I absolutely loved this book about a teen girl at improv comedy camp! I have never read a YA book about a teen whose goal is to be on Saturday Night Live one day, and I appreciated her focus and drive to achieve her goals. I was very struck by the unwinnable situation she found herself in on the varsity improv team at camp, the only girl amongst boys who see no end to the fun of putting her down, subjecting her to embarrassing roles, and undermining her talent. Combined with the confusion generated by working with the team coach, who criticizes her heavily during practice and then seems ready to cross a line with her afterward, Zelda, like many women in professions/hobbies dominated by men, feels that she cannot reach her dreams without sacrificing herself.

As a side note, I was very pleased to see lots of queer rep in this book and found Zelda's female friends at camp to be as enlightened and thoughtful as her teammates were discounting and misogynistic.

A very entertaining and empowering story!

This book was amazing. I alternately laughed and cried, melted with happiness and burned with anger as I read. The book is full of hope and anticipation, trapped at times in fear and outrage. It was a roller coaster, but definitely worth the ride. I’m not sure that I can write this review without spoilers, but I’ll try.

The relationship Zelda has with her brother Will is amazing. Every time she struggled, her first thought was that she needed Will (or his boyfriend Jonas). That speaks of so much love and trust, even if she did keep things from him at first.

The friendships she creates with the Gildas and the Boy Scouts were also incredible. Having other strong females to support her, as well as guys who did not exude toxic masculinity with every breath kept the hope alive throughout the story, even when things were at their worst.

While Ben is 100% the villain in this piece, I also think the Pauls were villains too. While they did not personally commit any of the harassment or abuse, they fostered an environment that allowed it to become the norm. And even when they knew what was happening, they punished Zelda to attempt to protect themselves. I would have liked to see them receive more of a comeuppance for their actions than they did.

I’m glad that Zelda was left with hope and a possibility of love in a healthy relationship with Jessie (her Boy Scout). Glad, too, that while she will carry emotional scars from what Ben did and tried to do, she has shown strong enough to overcome them. And has the support of people who care about her to help her do it.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publishers in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot to say and some important themes and the characters were brilliant.

Zelda, her brother and her brother's new boyfriend are attending an improvisational comedy camp for two weeks in the mountains. Zelda's excited but when they arrive she discovers that she's one of only 5 girls which doesn't fill her with hope. Hope that diminishes further when, though she's cast in the top Varsity team, she's constantly the butt of the joke and being cast in parts such as "prostitute".

The situation is worsened by a coach who in the room is constantly criticising her work and giving her contrary advice, but outside, in private, is giving her compliments and kissing her.

I really enjoyed the story's progression and Zelda's gradual realisation of how wrong things were. I just would have liked a little more ending. Maybe an epilogue of them coming back the following year and things being so much better.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book. I was intrigued by the cover and the flap copy, but did not enjoy the story as I read the first chapter. My students are interested in humorous books, but I’m not sure if this would appeal to them.

Oof. UNSCRIPTED was a difficult read, particularly due to its subject matter -- grooming and abuse -- and yet, its raw authenticity and remarkable relevance make it a story for the ages. WOW, is it a powerful read.

I wouldn't call it entertaining -- and it's not trying to be. It's bringing to light a plethora of real-life issues, introducing topics that NEED to be talked about so no girl goes through what Ben put Zelda through. Definitely keep an eye out for the content/trigger warnings: it's not an easy read.

Still if you're all right with the content, I highly recommend picking up this book. It sheds light on a highly important topic, and makes evident just how subtle, easy, and widespread a problem this really is.

This is a powerful story of a girl who just wants to do well at improv camp having to deal with toxic masculinity, manipulation, and a culture of not calling out homophobia, racism, and other abuses (and when she steps up, she's dismissed as too sensitive, because "boys will be boys").

I loved her supporting characters, especially the ones who found insult in the aforementioned boys narrative, and how a group of people came together to stand up for what waa right.

Trigger warnings for sexual assaults, verbal and physical abuse, homophobia, racism, discussion of attempted suicide and parental death, and brief mention of blood.

I struggle to review this book. It was hard to read about an older (20 something) man manipulate and groom a young girl so he could sexually assault her. It was made even worse by everyone ignoring the warning signs and cries for help. This book handled the sensitive topic with truth and information. I think it would be an extremely good book for all girls to read so they could be aware of how insidious and subtle this manipulation takes place.
That said, I usually avoid reading these types of books because they are difficult reads for me. I read to be entertained, not upset. So think carefully to decide if it is an appropriate read for you.

I can’t improvise anything to save my life, but I adore improv comedy. Lord, the many, many hours I’ve whittled away watching episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? both as a child an adult. Though some of the humor has aged badly, there are still a ton of things I love about it. Though I knew improv comedy (hell, comedy in general) had a dark side to it filled with sexism and harassment, Unscripted brings it into the light through a renowned improv camp Zelda and her brother attend.

