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Dear Emma
Harriet, the author of her college newspaper's pseudonymous student advice column "Dear Emma," is great at telling others what to do, dispensing wisdom for the lovelorn and lonely on her Midwestern campus. Somehow, though, she can't take her own advice, especially after Keith, the guy she's dating, blows her off completely. When Harriet discovers that Keith has started seeing the beautiful and intimidating Remy, she wants to hate her. But she can't help warming to Remy, who soon writes to "Dear Emma" asking for romantic advice.
Now Harriet has the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the person who broke her heart. But as she begins to doubt her own motivations and presumably faultless guidance, she's forced to question how much she really knows about love, friendship and well-meaning advice.
Now Harriet has the perfect opportunity to take revenge on the person who broke her heart. But as she begins to doubt her own motivations and presumably faultless guidance, she's forced to question how much she really knows about love, friendship and well-meaning advice.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2016
30 people are currently reading
2052 people want to read
About the author
Katie Heaney
9 books404 followersKatie Heaney is the author of Public Relations, Dear Emma, and Never Have I Ever, as well as the forthcoming memoir Would You Rather? (Penguin Random House, February 2018). Her writing has also appeared in New York magazine online, Cosmopolitan, The Atlantic, Racked, and The Hairpin, among other places. She lives in Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 297 reviews
February 24, 2016
I have so many feelings about this book. None of them positive. I only gave it two stars because I feel like one star reviews are reserved for books I couldn't even finish. I can't believe I read an entire book about a woman who whines and sulks for a whole school semester about a boy she dated for two weeks. PLEASE just stop. I can't.
March 20, 2016
I thought the writing was great and the story so, so dull. But maybe thinking that over-analyzing text messages is insufferable and boring just means I'm old!
March 13, 2016
Have you ever been surrounded by exuberant teenagers talking all at once? When you’re trying to hold on to your sanity and rather, futilely keep track of the conversation at the same time? That’s how I felt while I was reading this book. Don’t get me wrong this was funny and entertaining. But at times, I wanted to tell everyone to shut the hell up (the characters, I mean) so I can figure out what the hell was going on. There’s an almost manic quality to the writing that reminds of Lorelai and Rory Gilmore’s notorious dialogues. That’s either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how much of a fan you are/were. But no matter how good The Gilmore Girls was, I could only watch it in little doses before I run screaming to the hills.
ABOUT THE STORY
Dear Emma follows the story of Harriet, an advice columnist who found herself possibly needing a dose of her own medicine after being unofficially, unceremoniously dumped. It seems shady that Keith would simply fade out of her life hoping that she wouldn’t notice the underhanded way he was shafting her. But when his new girlfriend wrote a Dear Emma letter, Harriet saw an opportunity to avenge her hurt pride. However, the more she gets to know Remy (who happens to work at the library with her), the more she realizes that she might just be a hack when it comes to love and friendships in general.
LOVE IN THE ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA
This book tackles the dynamics of relationships in the era of social media and modern technology. From the nuances of texting etiquettes to our online stalking tendencies, Dear Emma shows us how relationships work/break through our interactions in the modern world. But the general lesson I can take away from this book, is that boys are stupid. I can’t tell you how often I said that while I was reading. After the hundredth time, my husband finally took offense and mumbled, “Not all of us are.” To which I conceded, okay fine. Not all the time then, under my breath. And these guys are supposed to be college students. When do boys actually grow up? The answer scares me, to be honest.
AUTHENTIC DIALOGUES CAN BE TIRING
One of the things that drove me crazy is the authenticity of the dialogues. In some instances, this would’ve been fully appreciated. But halfway through the novel and after all the shouty-caps and gratuitous exclamations points, I got tired. I kid you not, I was exhausted. There is nothing more tiring than keeping the fervent enthusiasm of the dialogues in your head. Not even my teen can be this exuberant. Though, I should mention that Dear Emma has its moments as well. Not everything is fun and boy-bashing games (though those were fun, too).
Regardless of that hiccup, I think that this is one smart, funny chick-lit. Expect to find positive dynamics between women that shows friendship, camaraderie, and empowerment. Katie is a BuzzFeed editor, so you know you’re going to be on the up and up with the millennials.
