By Curtis Sittenfeld
Romantic Comedy centres around a single woman in her early thirties working as a writer for a popular American host show (like SNL). After a failed divorce, Sally has kept her relationships casual, but when popular musician Noah Brewster joins the show, her emotional walls and self-esteem are shaken. Despite her best attempts to sabotage what grows between them, their connection persists.
The story is written in first-person past tense, and it reads like a memoir. The first-person narration avoids “I” sentences and instead focuses on observation and surrounding action. Combined with the memoir-style writing, the story feels very realistic. On top of that, Sittenfeld’s research on what it is like to work in Hollywood is thorough and detailed, which adds to the realness. Through her description, you clearly get the sense of what it is like to be in LA behind the scenes of a TV show, and all of the side characters are three-dimensional with distinct personalities.
The romance is slow-burn and plays into the second-chance trope. Although Sittenfeld shows Sally’s toxic tendencies, the character is self-aware and the conflict between her and Noah is handled maturely while still being engaging; it is an accurate portrayal of an independent, emotionally avoidant woman who learns that she can let someone in without it derailing her life.
Romantic Comedy is a refreshing take on how fear from past relationships can cause us to act in ways that don’t align with who we are or who we want to be. So, if you’ve ever felt like you fumbled a situation from fear of history repeating itself, this story’s for you.
Descriptive writing: 7.5/10
Character depth: 8/10
Pace of the story: medium.
For fans of Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.