ARC Review: I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain by Courtney Robertson

Pub. Date: June 24^th, 2014

Publisher: IT Books

Hardcover

272 pages

---

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Courtney Robertson joined season 16 of The Bachelor looking for love. A working model and newly single, Courtney fit the casting call: She was young, beautiful, and a natural in front of the cameras. Although she may have been there for all the right reasons, as the season unfolded and sparks began to fly something else was clear: She was not there to make friends.

Courtney quickly became one of the biggest villains in Bachelor franchise history. She unapologetically pursued her man, steamrolled her competition, and broke the rules—including partaking in an illicit skinny-dip that sealed her proposal. Now, after a very public breakup with her Bachelor, Ben Flajnik, Courtney opens up and tells her own story—from her first loves to her first moments in the limo. She dishes on life before, during, and after the Bachelor, including Ben’s romantic proposal to her on a Swiss mountaintop and the tabloid frenzy that continued after the cameras stopped rolling.

For the first time ever, a former Bachelor contestant takes us along on her journey to find love and reveals that “happily ever after” isn't always what it seems. Complete with stories, tips, tricks, and advice from your favorite Bachelor alumni, and filled with all the juicy details Courtney fans and foes alike want to know, I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends is a must-read for every member of Bachelor nation.

---

Review in Five:

     1.   The selling point as a Bachelor tell all is kind of misleading. Only about half of the book is actually about Courtney’s time on The Bachelor.  Also kind of funny is that it is explicitly stated that The Bachelor people operate with a ‘what happens in Vegas’ modus operandi when it come to not revealing details about each other to outsiders (non-Bachelor cast members). But, frequently people are outed for hookups etc. (which let’s be honest – us Bachelor fans are reading to find out more of that what you didn’t know stuff). 

    2.   Related to #1 – the behind the scenes stuff is the most interesting, entertaining part of the entire novel. Learning more about living arrangements, who actually gets along etc. was really fun. That being said, some of the info revealed was somewhat mean spirited. There as cases where people just don’t need to know what other people have done, and with whom they’ve done it. I didn’t like the felling of vindictiveness I got when reading some of the ‘outings’.

    

    3.   The ‘girl talk’ kind of feel is fun and funny a lot of the time, but I never want to ever know anything about anyone’s body hair – especially not a commentary about previous boyfriends below the belt business.

    4.   As someone who read this on an ereader – unless some formatting stuff gets figured out, I suggest reading a hardcopy.  There were a bunch of little added commentaries from other Bachelor cast members/ Courtney’s family, which I actually loved, but they had a tendency to cut off the rest of the narrative midstream. (* I have a Kobo Mini, so it could also just be because of my super tiny screen)

    5.   Overall, Courtney kind of won me over. The book was funny, and definitely a perfect summer quick read. While I’m not 100% convinced there isn’t a bit of a mean girl in there, I definitely think she got the raw end of the stick in terms of how her persona was edited on the show. After all, who wouldn’t be a bit of a mean girl watching the guy you see yourself marrying kissing a bunch of other chicks?

Sidenote – If half of what is revealed about Ben is true, he may rival Juan Pablo as the most jerky bachelor ever.

Rating 3/5

** I received a copy of the novel from the publisher to read and honestly review. I was in no way compensated.