Oh. This was interesting! The plot was definitely something new and exciting but other than that I’m not sure. I was a bit perplexed on the asexual storyline as I thought it would’ve turned out differently and not just used as a simple plot point. The tiny representation is nice but something more was needed. Go big or go home. But other than that it was a decent read.

A quick summary of this book, The story follows Orie, the younger sister in the LennoxSisters AcroYoga duo, dealing with attachment, family issues, and a survior-ish dating experiment. While the survivor themes are okay, the romance unwhelming. Fans of survivor, psychological thrillers, or YA romance might enjoy this book. It does a decent good in exploring complex relationships and mind games, hinting at the author's potential in the mystery/thriller genre.
Thank you Christine Riccio and NetGalley for letting me read this book.

I want to start this by saying that I like Christine! I've watched her videos for a while and really want her to succeed but I've come to the conclusion that her books just aren't for me. I had the same problem with this one as I did with her other books--poor characterization, unrealistic dialogue, and weak grasp of story structure. These characters are adults. A lot of them are in their mid-twenties, yet they still talk and act quite young and make references that haven't been relevant since 2014. The concept of this book was so interesting (I love Survivor!) but unfortunately, the writing fell flat.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for allowing me to read a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All the views and opinions express in this review are purely my own and not affiliated with any brand.

I love Survivor so I might be a bit biased in loving this book. I could picture everything perfectly and thought the spinoff aspect was interesting. Also being a youngest child I could completely identify with the main character and her growth through the book. This book was not only a social experiment about relationships but also about family dynamics. Christine Riccio is also a wizard when it comes to words and there were so many amazing quotes from this book.! I highly recommend to anyone looking for a light read who wants to laugh and be entertained!

I love that this book is so different. I think we are all guilty of taking pleasure in reality TV and this book immediately caught my attention because of that. Overall I thought the book had great pacing and had me wanting to keep going. Some of the inner monologue got a little boring. I did feel like after having the book be so well paced I wanted more for the ending. It did seem like the ending was thrown together quickly without as much thoughtfulness as the rest of the book.

Thank you to netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for allowing me to read this book. As much as I wanted to enjoy this book I just couldn't get into it

1.5 stars
I was intrigued by this book based on the premise of the book: Survivor meets The Bachelor, but it did not work for me. The characters read much younger than they were and I was just annoyed at their dialogue. I grew tired of hearing their fears of using the bathroom and I was not rooting for them to win or get together at the end. As a huge fan of the reality show Survivor; I had high hopes for this book, but it just didn’t live up to my expectations. I would have DNF’d this book had it not been for a review.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have not finished other books by this author, but wanted to give her another try. The description of the book seemed interesting, so I wanted to check the story out. Unfortunately, it is not working for me right now. It is nothing against the story or the author, but I couldn't get into the story/characters. I don't think this author will be for me.

I feel it’s important to start this review with the disclaimer that I’ve watched Christine’s YouTube videos for over a decade. I like her content, I’ve met her a couple times and she’s a lovely person, and I am really rooting for her to succeed in her writing.

Unfortunately, this book, like her sophomore novel, missed the mark with me.

SELF-INSERT
Christine is a bit notorious for writing self-insert characters in her novels, and this was another instance. As someone who is familiar with Christine and her content, the parallels between Christine and Orie/Olivia and Lark were pretty easy to identify.

I will say, I appreciate that there were less silly substitutes for swearing in this book, compared to the amount in BETTER TOGETHER. But there was still Christine’s excessive use of caps lock and exclamation points.

When it comes to exclamation points, I always think of a rule I was taught in college—exclamation marks should be used so sparingly, there should only be 1 or 2 per 50,000 words. When they’re used too frequently, they lose their meaning, and it starts to feel like being shouted at, in combination with the all-caps.

“SURVIVOR”?
I was glad the show Orie ended up on was a “spin-off” of Survivor, but I can’t help but wish Survivor wasn’t mentioned in the story at all; I wish it was just Attached at the Hip, and we could pick up on the Survivor connections from there, as other books have done in creating fictional versions of The Bachelor, etc.

