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I Take You
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I Take You
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I Take You
Audiobook9 hours

I Take You

Written by Eliza Kennedy

Narrated by Katharine Mangold

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

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About this audiobook

I'm getting married. He's perfect! It's a disaster.
Meet Lily Wilder –the luckiest woman in the world. She has a dream job, friends who adore her and a total catch of a fiancé. Lily is also completely incapable of being faithful to just one man. Will loves Lily, but does he really know her? As the wedding approaches, Lily's nights of booze, laughter and questionable decisions become a growing reminder that the happiest day of her life might turn out to be her worst mistake yet.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 4, 2015
ISBN9781471292361
Unavailable
I Take You
Author

Eliza Kennedy

ELIZA KENNEDY attended the University of Iowa and Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation she served as a law clerk for a federal judge, then practised litigation for several years at a prestigious Manhattan law firm. She lives in New York with her husband and son. This is her first novel.

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Reviews for I Take You

Rating: 2.982906044444445 out of 5 stars
3/5

234 ratings97 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    ** possible spoilers** I binged on this novel last night. In the cold light of morning, I thought, that was dumb. There are at least a hundred excellent scientific-evolutionary arguments for monogamy, not one of which the main character, Lily Wilder, a Harvard-educated attorney, can marshal in her time of need--not to mention a good feminist case to be made as well. There were feminists in the nineteenth century pointing at promiscuous men and saying, "we want to vote like them." There were no feminists saying "we want our noses to rot away like them." Women only have more choices if they survive long enough to choose, which seems unlikely given Lily's life trajectory. Talk about anthropology all you like, in defense of the proposition that sex with a different partner every other day is normal and healthy. What about when you toss in bacteriology and virology?And then there are the alcohol and the drugs (molly? you can't be serious), and the choice of partners impaired by one or both. Safe sex is thrown into the story a couple of times, probably in a final edit. The author hints repeatedly that Lily has issues causing her to make insane choices inconsistent with a mature adult life, only to insist at the end that Lily is an Individual, not an exemplar of humankind or even womankind, and should do as she pleases.The novel is quite well written and very funny, which is why it gets three stars, but it threw its thinking cap onto the ceiling fan on page one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Eliza Kennedy's I Take You tells the story of Lily Wilder, a young professional, a week before her wedding to a man who seems to be perfect. The novel takes place entirely in the week leading up to the big day, as Lily sorts through her own doubts about her fiance, about herself, and about marriage as a whole.I wouldn't call this book a romance. The fiance is secondary to Lily's journey of self-discovery and her internal struggles. I absolutely loved that Kennedy highlights nontraditional relationship styles that normally receive little to no attention in fiction (such as polyamory), but I also felt that the ending was almost a cop out, with Lily coming so close to breaking out of the mainstream... and then going right back into it, despite everything she had learned. I would be very interested to know if that was the original intention of the author (because it didn't feel like it), or if someone along the way told her it would be more marketable to women if the main character didn't get too far away from traditional concepts of marriage and monogamy.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This book is trying way too hard to be funny. The language and humor just do not ring true, and it all feels very forced. Regardless, I didn't find it funny. The humor was very simplistic and generally nothing new. The characters of course are horrible, and that's not necessarily a deal-breaker, but since the writing is bland, and the humor is childish, and there are no interesting ideas here, the unpleasant and unsympathetic characters pushed this book into the unbearable category. The writing/humor sound like the kind of thing I would have written in college, when I thought I was really hilarious and edgy. No thank you. Made me cringe.