Now, this novel is objectively funny. Some of the material Zelda writes is the best kind of absurdist comedy and it got me giggling multiple times. However, you’re unlikely to laugh much at this novel because there’s so much serious stuff going on. Though Zelda’s skill earns her a place on the camp’s varsity improv team, she’s the only girl on it and the rest of the team members are basically Shane Gillis clones. Her coach Ben is an unholy fusion of Louis CK and Chris D’Elia, encouraging her and being flirty in private while mistreating her and destroying her material in team practices.

His behavior leads her teammates to believe Zelda only made it into their group because Ben likes her or she’s been flirty with him, which isn’t the case at all, but it makes Zelda question her own skills. Based on what I’ve heard from many female comedians in their interviews, this is what it’s like to be a marginalized person in comedy. Their material gets stolen, their colleagues make “jokes” out of them in hurtful ways, and they have to endure sexual harassment or else they get harassed and blacklisted out of the business.

Thankfully, Zelda doesn’t have to suffer alone, though she keeps what’s happening to her quiet for a while. She has the support of her brother and his boyfriend, the other girls of Gilda Radner cabin (all the cabins are named after famous improv comedians and Gilda is the camp’s only one for girls), and even the Boy Scouts at the camp next door. One of those Boy Scouts, Jesse, is a nice guy who adores Zelda. Contrast with Ben, who is a Nice Guy and assaults Zelda when she won’t go further with him.

Beyond her mostly-white-boys Varsity teammates, the novel’s cast is pretty diverse. Zelda and her brother are biracial, her brother is part of one of the novel’s two gay couples, there are multiple BIPOC characters, and one of her cabinmates has albinism. It’s representative of the real world and it also underscores how cishet white men harass marginalized people out of the business, leaving the big names of improv and general comedy looking very cis, het, white, and male. It’s not necessarily because they’re the best at what they do. It’s because the marginalized people with just as much talent, if not more, were chased out before they could reach the same level.

Once Zelda’s support system finds out what’s been happening to her at the hands of the other Varsity boys and Ben, they try to alert the camp’s head honchos. When those two cishet white men try to sweep it all under the rug and even kick Zelda out of the camp, that’s when the group bands together to force change by taking it all public. That’s the only way we’ll ever make change in the face of systemic sexism: by working together and supporting one another. The camp is a place of systemic racism and sexism in a microcosm.

I don’t know if I could stomach a reread of Unscripted anytime soon because it goes to such dark places within comedy, but it’s one I recommend to everyone who loves comedy and wants to see things change for the better. I just love this novel so much.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Laughter and improv is all Zelda Bailey-Cho has ever wanted, and when the 17 year old gets the chance to take part in a prestigious two week summer camp, with hopefully the opportunity to perform in front of big wigs in the industry, she can’t wait. However, when she arrives at the camp, she’s one of only 5 girls, and the only one to make the Varsity team. Facing all manner of toxic masculinity, sexist jokes, and even humiliation and abuse from her 20 year old coach, Zelda might discover that improv is a difficult place to get a foot in.

This book made me so unbelievably angry! That’s not to say it was a bad book; rather, it’s a book that is so important, and relevant, but the content of it was horrific at times. Admittedly, I went into the book with no expectations. I have a number of books on my kindle app that I’ve yet to read/review, and I’m going through them at random at the minute. I vaguely remembered requesting this one, but thought it would be a nice, cute summer read, all about comedy and improv, and was thrown off by the hard hitting material. Zelda was amazing! She was funny, and caring, and so strong. She deserved her place at the camp, and on the varsity team, but apart from one of the other team members, everyone else was a ‘bro’, who made dead prostitute and sexy secretary jokes about her, and if she commented on it, she was a bitch. Even worse than it all, was the coach, 20 year old Ben. He was charismatic in private, but harsh and neglectful in public. He tried to brush it off by saying he was helping Zelda toughen up, but he abused his position of power, and kissed and assaulted her without her consent. He honestly terrified her, and even foresaw her going to the inept camp leaders, Paul and Paul, and said she had a crush and was being hysterical. When Zelda finally got the strength to go to the two Paul’s and tell her truth, they said she should reconsider and not press charges when the police became involved, or she’d be kicked out of camp. I wanted to jump into the book and throttle them all! I felt for Zelda so much, and was grateful she had her brother and his boyfriend, the other Gilda’s, and even Jesse and the Boy Scouts to help and support her. As difficult as it is to say I enjoyed a book with this content, I did, and can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

DNF. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy! I decided to not keep reading this one, it was not for me. Thanks!

