I loved this book! I saw so much of myself in the narrator’s personality so that made this a pretty fun read for me. Based on the title alone one can see how uniquely written this is. In addition to the fun and quirky title, there are no chapters and we are never given the narrator’s name. I actually loved the latter because I felt like I was brought deeper into the story.
We follow the narrator on her many months long journey of dealing with her husband leaving her and discovering a lump in her breast. It sounds sad but there are perfectly placed bursts of humor throughout. This is a debut novel and I’ll be anxiously awaiting for more to read by Katie Yee.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster: Summit Books for an advance copy. I’m sorry it took me so long to get to this. Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar hit the shelves on July 22nd.

Meehh. While the stream-of-consciousness style could be enjoyable if done well, this was not it for me. Despite going through a divorce and having cancer, the narrator seems to have no actual feelings at all? I could tell she was aiming for clever and wise but missed the mark in my opinion. Boring, flat, emotionless, no real substance. Not for me.


Thanks for NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book! Maggie; or, A Man and a woman Walk Into a Bar tells the raw, honest, yet at times humorous and lighthearted perspective of someone going through both a divorce and cancer diagnosis. I loved narrator's perspective on everything. At times it felt a little tangential, but I really liked that since it’s how our thoughts really work when we’re processing tough things. Her ability to stay light and witty through such a difficult time made the book feel comforting, and I think readers who like strong, character-focused stories would enjoy it.

This was just a fun book to read. I loved the characters and the story. I would highly recommend and you will find yourself laughing throughout the book.

This story just did not work for me. It really did not have much to say and the story just did not feel believable.

Wow! This was my first book to read by this author but definitely not my last! This book will leave you wanting for more and the characters and storyline stick with you long after you finish it. Do yourself a favor and pick up this page-turner!

This is a very quick read. There are no chapters; it’s written in a fragmentary/stream of consciousness-style series of little and often funny anecdotes/recollections/random thoughts that collectively form to tell the story of a woman who finds out she has cancer in the midst of getting a divorce after her husband has an affair.

It’s not always the most uplifting, and I didn’t always agree with how the main character handled things, but I personally found the writing style to be beautiful, and the MC’s voice so poignantly (also sometimes hilariously) relatable. The MC comes from a Chinese immigrant family, was an English major, and is a PTA mom amongst other things, and I enjoyed how the author told her story through this lens: detailing the various trials and tribulations of parenting young kids while navigating illness and divorce, creating lists of her ex’s assets/flaws in an imaginary handbook for Maggie, and interspersing bits of Chinese mythology throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book problematic in several ways. The protagonist is never angry or upset. Her husband cheats and then leaves her. Soon after she is diagnosed with cancer. I can see someone having an even temperament but not to this level. She never gets emotional at all.
And the cancer treatment is basically glossed over as if she were just getting a pedicure.

Maybe it’s just me as I’ve seen fave reviews but it took me a very long time to finish this very short book. The whole book seemed unrealistic and unbelievable to me.

2.5 out of 5 stars

A magnificent book. Equal parts meditation and storytelling, Yee writes a novel that traverses the ages in its exploration of surviving life’s heartbreaks. I cannot wait for my hard copy to arrive so I can revisit it, underlining even more passages that demand to be read twice. The writing is razor-sharp and clever, the subject matter both raw and unflinching, and the tone a masterful balance of biting sarcasm and disarming honesty that resonated deeply with me.

I went into this one blind and left pleasantly neutral? Katie Yee is clearly adept in demonstrating grief by way of dry wit and warm prose, almost reminiscent of Victoria Chang's sharp style if it were less biting. She doesn't stray from tethering beauty with catastrophe. If anything, Maggie is a reflection on the certain coalescing of complex emotions, the ebbs and flows between tragedy and hope and relationships. Very quick read that I enjoyed nonetheless

Thank you S&S for the copy :) 3.5 rounded down

This book was a drag and I almost DNF’ed it, which should say a lot considering it was just over 200 pages. The premise sounds like it could be a really good, messy drama, but it was exactly the opposite. For a woman going through cancer, a divorce from her husband cheating on her and meeting ex’s new girlfriend you would think there’s a lot of emotion going on, but I felt nothing. Scattered internal monologue thoughts, very dull & lack of any character development. Not really sure what the point of this was supposed to be.

Maggie purports to be a story about divorce, but it's really a story about stories: how we see ourselves in the stories of our lives, and how much agency we have over the telling of those stories. At the beginning of the book, the narrator learns that her husband is cheating on her--her immediate response is to get another plate of food at the Indian buffet where they are eating, which is insane but also relatable to me. Shortly after, she discovers a cancerous lump in her breast. These two events animate the plot of the novel, but not its emotional heart, which is much more about how and if the narrator can create a narrative framework to understand the things that are happening to her than it is about rage or fear. In fact, I imagine that some readers will find the narrator's reaction to her husband's affair somewhat unbelievable. She loves him despite his betrayal, but she doesn't fight for him; she is disappointed in his choices, but not angry. At one point, she discusses her family's division of emotion into the ones that could be expressed privately and the ones fit for public consumption, and as a reader I sometimes felt like I was missing out on a layer of private emotion despite the intimacy of the narration. Still, I loved Yee's writing (the precision of description, the essential absurdity of the narrator's friend Darlene, the quiet humor), and I found Maggie a fast and thought-provoking read.

