130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery 🚀 Auckland Bookstore • Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

The Optimist

3.41 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 164 ratings, 54 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Optimist follows Tabitha Gray, a spirited and delusional young woman from Topanga, California, whose relentless optimism drives her through a series of hilarious and often absurd quests for true love. From waiting in lingerie for Harrison Ford to answering a random sexter, Tabby's fearless and cock-eyed belief in romantic destiny leads to chaotic yet heartfelt misadventures. Combining sharp satire with warmth, Sophie Kipner explores modern romance's trials and the human need to keep chasing love against all odds.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK Please add to wishlist to be notified when back in stock

Sorry, we're currently out of stock of The Optimist. Please add to your Wishlist and we'll send you an email as soon as it's back in stock.

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This sparkling novel is ideal for readers who enjoy contemporary women's fiction, romantic comedy, and satirical takes on love and relationships. Fans of clever, character-driven humour like How to Build a Girl and Fleabag will find it especially appealing.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

How to Build a Girl meets Fleabag in this sparkling novel about coming of age and the agony of modern relationships

How to Build a Girl meets Lena Dunham in this brilliant, hilarious novel about coming of age and the agony of modern relationships

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

How to Build a Girl meets Fleabag in this sparkling novel about coming of age and the agony of modern relationships.

Meet Tabitha Gray, a delusional girl from Topanga, California, who redefines what it means to be a truly hopeless romantic. Tabby suffers from an aggressive strain of cock-eyed optimism—no amount of failure, embarrassment or humiliation can dent her fierce belief that real, true, lasting love is just around the corner.

Where most people think, fantasise and dream, Tabby says, feels and does. Whether waiting in her lingerie for Harrison Ford to open the door of his hotel room; following Al Pacino around a Russian bathhouse; seeking passion with a blind man on the advice of a wise old woman with dementia; or sending intimate photos to a random sexter with an apparently charming dick, Tabby refuses to be crushed by her many misadventures.

In this warmly witty novel, Sophie Kipner takes a satirical look at the extremity of romantic desperation and pays tribute to the deep human need to keep on heroically searching for love despite our many absurdities.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise The Optimist for its wit and emotional intelligence. The Sun calls it "funny and upbeat" and "the best women's fiction" in years. The Daily Mail appreciates Kipner's sharp eye for absurd details and emotional depth, describing the book as "deranged and always very clever." The Pool compares it to "Bridget Jones on a sugar high," recommending it as a joyful, escapist romantic comedy.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781783525584

Publisher: Boundless Publishing Group Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 June 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Unbound

Edition: 2nd edition

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 24.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 384

About the Author

Visual artist and author Sophie Kipner grew up in Topanga, CA. A graduate of the University of Southern California, she writes and illustrates her own stories, which have appeared in Kugelmass: A Journal of Literary Humor, Amy Ephron's One for the Table, FORTHMagazine and The Big Jewel, and her artwork, most recently her series of blind contour portraits, DONTLIFTUPDONTLOOKDOWN, has been shown and sold internationally. She lives in Los Angeles, and The Optimist is her first novel.
www.sophiekipner.com/@sophiekipner

More from Humour

View all
  • Me vs Brain
    The hilarious book from TikTok and Insta sensation, Hayley Morris Brain - No one's going to buy your book Me - But it's good! My editor says so! Brain - Well she would, wouldn't she... Btw, didn't you leave your hair straighteners on? Me - I can't get into this now, I've got a book description to write Hello! Hayley...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • What A Way To Go
    The Million Copy #1 Bestselling Author of How to Kill Your Family is back with the new book of the moment. Featured in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Sunday Times Style, You Magazine… 'Super-sharp, lethally witty' - NIGELLA LAWSON 'Delicious' - JOJO MOYES 'Very funny… I inhaled it' - JOE LYCETT ‘Taut, pacy, seamless… a huge pleasure to read’ - MARIAN KEYES ‘I...
    Paperback
    $3699
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Killer Isn't Alice
    46,600 SUSPECTS. 18 CLUES. 1 KILLER. CAN YOU SOLVE THE CRIME? Test your detective skills in the addictive murder mystery puzzle book sensation - newly revised and expanded. Now with updated graphics, a brand-new culprit, and a never-before-seen, thrilling bonus puzzle. Alice Starling is missing. In her apartment, the police find three things: A DEAD BODY A CRYPTIC NOTE A...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Murdoku
    Place the suspects, reveal the killer! An innovative puzzle book that incorporates murder mysteries with sudoku-like logic. An addictive mix of cosy crime and colourful grid logic puzzles. These visually appealing, addictive puzzles drop solvers into immersive mini murder mysteries, combining the elegant simplicity of games like sudoku with the storytelling of classic logic problems. But Murdoku introduces its own...
    Paperback
    $3899
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Gate of the Feral Gods
    The fourth book in the explosive LitRPG Dungeon Crawler Carl series New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that's talent. Surviving in a multilevel dungeon that also happens to be the set of the galaxy's most watched game show has taught Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess...
    Hardback
    $6000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Murdoku Volume 2: Back In Time
    Sudoku meets murder mystery in a time-travelling puzzle adventure, with 80 full-colour immersive cases spanning some of history's most thrilling eras. Unravel crimes across time in Murdoku Volume 2: Back in Time, where sudoku-style logic meets gripping murder mysteries. Each full-colour puzzle drops you into a vivid crime scene, challenging you to use the visual and verbal clues provided to...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Kitchen Confidential
    The classic bestseller from the star of Parts Unknown and No Reservations: 25th Anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Irvine Welsh. BEFORE THERE WAS THE BEAR, THERE WAS BOURDAIN. ‘Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino’ — A.A. Gill ‘Fantastic: as lip-smackingly seductive as a bowl of fat chips and pungent aioli’ — Daily Telegraph After twenty-five years of sex,...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates
    A hilarious, swoony and downright terrifying horror romance in which a cinephile gets caught in the middle of a murder spree at a speed-dating event and must use her encyclopedic knowledge of the rom-com and horror genres to make it as a real-life Final Girl. When cinephile Jamie Prescott attends a speed-dating event, she expects to meet some mediocre men...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Peck & Peck
    THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GLOBAL SENSATION LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY RETURNS . . .   Peck & Peck tells the irresistible story of a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious, secretive and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck. Batter Gray is worried about his future....
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Murdle
    Bored of Wordle? Try being a sleuth with these murder mystery puzzles. Murdle by G. T. Karber, the creator of the popular online daily mystery game, presents a collection of 100 original murder mystery logic puzzles - the perfect gift for armchair detectives and puzzlers to hone their minds and solve a crime. - Who committed the ghastly deed? -...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Correspondent
    84 Charing Cross Road meets A Man Called Ove in this Radio 2 Book Club pick—a heartwarming, witty story about the life of an extraordinary woman, told through her letters. In her letters to family and friends, we come to know the life of Sybil Van Antwerp—stubborn, cantankerous, opinionated, always steadfast in her belief in the power of the written...
    Paperback
    $2199
    Elsewhere:
    $2800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Women's Prize Winner
    The Correspondent
    84 Charing Cross Road meets A Man Called Ove in this heartwarming, witty story about the life of an extraordinary woman, told through her letters. In her letters to family and friends, we come to know the life of Sybil Van Antwerp—stubborn, cantankerous, opinionated, always steadfast in her belief in the power of the written word. But as the clock...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3700
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.