Every time Survivor was mentioned, it pulled me out of the story, more so even than the other pop culture references that were made. And as other reviewers have mentioned, I’m not sure how it was allowed to be used, as it’s not in the Creative Commons.

Attached at the Hip, the show, frames itself as being a romantic take on SURVIVOR, and while romance seemed to be a side effect of being physically attached to another human being, I didn’t really feel that romance angle much. Sure, the partners were often provided with dates upon new pairings, but I feel like a couple’s prize (like on Love Island) would’ve made more sense than it still being an individual competition. The two ideas just didn’t quite mesh for me.

ASEXUALITY
I want to preface this section by saying that we don’t know how Christine identifies, and the last thing anyone should do is force an author to come out to “justify” writing the story they did (i.e. what happened to Becky Albertalli).

And while I can say with confidence that Christine did not intentionally misrepresent the ace community, it did unfortunately happen.

Initially, I perked up when I read about Orie’s mind wandering when she would kiss her boyfriend and how she wondered if she felt romantic or sexual attraction at all. Orie and Kennedi’s conversation about asexuality piqued my interest, but I was disappointed to continue the book and find that the discussion began and ended there.

Not only that, but Orie very clearly feels both romantic and sexual attraction toward both Remy and Osprey, which made the discussion feel like a moot point anyway. There’s a HUGE misconception that asexual people aren’t really asexual and “will want to have sex with someone if they meet the right person.” And that’s just not how it works, but I fear it may be a takeaway from this novel.

THE ENDING
While I was obviously happy that Orie won in the end, it all seemed to fall into place a bit too perfectly for me to find it believable.

After Orie wins the million dollars, she’s offered not one but TWO job offers in film/TV production. Though it’s undeniable that opportunities do arise from appearing on a show like this, I found it hard to believe that an Oscar-winning director and even the executive producer of Attached at the Hip were so eager to have Orie join their teams, given that she has no actual experience in the industry.

And while I did ship Orie and Osprey, their ending felt rushed as well. Though I appreciated that they weren’t moving in together, they were still moving across the entire country just to live in the same state and date each other. Not to mention, there was a last-minute conflict with Osprey being unsure if he even wanted to be with Orie, given how she was all-in on Remy for so long, but that was resolved almost immediately.

I love a happy ending in a story, but it means more when that happy ending feels earned rather than just something that’s convenient.

WRITING CRAFT
To Christine’s credit, I stand by that I think she writes tension well—she has across all of her books. The first chapter and the chapters centering around Remy’s secrets and suspicious behavior were my favorites—the tension was palpable, and I flew through those sections, curious to see what would happen next.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t implore Christine to pick up a writing craft book. She’s repeatedly admitted to not using them, and I know firsthand that they’re not all winners, but I really think her storytelling would benefit from a book like SAVE THE CAT WRITES A NOVEL (or SAVE THE CAT YA), which examines different story structures and provides examples from popular books.

Overall, unfortunately, I was disappointed in this book, and a lot of that disappointment stems from how much I loved Christine’s debut, AGAIN BUT BETTER. It was such a strong story, and I know she’s capable of more than what she demonstrated in this story.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Attached At The Hip by Christina Riccio
DNF at 52%
I want to start off by saying that I was super excited for this book, and so excited when I got approved for the advanced copy. One of my favorite things in the world is reality TV series featuring love as one of the main plot goals. I thought that this in the form of a book would be perfect for me but I guess I was wrong.

The first thing I want to point out is what I’ve found that’s good so far in the book. I think Orie has some really interesting love interests, especially Osprey. His character is super cool and funny and overall, I think Riccio did a really good job of making him likeable in a way that isn’t expected. He also really challenged Orie which she definitely needed. Remy was more of an obvious love interest but he was so flirty that it worked for him. He had good banter which is something I love seeing in characters and they had somewhat of a past which was fun to look back on.