Unscripted was such an amazing book. I loved the camp friendship that was a huge part of the book. I enjoyed seeing the double standards and how much misogyny is a part of the comedy world. Unscripted also dealt in dark topics like relationship abuse which was done so well. This was one of my favorite 2020 reads.

Unfortunately this books did not get me and I DNF it. It had a good premise but not carried off. I would try this author again to see if I liked any other work.

It’s been a few months since I read Unscripted, and in hindsight I am surprised I didn’t rate it more harshly.

I loved what this book was trying to do – attempting to tackle sexism at an improv camp and the stereotype that girls aren’t funny – but my issue was that none of jokes in this book are funny. I didn’t even crack a simple or let out a simple chuckle. Nothing about this screamed ‘funny book about unfunny things’ and that’s what I was hoping for, so I was really let down by this debut novel.

Perhaps it’s because improv is a pretty American thing – it’s not something which gets much airtime in the UK, particularly not compared to stand-up comedy – so I probably wasn’t the right audience for this book. I think that’s why I decided to go with a middle-of-the-road rating; because this will do really important things for some people, I’m just not one of them.

I enjoyed the camp setting, but that’s because I’m always a sucker for summer camp stories, but this just wasn’t the book for me.

How does one unpack such an AMAZING journey.

Firstly, this was an equally amazing story while also being so hard to read.
Trigger warning for sexual assault and homophobia.

Let me break down why is book is amazing and should be talked about more.
1. Understanding that a lot of industries (especially the arts) have allowed there to be distinction between male and female performers. How we need to end this perpetual state of excluding people because of binary or sexual preferences. That change can happen and we all need to speak up about it.
2. The importance of relationships and talking to those when you need help. (though I would've LOVED if Zelda tried to find help faster I understand that many women don't even confide that information. But I love that we're combating that idea and telling girls their voice matters.)
3. Normalizing that abusive relationships are bad and you have every right to end it. In YA abusive men who kiss girls who are younger or without consent happens too offend. No, it's not sexy to be kissed when you don't want it - even if the guy is hot. This should be obvious by now.
4. Normalizing that supporting women is cool! And that over sexualizing/belittling them doesn't do anything - not even make a good joke.
5. Women and BIPOC are often face with extra difficulties for no reason and besides recognizing that, we need to continue to work towards better change.
6. That verbal and physical abuse is serious. That every person deserves the respect of being believed and time to heal.
7. Lastly but most importantly that women are awesome and that we should continue to look out for each other.

This was an amazing book and I often wanted to throw the book out of frustration, but Zelda's journey is sadly a journey that happens to a lot of people. Her story is necessary and if you can get through the triggering content I would highly recommend this book.

A necessary book in the age of Me Too - tackles sexism, assualt, power dynamics and abuse of power and general issues with equality in the world.

I enjoyed the story, I liked the setting of a camp for teenagers into improv. I found the message a little too on the nose in places, and found the response of the 'Pauls' completely unrealistic, as well as the lack of support that Zelda gets from people in general. But I liked the story, and thought the ending was quite satisfying. A good summer read for teenagers.

*I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this Unscripted! The main character, Zelda, is such a great example of a teenager. She understands that something is wrong with the signals her camp coach Ben is giving her, but this is also the first time she's experienced someone taking an interest in her romantically. I loved how helpful her friends were. I also enjoyed that the book played with the notion that even when you do the right thing, it doesn't always work out positively. I wish I could have read this book as a teen.

This is a book that I will share with my students with delight. The use of a nontraditional setting was fabulous as was the introduction of camps in which students learn different kinds of comedy. Zelda's character was fabulous and the secondary characters were well formed. While painful to read, her interaction with Ben rang true as did Zelda's internal conflict in responding to him. Overall, this is a strong title that I will be nominating for the 2023 Evergreen Teen Book Award cycle.

Humours and dealing with positive relationships around difficult subjects of sexism and masculinity. This one was a hit!! I loved every page and the ending and I can not wait to get this in print. This debut was a total solid 4 stars for this reader!! I loved the pacing and the characters and I just couldn't put it down. I do think that it could have used 50 more pages for a full 400 page book though. Because ya know I love big books and I can not lie!

Unscripted was a hilarious, powerful, and empowering read. I want more books about improv! This one opened my eyes to the misogynistic improv world, and watching the main character navigate the complicated gender dynamics of her camp made me alternately scream and cheer. What an important, riveting read.

I'm an actor and have loved improv since I was in high school. I really really enjoyed this book because it felt so important to me! Comedy has always been so male dominated but now, with the likes of Kate McKinnon, Kristin Wiig, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey, the field is finally evening out. I think this is a great book for teenage girls interested in comedy to find their voice and confidence, plus a little fun.