ABOUT THE STORY
Dear Emma follows the story of Harriet, an advice columnist who found herself possibly needing a dose of her own medicine after being unofficially, unceremoniously dumped. It seems shady that Keith would simply fade out of her life hoping that she wouldn’t notice the underhanded way he was shafting her. But when his new girlfriend wrote a Dear Emma letter, Harriet saw an opportunity to avenge her hurt pride. However, the more she gets to know Remy (who happens to work at the library with her), the more she realizes that she might just be a hack when it comes to love and friendships in general.
LOVE IN THE ERA OF SOCIAL MEDIA
This book tackles the dynamics of relationships in the era of social media and modern technology. From the nuances of texting etiquettes to our online stalking tendencies, Dear Emma shows us how relationships work/break through our interactions in the modern world. But the general lesson I can take away from this book, is that boys are stupid. I can’t tell you how often I said that while I was reading. After the hundredth time, my husband finally took offense and mumbled, “Not all of us are.” To which I conceded, okay fine. Not all the time then, under my breath. And these guys are supposed to be college students. When do boys actually grow up? The answer scares me, to be honest.
AUTHENTIC DIALOGUES CAN BE TIRING
One of the things that drove me crazy is the authenticity of the dialogues. In some instances, this would’ve been fully appreciated. But halfway through the novel and after all the shouty-caps and gratuitous exclamations points, I got tired. I kid you not, I was exhausted. There is nothing more tiring than keeping the fervent enthusiasm of the dialogues in your head. Not even my teen can be this exuberant. Though, I should mention that Dear Emma has its moments as well. Not everything is fun and boy-bashing games (though those were fun, too).
Regardless of that hiccup, I think that this is one smart, funny chick-lit. Expect to find positive dynamics between women that shows friendship, camaraderie, and empowerment. Katie is a BuzzFeed editor, so you know you’re going to be on the up and up with the millennials.
May 2, 2017
Ok... so the book has/had potential, but it fell a little flat for me. The whole concept wasn't bad (it's why I picked the book up to begin with), but there wasn't enough there. I didn't find the main character to be very likeable (I would've preferred to read a story about her friend Logan instead), and the problem she was having throughout the book was just stupid (and so similar to problems that I have gone on about before, that it's probably why I didn't like her... because she is me... yucky). I also found some of the writing to be very sloppy. At times, it felt like she was adding in 'filler words' (or filler sentences), just to take up space, just so the book would make it to page 300. This happened far too often, and came to be rather distracting. As a whole, it wasn't 'terrible,' but there are many ways it could be improved. That's just my two cents, though.
dnf-set-aside-for-later
March 4, 2016DNF at Chapter 4
I picked this one up because the cover, the title, and the blurb- especially the blurb- caught my attention. I loved the idea of a college student advice columnist who is fab at giving advice, but then struggles with her own life and this is particularly when the boy she is crushing on isn't interested and finds a new girl who actually writes to Harriet's advice column, Dear Emma. See? Fun plot, right?
I started out chuckling and enjoying this peek into a college girl's life. Harriet is a harmless, sweet, ordinary girl who majors in English Lit, works at the library, and spends every waking moment obsessing over a guy she met through class, did some studying with, had a few laughs and he's moved on. Not so with Harriet. She spends an hour analyzing a few innocuous texts and whether her decision to go with four instead of three exclamation points drove him away or maybe it was because she responded in six minutes instead of a half hour to a message that gave the wrong impression. She cruises Facebook religiously watches other social media, scouts for him on campus and has her supportive roommates doing the same. Then the moment comes when the new gal sharing her shift has recently become a person of interest because she posted a linked YouTube post on Keith's Facebook page. The frenzy and over- analysis goes into overdrive.
Alright, so by this point, I still found it amusing, but in the 'This girl is driving me insane' sorta way. I decided to scope out far ahead and see if I just needed to stick with it and things would change. I tried at about fifty percent and seventy-five percent points of the story- nope, she's still obsessing and still got me a bit crazy and at the half-way point I don't think much is different from when I stopped earlier. And after reading a few pages and seeing her still obsessing and still going loco over a boy she barely knew other than a classmate and occasional study buddy who never gave her real encouragement that he wanted more during the off and on time span of two weeks, I just couldn't make myself read more.
I can appreciate the cute plot, the quirky recognizable characters that I liked from the beginning and even the humor while acknowledging that its really not my thing and was driving me a bit nuts. It's a case of 'its me and not you' because I think many people will adore this one and connect with the college setting and characters and even Harriet's quirkiness or even with one of her friends. It has a nostalgic tone to it with its little college every day life activities. It's not sensational or emotional, but its funny, sweet, and cute.
