Nobody Asked for This

by Georgia Toews

A razor-sharp dramedy following a twenty-something female comic as she navigates family grief, a dysfunctional friendship, and a date gone very wrong, from Georgia Toews, author of Hey, Good Luck Out There.

Virginia is twenty-three and a stand-up comedian. In between working the rounds of Toronto’s small comedy club circuit and auditioning for paper towel commercials, she is tiptoeing around her depressed roommate and childhood friend, Haley, and having biweekly dinners with her bereaved stepdad, Dale, while trying to manage her own grief at the loss of her mother. She is also secretly working to get the green card that will be her ticket to L.A. and, she hopes, a glittering comedy career.

But when Dale tells her that he wants to sell their family home, and when a date with a fellow comic turns into a shattering encounter, she is forced to confront the limits of comedy—and friendship. Not every experience can be neatly packaged into a “bit,” and not every friendship is meant to last.

By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Nobody Asked for This reaches into the messy depths of love, friendship, grief and trauma and, like all the best jokes, is utterly unpredictable.

Genres: Canada, Contemporary, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mental Health, Book Club, Audiobook

287 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2025

Reviews

[Jillian B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twenty-three-year-old comedian Virginia is juggling smaller hassles —like immigration woes, her father’s upcoming wedding, and her toxic friendship with her roommate—while still reckoning with massive grief after the death of her mother. Still, she is coping, if not thriving. That is, until she becomes the victim of a crime and reaches her breaking point. Now she’s spiraling while trying to convince the world—and herself—that she’s OK.

Despite its dark plot, certain scenes in this book are hilarious. The dialogue manages to perfectly encapsulate how real people talk while still being snappy and witty. But the realism in this book goes much deeper. Virginia’s response to trauma will be deeply familiar to anyone who’s dealt with similar struggles or watched a friend go through them. She unsuccessfully tries to minimize what happened to her and no response her best friend can give feels right. The best friend, meanwhile, is dealing with her own mental illness, and as a reader I both resented her for not being there for Virginia and empathized with her for not feeling strong enough to take on someone else’s problems. Whether they’re hurting or helping each other, the characters in this book felt messy in a way that rang true.

As a longtime Toronto resident, I loved seeing my city reflected in this book, and especially the way the author captured the experience of living in Toronto in your early twenties.

I do recommend looking up content warnings if you have any specific triggers, but otherwise I recommend this book without any hesitation. It is funny and painful and messy and deeply real in a way that I think will really resonate with lit fic readers.

[Casey Lenart · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book- 2 stars is being generous. I found the writing to be bland, and all the main characters were extremely unlikable. They covered such heavy topics with absolutely no gentleness, to the point where I couldnt even imagine someone acting like that in real life. I debated DNF-ing this many times, but the fact that it was so short made it somewhat manageable.

[verynicebook · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded to 4! Rtc.

[mercilyedes · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this. cynical yet uplifting, and brutally honest in a way that makes you feel so seen. all of it just encompasses the early 20s so well. as a 23 year-old girl in a big city who went through an eerily similar situation with a life-long-friend-turned-roommate, maybe this just spoke to me directly. i really enjoyed the pace and virginia's voice, and had a great time immersing myself in the comedy scene


thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the e-arc <3

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv)]

This is a quick read but at 35% it is not grabbing me, and I’m really struggling with the writing. There’s many attempts at humour but none of them are landing for me, and the dialogue is rough around the edges. The subject matter is heavy but the tone and commentary make it feel more like YA fiction than what I typically enjoy. Not a terrible book, but not for me!

Thank you to Doubleday Canada for the complementary review copy.

[Jordan Areias · Rating 4 out of 5]

live, laugh, love dale

[Brooke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anyone who says this is funny is gaslighting you. It is so unfunny, that I thought that was the point for most of the book.

There are some serious topics in this book, and while I think the way that Virginia avoided dealing with them and diminished their impact is realistic for people, it was just not enjoyable to read.

[Paige Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5

this book is sort of as if you took every really horrible thing that has happened to me this year and delivered it in a messy, monologue-esque comedy that is best described as skillfully quick, sharp, and painfully existential. such a pleasure to read, but not for the faint of heart.

[Brianna Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really moving look at grief and the way it scrambles up our relationships. I wish the ending was stronger but what can you do.

[Shalyn Falloon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody Asked for This by Georgia Toews is a deeply engaging exploration of friendship, self-destruction, and the painful yet necessary process of growing up. What stood out to me most was how delicately Toews navigates the experience of aging out of old friendships—those that no longer serve us—and the beauty of finding a healthier, more supportive chosen family in their place.

The novel shines in its portrayal of relationships, written with depth, honesty, and nuance. Toews captures the ways we use comedy as both armor and survival, making the protagonist’s wit both relatable and heartbreaking. While there are dark moments, they are balanced with humor and warmth, creating a compelling narrative of struggle, resilience, and growth.