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.When I first started reading this book, I wasn't too fond of the main character. She was pretty unlikeable. About halfway through the book, it started redeeming itself. This book gives a lot of interesting social commentary about slut shaming and fidelity. I liked how the book went a little deeper than your average chick lit book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Lily Wilder is a New York lawyer who is engaged and getting ready to marry. She is, however, incapible of staying faithful to fust one man..... or is she? Her fiance, Will, is an intelligent and handsome archaeologist who loves her, but seemingly doesn't really know her. As the wedding gets closer and closer, Lily is more certain that she may be making a really big mistake. I found this to be a very entertaining read with a few surprises and a few giggles. I highly recommend it for a bit of fun reading.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Lily Wilder is a bit wider than expected….Lily Wilder: New York lawyer, party girl and apparent sexaholic is about to get married to mild-mannered archaeologist, Will Field… is their relationship as it seems? The wedding is to take place in her home town of Key West, Florida; a location which also happens to coincide with a major defense case involving her law firm. As she prepares for her nuptials, she is tasked with deposing a witness in her spare time. What could go wrong?I had a hard time with this book from the start and not because of any objection to the main character’s choice of lifestyle but rather the writing style. Yes, Lily is meant to come across as a free spirit but the constant one-liner after one-liner, stream of consciousness blurting/writing was a bit tiring after a while. Yes, it is meant as a light read but the only time any topic was given any serious time was when the character would discuss the double standards on the attitudes of promiscuity of women vs. men. The book had an interesting storyline but I feel it was overpowered by her constant high libido, I am not saying it needed to removed or changed but rather shared more time with the story of her past and current job— which is what I was most intrigued by and kept me reading.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's a week before Lily's wedding. She's having her hen party in New York, the day before heading home to Florida to finish off the wedding preparations. She's flirting with a hot guy in the bar, when she gets a phone call from her boss - she needs to get to the office now. When she gets to the office her boss tells her she needs to spend some of her week in Florida doing deposition prep for a key witness in a big corporate fraud case (Lily's law firm is defending the corporation). After that conversation they hop onto the sofa for a quick shag, clearly not for the first time. Perhaps it's not surprising that when Lily gets to Florida, her mum and stepmothers all try and convince her that she's not ready to get married yet.This book was such a strange mix. About 80% of it was a sparky, feminist, sex-positive romp - bubblegum, but enjoyably so. Lily is tremendously likeable and it's great to have a heroine who is unembarrassed about her physical desires and knows how to get what she wants. So WHY OH WHY OH WHY did the author have to completely undermine this with a couple of terrible choices - first of all, it turns out that Lily has a Terrible Tragedy in her past which she has never come to terms with - could this be the reason why she Has To Have Sex With All The Men? And the ending of the story dissolves weakly into a sugary traditional romance. So frustrating. If only the author had had the courage not to do these two things, this could have been a great beach read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This is a book about a bunch of horrible people. Lily is about to get married. She has come to her hometown, Key West, for the wedding. What's a bride-to-be to do but sleep with every man she lays eyes on, drink enough alcohol to kill a rhinoceros, and generally act like a petulant toddler? These three things make up pretty much the entire book. The big question, will Lily get married or won't she, got stale very quickly. I honestly didn't care. We're supposed to believe that Lily is a super-smart, hotshot, Harvard-educated lawyer, but, let's just say, I had a hard time seeing it. I'm not sure how she managed to stay sober long enough to make it through law school.