So even though I'm DNF-ing, I'm still going to suggest that others might want to give it a go if the blurb sounds their thing.
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
I picked this one up because the cover, the title, and the blurb- especially the blurb- caught my attention. I loved the idea of a college student advice columnist who is fab at giving advice, but then struggles with her own life and this is particularly when the boy she is crushing on isn't interested and finds a new girl who actually writes to Harriet's advice column, Dear Emma. See? Fun plot, right?
I started out chuckling and enjoying this peek into a college girl's life. Harriet is a harmless, sweet, ordinary girl who majors in English Lit, works at the library, and spends every waking moment obsessing over a guy she met through class, did some studying with, had a few laughs and he's moved on. Not so with Harriet. She spends an hour analyzing a few innocuous texts and whether her decision to go with four instead of three exclamation points drove him away or maybe it was because she responded in six minutes instead of a half hour to a message that gave the wrong impression. She cruises Facebook religiously watches other social media, scouts for him on campus and has her supportive roommates doing the same. Then the moment comes when the new gal sharing her shift has recently become a person of interest because she posted a linked YouTube post on Keith's Facebook page. The frenzy and over- analysis goes into overdrive.
Alright, so by this point, I still found it amusing, but in the 'This girl is driving me insane' sorta way. I decided to scope out far ahead and see if I just needed to stick with it and things would change. I tried at about fifty percent and seventy-five percent points of the story- nope, she's still obsessing and still got me a bit crazy and at the half-way point I don't think much is different from when I stopped earlier. And after reading a few pages and seeing her still obsessing and still going loco over a boy she barely knew other than a classmate and occasional study buddy who never gave her real encouragement that he wanted more during the off and on time span of two weeks, I just couldn't make myself read more.
I can appreciate the cute plot, the quirky recognizable characters that I liked from the beginning and even the humor while acknowledging that its really not my thing and was driving me a bit nuts. It's a case of 'its me and not you' because I think many people will adore this one and connect with the college setting and characters and even Harriet's quirkiness or even with one of her friends. It has a nostalgic tone to it with its little college every day life activities. It's not sensational or emotional, but its funny, sweet, and cute.
So even though I'm DNF-ing, I'm still going to suggest that others might want to give it a go if the blurb sounds their thing.
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
March 18, 2016
''I wanted to come up with the perfect text, and the perfect time to send it, and to know what the exact right move was to keep him from just ... ignoring me.''
Girls night often (if not always) brushes the topic of relationships. Why didn't he text me back?, He seems weird lately, and yeah, odd sex moves (like last time this dude put his hand on my throat while... sorry TMI). This book dissects all of that.
Heaney inspired herself from Jane Austen's Emma, and delivered us a modern female college columnist who provides love advice once a week to her readers. Sadly for ''Emma'' (she uses a pen name) her love life is chaotic. Her dating partner, Keith (I wish and so does she that we could call him boyfriend), has stopped texting her. Even in person, he downright ignores her. And worse, social media suggests that he's seeing another girl who Emma works with. Can Emma give this girl relationship advice, and most importantly, what can she do to stop missing Keith?
I love how this books makes us feel human. How we are not alone in going through these things. But most of all, Emma's column was extremely well written with powerful advice for college students, people in the dating pool, and friendships.
Girls night often (if not always) brushes the topic of relationships. Why didn't he text me back?, He seems weird lately, and yeah, odd sex moves (like last time this dude put his hand on my throat while... sorry TMI). This book dissects all of that.
Heaney inspired herself from Jane Austen's Emma, and delivered us a modern female college columnist who provides love advice once a week to her readers. Sadly for ''Emma'' (she uses a pen name) her love life is chaotic. Her dating partner, Keith (I wish and so does she that we could call him boyfriend), has stopped texting her. Even in person, he downright ignores her. And worse, social media suggests that he's seeing another girl who Emma works with. Can Emma give this girl relationship advice, and most importantly, what can she do to stop missing Keith?
I love how this books makes us feel human. How we are not alone in going through these things. But most of all, Emma's column was extremely well written with powerful advice for college students, people in the dating pool, and friendships.
March 7, 2016
I don't know whether to give this all the stars or none of the stars for making me feel *exactly* like I was in college again. This Austen-inspired story about a college advice columnist was a delight from start to finish.
