Review | Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Posted August 16, 2013 by Asheley in review, Uncategorized / 7 Comments

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Published by Ballantine Books
Publish Date: April 30, 2013
Source: Library

Find it here:  Goodreads | Amazon 


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. She lives in Brooklyn with two roommates-Jane, her best friend from college, and Dan, a sci-fi writer, who is very definitely not boyfriend material-and is struggling with her feelings for a suspiciously charming guy in her acting class, all while trying to find a hair-product cocktail that actually works. 


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. Her father wants her to come home and teach, her agent won’t call her back, and her classmate Penelope, who seems supportive, might just turn out to be her toughest competition yet.(excerpt from Goodreads) 



Someday, Someday, Maybe 
by Lauren Graham 



My Thoughts:  Okay so I have a confession to make: I chose to read this book because of the cover. I know, big shock to most of you – I do that all the time. It’s a lovely cover with that perfect splash of red that I love. I have another confession to make that may get some wide-eyed glares from some of you: I’m not a Lauren Graham mega-fan. I don’t mean that negatively at all – I simply mean that I’ve never seen Gilmore Girls. And I’m not up-to-date on Parenthood (which is a great show, honest). I really don’t watch a lot of TV. So I understand that several of my reading friends went completely bananas (yes, y’all went bananas) to see that Lauren Graham wrote a book. I get it; I fangirl too. I do. 


Since I’m not the mega-fan that some of you are, I have to admit to approaching this book in a different way: just like any other regular book with a stunningly pretty cover. Did this affect my reading experience? I don’t know. Maybe. 



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The first thing you need to know is this
Frannie Banks came to NYC to make it big and she’s on a deadline. 

Her time is just…about…up. 

Frannie has given herself a timeline to become a working actor in New York – and time is running dangerously close to being over. As the book opens, Frannie has about six months left and is struggling in the city. NYC isn’t an easy place to “make it” and she’s working her butt off. She has two great roommates but she’s in competition along with everyone else in the city that is just as qualified and has the same goal that she does. 


After a horribly embarrassing moment in a production, Frannie can barely believe she gets the chance to meet with two agencies – two potential chances for representation! After meeting with both and thinking about which to choose – she makes her choice. Suddenly she is getting auditions for commercials and soap operas and all sorts of things are happening – all while she is still maintaining her crummy regular low-paying job, living in her same apartment, and living her same life. She realizes that just because she is now ‘represented’ – things haven’t miraculously changed overnight. She just has to work even harder

Is. That. Even. Possible?



See, even though all of these great new opportunities are jumping up, none of them are equal to a success – yet – and Frannie’s timeclock is still ticking! She’s a little bit stressed. What will she do if she hasn’t found real work when time’s up? 

The second thing you need to know is this:
Poor Frannie. 

She has lots of men but no solid relationships. 
Okay so there’s: 


1. Clark. He’s sort of her boyfriend, kind of. He doesn’t live in New York anymore. They made an agreement that if she hasn’t found work by that doggone date that is about to pop up, she’ll move out of the city to be with him. 

2. James Franklin. He’s the really good-looking, actually-successful actor that Frannie sort-of knows and then begins to date. (Squeal, squeal, throw the confetti! She’s dating an actor!) Except are her dates real dates if they’re secret dates? Hmmm…
3. Dan, the roommate. He’s a writer. He’s her friend. He’s her really, really good friend. They get along really well together but they definitely aren’t attracted to one another. No way. Because they’re friends. And roommates. That wouldn’t happen in real life, right? Attraction, I mean? No, probably not. 


It’s obvious that Frannie’s goal and most important thing is her career, and this is okay. But she has all of these dudes in her life, plus there are a few secondaries that aren’t really important. She has girls that are friends too, but these guys! – Frannie, Frannie, I shake my head. I’ll tell you why in a minute. 

The third thing you need to know is this:
This book took me way too long to read. 
You guys, I tried. And I liked it, I did. But I’m not a theater person. I don’t live in New York. And I’m not a Lauren Graham mega-fan. So I trudged. 

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Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham is a witty little book about a young gal’s struggles to make it as an actress in New York City. Well, a successful actress, I should say. She acted a little here and there, but I wouldn’t have called her successful because she struggled so much. It was cute. 

Frannie made me tired. She actually made me lose my breath sometimes because she was so flighty and neurotic and just, something. She had a nervous quality to her that I would most likely have too if I was living in New York City and trying to adjust to the pace of the city while juggling a job and social life and also constantly being all over the place for auditions and callbacks and photo shoots and stuff like that. I felt like I need to fan myself with a magazine or drink some lemonade just to cool off from all of her running around. (I’ve been to that city and it was HOT there – I know that Frannie, wearing black all the time, had to be sweaty. Just a guess, but a good one, I think. I digress.) 


