I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This modern romantic comedy of a book is refreshing and modern and laugh-out-loud funny. It feels like an ode to the everyday woman who has to balance career, friendship, and love. Rachel Weiss is flawed, highly relatable as she fumbles through a year packed with dating woes, tough job duties and her mother's matchmaking schemes. What makes the story shine is her hilarious and unfiltered group chat with her friends, which reminded me of my own group chats. It's perfect for fans of Sex and the City, a book that;s reflective, hilarious and also tender and sweet.

I don't think this book is for someone like me.

Appelbaum attempts to craft a humorous chick lit romance of millennial workplace humor with romance but was just not it, especially with the concerning handling of serious topics like sexual assault for cheap laughs. The initial premise of a thirty-something woman navigating career frustrations and romantic misadventures alongside a supportive friend group held promise in being so incredibly relatable, but it wasn't close. The characters lack depth and relatability and are outright cruel, making it difficult to invest in their journeys. Even though it was marketed as a romantic comedy, the book leans heavily into chick lit territory without fully succeeding in either genre, resulting in a disappointing read that fails to deliver on its potential.

I loved this book. It was such a cute story and made me happy to read it!
My fav quote “Since he moved here? I considered asking him to expand on that point-what sort of Chicagoan vixens was I competing with exactly?” Hahahaha
This story made me giggle/smile quite a bit

I enjoyed the wit and humor of the characters and story, but the FMC was really hard for me to like. I tried to overlook it, but it made it difficult for me to really get into the story and I found myself struggling to get past the halfway point.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I didn’t care much for this book. The main character was childish and annoying and her family drove me crazy. This story really dragged for me. I did really like the group texts that were in the book, though - that’s something I always enjoy in a book. I love when we see text conversations between characters and this one had a lot of them!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Rachel Weiss's Group Chat by Lauren Applebaum is such a hilarious ride! The humor had me kackling, and I couldn’t put it down. Applebaum’s wit shines through every page, and the group chat format brings out so many laugh-out-loud moments. It's the perfect read if you're in need of some good laughs and relatable group text drama. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys a fun, lighthearted story that feels like being part of the friend group!

Rachel Weiss the messy woman that you are!!! This hit a little too close to home but that’s also why I really am glad that I read it.

Rachel Weiss is in a job she hates, she has a great group of friends but after so many years, the group is starting to drift apart, Rachel's mom is desperate for Rachel to get married, and Rachel's younger twin sisters are pure spoiled brats.

At times I wanted to slap Rachel. It felt like to me that she had so little respect for herself. This is why I gave this story a 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a really smart, sharp novel. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going in with the title, but it ended up being a book I kept wanting to come back to while I was working on other things, because I wanted to find out what happened. It’s really well done and has excellent commentary on society.

i did not enjoy this book :( the premise seemed cute but i did not like the characters or the direction where this story was going. maybe i will give it another try at a different time

Rachel Weiss's Group Chat is an own voice, Jewish contemporary romance. Opposites attract, tons of character growth, and just an overall fun read. 4 stars.

Rachel is turning 30 and is nowhere near being married much to her mom’s consternation. Her parents have new neighbours and her mom soon realizes they have an eligible son that she wants Rachel to date. Rachel dislikes him as soon as she meets him so that relationship is doomed. Or is it? She is enjoying her life but is realizing her once close knit friend group is moving on and transitioning into their adult lives. I enjoyed the banter between the friend group and I found the book entertaining overall.

**Thank you to Forever for this free digital review copy.**

This story was a bit of a mess, in a very real life drama kind of way. The characters, while maybe not so much relatable to me were at the very least believable. I laughed and I felt for them (not to the point of tears, but there were funny moments and serious moments). I enjoyed the Seattle setting and the quirkiness it brought with it. The emphasis on the group chat was a fresh look at friendship that I found really interesting and relatable—even if I didn’t necessarily relate to these specific characters, I can to the idea of a group chat and what that means when things go quiet. There were moments when it felt like we’d lost the thread of the story but then it would all come back and I thought the ending was fitting. This was a fun romp at bedtime but not a story that I think will stick with me for long.

This is a delightful romance with some Jewish representation. The main character Rachel Weiss (love the oh so Jewish name!) makes so many bad decisions throughout the book, even though it all turns out all right in the end. Her mom is absolutely over the top, but in a mostly funny kind of way. There was a storyline I am glad wasn't explored more, it was a bit too much and too ripped from the headlines. I also wish we had gotten to know Christopher on a deeper level, but overall I really liked the book. Maybe I've been reading too many dual POV romances lately, and it won't bother others as much. It's out now, and thank you to Forever Publishing for the advanced copy of it.

Out On: September 24, 2024

This book was an easy read that I don't think will stick with me long term, which is honestly exactly what I needed at the present moment in a book! I thought that Rachel's life was certainly chaotic and that she had much to work on, so the fact that we got to witness her character growth throughout the book was entertaining.

I think that the mother in this story is rather toxic and I don't know if other Jewish mothers are like this, but if this is genuinely how they act about wanting their children to be married and are failures if they aren't... I'm sorry, because that is absurd. Most of the scenes with the mom made me actively frustrated for our FMC here and I genuinely didn't like those sections of the book.

