Unabrow: Misadventures of a Late Bloomer

by Una LaMarche

In between highbrow and lowbrow, there’s Unabrow.  "Take the cast of ‘Bridesmaids,’ add a dash of pre-pubescent Eugene Levy, and you have the humor stylings of Una LaMarche."—Ann Imig, founder of Listen to Your Mother As a girl, Una LaMarche was as smart as she was awkward. She was blessed with a precocious intellect, a love of all things pop culture, and eyebrows bushier than Frida Kahlo’s. Adversity made her stronger...and funnier. In Unabrow, Una shares the cringe-inducing lessons she’s learned from a life as a late bloomer, including the seven deadly sins of DIY bangs, how not to make your own jorts, and how to handle pregnancy, plucking, and the rites of passage during which your own body is your worst frenemy. For readers who loved Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and for fans of Mindy Kaling, Tina Fey, and Amy Schumer, Unabrow is the book June Cleaver would have written if she spent more time drinking and less time vacuuming.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Humor, Essays, Biography, Biography Memoir, Coming Of Age

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2015

About the author

Una LaMarche is a writer and amateur Melrose Place historian who lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, her son, and her hoard of vintage Sassy magazines. Una used to be a fancy magazine and newspaper editor before she had a baby and started writing from home, sometimes pantsless, for a living. Her first novel, Five Summers, is being released from Razorbill in May, and she’s currently in development on a second. She also writes for The New York Observer (of which she is a former managing editor), The Huffington Post, Vegas Seven, NickMom, and Aiming Low. Una continues to blog at The Sassy Curmudgeon, which she started in 2006 as a way to bring shame to her family. You can find her on Twitter under the handle @sassycurmudgeon. (If she’s not there, she’s probably trolling the internet for celebrity blind items or bulk candy.)

Reviews

[Dolly Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unabrow which is a collection of essays about growing up ~ female and how we look at ourselves.

The material would make an excellent stand up routine, or a column that I would look forward to reading weekly in the paper. I would of become a big fan if this would of been a series of articles over time in a magazine. I just found this a bit too much to want to continue reading for more than a hour at a time. Perhaps a bit too many self depraving moments, for me, which makes it better if treated in smaller doses.

I receive this book through the Goodreads first reads program.

[Anney Summerfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what to say. I didn't dislike this book, but I wasn't too impressed. There were moments where I was shocked/amazed at how much I could relate to Una, yet many more moments of just feeling like I was reading someone trying hard to impress another person. I wish I had known it was a collection of blog posts/essays. I also wish I hadn't read "Bossypants" before this because I couldn't help but do the Tina Fey comparison. Bottom line, I enjoyed some parts and found them totally relatable, while other parts were way far from my experience.

[Beth Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This was pretty funny; I laughed out loud a couple of times (at least I was home by myself when I did it.) I loved her discussion about public bathrooms and her points about parenthood are spot on. I was a "late bloomer" myself, so I really identified with Una.

[Emily]

Had to DNF this with about 100 pages left. I could not relate to her at all, she is absolutely obsessed with sex, drugs and alcohol and it sounded like she was trying to come up with crazy stories.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a big fan of the essay style memoir for quite a long time now - ever since first discovering the hilarious and heart-pinching writing of David Sedaris. And since he isn't an author who cranks out a book a year, I have been experimenting with other writers in this subgenre, though often with quite disappointing results. And only a few pages into this one, I knew that this would not be one of those disappointments! The laughs start very early on and the engaging style, use of different media within each essay makes this a completely enjoyable and entertaining read. LaMarche quickly becomes real and readers feel like they completely know her - and even with the purposely TMI scenes, it is easy to laugh along with her and find some common ground with her points. I read the whole thing in one sitting! It's completely funny and entertaining - though includes some common sense and touching scenes as well - but nothing too mushy, haha. I even read parts aloud to my husband and he laughed right along with me. I think that this will be joining our road-trip collection of books that I read out loud to him! It's a book that I will be recommending or flat-out buying for my closest friends just because I know that they will love it as much as I do! I will also be keeping an eye out for future books and checking out LaMarche's YA novels!

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious memoir of a young 30-something.
I loved reading about a woman my age. I understood all the pop culture references!! The parts about being a mom were brilliant. In the age of Mommy Blogs, it's very easy to feel like you're failing. Until you realize mommybloggers are lying liars that lie. Not all the time, but a lot.

The 90s were the best time to be a kid. I loved Una's self-depreciation and wit. She came across as very down to earth. Like you could be friends. Also, the butt game was hilarious! I had several laugh out loud moments.

If nothing else, every one should read this book for the essay on bathroom etiquette for classy ladies.