Riccio also did a great job with side characters like Kennedi. Kennedi was so real. She was there to win ( as she should be). And she always said it like it was which I appreciated. I’d love to have seen more of her and Orie’s friendship instead of reading about Orie’s random desire to be called Piccadilly.

Ok so let’s get into what I didn’t enjoy. Orie. Reading this book and being stuck in her brain was such an unpleasant experience. I really wanted to like her, especially because I know what it’s like to feel like you can’t do things alone, but she just really irritated me. I also found it super hard to connect with her, there was no part of her character that allowed for real connection to her audience in my opinion. I felt like I was just watching someone who I didn’t like do things I didn’t like.

In addition to that, something that really irritated me was the fact that we got little to no backstory, then we got thrust into the plot, only to learn about some serious life changing things that happened, leading her to actually accept the position on the TV show. Like he cheated on her??? Ok what? Her dad is an addict??? Like everything just came out of nowhere, which would be fine if it came fully fleshed out but it didn’t.

Finally, the plot for me was just hard to follow. I got bored following what was going on. And I thought that the time she spent alone would be beneficial for her, and maybe it eventually was because like I said I didn’t finish the book, but from what I read, she spent the whole time thinking about her future with Remy and how she could follow her dreams, but only if it’s with him. Like girl isn’t that what we’re trying to avoid?

Overall, I think the idea was so great but the execution just wasn’t it. I hate dnfing books and I wasn’t even sure if I was allowed to dnf an ARC, however, I do not think I can get through anymore of this right now. Maybe if I read it in the future I’ll feel differently but as of right now it is simply a no for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you so much to Christine Riccio and St. Martin's Press for the Digital ARC of this book. This book is exactly what I wanted it to be. Its perfect for a summer read and great for older teens and adults, since there is no spice in this one. I really enjoyed this book! will definitely recommend this!

DNF @ 50%. If I read half or more of a book, I rate it.

Thanks to the publisher for the e-arc, but also, why’d you do this to me?

Anyone can tell you that I was excited for this release. Romantic comedy meets Survivor? HELL. YEAH. Sign me up.

It sucks to have your dreams crushed by a five foot something girl named Orie who is essentially <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0U4p7RJ0pt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link">this character</a> put to paper.

Orie is RaNdOm. She doesn't talk, she squawks. She blurts. She shouts. She squeaks. She honks. She wears silly polka-dot knee high socks and wants to be called "Piccadilly" on the game show because Orie is not unique enough (I'm not kidding). She has no filter, loves 2014 YA quotes, and loves TO SHOUT IN ALL CAPS <3

Being in the headspace of this character was one of the worst experiences I've ever had while reading a book.

Not to mention the ~*romantic*~ aspects were some of the cringe-iest cringe of all time. We're talking characters making out within 24 hours of meeting (oh, I'm sorry, they actually said 'hi' in a few different languages one time in high school), picking out baby names kinda of insta-love. And the worst part is that I can't tell if this is supposed to be intentionally cringy or not, but I'm not sticking around any more to find out. I endured 200 pages of it, let me live in peace.

Characters aside, one of the biggest issues was the pacing. This is the type of story where we would've benefited from starting on the island, with flashback chapters to before she left scattered throughout. There are some things that happen between Orie and other characters that would've been better fleshed out and discussed this way. Instead we get a few random flashback chapters right at the very beginning, get to the island, and then find out some BIG things happened to her right before leaving, yet we never saw it happen? Huh?? What was the point in the flashback chapters if you're not going to show us the IMPORTANT moments before she left? It made absolutely no sense, and honestly felt lazy. Like the author didn't want to write these important scenes, so f*ck it, I'll just tell the reader they happened and move on.

It's not for fans of Survivor and it's not for modern day romance girlies, unless you're REALLY into the RaWr xD romance you swooned over in high school.

I need to wash out my eyes.