March 5, 2016
I was a bit frustrated by how well Harriet wrote her advice column, but she could not apply that same advice to her own life. The book was a little too boy-crazy-centric to me, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the intended audience. Heaney writes very well!
September 4, 2015
Funny, thoughtful, and made me terribly nostalgic for college!!
June 14, 2016
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb gave this book so much promise, and that's why I picked it up. Here's what I expected to happen: Harriet writes an advice column. The horrible B who stole her two-week BF writes to her for advice. She actually plans revenge and advises Remy to carry out some crazy/hilarious tasks in a way to get him back, while instead making them both look like fools. Then she feels bad about it and befriends the B. (Please, someone write this book? Or is that just a clichéd rom-com?)
That's not what happens. The plot point of her getting the Dear Emma letter from Remy doesn't actually happen until 50% into the book. By that point, it's luck that I actually stuck with the book. After that, it's just a bit of a disappointment plot-wise. Too much of the book is dedicate to random ramblings, side-hangs, and wtf-does-this-have-to-do-with-anything moments rather than the actual advice column. Sometimes it felt like the advice column was forgotten, and randomly thrown in between chapters as an afterthought.
That being said, I did enjoy this book. The characters and situations are all people I could relate to. Harriet is SO me while I was in college. I totally had a frenemy like Remy. Her awkwardness and social interactions made me laugh, cringe, and feel all warm and fuzzy about the best years of my life.
The blurb gave this book so much promise, and that's why I picked it up. Here's what I expected to happen: Harriet writes an advice column. The horrible B who stole her two-week BF writes to her for advice. She actually plans revenge and advises Remy to carry out some crazy/hilarious tasks in a way to get him back, while instead making them both look like fools. Then she feels bad about it and befriends the B. (Please, someone write this book? Or is that just a clichéd rom-com?)
That's not what happens. The plot point of her getting the Dear Emma letter from Remy doesn't actually happen until 50% into the book. By that point, it's luck that I actually stuck with the book. After that, it's just a bit of a disappointment plot-wise. Too much of the book is dedicate to random ramblings, side-hangs, and wtf-does-this-have-to-do-with-anything moments rather than the actual advice column. Sometimes it felt like the advice column was forgotten, and randomly thrown in between chapters as an afterthought.
That being said, I did enjoy this book. The characters and situations are all people I could relate to. Harriet is SO me while I was in college. I totally had a frenemy like Remy. Her awkwardness and social interactions made me laugh, cringe, and feel all warm and fuzzy about the best years of my life.
Read
February 20, 2016Oh, I love this book. When I read the description, I thought that it would be a sweet, fun read and that it would be something I could just breeze through and enjoy, then move on to the next.
It was sweet and fun, yes, but can I just say how much I identify with Harriet?
Harriet is one of those people who overthinks EVERYTHING. If you are one of her friends, you can expect to be asked to help interpret texts and emails, and what exactly an emoticon signifies. Is there a hidden meaning there?
And if you rolled your eyes, we should probably not be friends, because I do that too.
AND she writes an advice column, which I think would be the most fun ever. So yes, I was practically predisposed to love this book.
But I did. And odds are, you will, too. It's smart and funny and sweet and just really, really good.
Recommended.
It was sweet and fun, yes, but can I just say how much I identify with Harriet?
Harriet is one of those people who overthinks EVERYTHING. If you are one of her friends, you can expect to be asked to help interpret texts and emails, and what exactly an emoticon signifies. Is there a hidden meaning there?
And if you rolled your eyes, we should probably not be friends, because I do that too.
AND she writes an advice column, which I think would be the most fun ever. So yes, I was practically predisposed to love this book.
But I did. And odds are, you will, too. It's smart and funny and sweet and just really, really good.
Recommended.
March 2, 2017
Awww, I really didn't want this to end. I really love the focus on female friendships in Heaney's books -- that is so hard to find and feels so genuine and sweet here. And it's cute and funny and very relatable (it both made me miss and be so glad I'm far away from college).
March 2, 2016
Took me right back to college :)
August 2, 2016
A nice and easy-reading book that will probably make you miss your college years.
Light and funny.
Read more on The Serial Reader Blog
*This book was kindly sent to me via NetGalley by Grand Central Publishing*
Light and funny.