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book is about Lily Wilder and her upcoming wedding to fiance Will. We first meet Lily as she is out with her bridesmaids partying it up. She gets called into work while she is drunk and high, and she goes in and ends up having sex with her boss. Shocker! Bigger shocker, this is not the first time she's cheated. Lily is a lawyer, not that this is specifically relevant to her having sex with her boss, just relevant to the overall plot. Lily is getting married very soon in her hometown of Key West, FL, but finds out while she's down there to get married she also has to prepare a witness to be deposed as part of a multi-billion dollar case her firm is defending for their client, EnerGreen. Also once she gets down there she is bombarded by her parents with demands that she reconsider such a hasty marriage. Oh and don't forget the family drama, what with her mom, two of her three step-moms, and her Dad all in one place. And as they get closer to the wedding date, Lily starts to realize that she doesn't know Will as well as she thought.Overall I really liked this book a lot. Lily overall was a really interesting character, she is significantly flawed and yet the reader can't help but find her endearing. She is hilarious, and when paired with her friend Freddy I swear I couldn't stop laughing. Lily gets in over her head with pretty much everything while in Key West, her personal life and her work life both included. We watch as she valiantly struggles to right herself after a couple tumbles, and although we as the reader have seen all her flaws, we also end up rooting for her to triumph in the end!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Here's a feisty, snarky girl-about-town who for some reason is getting married but obviously isn't ready to. (I want to grab her attention, look her straight in the eyes and ask 'Why bother, then? What's the point?) She's the center of all attention, always- her family are all 'somebodies' in mostly the super feminist way- which is awesome, but a little too staged. She calls her father by his first name (rolls eyes) money is never an issue, guys fall over over her, she's even 'too thin'......In other words, a totally fictional character I can't relate to anymore- at least since I was a teenager reading Jackie Collins novels. (Lucky Santangelo? Loved her. But I've moved on) I didn't finish this book-full disclosure. I find I need more realism theses days. Maybe the reason for her 'needing' to get married will be revealed, but I couldn't hang. It seemed every (tiny) problem she had could be solved by postponing or calling off said wedding. A simple, glaringly obvious solution.I'm sure there's an audience for this book- it's just not me.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book from the publisher and took it on a camping trip this past week. It was a great read for those relaxing times in between swimming and hiking. Would I say I loved the characters of this book? Not really. I wouldn't want to be friends with them nor can I relate to anything they are experiencing in the pages here. (Thankfully!) BUT, was it a fun read, knowing it was light fiction and just a silly little escape? Absolutely.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I started this book with high hopes. I found the main character very unlikable though struggled to finish the book let a lone care what decisions she made. I just think this book missed the mark for me.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I wanted this book to be one that I could pick up and finish rather quickly - the story sounded engaging and as though it would be the perfect "beach read." But I struggled with the writing style as often times it seemed very choppy. I wish that had been my only problem with it.I can appreciate the idea of this story - a woman who is about to get married, but clearly has some issues with fidelity and substances. There is nothing wrong with a main character like this - there are some very good books that mirror these same themes! But, I kept wanting her to turn out to be a complete sociopath or something - I wanted the book to "go there" because then all of the disturbing things about it maybe wouldn't have been. There is nothing wrong with a flawed character - but I suppose I prefer characters that at least learn a little something, or make some amends or even show the slightest bit of remorse.Lily seemed to do none of these, which just made her seem like an alien to me.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Wow! This book takes an interesting look at a bride-to-be during the week before her wedding. This main character is so carefree with her sex, drinking and her all-around behavior that at times seems way too crazy to relate to, but the meat of the story really makes you think more so than you might initially imagine. Eliza Kennedy has a way to keep the pace of the story moving and includes such an array of funny and entertaining characters. (Please note that I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers Program).
