Madison Warner Fairbanks's Reviews > Rachel Weiss's Group Chat

Rachel Weiss’s Group Chat by Lauren Applebaum
Contemporary chick lit, romance. Own voice.
It’s the year of turning thirty for Rachel and her group of besties. So they celebrate 29 win varying degrees of success. Rachel finds lots of attractive and intriguing men through parties, and dating apps, but none of them are worth long term efforts. She has a job that pays the bills but admits to often going in late and just calling it in some days. After mandated therapy at work and some self realization, Rachel feels like her friends are being successful but that she’s stuck. Maybe the one man she categorically said no to, and then befriends, has it right in helping to make the world a better place. Maybe Rachel needs to start giving back too.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook which was narrated by Dara Rosenberg who gives an absolutely fabulous performance. Different voices for the women, and a lower octave and husky voice for Christopher and her father and others. Really impressive conversations between male and female voices that have me now thinking must have been annotated ahead of time to get the timing down so well. The full POV is Rachel so hearing the confidence in her voice is a given, but we also clearly hear her slide to confusion and doubt and then remorse. I looked up the narrator and see there are more than 300 books recorded (a lot of humor and paranormal) and I can totally understand why she’s a success after hearing this book.
An entrancing performance.
I did listen at 1.5 which is my preferred speed to better match my reading and conversations.
Between the ebook and audiobook, I would recommend the audiobook, simply to hear Rachel’s full personality.

Rachel grows up.
She’s super self confident to the point of arrogance. But aren’t we all in our 20’s?
I have mixed feelings about her. And have to pause and think back, isn’t that life what I did in my 20’s? I didn’t have concerns for anyone else outside my drinking and play buddies. If you didn’t marry your childhood or high school sweetheart, those years after school and first jobs are about enjoying life and the world. At least for me and most of my close friends. Yes, work becomes important just like it does for Rachel. Family and relationships become sacred as life throws curves.
I didn’t like Rachel. But I understood her. So that mimics the book. I didn’t care for the first half of the story but was rooting for her win by the end.
I did enjoy a lot of funny quips throughout the book, many of which I had to stop reading and highlight. These added a much needed lighter tone in the story.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and HachetteAudio.