She was also so odd about her choice of men. Why carry around a sort-of boyfriend in another city and make an arrangment that IF YOU FAIL to meet your goal, you’ll leave the city you love and go be with him? To me, that doesn’t set yourself up with confidence from the beginning. This little deal is something that we learn about Frannie at the beginning of the book, and it described her perfectly. I think she lacked confidence for a large portion of the book…until a certain point when she finally began to get it together a little bit. So in my opinion, that one guy would be extra weight and would have to go. But that’s just me and obviously not our Frannie. 



Then there’s James Franklin – now, reading this book and reading James Franklin was kind of fun IN PART because it reminded me of the actor James Franco WHO I LOVE for fairly obvious reasons that I won’t get into right now. So I kept imaging Frannie looking like Lauren Graham and James Franklin looking like James Franco – I’m sure this isn’t what Author Lauren Grahan had in mind, but just go with me here. So all of the scenes with the two of them were filled with this hot dude and I was like GO FRANNIE! until Frannie did some thinking and realized some things. And then I was like GO FRANNIE! all over again. I liked James Franklin in the book but the question is – as you’re reading – is he the guy for Frannie? 



Then there is Dan the roommate. It’s no secret to anyone that reads anything that I write that I love the guy-girl friendships. Dan and Frannie have this wonderfully comfortable roommate thing that I just loved. I felt like when there were Dan and Frannie scenes, I could catch my breath and relax for a minute and just enjoy what I was reading. (If that doesn’t tell you anything about their relationship and who was my favorite guy, I don’t know what will.) Their scenes felt so very laid-back and chill, even when they weren’t. BUT…there was something there that I, as a reader, could see that Frannie obviously could not. And this is my favorite thing about these types of books sometimes – I found myself wanting something more for Dan with regard to Frannie. Is he the guy for Frannie? THIS, my friends, is the reason I kept reading the book – I held out hope for our Frannie and her roommate Dan who obviously had some sort of feeling for her that wasn’t verbalized but was palpable and leaping off of the pages and was so very comfortable. 



As far as the other stuff about the book – the non-men stuff – the setting is New York City, and it is done SO WELL. Of course, I’d just recently been to New York so I was kind of able to follow along with Frannie at least in part as she went to the gazillion places she traveled during her days working, working, working and trying to find successful work as an actor. But even if I had not just visited New York City, I think the setting is so well done that I’d have gotten a great feel for what HUGE city life is like, with the taxis and pedestrians and blocks and avenues and walking everywhere when you can’t get a taxi and having to try to find buildings that you’ve never seen nor heard of before (that’s just something I don’t experience here in my smaller city – I’ve seen ALL the buildings and drive my own car eveywhere, and all buildings have parking lots – NOTHING like New York). I think it probably takes someone with some New York City experience to write it so well, and I enjoyed this aspect of the book even when I felt it dragged on a bit because I felt like I was right back in the city, and I so desperately want to BE back in the city again. 



I also mentioned the secondaries, the secondary cast of characters. You guys, they are brilliant. I would expect this, too, coming from an author like Lauren Graham – she is familiar with the concept of a secondary cast from her work as an actor so even though she hasn’t really written before, I am not surprised that she gave us fantastic and fun and colorful secondary characters to fall in love with for a ton of reasons. There were times when I loved the secondaries as much or more than Frannie because they all seemed to have their lives together or at least they appeared to. And to be fair, Frannie did make some growth by the end of the book, so there’s that – she was just slow to get going, I think. 



I think this is a fun book and a good book, but it isn’t a favorite book that I’ve read this year. It doesn’t have that certain something that makes it stick out in my memory when I’m giving recommendations. One reason for this is that I feel like the ending just sort of falls off – it’s a little too open-ended in my opinion. I was beginning to really gain momentum with the story in the latter part and by the end I was LOVING it and then BAM! it’s over. I don’t mind open-ended stories, but this is one case where I wouldn’t mind a sequel to this standalone so I can find out more because I feel like the story is a little bit incomplete – others may not feel the same way but I do. After trudging through the book, I really loved that ending and want to know more. 



Ultimately, Someday, Someday, Maybe was cute. It isn’t my favorite book this year but I’m still glad that I read it – I’m glad that I pushed through and finished it. The cast is memorable and the setting is perfectly written. The pacing wasn’t the best for me, but I think I still would pick up another book by Lauren Graham in the future if she chooses to write another. I recommend Someday, Someday, Maybe for fans of Lauren Graham (because apparently there are a ton of you), fans of adult contemporary fiction with some romance, fans of theater/acting, books with a little humor infused throughout, and fans of a New York City setting. 