This one was exactly the right book for me. If you don't know, I am obsessed with reality tv and this one was exactly what it was described to be: a mix of survivor and the bachelor (surprisingly two reality shows I rarely watch but have seen). The story follows Orie, a young woman in her early 20s who is a survivor superfan and is cast on a spinoff where players live on an island in Fiji and try to survive and find love or friendship at the same time. It had lots of The Challenge, Big Brother and Love Island vibes as well, three reality shows I am obsessed with. I even felt a tiny bit of Hunger Games vibes (without the death) lol. I loved the character development, the strong female lead and of course the reality tv aspects. This is a MUST read for Reality TV fans, but I think anyone could enjoy this fun story! Attached at the Hip is being published in the new year, but Christine Riccio has other books so I will definitely be checking these out!

My thoughts on this book were a bit of a whirlwind from beginning to end so let’s discuss.
First off, thanks so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for proving me with an advanced reader’s copy of Attached at the Hip. This book comes out on May 21st, 2024.
To preface this I am a longtime fan of Christine and try to support her by reading her books. But I do still accurately review and critique them.
This is Christine’s third book and when I first heard this one was a romance on a Survivor like show I wasn’t thrilled. I don’t normally read contemporaries it’s just not my cup of tea and I’ve never seen Survivor. But I like to support Christine so I gave it a shot.
The beginning of the book felt a little slow for me. Early on I felt like the book was going to go in a boring direction that wasn’t really my cup of tea with a boring love interest. That very much changed as I read on.
Before I go into the good though, here’s the bad(ish?).
I found Orie early on to be a very relatable main character. It did bother me though that she was a huge reader of the same types of books as Shane from Again, But Better. It made it more difficult to differentiate the characters. Also the many pop culture references at the beginning bothered me. I was okay when Shane did it but I wasn’t a fan of it at the beginning of Attached at the Hip. I grew to not mind it much as the book went on but it was a huge “irk” at the beginning.
I think a reason I struggle reading Christine’s books so much is because of her online presence. I know so much more about her than I would any other author. I can’t help but imagine Christine herself writing this and it takes me out of the story.
Orie likes to read books, Christine likes and knows those books. Orie does yoga with her sister, Christine likes and know how to do yoga. Orie is kinda an influencer, Christine knows all about that. Orie loves movies and would like to work on them and write screenplays, Christine went to film school. There was even a reference to a Mean Girls line in the book that Christine has referenced in the same context in one of her videos.
Now this isn’t a bad thing. All authors do this. The difference is that the reader know so much more about Christine than your typical author that you draw these connections. It makes me wonder if it would be easier to immerse myself in the story if I hadn’t seen Christine’s videos. This is a common criticism of Christine’s works and I think it’s unfair. Everybody does this. Christine just had a platform that get people to know her much better. I find the criticism tends to stem from people upset she got a book deal for being a popular YouTuber. But I don’t see any harm in that, anyone in her place would use her connections to get their book published.
As this book went on I started to get intrigued on where the plot was going. I wasn’t sure if it was heading in the direction I wanted it too but I was crossing my fingers hoping and Christine delivered. It’s exactly the type of thing that makes me love a book. When I go into it expecting one thing and silently having a hope for something I don’t think will happen. Then being pleasantly surprised that it goes in a better route. I know this is oddly specific but this has happened to me before lol.
I really loved the themes of the book and the way the Survivor show was used to incorporate them. I’ve never seen Survivor so I have no prior knowledge on how this show goes. But you don’t have to have seen it to enjoy this book.
I enjoyed the cameos from Christine’s past books. They didn’t feel forced and over done. At one point I thought “hey wasn’t Leo the name of Shane’s cousin in Again, But Better?”. But I didn’t actually piece together it was the same Leo until Shane’s cameo. That was a dull moment for me.
I do think some of the supporting characters could’ve been developed a little more but I’m not sure how necessary it was. I wanted to spend more time with Leo and Pyria and learn more about them. But that didn’t happen and I think it’s okay, it wasn’t vital to the story.
I loved Orie’s character arc and the conversation she had with her sister at the end nearly brought me to tears.
But after that point I was ready for the book to end so I will say the ending dragged a bit for me. But nonetheless I really enjoyed this story.
I want to say this is Christine’s best novel. But Again, But Better holds a special place for me just because of Christine’s motivation behind writing it and how it’s supposed to be a book for all the young girls who watched Christine’s videos who she saw herself in.
Attached at the Hip is her most well executed book. I was expecting to feel very mid about the novel as a whole, but I was pleasantly surprised and I’m excited to get a physical copy next year.

