Debbie’s review of A Place for Us > Likes and Comments

All the gushing reviews have made me suspicious, so I'm looking forward to reading your alternate take!

Glad to know this lives up to it's spammy first-impression. I'll be happy to keep it off my TBR. Thanks for taking one for the team!

Oh no. I’m just starting this one (based on some rave reviews)

That good eh? 😆

LOL at your first sentence. I hope you keep it in your final review. ;)

Sarah Jessica Parker's last solid piece of advice was telling me to see Girls Just Want To Have Fun in 1985. She's a good light comedienne but when did she start recommending books? Emma Watson had this covered.

*Rubs her palms with anticipation ...

Fair review, Debbie!

I loved the book, but you made me LOL 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Uh oh....I loved it too but I can’t wait to read your review! Lol

I'll look out for your review. I had this one on my to read shelf before I ever knew about the SJP connection.

Julie wrote: "All the gushing reviews have made me suspicious, so I'm looking forward to reading your alternate take!"

I went into this with the dreaded expectations! Came out wishing I had abandoned ship. My Complaint Board is almost complete. Stay tuned.

Kelly (and the Book Boar) wrote: "Glad to know this lives up to it's spammy first-impression. I'll be happy to keep it off my TBR. Thanks for taking one for the team!"

I can’t believe all the hype this one is getting. Movie stars pushing a book? What’s next? Exposure out the ying yang! A lot of people love it though. It IS well written, I’ll give it that. Wish I had the hours back that I spent slogging through it though.

Alena wrote: "Oh no. I’m just starting this one (based on some rave reviews)"

How are you liking it so far? Most people really love it!

Pamela wrote: "That good eh? 😆"

Every bit, lol!

☮Karen wrote: "LOL at your first sentence. I hope you keep it in your final review. ;)"

Lol, thanks! I guess I will keep it in my longer review, though the image of me drooling is not a pretty one, lol!

Joe wrote: "Sarah Jessica Parker's last solid piece of advice was telling me to see Girls Just Want To Have Fun in 1985. She's a good light comedienne but when did she start recommending books? Emma Watson had..."

Oh, it’s worse than you think! Sarah Jessica Parker has her own “imprint”(?) at a publishing house. This is the first book she is promoting—including talk shows with her and the young writer. And everyone is going cuckoo over the book. My Complaint Board, which I’m working on now, is about to topple!

Bianca wrote: "*Rubs her palms with anticipation ..."

LOL!!! One item on the Complaint Board would be on your Complaint Board too—too much religion!

Diane wrote: "Fair review, Debbie!"

I just didn’t like it! I tried to!

Karen wrote: "I loved the book, but you made me LOL 🤣🤣🤣🤣"

I’m glad I made you laugh! And gawd am I in the minority on this one! Glad you liked it!

JanB wrote: "Uh oh....I loved it too but I can’t wait to read your review! Lol"

I know you loved it! It’s the hardest thing to admit you don’t love a book that all your friends did! Sigh.

Lisa wrote: "I'll look out for your review. I had this one on my to read shelf before I ever knew about the SJP connection."

Review is a comin’...my Complaint Board is unwieldy!

Debbie wrote: "Bianca wrote: "*Rubs her palms with anticipation ..."

LOL!!! One item on the Complaint Board would be on your Complaint Board too—too much religion!"

We shall see. It depends on how its done. If it's not preachy I'm ok with it. It hasn't been released in Australia yet, I'll probably get it towards the end of July.

Bianca wrote: "Debbie wrote: "Bianca wrote: "*Rubs her palms with anticipation ..."

LOL!!! One item on the Complaint Board would be on your Complaint Board too—too much religion!"

We shall see. It depends on ho..."

Hm. Well it’s not preachy, I don’t think, but lots of talk about how the dad thinks of his son and his god. Too me, it was too much.

I'm listening to you. I will try and ... NO! try to read it but will learn from your mistake and abandon it pronto if your thoughts start to become my thoughts. :-)

Oh Debbie, this review gets a review of the year award from me. Loved it! You are a true entertainer 😃😃 How did you manage to finish it??? I don't think I will even try based on your review!

Sorry this didn’t work out better for you Debbie. I really liked this book and wish it would have been better for you. I truly enjoyed reading your review - you always make me laugh! Hope your next book is fantastic!! 😊💜

I love love love your review. My reasons for not jumping on the bandwagon with this book is I am not a fan of celebrity promoted books (and even less of celebrities writing children's books a major pet peeve) nor am I am fan of SJP. But you have provided a great description of the kinds of things in a book that drive me up a wall. I am aware there are a lot of readers who dislike the use of other languages in a novel. If I know the language ( I am a polyglot) I like it, and can tell that most of the time the phrases are translated or understandable in context. BUT I realize that a reader can't know that if they don't already know the language. And I don't know Urdu so I could easily feel frustrated with this book.

Splendid review. The only problem is that now I'm even more keen to read it to see if my feelings match yours; there's one that won't match - I like it when they spray words and phrases in other languages. It should be interesting to see how I'll feel about the religious bits. It sounds like there's a lot of it.

Oh you had me at drooling! Sorry it was a bore for you but your review smells of nothing but awesomeness.
I hope I like this one more than you, but hey, who knows?? Thanks for the informative review, Debbie!

