Rating: 
Summary: Lots of fun to read!
Review: I enjoyed The Girlfriends' Guide. It is funny, easy to read and touches on a lot of things that really did happen when I was pregnant. At times, I found it to be a little too sarcastic - like when Vicki said "If anyone tells you they love being pregnant, they're lying." Otherwise, it was a good read. If you enjoyed this book, you will also like We're Pregnant!, a candid and humorous account of a pregnancy and delivery from both the mother's and the father's perspective. The expectant father is a hoot! Both books contain a great deal of information and are true-to-life.
Rating: 
Summary: almost made me adopt
Review: I tried hard to appreciate the humor of this book- but beyond that, it didn't highlight a single positive thing about being pregnant- in fact it almost scared me out of it. I would not recommend this book to anyone who's considering or experiencing pregnancy for the first time- stay away!
Rating:
Summary: Cute but scary if taken too seriously
Review: I thought the book was a hoot - she is very clever with her words. However, it is obvious some of it is written purely for the humor. Some of her advice, if written in a text book format and not in a humorous, conversational format, would be down right scary! One thing that points to this is her somewhat cavalier attitude about weight gain - chocolate chip cookies and milk every night under the pretense of getting your calcium?! Yikes. No wonder she got 'fat'.All in all, a cute, easy read for those first weeks where you just want to know everything you can. Beware of taking things like the 'upholstered body' too seriously. It is meant to be funny!
Rating: 
Summary: Best book on pregnancy! By far!
Review: This is the funniest, most candid book I've found on pregnancy (it's also the funniest book I've ever read PERIOD!). Thus far, I only can empathize with the first trimester but it's right on track. Not only does Ms. Iovine give her point of view-- and she has a valid one, four babies later-- but offers the benefit of varying opinions from many Girlfriends. Talk to your husband about your pregancy? Don't bother. He's more interested in basket weaving than hearing about his future child. Wear your prepregnant pantyhose? Not unless you want them rolling down your tummy and stopping at your knees. Take a lacy nighty to the delivery room? Not if you ever plan to wear it again. Great advice. Excellently written. Gut-splittingly funny. Definitely a five star. Definitely MUST reading for all pregnant women. Much more valuable than all those fright books that threaten your life if you don't eat seventeen servings of vegetables a day. (I'd explode.)
Rating: 
Summary: Who wants to take pregnancy so SERIOUS all the time?
Review: After skimming a bunch of the reviews for this book, I had to add my own thoughts. The people who wrote that this book sucks were obviously expecting a different type of book and were not looking for something to let you LAUGH at pregnancy! Vicky says right out front, this is NOT a medical book, if you want medical advice, go somewhere else. No other book will tell you what a hemmoroid FEELS like or just HOW MUCH blood to expect in the hospital. Or that you will still look pregnant when you leave the hospital. This book IS NOT for those of you who are taking pregnancy seriously and reading all the books and writing out your birth plans and practicing with your birthing ball. It's for those of us standing in front of the fridge at 2am gnawing on a hunk of cheese, glaring at our spreading backsides in the mirror, and wondering when the heck our noses will stop bleeding. It's for those of us who are tired of having our tummies patted by strangers. It's for those of us who are ready to laugh at ourselves.
Rating:
Summary: I expected so much more
Review: I expected this book to be informative and hilarious. Instead, I feel I was talked down to and that this woman was trying to force her opinion on whomever's reading the book. To each her own. I whole heartedly disagree with her views on exercise during pregnancy. There are studies that show women who exercise before and during their pregnancies hold up better during labor because they are more physically fit. Remember to take everything you read with a grain of salt. Read this book after you've read a few others first.
Rating:
Summary: Undoubtably the best (non-medical) book on being pregnant!
Review: Vicki captures the good, the bad and the ugly of being pregnant in a way that only a good "girlfriend" would. I read all of the "What to expect..." books and every other piece of literature I could get my hands on during my first two pregnancies (10 and 7 years ago) and still wasn't totally prepared for the miracle of childbirth. Vicki reminded me, in a comical but direct way, of the little things that we experienced moms tend to forget when it comes to having that wonderful baby growing inside of you. If 10 stars were an option, The Girlfriend's Guide would get it from me! I'm 6 weeks into my third pregnancy and plan on re-reading this everytime I need a good chuckle during the long months ahead! A sense of humor is a must in order to fully enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Kept me laughing, very conversational
Review: I skimmed through this book while my husband & I were trying to conceive and laughed out loud numerous times. Now that I'm five weeks along, I'm reading it more thoroughly and laughing & loving it even more! The author tells it like it is, and it's nice to hear things from someone who has experienced it, not just someone with letters after their name. Don't get me wrong, I'm also reading books by medical practitioners for play-by-play of the pregnancy, but this one is just like talking to a Girlfriend. I just now learned (from another review) that she has two more books and I look forward to reading them, too. Thanks, Vicki!
Rating:
Summary: Poor Vicki!
Review: This book is supposed to be a helpful, hip guide to the real inside scoop on pregnancy. Some of the advice -- especially how not to spend a fortune on maternity clothes, what to take to the hospital, things like that -- is excellent; but I was disturbed at how awful she makes the whole pregnancy and birth experience sound. I'm currently trying to conceive for the first time, and she almost made me rethink the whole idea! Fortunately, <i>my</i> girlfriends who've been there and done that claim it's all not as dire as Iovine makes it sound. Maybe if you pop out four in six years (!) the experience wears a bit thin ... I found the endless moaning about how fat and disgusting pregnant women look, and how repulsive they are to the men in their lives, to be quite tiresome, especially coming from a woman who repeatedly reminds us that she wears a size four. The tone throughout makes it sound as if Mr. Vicki is hell on wheels to be married to -- the second she became marginally less decorative he can hardly stand to look at her or, indeed, be in the same room. Now <i>there's</i> a man I'd be dying to be married to! Parts of this book are quite funny: Iovine has a nice, chatty, girlfriendy tone throughout, and you come out rather liking her as a person. But the end result of reading this book, for me, was depressing rather than comforting. Do women ever actually want to get pregnant, and not regret the choice once it happens? If you listen to Iovine, you sure wouldn't think so.
Rating:
Summary: Reassuring and hilarious; a must-read
Review: I haven't stopped laughing since I started reading this book a few days ago. Vicki Iovine clearly knows what's on the minds of moms-to-be, and anyone wondering about the joys and mutations of pregnancy will enjoy this book. I certainly have.
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