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Someday, Someday, Maybe will appeal to fans of:

Adult Contemporary Romance & some Humor/ChickLit
Romance: Slowly Developing, No Triangle. 

(There is more than one romance, but still no triangle.)

Great Setting: New York City
Theater/Acting
Lauren Graham, the actor



Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
is currently available for purchase.

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Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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7 responses to “Review | Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

  1. I didn't read through your entire review because I do plan on reading this at some point, but I am definitely worried that my love for Gilmore Girls will cloud my judgement! haha I've heard mixed things about this one– some people seem to absolutely love, while others, like you, don't see overly impressed! Either way, I'm excited to read it!!

    • I was getting really into the book by the ending – I just wanted MORE. I don't really mind open ends but in this particular case, it was like OUCH to my heart! BUT, I was going in simply as a reader and not a fan + reader, so I'm different than everyone else, I think. And also, I finished it A LONG TIME AGO, so the more I think about it, the cuter the book gets actually. I think you'll like it (:

  2. I've seen the cover of this around a lot, but nothing about the actual book. I'm glad to have finally read an honest review concerning it, though, and this novel is just clearly not for me. I hate love triangles or multiple love interests and I'm not a fan of books that drag. I really do enjoy open endings, but sometimes they take away from the story instead of add to them. Anyway, thanks for the honest review, Asheley!(:

    • Well the main character doesn't really have a love triangle in the book – she just has a string of relationships over the course of the story. I think it was a bit slow for me because the guy that I wanted her to be with – she just wasn't interested in. So the parts of the book that were the "biggest" – the theater, NYC, things like that – they just didn't appeal to me as much as that guy-girl friendship did because I don't *LOVE* theater like some people do and I am not a big-city gal.

      I do think it's a quirkly book and a fun book, and at the end – I liked it. I just wish it had gone on for a bit longer. I'm happy to hear that there is a possibility of another book, so I'm hoping that WHAT I WANT TO HAPPEN is expanded on a little bit. I'll read the second book, for sure.

      I'm proud of Lauren Graham that she wrote this alone which is pretty amazing for someone already famous for another thing. But it isn't as memorable as something like Liza Palmer's recent book, for example, which will likely be a favorite this year.

  3. Sigh.

    My heart is hurting a little bit about this review. I thought the book was so incredibly charming but maybe cause I feel like I'm in a similar place as Franny. Being that age, seeing other people with jobs and success, and not knowing what the hell I'm doing.

    Do you think there was a love triangle? It didn't really feel like that to me. Hm. Thoughts on this would be good.

    I felt like the ending was kind of open and free too but then I liked that and now Lauren is writing another book about Franny.

    I think Lauren's writing style is really fresh and witty and in a world full of new adult books that just focus on other less important thing, I have to say I think this was a real triumph and a fresh bit of air for me.

    SIGH. MY HEART IS HURTING STILL. But I undersatnd, I do. The beginning was a little slow but once I got involved, I was in and could not stop. How cute was her dad?

    I must leave work now and have a weekend. xoxo. Great in depth review as always!

    • No, I don't feel like there is a love triangle in this book. I feel like she had several relationships with different guys when I really just wanted her to open her eyes and see one in particular. (:

      About the open end, I'm happy that it was how it was, I just feel like I had to work to get there and then, END SCENE. (<– theater talk) I'll be happy if she writes another book, particularly if it picks up immediately where it ended and I'll definitely read it.

      It was definitely fresh and quirky and I can see the appeal of it, it just wasn't one of my favorites. And I don't have that fandom that so many others have to fall back on.

  4. I love how honest you are in your reviews! And I especially love that even when you don't click with a book I always feel like you're so clear about what you DID like and articulate about what you didn't. That's so helpful to me as a reader because I know that not everyone has the same taste in books so it's nice to know that I can identify what you didn't like and decide for myself if it's something that would bother me.

    As you know, I did totally love this one but I can absolutely see why you didn't. I liked that Franny was kind of neurotic, and I kind of identified with her at times because I think my brain can be a little crazy when I start over-thinking things. Franny also reminded me of the character Lauren Graham played on Gilmore Girls in small ways, so that certainly led me to love her more.

    I agree with Estelle that one of the things I adored about this one was the way it's somewhat "New Adult" as far as Franny's age but it focused on things that were somewhat more relatable to me (finding your way, following your dreams, etc.) than most New Adult books. I know this is technically adult but I do think it has elements that make it somewhat of a new adult/transition type book.

    Anyway, I'm sad you didn't love this one only because I did BUTTTT I completely see how you didn't! I think I would have loved it apart from Lauren Graham but I also know that certainly made it easier for me to fall in love with this story. I totally agree on the ending, though. Too open-ended for me! So I was excited to learn that she's currently writing a follow up 🙂

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