Review: Popular by Lauren Urasek

Title: Popular
Author: Lauren Urasek
Pages:224
Publisher:Sterling
Pub Date: October 6th, 2015
Source: ARC from Publisher
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With more than 15,000 4- and 5-star ratings, an average of 35 messages per day, and hundreds of thousands of profile views from interested suitors, Lauren Urasek was dubbed "the most popular girl on OKCupid" by New York magazine. She then started a popular Tumblr detailing her experiences with Prince Charmings (and Not-So-Charmings), and now tells all in a series of frank, funny essays about the ups and downs of dating in the city that never sleeps. She's run the gamut of the nominally "single and ready to mingle" males of New York City, from dudes who went in for a kiss within the first ten minutes to one who conducted an impromptu “girlfriend job interview.” And in between the horror stories and dating disasters, Lauren shares some real talk about what works—and what doesn't. Her tales of wooing and woe will leave anyone who's ever tried online dating rolling in the aisles.

I rarely ever touch nonfiction, but Popular has such an interesting premise. Who doesn’t want to know what it’s like to be the most popular girl in NYC? Even if it is on a dating website. Lauren's narrative is crass and honest as she tells us about the worst and best dates. Behind the glamour and the title Lauren is just really trying to find a partner in life. I love that this book wasn’t just a collection of bad dates, there were also the good dates, the times she got rejected and the Do’s & Dont’s of online dating. My favorite thing about this book is how she constantly reminds the readers of the dangers of getting lost in a relationship. If you’re looking for someone to fix or to help fix you then your relationships will all be toxic. Instead you have to find yourself and then find someone who can complement you. "Getting into a relationship or continuing a bad one just because you're lonely is dangerous, and it usually leads to misery" I have to admit I was expecting more stories, some of the chapters were just repeats of others and the same stories would keep getting mentioned, so it was a little repetitive. Lauren does not try to come off as an angel, in her stories she talks about what it was like having a sugar daddy and how she could use her dates for her benefit. Which was refreshing, between the chapters there were also snippets of her blog, they really said that, which added comic relief. Overall, It was beyond entertaining to get lost in the world of the most popular girl on OKCupid.