Reviews for The Late Bloomer's Revolution

The average rating for The Late Bloomer's Revolution based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-03-29 00:00:00 Garry Abbott Warning: don't read this during a deadly pandemic. When the world appears to be coming to an end, what better book to read than a memoir described as "hilarious and warm"? Well, that reviewer was clearly on crack. After opening with warm anecdotes about her mother, who seemed like she was going to be a main character in this story and who was so much more likeable than the protagonist, Cohen then reveals that Mom died of brain cancer after a long, painful battle. Wtf? How is this hilarious? I sobbed. Perhaps Cohen follows her mother's example and approaches life with unwavering optimism now? Nope, she gets a horrible rash and refuses to leave her apartment for a summer, to the point that her widowed father rebounds quicker. A series of depressing dates with shallow men follow, including one account of a dude who was openly checking out another woman during their first--and last--date. After this, the memoir devolves further, into the same trope chick lit books are often guilty of. Women are completely worthless unless they have a husband and kids. They are objects of pity. Being with the wrong person is better than the complete horror of dying alone. On and on, through more depressing dates and shallow men, until our heroine is so desperate she decides to marry someone she barely knows. But then his father dies after a long, painful battle, casting a dark shadow over this bliss she found with someone she still manages to insult pretty frequently in her narrative. He wore so many necklaces it sounded like he had a pocket of loose change when he got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Interesting... Usually, it's women who are treated to the searing critique offered by Cohen's "rapier-like wit." She finds fault with everyone, as their bangs were trimmed by plastic scissors or their overbite was so pronounced, she worried about them biting their "multiple chins." JFC. It's a wonder she's single. Is it just me who's tired of reading "memoirs" by women who tear every single woman they meet, no matter how briefly, apart? And make it seem like our only worth is our martial and childrearing status? Cohen kinda sorta redeems herself in the end, as she realizes maybe it is okay to not give up everything she loves for a man she kinda likes. And this was a NYT bestseller. Kill me?

Review # 2 was written on 2008-07-17 00:00:00 Maciej Kucharski I actually had to stop reading this book only a few chapters from the end. I just couldn't take anymore. It wasn't that I pitied the author, it's just I couldn't take anymore of the self-deprecating tone. I'm the first to admit that I tend to internalize the attitude of many authors, and this one just put me in a funk I couldn't shake until I finally just said, "Enough." It was so, so different than the book I thought it was going to be.