[Sylvie Recoskie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first chapter about her unibrow is excellent and very funny. Afterwards it pretty much becomes a classic self deprecating memoir of how lame she is. Wanting to wear sweatpants all the time and puking in your own purse doesn't seem that crazy to me

[Nicholle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was the less funny, less popular, less up-on-pop-culture version of Una in school (although I did read the TV Guide cover to cover each week. I also added a moustache and unabrow to everyone who was on the cover - coincidence?). I really want to have lunch with her, Tina, Amy, Mindy, Laurie, Alexandra, and Jenny (Fey, Poehler, Kaling, Notaro, Petri, and Lawson) when I get to heaven. Okay, maybe none of us will get there, but I can hope. My pal Jenn and sister should come too. Good times.

Favorite parts: suspected family tree includes Bert and Friday Kahlo (fellow unabrowers); hoping to be "discovered" by a random passer-by who hears her squelching Mariah Carey (guilty), Christmas lists to "Santa" (hilariously frank).

[David Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grabbed a copy of this off a table at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers trade show simply because of the cover. But the book was even funnier than the picture. Not anything like what I typically read and, perhaps, that's what made it so enjoyable. I think Una LaMarche has done something new with memoir and that's awfully refreshing. Absolutely hilarious.

(And I'm totally stealing the post mortem requirement of deleting my browser history; calling my attorney to add that to my last will and testament stat)

[Tracey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would have titled this "Unabrow: the mundane unadventurous life of a person who hasn't come to terms with the reality that their life is in fact unadventurous and mundane"

yawn.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite line;

“But Girl Scout cookies ... those are precious. In the off season, you’d have an easier time buying crack than getting your hands on a box of Samoa’s.

That’s not a joke, by the way, it’s a fact.”

And it’s my favorite because it is SO TRUE Hahahah.

Despite not being able to find this damn book anyway in stock in physical stores - I loved this. And I have no idea why the hell its not a commonly stocked book.. that part was very upsetting.

Outside of that, I loved Unas stories.
I highlighted a decent amount of the book so I could reference back to my favorite parts later.
Una is a mother and bits in here are relatable motherhood stories and although I am not a mother myself - I still found her stories and experiences relatable, through the eyes of being an aunt.

A Memoir/Biography I recommend reading!

[Alex Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. I laughed out loud a few times. I did not know what to expect - this is a collection of essays of the life of the author. After I finished I told my husband “I no longer want to have kids” solely because her description of childbirth & life after having a child terrifies me! I could relate to her descriptions of awkward adolescence & having incredibly thick eyebrows 😂.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won Unabrow: Misadventures of a Late Bloomer by Una Lamarche in a GoodReads giveaway. I received a standard paperback of professional design and a full cover photograph of the author in her youth sporting the title-inspiring unibrow. Unabrow the book clocks in at 250 pages of your typical, light paperback paper with tall serifed fonts formatted with easy to read line-spacing.

Somewhere between Erma Bombeck and Dave Barry is Una Lamarche and her unapologetically honest and hilarious account of being a misfit and a late bloomer and finding one’s way in the world.

Unabrow not only recounts stories of a free-range childhood with hippie parents, late-blooming awareness of adolescence and awkwardness, and hilarious misadventures of adulthood, but delves deep into comedic dissections of the author’s own foibles, petty emotions and outright failures. Una’s observations of her own shortcomings and ridiculous expectations are as simple and honest as they are eye-wateringly hilarious and resounding.

Unabrow is engaging and witty and works best when approached as a “one-woman show” with occasional diagrams and pictures and bullet-point lists, as opposed to a linear work of fiction. Una takes us on a journey not just of short stories but a larger tour de force of comic self-observation.

I loved Unabrow and laughed from start to finish. Recommended as a Good Read for those that enjoy written comedy and self-deprecating storytelling.

[Billie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is based on a free copy obtained from the publisher

This is a story about growing up on the wrong side of the tracks. The tracks being the difference between being beautiful and the other 99%. Yes, you are part of the great unwashed 99 percenter.

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder but it is something most humans aspire to. Why else are makeup sales and spanks always increasing. Don't even get me started on plastic surgery, but lets get back to the story at hand.

This is the tale of a girl born into the 99 percenters group and struggling to find acceptance and happiness in the world she finds herself in.

No detail is too personal or graphic to share with you the sympathetic and understanding reader. Poop boobs you name it all the parts are here include the dreaded unabrow in the title of the book. EVERYTHING is this book is relatable.

We all struggle to find our inner self which so influences how the world perceives us as a person. Sure we can trim her, snip that and enhance our best features but doesn't it boil down to having a beautiful soul and having the confidence to show the world.

I blasted through this book and you will too. Every chapter just adds to the allure of this beautiful book.

[Jānis Lībeks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una Lamarche's only distinguishing features seems to be her unibrow, hence the title. Otherwise Una seems an incredibly boring person who keeps trying to mold banal situations into humor. She fails at that.