Read more on The Serial Reader Blog
*This book was kindly sent to me via NetGalley by Grand Central Publishing*
March 31, 2025
Wowza. I didn’t really expect myself to read this whole book about a girl pining for a guy ignoring her after they hung out for two weeks, for the rest of the semester. I’m glad she “learned her lesson” (?) by the end of it, but goodness gracious she could’ve gave her friends some SPACE and not come off so judgmental. Her thoughts were a pendulum swing between exhausting to read and hilarious to picture. Idk. Good fluff book I guess for a brain break but also not worth the $15 full price…
November 13, 2017
2.5 stars
This was a funny, quirky day-read that was simple but cute. The only reason this is 2.5 stars, for me, instead of 3 is because all of the plot (and sub-plots) seemed to revolve around males, which just isn't my cup of tea when reading female friendships. Also, the main character was just off for me. I disagreed with her generalized and stereotypical opinions of "boys" and "girls." Still, though, this was an enjoyable quick read.
This was a funny, quirky day-read that was simple but cute. The only reason this is 2.5 stars, for me, instead of 3 is because all of the plot (and sub-plots) seemed to revolve around males, which just isn't my cup of tea when reading female friendships. Also, the main character was just off for me. I disagreed with her generalized and stereotypical opinions of "boys" and "girls." Still, though, this was an enjoyable quick read.
January 23, 2020
I read this for the #bookclub4m podcast because people have tagged it "chick lit" and "romance". But it is definitely neither! It is likely "New Adult" which is its own tangled genre problem; the running thread between the three is that people don't know how to talk about fiction that women write about & for women.
Anyway! This was cute and nice and relatable!
Anyway! This was cute and nice and relatable!
March 25, 2019
I have to agree with a lot of reviewers in that this novel was incredibly dull, but for me it was mostly annoying. Harriett was an unlikable person. Home girl would over analyze EVERYTHING. I admit to being guilty of overthinking texts/emails/messages sometimes, but not to the extreme as Harriett who spends days trying to decipher the "true meaning" of a simple text. The constant whining and know-it-all attitude did nothing to soften me up. Also her delusional idea of always being right. And the idea that her friends needed to tell her everything going on in their love lives as soon as it happened. And getting mad at the tiniest thing. I mean really she was heavily flawed which is fine because of course people are flawed but I don't want to read about a brat who takes the drama of college life too personally.
February 8, 2016
Harriet is a college student with an all too common conundrum: the guy who she has just started seeing is suddenly ignoring her. Keith hasn't responded to a text in days.
I flew through this fun to read story about college life in the days of texting and social media. Emma is intelligent and an endearingly average college student (not super pretty, not super popular). She works in the library and also writes an advice column for the newspaper ("Dear Emma"). She has 2 best friends that she lives with in a house on campus in Springfield, Illinois. She obsesses over Keith, tries to manage her friendships and navigate college life. Reading this felt like a treat to myself (although at times her obsession gets a little old), especially as I was supposed to be reading a terrible book for Book Club.
I flew through this fun to read story about college life in the days of texting and social media. Emma is intelligent and an endearingly average college student (not super pretty, not super popular). She works in the library and also writes an advice column for the newspaper ("Dear Emma"). She has 2 best friends that she lives with in a house on campus in Springfield, Illinois. She obsesses over Keith, tries to manage her friendships and navigate college life. Reading this felt like a treat to myself (although at times her obsession gets a little old), especially as I was supposed to be reading a terrible book for Book Club.
February 22, 2016
3.5 stars. Harriet writes an advice column, Dear Emma, for her college newspaper. She is a junior English major who begins to worry that she doesn't have enough experience to actually answer the questions that she receives until a boy from her class breaks her heart and causes a bitter edge to Emma's advice. I actually found the relationship drama to be a fairly accurate portrayal of college life (though admittedly its been a while). There are also some really funny moments of dialogue that I really enjoyed. The whining, self pity of the narrator did get a little old... but once again is probably accurate. Overall, I enjoyed reading this light novel and will probably keep an eye out for this author's future work. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 9, 2018
Have you ever had a friend go on and on telling you about their day or about an old relationship, while in your head you keep wanting to say "and you're telling me this because...?" Well, that's this book in a nutshell. The entire plot is a year in the life of a college junior who dates a guy for a couple weeks and then he stops responding to her texts. She then begins obsessing over his social media accounts and whining on and on to her friends. The author wrote a one-dimensional character who is hard to sympathize with, especially since she is shallow and self-centered. Basically I just devoted 300 pages to reading about a person I would have avoided in real life. Ugh.
