Someday, Someday, Maybe - Lauren Graham

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: April 30, 2013
Source/Format: Netgalley (Thanks, Random House!) || e-galley

[I received this book from the publisher. This in no way affects the thoughts expressed in my review.]

Franny Banks is a struggling actress in New York City, with just six months left of the three year deadline she gave herself to succeed. But so far, all she has to show for her efforts is a single line in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters and a degrading waitressing job. Meanwhile, she dreams of doing "important" work, but only ever seems to get auditions for dishwashing liquid and peanut butter commercials. It's hard to tell if she'll run out of time or money first, but either way, failure would mean facing the fact that she has absolutely no skills to make it in the real world. Someday, Someday, Maybe is a funny and charming debut about finding yourself, finding love, and, most difficult of all, finding an acting job. (modified from Goodreads)

When a book is set in New York City, I’m always immediately intrigued. And when that same book is clearly loved by a close blogger friend, then I usually bump it up to the top of my reading pile. Someday, Someday, Maybe was riding on a wave of fervent praise from a few friends when I started reading it. I was afraid it couldn’t live up to the hype, honestly, but I really enjoyed it. Franny’s narration was funny and easy to relate to, and I found myself finishing the book in one sitting in my eagerness to find out what happened to her next. Even though I didn’t fall head over heels for this book, it’s definitely one of the better books that I’ve read this year.

When it comes right down to it, the reason that I really liked this book was Franny. She’s such a wonderful character, with charisma, frankness and sense of humor that leapt off the page. Her experiences as an aspiring actress trying to come by her big break in the Big Apple were really interesting, funny and felt very real. Franny kept up a running commentary that amused me greatly, and it often made me chuckle to read it!

Even though I’m not an actress, I could relate to Franny’s struggle to balance her passion and her practical needs (like money to pay for basic needs). New York is both a wonderful place to be and a challenging place to live, and Graham successfully shows us that in Someday, Someday, Maybe. This, in fact, is the part of the book that really and truly had me invested in the story, as I currently experience that conundrum for myself! Franny’s journey has its fair share of difficulties and desperation and frustration, but in the end, it is her determination, her passion and her willingness to get up and keep trying that see her through. In a roundabout way, this book reminded me that, no matter how long it takes, there is always hope for your dreams to come true.

The cast of characters surrounding Franny is of the eclectic variety, which makes sense with the New York setting and her actress aspirations. I particularly enjoyed her interactions with her roommates Jane (who has been her best friend for ages) and Dan (who I immediately loved because of his writing aspirations, and later on, I realized he reminded me of the character of the same name from Gossip Girl). While we don’t witness too many moments with either, it’s a lot of fun whenever any of them are together.

However, even though I loved Franny and could relate to her journey, I also felt slightly set apart from her. Instead of feeling like I was walking in her shoes or alongside her, I felt like I was listening to story being told to me by the friend of a friend. This small disconnect is the reason that this book didn’t progress from the level of like to love for me.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is the story of a girl in her twenties who is trying to chase her dreams in one of the greatest (if not the actual greatest) cities in the world, New York. While I found the general gist of Franny’s story particularly relatable, I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t connect more with her. Still, this story is entertaining, fun and really likable, and I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as a good adult contemporary novel.