Read Bottom Up: A Novel

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this book. I love an anti-romance as much as I love a romance. I think what has me unsure is that both stories feel unfinished.The story between Madeline and Elliot was the driving force of this tale. They met. They dated. Their friends mingled. And then (((spoiler alert))) they broke up and endured life post relationship. Then their friends start mingling. While the stories converge and twine, and Madeline's end was mentioned, it felt like Elliot was never fully closed. The new story between David and Emily just stopped so you are left to wonder what's going to happen...will it be the stresses of their friends or work that interfere or will they prevail? Who knows. I sorta wanted to hear from Madeline about her own ending, too.Overall, I gave this story 3.5 stars just because of the open-endedness I feel. Maybe there will be (or is) a book 2. Maybe it's one of those stories I'll think about a year from now and wonder what happened...and that's okay....except it's a romance, and I like my endings cleaned up.Still loved the "meet cute" and the way the story was communicated, though. Should book 2 come around, I'd definitely read it!!!Word of warning: It was difficult to read on my Kindle Voyage. The text bubbles didn't enlarge and I am naturally to blind to read that tiny, tiny microscopic print (even with my glasses), so I read it on my iPad with the Kindle app. Much better!!!

So overall this was pretty fun and enjoyable.Pros:1. Really easy format to read. The entire thing was written in emails and text. This made it really easy to get through and I was finished in no time.2. I enjoyed reading from all of the characters perspectives and it was fairly easy to distinguish between the characters.3. I liked the use of little diagrams to give a quick idea of who was speaking.4. It was very relatable and realistic; especially with regard to Maddy and Emily.5. It was nice to get both perspectives written by the respective genders. I could really relate to Maddy and Emily and it was nice to see the guys' perspectives as well.Cons:1. I'd have liked a bit more mixed media. For instance, while I appreciated the emails and texts, I'd have appreciated actually reading about them in the moment (as with regular books) as opposed to just what they chose to speak about via text and email.2. I don't like obscenities in books and so, while I know it forms part of many people's everyday speech, it doesn't for me, and so that detracted from my enjoyment of the book. It wasn't overdone but I still found it unnecessary in most instances and barely warranted in others.3. I'm not sure what I really wanted from the ending but I don't feel like I got it. It wasn't a bad ending but it didn't leave me feeling any particular way about it either.Nonetheless, if you're looking for a fun, quick 'summery' read then this is a pretty good one to pick up.

Have to thank this author for a truly authentic ride through a relationship, from start to finish. Found myself laughing out loud while I was sitting by myself at the park reading, and wincing at other times, getting frustrated with the characters. Epistolary novels are my favorites and this one, written mostly in emails and texts, was an entertaining read. If I could make one suggestion, it would be to make the print in the texts sections a little larger. I read this on my Kindle Paperwhite and was not able to make it any larger so I had to rely on my trusty little magnifying glass to help me through it - they were really tiny! But other than that, I'd definitely give it a thumbs up, and have already recommended it to a couple friends. I got so caught up in reading it, the ending came before I realized it, and by the way, LOVE that last line in the email from Emily to David!!! Thanks for a great read!

1.I was disappointed by how short the novel was, almost an e-book! (and gasp, for that price too!)Okay, so I should have checked the number of pages beforehand. All right. Still, it's short-lived. How much character development can you expect to see a) through the lens of emails only, b) with only 2 other characters than the main ones, c) in such a short span?2. Simplistic : if you can play along with the whole only-best-friend-concept. It's like the 2 main characters don't know anybody else, don't have any other friends. It just came across as a bit forced and unnatural in my opinion.3.It's not earth-shattering but definitely funny. Okay, people in real life are not as full of witty remarks, but neither are they in movies. It's light, it's relatable, it's not cliché.I guess I expected just a little bit more. More content. More characters (siblings, parents, colleagues, exes...) More PAGES!

This novel is delivered entirely through text messages and emails (pretty on par with the way most new relationships develop these days). We see the two main characters' (a young man and a young woman) communications as well as their communications with the respective best friends. Madeline and Elliott seem ill matched from the get-go and their friends are aware of this but respectful. There is a lot of confusion and word play and you see how two perspectives of the same date can be oh so different. I won't give away the ending but I will say that the foreshadowing was pretty evident. I read the whole book in a few hours' time and thus would recommend it to anyone wanting a quick read that is pretty indicative of where the dating world stands today.

Not a long book, which is good because I lose patience pretty quickly with neurotic young women who are looking for perfect men (been happily married for 35 years and there are no perfect men--or women). It was entertaining and fun. A little lacking in substance, but hey, sometimes you need that after reading about love and survival during WWII. Worth reading when you need some fluff.

An easy read, not too taxing, read it in an afternoon. I did find the "surprise twist" at the end of the book somewhat predictable however.

This has got to be the most accurate dating book ever!! Nearly ever page I read, I could relate to. It's nice to know that it's not just girls reading into things. I read this book from cover to cover in a couple of hours - I couldn't put it down.

Really enjoyable insight into relationships, mod cons and friends input into ones life.Couldn't put it down.

Fantastic read, but I was done in a few hours so wouldn't suggest u pay full price

I didn't buy this???