January 28, 2016
This book is cute - a fun, light beach read. Entertaining, cute and modern. I'm surprised at how many times I was shocked when talking about using social media... honestly, I don't think I've ever read about Facebook/Instagram/Twitter in a novel before.
I think younger readers and YA readers will enjoy this, as well as those of us who are young at heart and remembering our college days, college boyfriends, and college drama.
Very cute and enjoyable.
**I read this title via NetGalley.
I think younger readers and YA readers will enjoy this, as well as those of us who are young at heart and remembering our college days, college boyfriends, and college drama.
Very cute and enjoyable.
**I read this title via NetGalley.
April 10, 2016
Despite how little actually happens in this book every time I sat down to read it I'd be sucked in. "Just one chapter" led to four chapters later and I can hardly hold my eyes open. It wasn't a wild and fun plot that carried me away, it was the characters. Vivid, real, vulnerable and most importantly: growing.
July 18, 2016
I loved obsessive, ferocious, and passionate Harriet. This book is probably the first I've read that accurately and, simultaneously, dramatically captures the actual patterns of real humans in emotional crisis. A pleasure.
March 8, 2016
I don't know if I've ever read a book that so accurately captured the Midwest college experience. Also, it was very funny!!
July 5, 2017
Harriet is Emma, the advice columnist for the college newspaper. She has no background for giving advice, but she is still pretty good at doing just that. Thinking about transferring college? Emma has an answer. Can’t find a group of friends that make you feel included? Emma has a solution. Your boyfriend is taking his ex to the dance because he promised to long before they broke up? Emma’s on it. Only Emma’s two roommates know her secret and they have been ok with it until…
Harriet’s boyfriend just kind of dropped her with no explanation. He isn’t answering her texts. He may be avoiding her. He doesn’t sit near her in class anymore. What is up? Now, Harriet would have great “Emma” advice for another person; but when it is her own problem, she has trouble being level-headed and rational.
The problem is compounded when it becomes apparent that Harriet’s co-worker is the reason her boyfriend dropped her. She didn’t much like the girl to begin with, but now, she has found even more reason not to like her. That doesn’t keep her from doing a little prying and spying though.
When Harriet’s roommates find out what is going on, they are not sympathetic. In fact, they end up not speaking to each other. It seems that Harriet can’t follow her own “Emma” advice.
A perfect opportunity arises when the new girlfriend writes Emma about a problem between herself and her new boyfriend. Boyfriend not communicating and acting strangely? Ah, don’t worry. Dear Emma has just the answer. But is that answer one that is out of revenge? The risk is it can all blow up in her face. Will she take that risk?
I enjoyed this book even though I wanted to shake Emma/Harriet at times. It was a good look at college life, friends, and the ups and downs of emotions about personal relationships. The story was witty, and I kept thinking, “Oh, what is Harriet going to get up to now?” Katie Heaney really portrayed the college life well—the students aren’t children any more, but they aren’t full-blown adults yet either. They learn and grow from their friendships and the mistakes that come along the way.
Harriet’s boyfriend just kind of dropped her with no explanation. He isn’t answering her texts. He may be avoiding her. He doesn’t sit near her in class anymore. What is up? Now, Harriet would have great “Emma” advice for another person; but when it is her own problem, she has trouble being level-headed and rational.
The problem is compounded when it becomes apparent that Harriet’s co-worker is the reason her boyfriend dropped her. She didn’t much like the girl to begin with, but now, she has found even more reason not to like her. That doesn’t keep her from doing a little prying and spying though.
When Harriet’s roommates find out what is going on, they are not sympathetic. In fact, they end up not speaking to each other. It seems that Harriet can’t follow her own “Emma” advice.
A perfect opportunity arises when the new girlfriend writes Emma about a problem between herself and her new boyfriend. Boyfriend not communicating and acting strangely? Ah, don’t worry. Dear Emma has just the answer. But is that answer one that is out of revenge? The risk is it can all blow up in her face. Will she take that risk?
I enjoyed this book even though I wanted to shake Emma/Harriet at times. It was a good look at college life, friends, and the ups and downs of emotions about personal relationships. The story was witty, and I kept thinking, “Oh, what is Harriet going to get up to now?” Katie Heaney really portrayed the college life well—the students aren’t children any more, but they aren’t full-blown adults yet either. They learn and grow from their friendships and the mistakes that come along the way.
January 20, 2019
Nostalgia. When I was reading “Dear Emma,” I kept thinking about my own college memories, where the setting blurred between the book’s description and my own college that I went too. Although my college experience was slightly different than Harriet (I drink a lot less than her), the heart of the experience reminds the same.