I really loved this book and read it in one day. I found the main character to be so relatable and I loved her relationship with her children and the terrific stories that she told to them. The serious aspects of the story became a challenge for her. However, with the help of a dear friend she overcame the obstacles that life threw at her. The book showed perseverance under adversity while at the same time, felt lighthearted in a spiritual sort of way. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a heartfelt story of one woman's life through a different sort of lens.

God, I loved this book. "Maggie" focuses on the aftermath of a marriage falling apart from the perspective of the wife, and even thought it is chalk full of depressing subject matter, I absolutely loved reading it. The narrative is quippy and enjoyable, and I thought the main character was incredibly compelling. A great read.

I was excited to receive an early copy of this book after seeing some buzz about it on social media, and I am really glad I read it. I loved the writing, and a glimpse in to the lives of these characters.

While talking about heavy topics, cancer, aging, infidelity, divorce, parenting, Katie Yee manages to include a lot of humor and really thoughtful insight. I especially loved the insight about parenting, as my own children are a similar age.

I would recommend this to anyone -- for being a short novel it is really impactful, and I felt like I got to know the characters. I am really excited to read more by Katie Yee!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Katie Yee, and S&S/Summit Books for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

A deeply profound book in an unexpected little package. This is perhaps one of the buzziest books of the summer, and I had waffled on whether or not to pick it up. I couldn't tell if it would be my cup of tea or if it would be a bit too unserious/quirky. Eli Rallo chose it as her August book for her book club, Prose Hoes, which I am a member of, so my choice was made for me. And I'm so glad it was!! I haven't stopped thinking about this book since I finished reading it nearly 24 hours ago upon writing this review. It was short, it was hilarious, it was heartbreaking. Although I am not a divorced mother of two with cancer, there are so many musing on life and being a woman and being in a relationship and owning your identity within that I truly think many audiences would resonate with this book. Perhaps one of the most touching aspects to me was the allegory of her son being fascinated with trees and how that is represented throughout. Everything is truly interconnected and has lasting roots, even when it doesn't seem to be. I do wish a bit more of this book was spent on certain plot points "as advertised", such as the cancer seemed abrupt and like a side note, but for as short as it was and for what it was, I am happy with it. I can see myself returning and rereading this book in a few years when I am a bit older, and I think that I will have new wisdom to gain or relate to then as well. Meanwhile, I will continue to reflect on Maggie and look for more of Yee's writing to read, as she truly is a star.

The writing here was quirky, the format was interesting, and it was a really fast read. I'll admit that at times I got a little bored but I loved how the author could take two devastating experiences and somehow make them funny. It reminds me of Catherine Newman in that way.

I really loved this book - it feels like there are so many layers to unpack and lessons to think through. It also balanced being funny as well.

Witty, clever, and devastatingly real… those are words i would use to describe this book if i were capable of picking my jaw up off the floor. The book itself explores betrayal in many different forms- betrayal by your spouse, by your kids, by your own body. Katie Yee’s writing is hauntingly beautiful. It’s almost as if you’re reading a very sophisticated diary. Each page is a new anecdote or internal monologue or note to self. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this read and I know I’ll pick it up again at a later date when Maggie calls my name again.

Sometimes a book is just *special.* That’s the word I’d used to describe Katie Yee’s debut. MAGGIE is written so personally, that I felt I could hear the author reading it out loud to me.

Which is perfect, because part of the story are the bedtime stories our protagonist tells her children at night. MAGGIE felt like that to me. It’s soothing to hear the honest, no BS meanderings of a person’s brain dealing with loss, grief, and life just being HARD. No sugar on top, just real thoughts and memories and expressions of frustration and acceptance.

A quick summary: after finding out that her husband is leaving her for a woman named Maggie, our unnamed protagonist also finds out she has breast cancer. Naming her tumor Maggie gives her a way to face and process these life changes. This story is a tale of two Maggies, but what I loved about it was that it wasn’t solely about the affair or the cancer. Neither Maggie is the villain here. Yee balances both perfectly, and brings great levity at the same time.

I’ve seen the comparisons to HEARTBURN, and I think that’s apt (the ex-husbands in both novels have a thing with socks!). But I also think MAGGIE speaks for itself, and deserves the praise on its own because it’s that *special.*

Instead I’ll leave you with this: I had the opportunity to meet the author recently. I got to ask her the question I always want to hear writers answer, “What other media (music, movies, tv, etc) did you enjoy while working on this book?” Yee’s answer: Maggie Rogers. A tale of THREE Maggies. So there’s another recommendation on top of suggesting you read this book!

Thank you to Summit for the advanced copy, and congrats to Katie Yee on a spectacular debut. Can’t wait to see what’s next!