A Review: Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
What a great light-hearted yet somewhat serious romance novel! This is going to be a summer 2022 beach read for sure. If you’re into the “Hollywood dating/celebrity-dating-normal-person” romance, then this one is DEFINITELY for you. Although, I am definitely a fan of that trope, and this wasn’t my favorite out of that trope. Still, I would recommend this book to someone going on vacation and in need of a beach read.
Synopsis:
Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she's hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing--and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned.
Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she's promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she's forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes.
Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.
My Review:
After figuring out that this was loosely based off an interview with Chris Evans 10 years ago, and the journalist who was trying to “make it,” this makes SO much more sense. Because Gabe Parker IS Chris Evans. Chris Evans IS Gabe Parker.
But honestly … if this were to be made into a movie, I would want Selena Gomez or Sadie Sink to play Chani — definitely Selena Gomez. Selena would make a fantastic Chani. Plus, Selena Gomez and Chris Evans already has that TikTok rumor that they supposedly dated? I feel like they’d have great chemistry.
I liked the 10-year time jump and going back and forth from then and now., Sometimes, that can get old pretty fast (and slightly confusing), but I followed along quite well and the flow definitely kept me interesting. I think I just couldn’t come to like Chani’s character as much as other female leads in romance novels? But I felt like with Chani’s development, there was none? That could be just me, but I felt like we didn’t see any growth from her in the 10 years that we knew her. I mean sure, she had major life changes (marriage, divorce, moving across the country) thrown in her path, but I felt like we didn’t see major growth until the very end. Which I guess happens in the majority of books in general.
In addition, I happen to like press releases, blog entires, and magazine articles that were intertwined in the stories. (It started with my favorite series of all time, Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita). Throughout the book, we read snippets of articles — including THE article that Chani wrote about Gabe to up his profile.
Still, I really liked the book overall. I think it’s a fantastic beach read and truly, it did make me smile.
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Rating: 3.5/5