This is a terrific review, Debbie. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more. I have a hard time ditching books, too. I keep hoping it will get better. Sometimes, it does and sometimes I will I'd just let it go. I hope your next book is a shiny 5ver!

Your complaint board is full of things I hate too so I am sure this book is not for me. Thanks for the entertaining review, Deb. :-P.

Yeah, this sounds terrible. :) Sarah Jessica Parker has always been a big reader, but I had my doubts my taste would match hers too. I did like the bit about how you got a bunch of other stuff done to avoid reading this--I've been there many times!

The sad thing for me is that I received an ARC of this a while back so I'll at least have to give it a try. Now I know to dial my expectations way down. Thanks, Debbie!

Even though I loved this book, this story, your review made me laugh, Debbie. I will try to keep in mind your dislike of quiet books like this one. Terrific review!

Debbie,
What a funny idea you have put in my mind. . . that drooling can be in anticipation of something tantalizing or it can be a reaction to something terribly boring. I never thought of this before!

I am really liking this book but adores this review. Love how different people are.

Cathrine ☯️ wrote: "I'm listening to you. I will try and ... NO! try to read it but will learn from your mistake and abandon it pronto if your thoughts start to become my thoughts. :-)"

Lol, I hope you TRY TO read it! Love how you say “if your thoughts start to become my thoughts”. Cracks me up! Really, so many people like it, I think I’m the odd woman out!

Natalie wrote: "Oh Debbie, this review gets a review of the year award from me. Loved it! You are a true entertainer 😃😃 How did you manage to finish it??? I don't think I will even try based on your review!"

Oh. Thank you so much for the huge compliment! Made my day! Well, it was a NG commitment, and I usually feel like I should finish it. Looking back, I probably should have tossed it. There were bits of goodness, so I kept thinking I’d adjust, but the last part of the book was a total letdown.

Lindsay - Traveling Sister wrote: "Sorry this didn’t work out better for you Debbie. I really liked this book and wish it would have been better for you. I truly enjoyed reading your review - you always make me laugh! Hope your next..."

I’m glad I could make you laugh, especially so since you liked the book and were reading a negative review. I’m glad you enjoyed the book; always fun when you find a good read. I’m reading a lightweight thriller right now, which is about my speed after that slog. Jury still out, though I am liking it so far.

Barbara wrote: "I love love love your review. My reasons for not jumping on the bandwagon with this book is I am not a fan of celebrity promoted books (and even less of celebrities writing children's books a major..."

Thanks so much, Barbara! Glad you can identify with my Complaint Board. I think most people are fine with foreign phrases in fiction, just not me. Cool that you know a bunch of languages. That for sure would make it palatable!

Bianca wrote: "Splendid review. The only problem is that now I'm even more keen to read it to see if my feelings match yours; there's one that won't match - I like it when they spray words and phrases in other la..."

Thanks, Bianca. Oh, I’m glad you want to read it! I don’t like dissuading people, especially with a book that is so popular. I do feel like an alien. I could see the good stuff in the book, it’s just that there was too much bad stuff for me. Very curious about what you think. I actually think you might like it.

Debbie, I’m sorry to hear this was a letdown for you! It can be really disappointing when a book does not live up to the wide praise and hype - I read one last year and I just did not understand the appeal, at all! I did enjoy your review though, and I hope your next read is much better! :)

Jen wrote: "Oh you had me at drooling! Sorry it was a bore for you but your review smells of nothing but awesomeness.
I hope I like this one more than you, but hey, who knows?? Thanks for the informative revie..."

Oh you’re so kind, Jen—thank you! I’m betting you’ll like it more than I did—just about everyone does!

Oh no, I got quite excited about this book because of the many great reviews like you mentioned! Now I might think twice :/ Awesome review anyway, it made me laugh!! Haha

Oh, crap. I bought this one! LOL! Enjoyed your review, as always. Sorry this didn't work for you!

Such a terrific & HONEST review Debbie!!

Funny, honest review, Debbie! I would treat SJP’s book recommendations with even LESS reverence than Oprah’s. (I immediately back up and retreat when I see the “O” sticker on a book; it’s a knee-jerk reaction. Can’t help it!)

Julie wrote: "This is a terrific review, Debbie. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it more. I have a hard time ditching books, too. I keep hoping it will get better. Sometimes, it does and sometimes I will I'd just let..."

Thanks so much, Julie! I should be better at ditching books! It was NG, though, so I sort of felt an obligation to finish it. I think that’s a flimsy excuse though—I remember I did once toss a NG book. It was Rules of Magic. But in that case, I had picked the wrong genre.

☮Karen wrote: "Your complaint board is full of things I hate too so I am sure this book is not for me. Thanks for the entertaining review, Deb. :-P."

Thank you for reading it! I aim to entertain, lol! And it’s easiesr to be funny when I don’t like a book!

Julie wrote: "Yeah, this sounds terrible. :) Sarah Jessica Parker has always been a big reader, but I had my doubts my taste would match hers too. I did like the bit about how you got a bunch of other stuff done..."

I almost included a list of my “must escape-from-this-book” activities (since the list is pretty funny), but it was too far off the topic. It is a bitch when ANYTHING seems better than reading the book.

I now actually remember SJP being an avid reader. But I now know that our tastes are different.

You might actually like this one. It did have merits—it’s well written, for example, and nuanced. It was a meh for most of the book, and then I hit the annoying loooong ending, and it dropped to 2-star land in a flash. Just all wrong for me.