User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
"Lip filler lemmings," I said. "I'd tell them to jump off a cliff into the Pacific, but we all know silicone floats."
Agnes Murphy Nash spent the last decade or so acting the
part of the Hollywood Wife - expensive clothes, flawless makeup, and the right friends in the right places.
Trevor, her husband, has always been an
arrogant producer but lately, he's set his sights on something else.
"Okay, here we go." he sighed. "I'm really sorry, I've been told not to let you in...It's what they call, in the legal profession, leveraging."
He's moving on - right now - and the sooner Agnes gets out, the better.
With no credit cards, her house partitioned off like a bad teenage sitcom, and every lawyer in the city booked by her soon-to-be-ex husband, Agnes is about to get a
hard slap to the face. I ubered home in a blacked-out Suburban, Adele crying on the radio, air conditioning blowing up my dress, and legroom for my emotional baggage.
One thing's for certain, she will NOT let her husband win. No. Way. In. Hell.Whelp... that didn't go at all as expected.
You know that magical feeling where a 300+ pg book passes in a blink of an eye?
Yeahhhh... that didn't happen.
I felt every. single. page. It had so much wonderful potential. So many moments that had me on
the edge of laughter but it ultimately didn't mesh well.
The tone of the book was very in-the-moment and it was so close-first person that it was a bit
difficult to handle the pacing. Every spare thought was told to the audience and it was honestly hard to follow.
The narrator alternated between being funny, witty and charming to vindictive, mean and spiteful with a slightly inane cheeriness.
If that was better balanced, I have the feeling I would have loved it. But it just
flip-flopped so quickly and so often that I never could get a good feel for her character, which left me feeing disconnected.
My calls and texts to Trevor went unanswered. I hoped he was lying in a ditch somewhere, but I also hoped that he was. :)
The same goes for her husband - one minute he's tantruming because someone moved his furniture two inches over and the next, he's clever enough to obtain a consultation with every decent lawyer in the city to blockade Agnes.
"I see a touch of narcisism," she said, glancing up..."It says here that when you walk into a room, you feel special."
In the beginning, he gave her a fitbit as a dig for gaining weight. Later he commits to an inpatient home by accusing her of anorexia.
So she was unlikeable, he was unlikeable, her kid was going through a moody teenage phrase...and essentially I
couldn't connect to anyone in the book and the book went all over, full of little inconsistencies and big ones (fitbit/anorexia).
Two stars because I did legitimately enjoy the beginning. It started smart, funny and sassy but it just couldn't keep up the pace.
I received a free copy from the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review.
All quotes come from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon publicationYouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Rating: really liked it
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
2.5 Stars
I’ll be on vacay (at my house – don’t think you can rob me without me murdering you) until after Christmas so Imma knock another review out today and make me feel like I accomplished something this year by posting 200 reviews.
Been There, Married That is the type of book you pick up when . . . .
It’s the story of what happens when Agnes’ megahit Hollywood producer husband Trevor decides to divorce her, believing the grass is sure to be greener on the other side. What follows is a completely over-the-top tale that could easily be found in Webster’s next to the definition of . . . .
When I read this (a while ago, because you know I suck at timely reviews) I thought this would be a great poolside selection. Alice NEVER being serious (I mean EVER - even when in mediation discussing the potential of losing custody of her children) irritated the shit out of me, but I still stand by that opinion. Now that the holidays are quickly approaching, this might be a great escape from the stresses of the season as well. Got a house full of Griswalds? Run a bubble bath and soak in with Agnes’ antics.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!
Rating: really liked it
Been There, Married That by Gigi Levangie is an up close and personal look at the disintegration of a Hollywood marriage. Agnes returns home to find herself locked out of the mansion she shares with her husband, Trevor. She is advised by a security guard that her marriage is over. Her husband, a film producer, is determined to put Agnes in the worst possible light in order to gain full custody of their young daughter. The novel succeeds in painting Hollywood film people with a broad brush of unflattering insight. There are funny moments but there are also painfully pathetic moments. If you are easily offended by four-letter words, this may not be for you. I read this title because I was looking for a little levity during these troubling times and it was a good diversion. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Oooof, this was a rough one. The writing was all over the place. I love a good quip/snarky comment/joke, but it was so constant I got confused about what was actually going on in the scene.
