of the book until the end. The plut was great, and very relatable.

This was a really interesting historical fiction story about being a young woman in post-WWII Chicago who finds power in making people laugh. Franny has a transporting experience one Christmas Eve at a comedy club but that night also changes her family when they get news of her brother overseas.

I picked this one up for the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel similarities and was a little surprised by the magical realism aspect - something I wasn't expecting but did enjoy. I also really liked how Franny finds a community of like-minded women who have formed a sort of community of social outcasts, or women not willing to conform to societal expectations.

Good on audio and definitely one I would recommend. It won't be for everyone and did drag in places but overall I liked this one. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: rape, war related PTSD

This was not the lighthearted read I thought it would be. I was hoping for a young girl finding her voice through standup and while that is what happens in the book, the story was far from lighthearted. There is a lot of drama, which gives you a good idea of what it was like for women in Chicago after the war. I enjoyed learning about this aspect but could have done without the sexual abuse, assault, and other topics covered by this novel. The story moved slowly and didn't draw me in. It just wasn't what I was expecting.

I really wanted to love this book but it was too much and not enough at the same time.

I've seen a lot of comparisons to "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and yes, they both feature Jewish women post-WWII trying to make it in comedy but the biggest difference between the two is that in the show, we get to see Midge Maisel actually be funny. Franny never is. No one is, really. The story is loaded down with so many issues - racism, anti-Semitism, PTSD, sexual assault, domestic violence, homophobia, I could go on... - that it's overwhelming. There's also a magical realism element that didn't work for me which kept me from completely getting on board with the premise. Robins is a talented writer and I look forward to what she does next - this one just wasn't for me.

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the copy to review.

When Franny Stands Up is a historical fiction debut perfect for fans of Marvelous Mrs. Maisal. Set in the Chicago during the 1950s, it follows Franny, a young Jewish woman who gets involved in the world of standup comedy. While there is jokes, sarcasm and laughter, I will say this is so much more than just a comedy book as the author covers more serious themes such as PTSD from the war, sexual assault, gender identity, racism and antisemitism. I listened to the audio and thought the narrator did a fantastic job! The only piece I did not really love was the magical realism as I did not think it was needed to better the story.

Read if you like:
-Magical Realism
-Found family themes
-Jewish representation
-1950s Historical Fiction

In When Franny Stands Up, women’s comedy clubs are struggling to survive in the 1950s, after male comedians become popular on TV and grab all the attention. But women know a secret: in the live stand-up shows for women only, certain talented comedians have Showstoppers — moments of magic where the performer induces certain special effects on the women in the audience as they laugh.

For Franny, she first encounters a Showstopper years earlier, sneaking away from her protective parents’ home in a Chicago suburb to see the famous Boopsie Baxter perform. But Franny is not at all prepared for her powerful reaction to Boopsie’s Showstopper, and runs back home in shame and fear, only to discover that her soldier brother has gone missing in action in Europe. For Franny, these two events become very much linked, and she determines to be good and give up her interest in comedy forever.

But as the main part of the story opens, 23-year-old Franny is burdened by her daily life, her worries over her brother, now home but suffering from PTSD, and her alienation from her former best friend, who’s about to get married, and whose family is responsible for one of Franny’s worst memories. When events at the wedding go badly, Franny runs off yet again, and finds herself at the Blue Moon club, where a whole new world awaits.

Sadly, so much of this story simply didn’t make sense to me. Franny’s interest in comedy, especially in becoming a stand-up comedian, seems to come out of nowhere, and isn’t well explained. And why the club owner and other performers take an interest in Franny or immediately sense her potential talent — well, I have no idea.

There are many interesting concepts scattered throughout the story, but whether it’s the writing itself or the approach to the plot, it never particularly gelled for me. I found the writing style choppy, with descriptions and plot actions not quite making sense to me. As new occurrences and situations popped up, I often felt like I must have accidentally skipped some pages — just how did we get from point A to point B? Some characters as well just never made sense — I can think of one in particular who, by the end of the story, I still didn’t know if she was supposed to be sympathetic or an antagonist, and that definitely did not seem like an intentional construction of a morally gray characters. Instead, it was just another example of a writing approach that didn’t work for me.

The idea of the Showstopper concept is pretty cool, absolutely — but the plot, inconsistent character depictions, dropped or under-developed storylines, and unclear character motivation all got in the way of my enjoyment of When Franny Stands Up. There are some interesting ideas here, but sadly, the book as a whole just didn’t work for me.