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was anticipating a basic beach read with this book (which I read as an Early Reviewer); it turned out to be more than that. I enjoyed the complexity of the very human women in the story, and the modern (and varied) perspectives on life, love, friendship, and marriage. It would be a great book to read at the beach, but you might be left with a little more to think about than you expect.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I Take You starts off well with Lily, a bright, high-powered divorce lawyer who comes across as someone who parties a bit hard, but is still young enough to get away with it. She’s engaged to an erstwhile archeologist who works at The Metropolitan Museum in NYC—of course, because that is where the best of this genre takes place—lots of bling, culture, food, booze and ways to get in trouble. There has to be a conflict and soon enough we see that it is that Lily really likes sex, lots and lots of it, with all kinds of different men. Not too surprisingly this becomes something of a problem as the wedding date approaches. Before anyone gets all Victorian—this is not a romance novel or erotica. The sex is not porn-y just high-frequency.Enough of the plot. If author Eliza Kennedy was trying to write a novel satirizing societal shaming of women for their sexual needs, then, all right, I could go along with that. I don’t believe women are biologically programmed to be more chaste than men and when you’re an adult, single, and responsible what you do with whom does not bother me in real life or in fiction. Except. Except when you are supposed to be in a monogamous relationship and then, sorry to anyone who feels otherwise, I do have beliefs about monogamy. So, when Lily cheats, feels bad, cheats some more, rationalizes it, I lose interest fast. I don’t like it in a man or a woman. And when Kennedy decides to press the point that fidelity is an outdated concept then I’m over it. I’m not looking to be the morality police in my reading, but anything done for shock value alone is not something I want to read. Plus everyone in the novel ends up being batshit crazy. Everyone.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is an earlier LT Early Reader book that I thought I had reviewed, but apparently didn't. My bad!Thoughts:Yes, this was funny in spots. Yes, I am in favor of women's rights. No, I don't believe in open marriages or cheating. No, I didn't particularly like the main character (although her best girl friend was fun). Would I try the author again? Yes, I enjoyed the writing. Book Description from Amazon: I’m getting married.He’s perfect!It’s a disaster.Meet Lily Wilder—New Yorker, lawyer and the luckiest woman in the world. She has a dream job, friends who adore her, a family full of charismatic and loving women, and a total catch of a fiancé. Also? She has no business getting married.Lily’s fiancé Will is a brilliant, handsome archaeologist. Lily is sassy, impulsive, fond of a good drink (or five) and completely incapable of being faithful to just one man. Lily likes Will, but does she love him? Will loves Lily, but does he really know her? As the wedding approaches, Lily’s nights—and mornings, and afternoons—of booze, laughter and questionable decisions become a growing reminder that the happiest day of her life might turn out to be her worst mistake yet.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The book is well written. What a shame the main character is so unlikable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Your personal mileage may vary in the following categories: madcap family relationships, sex talk, girlfriends, weddings, and legal hilarity. But where it should NOT vary is in Kennedy's bold and forthright tackling of sexual politics. It's 2015, so enough with slut-shaming, job-shaming, anything-shaming and enough with believing that a person's body/mind and what they do with it are anyone's business but their own. Lily Wilder reminds me of some of my friends and I'm damn proud to know that she isn't fictional, but very much real. Lily Wilders of the world, I hope you're kicking ass out there right now - because heaven knows we need a few more brilliant "messes". They're the only way the rest of the world gets comfortable with being themselves.