If you are going into this book expecting it to be a romance, you may want to think again because the story takes a very long time to get into any form of romance that is wholesome, however it is still approached in a really strange way? I don't know, but I was not vibing with the way any of our FMC's relationships played out. They just felt weird to me.

Overall, this book was a nice read for my overtired postpartum brain, but I don't know if I would pick it up again now that I've read it. Complicated feelings about it to say the least.

Thank you so much to Forever Pub for this advanced copy on NetGalley and for the physical copy as well! 🤍

I wanted to love this story, it had been a book i had been anticipating but unfortunately it fell flat for me and i just couldn't get into it.. I think i just didn't gel with the characters. I think this is a me problem because the writing was good!

Enemies to lovers
Opposites attract
Closed door
Single POV
Pride & Prejudice retelling
Growth

A delightfully relatable read. I loved the Jewish references, diverse cast of characters, the transition from 20s to 30s and her self-growth journey. I found the closed door aspect surprising, given how open the FMC is. The ending was abrupt.

2 1/2 stars

If you can appreciate an unreliable narrator, an overbearing matchmaker of a Jewish mother, and love the idea of a book that pays homage to Bridget Jones’s Diary and Pride and Prejudice with a dash of (unlikeable) Georgia Nicolson, you’ll LOVE this book. And if instead you don’t like cringe humor, making light of sexual assault, characters who are full of themselves, or plots that are all over the place, this one’s not for you.

Single girl Rachel just wants to find a nice Jewish guy and settle down… but her lack of commitment to setting up a J-Date profile indicates she’s quite content to keep having hookups for now, especially since she’s got her "thisclosetobeingengaged" perfect older sister Jane for moral support, along with her three besties: smug married unhappily married Amy, who’s bewildered that she’s not having all the newlywed sex; Sumira, who seems to be dating someone she thinks the friends group might not approve of, and queer Eva, who just lost out on a girl because she used to date guys.

Rachel keeps bumping into Christopher, the tech bro whose parents own the house the door (the one he purchased for them with the millions he’s made with his do-gooder company). Most of their interactions are funny and thought-provoking, and he’s cute even if he has no fashion sense, but she continues to write him off, until about 30% of the way through the novel when she slides into his DMs on Instagram to ask him for dating advice for Eva. Their exchanges deepen over time, and Christopher continues to pop up in her DMs and in her life. When he confesses his feelings for her in a way that insults her and her family, they’re back on the outs, a la Pride and Prejudice.

Like Bridget Jones, Rachel makes lists, is frustrated by her job, and falls into a situation-ship with someone who strings her along (Stephen turns out to be a school and business rival of Christopher). There’s an upswing at work when Rachel challenges the lunch choices (meat and dairy) at a corporate event celebrating company sustainability, and this eventually leads to a new career opportunity. Sumira׳s surprise Indian wedding adds an influx of diversity. A subplot about Rachel’s mother blithely buying her younger twin sisters perfect SAT scores is an opportunity for Christopher to sweep in and save the day--no real accountability. And then, her perfect sister, in a drunken moment, says something WAY inappropriate about an attractive man accused of sexual assault, and gets demoted (not fired!) and now the whole family is coping with the aftermath of not taking the #MeToo movement seriously. There’s a LOT going on in this novel.

The cover, with its split-screen effect, indicates it’s a romance, but the title indicates a friendship driven-plot and sets an expectation for me lot more technical, text-message styled group chats, but the four friends get together to talk regularly, as well as having a group text. Does Instagram count—are two people a group? Why are those conversations formatted as part of the regular text (at least, in the digital galley edition), making the threads harder to follow?

Rachel isn’t always likeable, but her voice is committed and consistent; the writing is observant, sharp and honest. All told, this is a (sometimes) screamingly funny novel about dating as an almost 30-something Jewish woman who is oblivious and somehow never really has to pay the price--even work-mandated therapy turns out to be a win. As a satire with an wholly unreliable narrator, it works. On another level, it's a near miss. What can I say--I'm one Jew with two opinions on this one. You read it, and let me know what YOU think.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #RachelWeisssGroupChat via #NetGalley, courtesy of #Forever.

Sweet and sassy- heavy on the sassy! The writing and banter was so darn witty, I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. The main character is a hoot- tons of sarcasm laced with a sweet soul. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this one!

Rachel Weiss's Group Chat is yet another modern Pride and Prejudice remake. Much like previous rewritten versions like Meet the Bennedettos or Eligible (the best IMO), we have the hot mess of a family - meddling mother, oblivious father, needy immature younger sisters, and the older single sister in need of a husband. Enter the irritating and presumptuous love interest, this time in the form of a tech startup CEO, the son of the new next-door neighbors. With an active group chat with her friends, a potential new impressive love interest, going to therapy, and finally succeeding in the workplace, Rachel thinks she’s finally on the right track to getting her life together and doesn’t need her mother’s interventions. But why does seeing Christopher at her most embarrassing moments seem to bring them closer, especially the longer they continue to exchange witty messages over Instagram, when she doesn’t even like him? As they pop in and out of each other’s lives unexpectedly over the next year, and her group chat begins to unravel, and family drama ensues, she begins to question why she ever hated him in the first place? Fun and funny, this was a easy read that was entertaining but not quite as resonating as I’d hoped.