Una writes in the style of a BuzzFeed listicle, sprinkling obscene exaggerations ("I ordered a glass of wine and single-handedly demolished a bowl of complimentary potato chips with the vacuum power (and approximate grace) of a Flowbee."), trashy pop-culture references, and sadly, a proud anti-intellectualism (on p.98 she refers to diagrams as "anagrams", I kid you not).

I had to leave this book unfinished. I could not imagine gaining anything from continuing past page 182. I bought the book based on the promise of the cover. I should have read at least a page or two before committing to buying it.

Maybe I should stay away from books categorized as Memoir/Humor. Then again, I've read good memoirs with ample humor, such as certain works by David Sedaris or Quentin Crisp. I suspect that Una Lamarche simply doesn't have much to write about.

[Shari Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this collection of humorous essays, the author reflects on life, love, and dealing with all the awkwardness of growing up, with her most notable feature, a unabrow, which she lived with until the age of 16 (up until then, she did not know that her hippie mother even kept a pair of tweezers in the house.)


This was a quick, easy read, and I found all of her stories funny, with a few "laugh out loud" moments. In addition to growing up, the author also talks about marriage and motherhood, but my favorite parts of the book were her stories about her childhood and teenage years. I would have liked to have had more of those kinds of stories included, and I think it would have been a better idea to save the "marriage and motherhood" stories for a book of their own. And even though I am about 20 years older than the author, I enjoyed all of her 90's pop culture references.


I won a free advanced reader's copy of this book from Library Thing; it will be on sale to the general public on March 31, 2015.

[Wendy Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started very slowly....so slowly in fact that I wanted to put it down many, many times and start something new. I kept reading, however, due to the raving 5 star reviews and boy am I glad I did!! Right at about the halfway mark, it finally picked up steam and then I couldn't put it down. My advice for anyone who wants to try this book is to hang in there.....you have to get past the first half of the book which talks about her childhood awkwardness, which oddly enough is the reason that I bought this book in the first place. The first 8 or 9 chapters which talks about her childhood experiences are funny in a few places but overall, they just seemed contrived to me. The last 9 or 10 chapters talked more about her experiences as an adult living on her own, getting married, and having a kid, which were much more amusing and really made the book worthwhile.

[Talia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually finished this about a month ago but forgot to write a review. This was a fun read! The graphics and digestibility of the chapters make this a good "I only have 15 minutes of reading time in bed before I pass out" book. The chapters don't flow super well, but there is an umbrella theme of loving yourself and being happy with who you are. Una is the kind of person who you want to be friends with, and through extensive pop culture references and self- deprecating anecdotes, you feel like you are! Una, if you're reading this, I think our kids are the same age; playdate? I'll bring the wine and Tootsie Rolls for a log cabin. Though I'm sorry, I hate the Mr. Big song "To Be With You", although I squee'd at the PM Dawn name drop.

[Rebecca Valentine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this book were hilarious. And I think the author would be fun to hang out with. She is clearly witty and intelligent, and I appreciate her sarcasm. But overall, it felt like she was trying too hard to be funny in the book. Wanted to love it, but didn't.

[Halley Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The parts of this that I found most interesting were only glossed over-- she mentions an eating disorder, etc., and then it never comes up again, let's talk about that in your memoir! But it did have some funny moments. Just not so much of the substance.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed my way through the entire book. There was SO much here that I could relate to. Una is only a month older than I am and I spent most of the book going, "YES! I remember that," and then simultaneously laughing and cringing.

[Cari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me laugh so hard, tears were streaming down my face. It was seriously so many laughs I felt like I was going to die. Una is my age, so her observations on 80s and 90s pop culture made me feel like I was reliving my own past. And the Tootsie Roll log home... yeah.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that inspire manic giggles and outright guffaws, even when reading in public. Una LaMarche is very, very funny. I loved this outrageous memoir about growing up and then coming to terms (reluctantly!) with adulthood. Enjoy.

[Llyr Heller-Humphreys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had known this author because of the beautiful and heartfelt YA novel Like No Other. I didn't know she was hilariously spot on with her take on life. I was laughing so hard I was crying as I read bits out loud to my husband. If you need a pick-me-up, read this book!

[Melle · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the vein of Laurie Notaro's The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club. Laugh-out-loud funny in a lot of spots. Some of the pop culture references got old, but the Garrison Keillor crush story was hilarious.

[Rosemary O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good memoir and very funny at times. I didn't always get all the pop culture references, but a younger reader certainly would (Katie and Peggy!)

[Katie]

The novel equivalent of reading Cosmo. Entertaining enough but some of the jokes get old quickly.

[Minna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuinely funny book, full of very realistic descriptions of awkwardness of becoming a full fledged, functioning human being. LOVED it! Recommending it to all my friends!

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get into it, so I quit reading it before I was even halfway through. I felt like she was trying too hard. My family and every other family I know is much funnier.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had me actually laughing out loud in parts, which is an accomplishment.