    More soon from RB.

    But in the meantime, let me say quite clearly: if you judge the main character of this book (or any of the main characters) for their lifestyles? You can fuck right off. It infuriates me to see reviews of this book that belittle, slut-shame, and otherwise diminish the very real and very wonderful characters herein. Everybody is entitled to live their lives as they see fit, to find the happiness that, well, makes them happy. Not YOUR happiness, but their own. If you don't like it, that's okay - but don't go casting stones about it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you are a fan of fidelity in relationships between the sexes this book may not be for you - or you better approach the novel in the somewhat tongue in cheek way that it is written. It starts a week before Lily Wilder's wedding as her friends and family descend on the Florida Keys where it is to take place. Lily loves sex and men a whole lot and struggles mightily and succumbs several times to her passions during the week. While the pre wedding drama plays out she is also a lawyer and must at the same time defend a very guilty company in a lawsuit. A lot of fun and laughs with some very memorable characters.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book is a riot! I found myself laughing, frowning, and wincing throughout the book. Eliza Kennedy, the author of I Take You has to be a fun person to be around. The personalities are unbelievably real in an unreal sort of way! The story is about Lily Wilder, a party girl with an awful history of men, alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity. She's an amazing junior lawyer, a job she loves but when a deposition that pretty much derails her wedding plans, things change. Her career is threatened, the dark secret presses, and her future mother-in-law is pushing for blood! If my brief summary doesn't strike your interest, I don't know what will! Seriously. I loved and hated this book. I was conflicted! The book was hilarious with its Star Wars references and snarky jokes, but I don't like the extreme drinking, the cocaine and molly- then pile on attempting to sleep with her fiancé's best friend (and best man) and walking in on her parents making out, totally in the nude... AND she watches them, flittering a monologue that was completely hilarious! This book made me laugh, gasp, choke, and wince in disgust. The thing is, it's written in a voice that's relatable and filled with thoughts that you know run through your head too! I know I did. The thing is, she's impetuous and promiscuous and self-destructive... She's like a train wreck and you can't help but watch while munching on popcorn and a bottle of soda! You'll have to read it yourself to find out if she still marries the adorable archeologist or not but know, this novel is a force to hilariously laugh at! I enjoyed reading I Take You, but man I may not read it again. Eliza Kennedy is a cool author, but I sure hope all of her books aren't filled with so much negative activity. I know a book needs conflict, but I don't know if I can handle another Lily.On to the next book!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    ** possible spoilers** I binged on this novel last night. In the cold light of morning, I thought, that was dumb. There are at least a hundred excellent scientific-evolutionary arguments for monogamy, not one of which the main character, Lily Wilder, a Harvard-educated attorney, can marshal in her time of need--not to mention a good feminist case to be made as well. There were feminists in the nineteenth century pointing at promiscuous men and saying, "we want to vote like them." There were no feminists saying "we want our noses to rot away like them." Women only have more choices if they survive long enough to choose, which seems unlikely given Lily's life trajectory. Talk about anthropology all you like, in defense of the proposition that sex with a different partner every other day is normal and healthy. What about when you toss in bacteriology and virology?And then there are the alcohol and the drugs (molly? you can't be serious), and the choice of partners impaired by one or both. Safe sex is thrown into the story a couple of times, probably in a final edit. The author hints repeatedly that Lily has issues causing her to make insane choices inconsistent with a mature adult life, only to insist at the end that Lily is an Individual, not an exemplar of humankind or even womankind, and should do as she pleases.The novel is quite well written and very funny, which is why it gets three stars, but it threw its thinking cap onto the ceiling fan on page one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I did not think I was going to enjoy this book after reading the first two chapters. My uncertainty had a lot to do with the fact that the MC, Lily Wilder, is immediately introduced as a lewd sexaholic drug user who repeatedly cheats (without remorse) on her seemingly perfect, unsuspecting fiancé Will. Another thing that bothered me was that Lily isn’t even sure she wants to marry Will. After all, they are polar opposites—Lily an outgoing, sharp-tongued lawyer with a wild side and Will an intellectual, laid-back archaeologist. But then, in chapter three, when I was introduced to Lily’s goofy patchwork family and found out that they were leery of the engagement because Lily has a big secret, I wanted to keep reading. And boy am I glad I did, because I Take You is laugh-out-loud funny, full of interesting characters and situations, and surprisingly thought-provoking.Lily’s family is good for quite a few laughs. There’s her serial divorcee father (who just can’t seem to commit to anyone), her mom, two stepmothers and grandmother. Through this bunch, Kennedy provides some insight into why Lily struggles to figure out whether she really wants to marry Will. Another memorable character is Lily’s maid of honor Freddy. The conversations between Lily and Freddy are just what you’d expect from best friends—sarcastic, candid and funny. I love that Kennedy made Freddy a true friend who supports Lily no matter what and without judgment. Hands down, Freddy was my favorite character.In addition to all of the great characters (many more than the ones I’ve mentioned above), there are two very interesting subplots. One has to do with Lily’s big secret, which involves an old friend who makes several appearances. The other involves a case Freddy is working on. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the case was woven into the story. These subplots deepened Lily’s character, helping me to understand her better and making her more likeable, in my opinion.Now onto the main storyline. Does Lily decide to marry Will? Does she confess all of her infidelities to him? I obviously can’t say because I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone! But what I will say is that she comes to an important realization and that she is faced with a shocking discovery shortly after making that decision. I can also say that I had mixed feelings about the discovery, ranging from shock and anger to sadness and satisfaction. What a great twist!My favorite quote from Lily:“To say that I do not give two shits about this vastly overestimates the value I place on shits.”If you enjoy laugh-out-loud chick lit and aren’t easily turned off by themes of sexual promiscuity and infidelity, then I recommend this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I Take YouOne thing I can say for this book: It did generate a lot of good discussions!After reading it and throwing it all around in my mind, I called my granddaughter who is the same age as Lily Wilder. Could it be that I’m just too old for this kind of story? So after talking quite a while with my dear Kenzie, it was determined that she didn’t think I was too old; she thought that Lily Wilder sounded pretty awful too and did not embrace the same moral standard that Lily seemed to. Then I called my son and talked to him about this book. Good discussion. Next was my husband and he pretty much agreed with the other two: Lily Wilder sounded pretty awful.I’m giving the author as high a score as I think I can because she did write a book and get it published. That’s quite a fete I think. And there were parts where I did laugh. I know that I am not supposed to like every main character in a story, but Lily Wilder was just dreadful.Thank you to Early Reviewers for the opportunity to read this book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Eliza Kennedy's book I TAKE YOU takes place in the week leading up to the Key West wedding of Lily Wilder and Will Field.Before you begin to imagine a book with the typical wedding craziness and rollicking family antics, let me assure you that this book isn't lighthearted chick lit--even though it has plenty of craziness and antics.Lily Wilder is not your average bride. She's likeable (once you get past the first few chapters) and intelligent--and she really really likes sex and doesn't want to limit herself to sex only with her fiance. In fact, she's making out with a guy at the bar during her bachelorette party on page two and having sex with her boss by page six, so you get a grasp early on that this is going to be a very interesting approach to a story about a wedding.I TAKE YOU is often funny, occasionally pedantic, and always sexy. Thank goodness Eliza Kennedy writes good sex scenes, because there are plenty of them. Fortunately, she does a nice job with secondary and tertiary characters because there are plenty of those too. The deposition scene toward the end of the book was probably my favorite, and even though it may not be realistic, I found it to be riveting.Overall, I could have done without some of the long lectures on slut shaming and the beauty of sexual freedom--had there been a less heavy hand on those topics, I think the message would have been more powerful. That said, the book is interesting, funny, well written, and naughty, and I recommend it to anyone who wants a conversation generating beach read.Thank you to the publisher and LibraryThing for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wow- what a wild, wicked ride through a couple's last week before their wedding. Lily Wilder has three stepmothers, all of whom are still sleeping with her father, and one night stands all over Manhattan - pre-Tinder. Nothing holds her back from approaching and seducing any man whose looks she likes, including her missing conscience and her fiancé Will. And nothing, including a first time meeting with her in-laws, stops her from drinking even the table under the table. Yet she loves her law firm job equally, until she has to take a deposition in Key West during her last single week in Key West, her hometown and the destination wedding site.This is some really ridiculous stuff, but the writer is pretty damn funny and lets loose with frequent hilarious volleys: "I love listening to Will, he's so adorably precise and methodical. Long, complicated sentences roll right out of him. It's kind of like being engaged to an audiobook.""Who among us can say, with absolute certainty, that they love, truly love, the person they think they love?""Most people", she replies promptly. "No, wait, The vast majority of people. No, wait. Everybody.""Was