This is maybe the worst book I have read in the last few years. The writing is bad, the main characters are completely empty, and for a book that is supposedly based off of Survivor, it feels like the author doesn't actually care about the show at all. In fact, this feels like some kind of magnum opus about why no one should ever watch Survivor if this is what she has been getting out of the show. This is not a book I would recommend, even to my worst enemies.

<b>it was the circle / survivor/ the ultimatum / the bachelor. </b>basically a fluffier hunger games but more focus on the part where peeta and katniss 'fake' a relationship for votes. the love interest in this book was like a person version of the bread offered to katniss. yes it makes sense, lets move on

MISS CHRISTINE IF U ARE READING THIS (which u shouldn't bc authors shouldn't read reviews) UVE DONE IT IM SO PROUD OF U this is THE book. the book ill think of when someone mentions ur name

actually miss christine was the name of my piano tutor so lets not go there. im pretty sure my brother and i terrorized that poor woman.

anywayyyyyy 4.5 i rounded up like every good teacher should

i got this from netgalley i literally requested it today bc saw that tiktok of her telling her younger self about the book and was like I NEED TO READ THIS then i did that thing we all do which is look when its coming out and internally cry. i did not think my request would be approved so soon im so spoiled ty

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced electronic copy in exchange for a honest review.

ATTACHED AT THE HIP is Christine Riccio’s third book. I absolutely loved her first novel, AGAIN, BUT BETTER, and her second novel, BETTER TOGETHER, almost went on my DNF list. I have followed Christine’s on YouTube for over a decade now, but I knew that her third book was likely going to determine if I picked up her subsequent publications. This novel fell somewhere between her first two novels for me, but I ultimately did enjoy it.

**BRIEF SUMMARY**

Orie, is the irritatingly, loveable, and quirky younger sister of the @LennoxSisters AcroYoga influencer duo. She is a recent college graduate, living at home with her parents while she figures out what she what career path she wants to take. Orie is reliant on her family and boyfriend, Wes, for literally everything. This story really kicks off when Orie’s sister, Lark, confronts her about her codependency, causing Orie to make the impulsive decision to audition for her favorite reality television show SURVIVOR. Only, she soon realizes that she’s actually been cast in a SURVIVOR spin-off series/dating experiment called ATTACHED AT THE HIP. Orie tries to not spiral while she navigates reuniting with her former flame, establishing new connections, surviving in the wilderness, all while her life at home seems to be crumbling.

**SURVIVOR LORE**

Perhaps my favorite aspect of this novel is how perfectly the SURVIVOR-esque themes are executed and how these themes contribute to Orie’s character development. The show host’s narrations were so Jeff Probst’s coded that I read them in his voice. There were also so many nods to SURVIVOR lore that my fangirl heart was screaming. Most of all, despite being marketed as a rom-com, this novel truly immerses readers in the mind games and power plays of the game of SURVIVOR.

**Without crossing into the land of spoilers, I think it’s important for me to say to trust your instincts when reading this novel. Don’t be impatient.** If something doesn’t feel right, consider if this is the author’s intention before tossing in the towel on this one. At its core, this novel is about Orie learning to trust her own instincts and not rely on others.

**FAMILY**

The interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics of this novel are perhaps the most cohesive aspects of this story. Despite Orie’s family not being central characters for a majority of the book, it felt like they were with Orie throughout her journey. Christine did an excellent job of displaying how we are each comprised of bits and pieces of our loved ones.