For me, this book is a guilty pleasure. The plot can be slow at times. For instance, it’s takes two-thirds of the book, for Remy to ask advice about Keith. Although very relatable, Harriet is selfish at times. She seems to put herself first and can be obsessive with Keith at times. However, I sympathies with Harriet, thinking I was constantly overthinking things that the guys I like say or do.
Overall, I love the book’s message about advice, how things one can say impacts people, and how sometimes the only person you need to listen to is you. Harriet’s character showed wonderful growth in the story line. Harriet’s advice/perspective went from blatant and logical to more honestly and sincere. If the plot and the story line somehow written more tighter and in depth, I feel the last chapters of the book would have powerful ending like how Cady in Mean Girls breaks the crown.
I would give this book at 3.5 stars, because it was not the best written book, but somehow I kept flipping through the pages and really enjoyed reading it.
For me, this book is a guilty pleasure. The plot can be slow at times. For instance, it’s takes two-thirds of the book, for Remy to ask advice about Keith. Although very relatable, Harriet is selfish at times. She seems to put herself first and can be obsessive with Keith at times. However, I sympathies with Harriet, thinking I was constantly overthinking things that the guys I like say or do.
Overall, I love the book’s message about advice, how things one can say impacts people, and how sometimes the only person you need to listen to is you. Harriet’s character showed wonderful growth in the story line. Harriet’s advice/perspective went from blatant and logical to more honestly and sincere. If the plot and the story line somehow written more tighter and in depth, I feel the last chapters of the book would have powerful ending like how Cady in Mean Girls breaks the crown.
I would give this book at 3.5 stars, because it was not the best written book, but somehow I kept flipping through the pages and really enjoyed reading it.
December 11, 2022
This got painful. I had to skim to try and find something interesting (there wasn’t). Made me feel sorry for girls going to college. They obviously have no life. They whine/fight/drool over boys with their roommates.
They obsess over whether or not they “liked” someone else’s Facebook post too soon. They over think where they should sit in class. They over analyze how everyone around them is studying. And they do this over and over again - for 300 pages…
No, this was not in any way an Austen modern adaption. Emma (Harriett) was not a match maker- she was a kill joy.
Sample : “The reason I felt fine was that I was right about everything and everyone else was an idiot who could go f#*? themselves. “ (she says this and in the next two paragraphs again obsessed over the timing of a like and where to sit in class) yikes
“I walked the five blocks there and stood mesmerized for 20 minutes I. The baked goods isle…” (ok, wait. Twenty minutes? Have you ever timed twenty minutes while standing in one place?) nope
Not good. 1.5 stars because it’s. It pure fail- I mean it’s a book. It may have fans but I am not one.
They obsess over whether or not they “liked” someone else’s Facebook post too soon. They over think where they should sit in class. They over analyze how everyone around them is studying. And they do this over and over again - for 300 pages…
No, this was not in any way an Austen modern adaption. Emma (Harriett) was not a match maker- she was a kill joy.
Sample : “The reason I felt fine was that I was right about everything and everyone else was an idiot who could go f#*? themselves. “ (she says this and in the next two paragraphs again obsessed over the timing of a like and where to sit in class) yikes
“I walked the five blocks there and stood mesmerized for 20 minutes I. The baked goods isle…” (ok, wait. Twenty minutes? Have you ever timed twenty minutes while standing in one place?) nope
Not good. 1.5 stars because it’s. It pure fail- I mean it’s a book. It may have fans but I am not one.
April 17, 2020
This is one of those books that makes me very nostalgic for my 19 year old college self And the friends I made whilst in college. The drama is very confined to that age group of 18-25. I found myself chuckling a couple of times at how accurate the thoughts that go through the narrator’s mind were similar to how I felt in similar situations. This book is not particularly deep or profound, but it was a nice quick easy read. There are definitely a few very problematic things in here as far as girl on girl bashing goes, but if I’m honest girls can be vicious especially in the context of private conversations with their friends so it didn’t bother me enough to dock stars. Middle of the road read, but one that I think has an audience that will potentially love this.
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February 3, 2023I loved Katie Heaney's first memoir, which is why I tried so desperately to give her fiction a shot. But I had to DNF pretty early on because Harriet is not only annoying and way too obsessive, she's downright childish. I just couldn't root for her.
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