The star of the book was Fin, the MC's sister.
1.5 stars rounded up because I didn't hate it, it was just bad (like, really bad).
If you want to read a great book by her, check out Rescue Me or The Starter Wife, don't bother with this one.
Rating: really liked it
This was an okay read, but I wasn't really blown away by it. Maybe I've been reading too many (hilarious) romcom's lately, or maybe I am just getting more criticizing with age, I don't know. I just wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be. It happens...
I had a hard time getting into the story and once I did get...I had a hard time staying in it. I put it down too many times, which resulted in me not really wanting to pick it up again and that is never a good thing.
That paired with the fact that I didn't care for either of the characters, made that this was just not the book for me.
But like I said, I did read some awesome romcom's previous to starting this one, so the bar was set pretty high...
An ARC was provided to 
in exchange for an honest review 
Rating: really liked it
This is a spectacularly bad book for so many reasons. DNF, but I made it 40 percent through and feel like I should get a trophy for that.
In really good novels, while I’m reading, I forget that there is an author who sat at her desk day after day after day constructing the book because I’m so lost in the story. The writing in this novel very noticeably calls attention to itself. There are good lines, but I can envision the author at her desk, smiling at her own cleverness.
Agnes is a writer who married a Hollywood big shot. One day she comes home to her palatial mansion to find she’s been locked out. Is divorce next?
I don’t care because Trevor is a horrible man. If your criteria for a good husband is that he’s good looking, rich, and successful, yes, Trevor’s your guy. If what you care about in a husband is that he’s a good human who treats you well, he’s a self-absorbed dick. I care much more about the latter, so of course she shouldn’t get back with him. Even if he didn’t cheat, he LOCKED HER OUT OF THE HOUSE INSTEAD OF HAVING A CONVERSATION LIKE AN ADULT HUMAN BEING THAT HE WAS HAVING ISSUES WITH THEIR MARRIAGE.
He sends her to rehab because she eats too many almonds. She actually goes. WTF? Only for a day, but then he can say she’s been to rehab, which of course implies a drug/alcohol problem. I had to stop there because It was all too stupid for words.
I got this book from NetGalley. It RELEASES FEBRUARY 11, 2020.
Rating: really liked it
DNF...
Oh dear. I’m so sorry folks. I tried, so hard, so many times. This was all over the place, and not in a good way. There are other ways to spend life, and better books out there—it’s time to abandon this clustermess.
Thank you to St Martins Press for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Rating: 2.5/5.0
Genre:
Contemporary + Humor
The synopsis sounded very interesting to me. I love the glitters of showbiz and that was one of the reasons I picked up this ARC. And it has a beautiful interesting cover art too. However, all that said I have to say that the writing was all over the place and somehow difficult and also confusing for me. There are lots of jokes and humor in one sentence that makes it confusing to understand the sentence or the purpose of the paragraph! This sounds crazy because honestly, I have not come across a book that was written in such a way before. I am not sure if this is the regular writing style for Gigi Levangie Grazer (As I have never read anything for her before) or is it just the author trying to make the whole story very funny and overdosed it with lots of unnecessary jokes that made an interesting premise to a bizarre strange experience!
I feel there was a big potential with the story and the characters if the writing was not that much all over the place. With Agnes being an author and the wife of a big Hollywood producer and going through a divorce should have been an interesting read. OK, enough of me talking about the potential that this book had and let me just say that this book did not live up to my expectations.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for providing me the ARC of this title in exchange for this honest and unbiased review.
The book is expected to be released: February 11th, 2020
Rating: really liked it
My Rating:
3.5
Favorite Quotes:
So hard to make cogent arguments against a smart tween while driving in LA; I needed to concentrate on swearing and shaking my fist at all the illegal left turns.
We all knew, deep inside, our kids were probably growing up to be entitled, overeducated blobs. We were raising hothouse flowers, unequipped to climb a fence or fry an egg or spend five minutes bored… “When the revolution comes,” I said, “our kids will be food.”
Lip filler lemmings… I’d tell them to jump off a cliff into the Pacific, but we all know silicone floats.
