How Does Phoebe Berman'S Gonna Lose It End?

I had low expectations for Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It (due to its rom-com-ish cover and title), but somehow it was better than I had expected. It is a very tender and honest book. It follows Phoebe as she checks off items on her thirty-day “To Lose It” list of things to do to get her life together, and by the end of the book, she learns that naming her fears, going to therapy, and asking for help from her friends are far more important than her checklist. There are three potential love interests for Phoebe in the book: Finn, Matthew, and her longtime roommate Jonathan. The author tests out the three men for romantic relationships with Phoebe, and in the end, we see that she is just not ready for any kind of serious relationship. The possibility of a romantic relationship with Finn is tested out and then laughed off, Finn being the kind of guy who really thinks he is ready for a serious relationship with someone. The possibility of a relationship with Matthew is also tested out, but ultimately he is not who he claims to be. In the end, it is Phoebe’s longtime roommate Jonathan that brings the most growth to her life. There are several scenes with Jonathan and Phoebe together that show a lot of emotional intimacy between the two, and that’s really all that can be expected from someone like Phoebe. The wedding scene and a few scenes with Phoebe’s family towards the end of the book are some of the most emotional scenes of the novel. They are loud and quirky, just like the rest of the book, but they also manage to be emotionally resonant, showing just where Phoebe has grown and where she still holds herself back. As a reader, I felt like I got to experience her growth, and that’s really all any reader can ask for in a novel. Of course, the way in which the external timeline (Phoebe turns thirty, loses her virginity by a certain date) is shown to be less important than her inner growth is something that I have heard a lot of other reviewers and early readers mention as well. So while there is closure at the end of the novel, there is also the understanding that there is so much more to come for Phoebe. The way in which the author provides closure for the reader while also showing us that Phoebe is doing the best she can, and that that is something to be proud of, is really satisfying. And the way in which she has grown and developed into a more self-compassionate, boundary setting person is really wonderful to read. It makes me want to go back and re-read some of the scenes in which Phoebe was so terrified of who she was, and see just how far she has come.

‘Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It’ made me smile at the end. As it is, the book is about Phoebe learning to live with her anxiety rather than being defined by it. The opening is frantic and hilarious, a long checklist of things to do before she loses it. The ending is to the same standard, the clock ticking down to her birthday becoming a backdrop to her truly healing and deepening of her relationships with the people she loves. The way the story of this anxious heroine is brought to a close is kind and genuine, and not resolved with a single payoff. Instead it is a very emotional but also very funny read, especially the wedding scenes which tie up all the emotional throughlines of the story in the best way. There is plenty of criticism and reader reactions online, but in summary it is a wonderful and satisfying end to the story of Phoebe Berman, focusing on her self-acceptance and the warmth of her chosen family, and not on some arbitrary ‘victory’ for the heroine.

Author? Phoebe Berman? Is that your real name? The writing style is very familiar to me and for that reason I can only assume it is either a male author writing under a female pseudonym or an author I have read before under a different title. The ending of this book was of the steamy and sentimental variety that makes me think of Christina Lauren. Hence the comparison to The Unhoneymooners and The Soulmate Equation by Lauren. Reading this ending was like reading another decent romantic novel by a competent but slightly predictable author who leaves you feeling full of good feelings at the end.