I too harsh?""When the scars heal, she'll probably appreciate the extra asshole."Hard to give this a serious recommendation, so I'll let the review speak to you or against author Eliza Kennedy (her husband is author Joshua Ferris, author of the striking Then We Came To The End)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is the funniest book I have read in a long time. Absolutely hilarious! I laughed out loud all the way through it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had to give this one a lot of thought before reviewing. On one hand, I appreciate the topic of women being sexually liberated and the discussion generated regarding how women are always called foul names when they sleep around but men are praised and applauded for it. I could have totally been on board with that. But… that’s not exactly what was going on here. I toyed with the idea that in order to appreciate Lily and her mental outlook on sex you would have to be like minded, of which I am so very far from Lily’s opposite, but I don’t believe that’s a necessity here. I’ve read plenty of fiction with characters that are difficult to like and you couldn’t possibly begin to understand their mental motivations (Lolita and especially Tampa, for example) and yet I was still able to appreciate these stories as compelling (and shocking) works of fiction. But this wasn’t about sexual liberation in my eyes. I think it was all taken a bit too far and Lily’s actions became simply foolhardy and desperate when she was sleeping with literally anyone that hit on her. Like her fiancés groomsmen. Who also happens to be his boss. In the week leading up to her wedding.But let’s back up and get a little backstory. Lily Wilder is engaged to be married to a wonderful man named Will. Trouble is, he doesn’t know that she hasn’t stopped sleeping with other men because she’s still not certain she’s actually in love with him. But she accepted his proposal a mere six months after they met because she hated the idea of disappointing him. There’s a bit that gets delved into about her past that sort of justifies her need to please without first being certain about her own feelings, but it was still a bit confounding in the ridiculousness. No one that actually knows Lily and the things that she gets up to thinks that she should actually get married, yet this only makes Lily more determined to do so. Because that reasoning is excellent when deciding on marriage.I’d like to discuss the one shining moment of this book: It’s absolutely hilarious. Lily and her friend Freddy (Winifred, her lesbian best friend) are quite the dynamic duo. One scene in particular had me rolling when they decide to do a few lines of coke to help them finish up the seating arrangements for the wedding. Then they decide to build a fort out of the hotel furniture, order some fish sticks, seat all the bald men together, all the red-heads and all the young children at one table with Lily’s future mother-in-law.There’s a knock on the door. “Fish sticks!” we yell, and burst out of our pillow fort.So ridiculous yet so goddamn funny. There were many other scenes like this but I just loved the friendship between these two and the witty banter was only the cherry on top.Lily, I actually loved immediately because she reminded me of one of my favorite fictional characters: Samantha Jones from Sex and the City. But Samantha and her wild ways were never muddled with the fact that she accepted a proposal and the unsaid principal behind (most) marriages to be monogamous with one another. Open marriage does end up being discussed to a nauseating degree. And the hypocritical crap had my eyes rolling. And the concept of being in love yet still being promiscuous. Again, I’m all for sexual liberation and doing (and blowing, as Samantha said) whomever you want, but the story failed to convince me that marriage is something that could legit be thrown into that mix. And really left me skeptical as to why Lily even wanted to get married considering she seemed perfectly content continuing as she has been. Subtract the fact that she’s engaged to be married and this story could have totally been Samantha’s tale and I’m not sure I would have looked at this as squinty eyed as I did once I finished.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.When I first started reading this book, I wasn't too fond of the main character. She was pretty unlikeable. About halfway through the book, it started redeeming itself. This book gives a lot of interesting social commentary about slut shaming and fidelity. I liked how the book went a little deeper than your average chick lit book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a very funny book about a very serious subject. Originally I thought that subject was infidelity, but after sleeping on it, I decided it is truly about communication and honesty. It's not the extra sex that Lily has that has her feeling guilty, it was not talking about it with her fiance. It's not the fact that her fiance was having extra sex, it was that she didn't suspect he was the sort of person he was that upset her. Even the side plot point of the deposition that Lily had to defend as the first chair (lawyer talk) underlines communication and honesty. The only relationship Lily has that comes close to being truly honest is with her friend Freddy. When it all piles up on her and she finally has the heart to heart with her fiance, only then does she get her happy ever after.I laughed through most of this story. There were spots of seriousness, but not enough to put much of a damper on the book. I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.