“No one’s reading like they used to. Have you ever considered hosting a YouTube channel?” “Yes! A lifestyle channel,” I said. “‘ Agnes’s Spectacular Guide to Failing.’ I’ll invite people who’ve failed miserably— our advertisers will be firearms, funeral homes, and pharmaceuticals.”
“Who’s opposing counsel?” she asked. “Ulger Blecks.” She whistled. “Why is it everyone whistles when they hear his name? Is he a dog?” “A pit bull that frightens rabies.”
“Let me tell you something, dearie,” Dad said and lowered his voice, which was how I knew he was heated. “The world was a better place when we settled matters with fists rather than lawyers.” I opened my mouth to object and found that I couldn’t argue with him. I would’ve loved to have popped Ulger in the mouth, but I feared he would eat it.
My Review:
This amusing tale was shot through with clever wit and razor-sharp snark while cast with mainly vapid, vile, exasperating, entitled, arrogant, shallow, and obliviously bone-headed characters who were of the type of ilk that I would never willingly share air. The storylines had me rife with consternation and I was often simultaneously amused and intensely annoyed by the characters’ behaviors and poor choices. I will admit to being unfamiliar with many of the pop-culture references lavishly sprinkled throughout, so a considerable amount of the author’s cleverness flew right over my tiny pea-brained inhabited cranium and left me feeling more than a bit cretinous and imbecilic. The premise had such promise and the story threads had good bones with glimpses of cunning perceptiveness and sharp-edged humor that kept me reading to the end, but all in all, the odd pacing and unlikable characters consistently whittled at my enjoyment and rating.
Rating: really liked it
This story was heavy on the humor but was lacking in heart. The characters were just so over-the-top they were caricatures and not in a fun way. I kept asking myself, why should I even care about the main character and what she is going through? Disappointing read for sure.
Agnes Murphy Nash is a writer and is married to some hotshot producer named Trevor. They are part of the Hollywood crowd so they are constantly surrounded by glitz, glamour, and well, a lot of fake people. Trevor decides he doesn't want to be married to Agnes anymore which means she could lose everything. But hey, when you get knocked down, you got to pick yourself back up again, right?
The story lost me early on and despite the fact there was some substance towards the end, it just wasn't enough to save it. I think in order for this story to work better, Agnes had to be completely normal and likable but as it was written, she was as annoying as every other character. It's a significant problem when the main character's husband is a jerk and you don't even feel an ounce of sympathy towards her.
Simply put, I had quite a few problems with this book. I'm human so I can't enjoy every single book I read, but maybe others will enjoy this one.
I won a free advance copy of this book in a giveaway but was under no obligation to post a review. All views expressed are my honest opinion.
Rating: really liked it
Made it through the Most insane book I think I’ve ever read. The first half is completely nuts but if you hang in through the second half, it actually makes sense.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve heard of this author before but I have never read anything by her. So I’m not sure if this was the book that I should have started with. But start with I did and I had an eye-opening experience.
The first third of this book was completely insane.
-It was maniacal.
-It seemed like menopausal hysteria.
-It was also very difficult to read.
Set in Hollywood, it’s the story of the wife of a movie director and it showcases her insane life.
And trust me you understand the insanity when you’re trying to read between all of the snark and attempts at continual witty comeback‘s.
I actually had to put the book aside for three days and then come back to it. I did that because as a reviewer I make a promise to review each book.
Actually I’m glad I came back to it. The second portion of the book was actually less of a frantic pace. You’re able to actually connect with her crazy life and her insane husband. You begin to understand why everything is cracked in her life.
You can also understand the frantic feeling she gets when her husband takes control of everything and people who are supposed to have your back, don’t. (Although I have to admit, I did not understand why she went along with the visit to the “spa”. That was so obvious.)
Her only saving grace, her sister, and eventually her dad. Even a peek of normalcy peeks through from her tween. Spots of true humor show through and brings this book from crazy to a tongue in cheek, snarky look at people who think they are all that!
Been There, Married That is a story that showcases a world where life has no value outside where you are on the social ladder. Where marriage is a convenience, some friends really aren’t, and Hollywood is a dark and icky place.
This book shows us that there is hope for peace, calm, and normalcy, if you break free from the social acceptance frantic circle and be who you are meant to be.
Gigi Levangie wound up a lot of people with this story. Maybe that is the entire point of it.