Overall, this is a sharp, emotionally rich novel that resonated with me in so many ways. It’s a story about letting go, holding on, and ultimately finding a better version of yourself on the other side. Highly recommend!

[Jasmine Jams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was very tiring to read. I don’t know why I didn’t just DNF it sooner. I think if it didn’t take place in Toronto, then I definitely would have just given up on it. I really hated the main character and the way she spoke and all the terrible jokes. The only redeeming thing about this book was Dale.

Smell review: 4/5

[Aditi Goud · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting a bit too much from this and I don't know why.

The book very effectively and immaculately captures the change between teenage and adulthood.
Virginia or V as her friends like to call her is a struggling comedian. She is living in an apartment with her best friend from teenage, Hayley.
With all her weird "experiences", the way she calls them, V is going through a lot and so does Hayley with her depression.

The book then takes a toll at all the experiences, their friendship, new bonds but the thing it reflected most was how as an adult, we have no idea about what to do most of the time.

Having so many terrible incidents, V tries to create Bits out of them. Just like us, she has no idea about how to reflect over her feelings or how to go through life normally. She is mean but she doesn't flinch away from saying I love you to the people she cares about.

I guess, that was all the book is about.

[Abbey Wilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

could write an essay on how much I wanted from this book that I did not get. maybe because the main character is kind of awful but also probably a pretty good reflection of myself. so many loose threads.

I maybe had lofty expectations given that this is the first i’ve ever seen someone write about a 23 year old woman in a situation even remotely close to my own, but it’s so obviously and painfully written by someone who is not 23 and whose parents are alive and well and still married.

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very well written. It felt like you were a part of it all. Funny at times, heartbreaking at times. A big ol trigger warning for sexual assault. The comedy show monologues were really not funny, though, and that took me out of it.
Either way, a good one. And by Miriam Toews daughter no less!

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the arc.

[Zsa Zsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

TW: Rape

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a very easy read. I felt like I was listening to my friend rant about everything after a long time of not seeing eachother.

This book doesn't do anything special...except make me feel very seen by depicting regular problems young adults face and...also very common tragedies.

To me, that can be more important than a deep and elegant prose.

I did annotate some beautiful lines though and I did laugh out loud numerous times.

I read this and one sitting and found it an excellent read to break a reading slump.

[Alexandra Barkerová · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

the classic story of a girl in her 20's working through her life and dreams, along with complicated relationships and traumatic experiences - a story I will also eat up

- the only thing keeping me from giving this a 5 star is the fact that I felt that the ending fell of a bit - I wish we got a chapter about Virginia's life a few months/years after

[Jeanelle d'Eon · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is not one part of me that would go back to being in my 20s. I was so self conscious, had terrible communication skills, and thought way too deeply about myself.

This books is an uncomfortably accurate representation of being in your early 20s. Zero life skills on how to deal with grief and trauma.

I love deflecting a serious situation with a bad joke.

[Emma]

Interesting to read about places that are very familiar to me. Heavier subject matter than I was expecting but still glad I read it.

[Kiera ☠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review to come

[justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

like if girl so confusing was a book about a gen z female comedian in toronto

[Alex Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

a refreshingly, realistic depiction of grief, depression and relationships. Virginia is a stand up comic in Toronto, navigating life following her mother’s passing and other traumatic events.

I enjoyed the honesty and candid, relevant nature of the writing and the character dialogue - it felt like you were having a conversation with friends instead of observing.

I found the relationships very complex and intriguing - her friend with depression, her mom’s former partner, her assailant. Virginia has very conflicted thoughts and feelings about the people she knows but it was great for the storytelling to provide a well rounded opinion so the reader could make their own judgements on each character.

While the book felt like a trauma dump, it was delivered in a deeply personal way like reading someone's diary. It made the charecters, experiences, feelings all the more real.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc 🫶🏻

[Jodie Ponto · Rating 3 out of 5]

On today’s episode of Ummm, I Guess That Was Okay? I think the only reason I finished this one was Can Lit Fic Nepo Baby curiosity (Miriam Toews’ daughter!). It’s a “dramedy” about a twenty-something stand-up comedian in Toronto who is dealing with some not very funny shit—a toxic friendship/roommate situation, grief over losing her mom to cancer, and being raped by another comedian. After recounting all that horrible stuff I feel kind of horrible saying it was just okay, neither memorably terrible nor mindblowingly amazing.

[Christy Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars: I enjoyed the descriptions of Toronto and the angst of the author’s relationships. I’m not a big fan of stand-up comedy and didn’t find the humour funny. The way the author deals with rape and moving on rings very true.

[Julianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. First of all: we love a Canadian lit fic nepo baby. Toews’ dialogue is excellent, and the relationship between V and Haley was so real and infuriating and reminded me so much of so many people I knew in undergrad. I wanted a little something more, but overall, a punchy read.

[Hayley Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Roxanne Meek · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Mags · Rating 4 out of 5]

thanks Jules for the bday gift ❤️

[Lisa (addicted_two_words) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Grace Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5