**CHOPPY WATERS**

This novel is marketed as a SURVIVOR meets THE BACHELOR adult romance. However, this story felt more like SURVIVOR meets LOVE IS BLIND young adult romance. The “romance” was very young adult despite the characters ages ranging from 19-24.

I have enjoyed many YA romance novels, but I wasn’t expecting this to be one of them. There is one point in the story, where Orie and another character bond over their shared love for DIVERGENT as teens. While I feel like the author intended for this moment to not only spark a connection between the characters, but also highlight the importance of the YA genre, this moment just made me cringe… It also may have made me feel a bit old. (Note: I wouldn’t have cringed quite as hard if it had been a THE HUNGER GAMES reference, but I digress.) Ultimately, the pop culture references and dialogue between characters made me feel like the characters were much younger than they were supposed to be. This was offsetting for a story that has been marketed as an adult romance.

My final issue with this book was Orie’s codependency at the beginning of the novel. (Girly couldn’t pick out her own clothes.) For me, Orie’s codependency was excessive, and it furthered my feelings that this should have been a YA novel.

**FINAL THOUGHTS**

Without a doubt, this novel had the potential to be a five star sensation. Instead, it lost the final immunity challenge and was voted off the island in 3rd place. I still really really really enjoyed this novel and even had a hard time putting this book down! However, I’m afraid that the way that this novel is being marketed is going to lead to many disappointed readers.

If you’re a SURVIVOR fan, this book is 100% for you! If you like psychological thrillers, you will probably love this book. If you are someone who loves YA romance, or knows someone who does, there is a very good chance you will like this book. However, if you strictly read adult spicy romance, this book is not for you.

In many ways, ATTACHED AT THE HIP exposes Riccio’s weak points as a writer as well as her strengths. I feel her strengths in writing about complicated relationship dynamics and mind games would effortlessly translate into the mystery/thriller genre. With this in mind, I’m going to cross my fingers that she explores the YA mystery/thriller genre in the future!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for accepting my request for an ARC of this book!
5/5
“I am on a beach in Fiji about to be voluntarily marooned on an island to prove a point.”
I have to say Riccio’s personality really shines in her books and her newest one is no exception. I laughed so much while reading this book. I enjoyed every second of it. I think that say’s something for I’m not a reality tv person. The characters were done well and the show I was impressed with. I mean, creating a story is one thing but then creating a tv show inside of a story? Hands down was the highlight of my year in reading.

This romance was just what I wanted. The setting would be perfect for summer time. I enjoyed the romance very much. I would highly recommend this book!

Throw Survivor and any dating show together and you get Attached at the Hip. I don’t think I have read a book in so long that has had me smiling and actually laughing out loud in a while. I really enjoyed the story that Christine Riccio put together when it came to the novel. This is a ROMCOM without any spice.
Orie is our FMC and she is 23 years old. She has graduated college with a bachelors in English and is still living at home with her parents. She is a Social Media Influencer with her sister and they do AcroYoga. They have a large following and she is dating a guy who she’s been in a relationship since she was in high school. All that changes when her sister tells her that she is codependent and cant do anything by herself. Basically also calling her lazy as she has everyone do everything for her. This sparks Orie into applying for Survivor…. She has been obsessed with the show since she was 8 (if I recall correctly). She did not thin she would actually be chosen!!

In this we see great character growth and Orie learning how to tackle puzzles, obstacles and becoming more independent day by day, even thoug she i attached at the hip with her partner for that round. Now I don’t normally read romance books without any spice…but I found myself not missing it at all. I really liked the interactions Orie had with the other contestants on the show and the friendships that grew from those interactions.
I do see that this author does have two other novels out right now and I am definitely going to be checking them out. If they are written anything like this one I will be captured immediately into the world that Christine Riccio spins together and will easy read it in one sitting like I did this one!