The Roxy Letters by Mary Pauline Lowry

A special thank you to Libro.fm Audiobooks and Simon & Schuster Audio for an audiobook listening copy.

The Roxy Letters is a series of letters that are penned to our heroine's dud ex-boyfriend, Everett. He also happens to be her roommate because of her financial straits. At first, Roxy is using the notes to establish rules and remind Everett of his overdue rent payments. But as time goes on, her letters become less about the rent and more about the shambles of her life—how did things get so messy?

Fed up with being a deli maid at Whole Foods, her dismal love life, and the corporatization of her beloved Austin, Roxy decides that it is time to become the heroine of her own story. Enlisting the help of her two best friends, Anna and Artemis, she sets her sights on taking down Lululemon. And on top of that, she also trying to stay employed, spark a romance with Patrick from Beer Alley, and keep her dog safe from her meth head neighbours.

Will Roxy ever figure out her life's purpose and get her groove back?

Epistolary novels are usually my bag—I love the format and find them a refreshing change—but I struggled with The Roxy Letters. At first I thought Roxy was hilarious and had this book pegged as my new favourite, but then it started to become rather ridiculous. The letters were sometimes rant-y, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes completely cringe-worthy. Ahem, the sex cult. Not being judgemental, and I'm certainly no prude, but this was weird. And so not necessary.

Lowry is a great writer, she's engaging and funny, but ultimately lost the plot on several occasions when things became overly manic with Roxy.

This is no Bridget Jones' Diary. Bridge is completely relatable and you are rooting so hard for her whereas Roxy is a rambling hot mess—I mean how many ridiculous situations can she get herself into?

I know like it sounds like I didn't like this book, but I did, and would rate it a solid three stars. If Lowry had tightened up the rambling speech, cut out the sex cult stuff, and injected more Artemus and Annie, this would have easily been four stars.

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MARY PAULINE LOWRY received her MFA from Boise State University. She is the author of the novels The Roxy Letters and Wildfire, she’s also a regular contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Millions, and other publications.

Lowry is a native of Austin, Texas.