#BookReview: Nicknames by Mary Geneva

Reviewer: Christy

I received a review copy

nicknamesSummary:

There are a million bad dates in the city that never sleeps. Mary Geneva has been on 999,999 of them.

When she moved to Manhattan in her mid-20s, Mary imagined being single in glamorous New York City would be like something out of a Hollywood movie. And it was—like a horror movie. Nicknames is a look at some of the most hopeless, horrendous, and frequently hilarious dates you can imagine. Mary shares her true-life adventures as a single gal looking for Mr. Right in the treacherous waters of the New York dating scene. You’ll meet men so bizarre, their names have been changed to protect the guilty—hence the title: Nicknames.

Our cast of characters includes:
• Crazy Eyes, who didn’t just resemble an escapee from the local mental hospital, but proved he probably belonged there
• James Bond, the mysterious South African with the secret life
• Germ Sperm, a guy so classy, he actually named himself Germ Sperm!
• And many, many, many more.

Part memoir, part self-help book, Nicknames will have you laughing out loud…and possibly abstaining from dating forever.

Review:

“Nicknames” by Mary Geneva reminds me of Sex & the City, only from a younger point of view.

This book. I literally laughed so hard I had to put it down a few times to wipe the tears from my eyes from laughing so hard.

We’ve all been there.

Dating.

Looking for Mr. Right in a sea full of Mr. Wrong’s.

Mary married young and found herself divorced not long after. This book is about her life in the dating pool – in Manhattan, of all places! – post-divorce. Memorable and sad-if-it-wasn’t-so-funny, “Nicknames” kept me up late finishing this book. I always had the impression that dating in NYC would be full of excitement – lights, bustling streets, new adventures everyday, so many places to go and see! But I guess a big part of that enjoyment has to do with the company you’re with. This memoir reminds me that men are all the same – just with different circumstances and addresses (Manhattan or Atlanta – some are still just clueless regardless of where they live).

If you’ve ever had a bad date (or a dozen), do yourself a favor. Read this. I promise you, it will make you feel like maybe your bad dates weren’t quite as bad as they could have been; or then again, maybe they were. If that’s the case, “Nicknames” will want to make you fist-bump every other single woman you encounter and give her that “I feel ya, sister” supportive look that only girlfriends understand.

5 stars