3 STARS – love/hate situation here!
* copy received for review consideration
Full Review - https://amidlifewife.com/been-there-m...
Rating: really liked it
I had hoped to bring you a delicious romance for the Tuesday of Valentine's Week. However, Been There, Married That was not at all what I was expecting...
Been There, Married That by Gigi Levangie, promised to be a humorous look at a celebrity marriage gone wrong. I truly thought it would be a funny take on a woman who was rebuilding her life after a celebrity marriage. What I got, instead, was a book about nothing. The characters were flat, there really wasn't a plot other than a lot (a LOT) of attempts at humor. In fact, that appears to have been the goal of the author - to see how many laughs she could get, many of which fell very flat. I love a good Rom-Com but this was neither a Romance or a Comedy. It was like watching a really bad movie where there is one pratfall too many. Basically, I skimmed three-fourths of the book to finish. So, no romance or recommendation here for Been There, Married That.
Rating: really liked it
I received a free copy from the publisher and the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.Wow, I
really hated this book. What a pity, the cover is so gorgeous too. I wanted to like it, I really did. But this book is trying too hard to be laugh-out-loud funny.
But seriously, this is a trash chick flit. Agnes Murphy Nash, a Hollywood housewife to a well-known movie and television producer, has her marriage hitting the rocks after a decade in the making. Tragedy strikes.
Although the beginning set up a view of an unfiltered, sassy humor with cockiness, Agnes took all this shit in the book lying down. I never really saw her take initiative to solve a problem until
after the problem begins.
I hate these fake feminist characters that never do the right thing for themselves. Agnes barely has a brain. Combine that with a wagging mouth and loose free-running thoughts that practically leap out of her mouth? She's dug her own tomb. And that's just Agnes. I didn't care about anybody. Not Trevor, Fin, Waverly, Gio, Juliette, Liz, Anne, etc. There was no real connection between the sass coming out of Agnes' mouth and the build of the story. Throughout the entirety of this dumpster fire with crap pop media sentences every other page, I have been praying that people like this don't exist in real life. If this is what a Hollywood life is like, count me out.
To go with the story, there is a lot of sexism and etc. that comes with the media in this. My guess is that the author needs to continually rain down comic terror onto Agnes in order to keep her interesting while diminishing her persona at the same time. (view spoiler)
[By the end, Agnes is wearing a diaper for an adult diaper commercial. (hide spoiler)]Now, I really don't want to know if people like them exist, because if they do I'm embarrassed to be on the same plane as them. And further, (view spoiler)
[after a trash divorce like that, there is no way our couple is going to get along just fine (hide spoiler)].
Jesus Christ, sometimes I felt like my eyes were on fire reading this. I stopped on page 250 and then skimmed the rest (I should've started skimming it way earlier).
Agnes is such a bad character. She took all this negativity lying down like a dog. She actually was a bad mother, especially acting like your kid is all you have left out of a ten-year marriage. The satire is getting to be too much when you're not taking the consequences of your marriage seriously, especially more so when it becomes national news.
I'm just glad that she didn't end up going back to Trevor.
Rating: really liked it
Oh man... where do I start with this book?
Wow this was a rough one my friends. I'm not going to sugar coat this review and I'm sorry if you're not a fan of my honesty. The writing was ALL over the place. I'm a huge fan of humor and jokes in my books... but there was so many that I was getting confused as to what the heck I was reading? I think the author was trying wayyyyy to hard to have humor in her book.
And let me talk about the characters. YUCK! I was not a fan of Agnes at all.... I just feel she was ridiculously fake and wayyy to over the top Hollywood scene. Ok.. I live in OC and have never met someone like Agnes... but who knows I guess there could be someone this shallow?
To be honest, I skimmed more then half the book and felt like I wanted to poke my eyes out. I should have stopped reading this book but was hoping hoping for something.
I can't recommend this one at all.
1.75 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Pub date: 2/11/20
Published to GR: 11/26/19
Rating: really liked it
I've picked "Been There, Married That" up multiple times, and just have not been able to get very far into reading it. The blurb appealed to me, but for some reason once I started reading I just wasn't as engaged in the story or the characters. I think that if someone is looking for a funny Real Housewives-esque story, then you will enjoy this one. I may try to pick it up and give it another go, but for now I'm giving in on this one.
