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Rattled!: A Memoir
Warm, honest, funny, and empowering, Rattled! is an unforgettable memoir of a life that takes an unexpected turn—and a brave young woman who decides to follow where the road leads. Everything in twenty-six-year-old Christine’s life was going as planned—great friends, a promising job as a magazine assistant, New York City at her feet . . . even a cute guy. Until the fateful day she realizes she’s pregnant by said cute guy, whom she’d only been dating for a few months. The next thing you know, he bails and Christine is left to wonder, What now ? Trading Manhattan for the suburbs, skinny jeans for sweatpants, and all-nighters with the girls for 3 a.m. feedings with a restless infant, Christine chooses to live a life that honors what’s important to her—and finds strength she didn’t know she had in the process.
322 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
November 2, 2012
Hmm I really want to give this more like 2.5 stars...close to 3 because I did like it, but it's a really unusual read for me so I wouldn't rate it alongside my more preferred fare.
Anyway: This is about a girl who gets pregnant at age 26 with a guy she's only been dating for 3 months. She decides the keep the baby, the guy quickly vamooses, and she has to leave her fun-loving NYC life and move back home to Jersey.
I started reading this several years ago because a friend who works at a dating/relationships website handed it to me from her "free" pile at work. I was only able to get through a couple pages before I threw it aside. It felt way too "woman's magazine" to me (a prejudice I'm starting to get over now as I start to take the issues such mags talk about more seriously & realize they do actually have an influence on women's lives. But I definitely feel like there's a certain tone ("I take myself seriously but am also upbeat in a borderline annoying rah-rah way...and I read self-help books") that most woman's magazine writers get flattened out into (along the lines of "then this great difficulty which doesn't actually sound all that difficult made me realize I am a STRONG, amazing woman!") I suppose this has just as much to do with the corporatization of media and the generalizing effects of the corporation as anything else...but I digress.)
Anyway, a week ago I felt the need for an easy, quick read after a spate of heavy reading. This was lying nearby so I gave this a second chance and to my surprise found myself enjoying it. The author definitely starts out sounding like a spoiled-ish upper middle class white girl who takes her privileged position in the world for granted. And if you're not the kind of person who spends $275 on a pair of jeans, reading about someone else who does, and who likes to name-drop crap like Gucci, is really off-putting. BUT, despite all my prejudices, I was won over by this girl's voice in the end. She ended making a convincing case for having experienced difficulty in life (spine surgery when she was young, witnessing death of a grandmother at a really formative age, ex-boyfriend who became a quadripalegic, lifelong anxiety), enough so that I started to feel like: okay I do respect your voice after all. Like she wound up having enough authorial authority to tell the tale. And, despite what I said about the flattening effects of women's magazines, her own distinct voice did start coming through, and it was a warmer and more sensitive one than what I'd expected from the beginning of the book. And finally, she does a good job of conveying her personal transformation and a sense of her growing up through the book without beating you over the head with navelgazing self-revelation.
Finally I'll admit that when I started this a few years ago it was basically like reading my worst nightmare, since I'm about the same age as the author and her situation sounded HORRIFYING to me. So it's only now that I feel like I can even handle reading a story like this without the visceral, "Oh god pregnancy will RUIN YOUR LIFE!" reaction. I'm more at a stage of life now where the reaction is, "Oh god this will complicate my life, but I can handle it, so it's interesting to see how someone else handles it"
Anyway: This is about a girl who gets pregnant at age 26 with a guy she's only been dating for 3 months. She decides the keep the baby, the guy quickly vamooses, and she has to leave her fun-loving NYC life and move back home to Jersey.
I started reading this several years ago because a friend who works at a dating/relationships website handed it to me from her "free" pile at work. I was only able to get through a couple pages before I threw it aside. It felt way too "woman's magazine" to me (a prejudice I'm starting to get over now as I start to take the issues such mags talk about more seriously & realize they do actually have an influence on women's lives. But I definitely feel like there's a certain tone ("I take myself seriously but am also upbeat in a borderline annoying rah-rah way...and I read self-help books") that most woman's magazine writers get flattened out into (along the lines of "then this great difficulty which doesn't actually sound all that difficult made me realize I am a STRONG, amazing woman!") I suppose this has just as much to do with the corporatization of media and the generalizing effects of the corporation as anything else...but I digress.)
Anyway, a week ago I felt the need for an easy, quick read after a spate of heavy reading. This was lying nearby so I gave this a second chance and to my surprise found myself enjoying it. The author definitely starts out sounding like a spoiled-ish upper middle class white girl who takes her privileged position in the world for granted. And if you're not the kind of person who spends $275 on a pair of jeans, reading about someone else who does, and who likes to name-drop crap like Gucci, is really off-putting. BUT, despite all my prejudices, I was won over by this girl's voice in the end. She ended making a convincing case for having experienced difficulty in life (spine surgery when she was young, witnessing death of a grandmother at a really formative age, ex-boyfriend who became a quadripalegic, lifelong anxiety), enough so that I started to feel like: okay I do respect your voice after all. Like she wound up having enough authorial authority to tell the tale. And, despite what I said about the flattening effects of women's magazines, her own distinct voice did start coming through, and it was a warmer and more sensitive one than what I'd expected from the beginning of the book. And finally, she does a good job of conveying her personal transformation and a sense of her growing up through the book without beating you over the head with navelgazing self-revelation.
Finally I'll admit that when I started this a few years ago it was basically like reading my worst nightmare, since I'm about the same age as the author and her situation sounded HORRIFYING to me. So it's only now that I feel like I can even handle reading a story like this without the visceral, "Oh god pregnancy will RUIN YOUR LIFE!" reaction. I'm more at a stage of life now where the reaction is, "Oh god this will complicate my life, but I can handle it, so it's interesting to see how someone else handles it"
July 18, 2010
Terrible. Lost of repetitive stuff to fill the book. I had no sympathy for her and she whined a lot about life. She's a spoiled brat, basically. If you're going to keep your baby -- DO IT AND DON'T WHINE ABOUT IT THE WHOLE WAY! Sheesh. Poor kid! It made me sick that she felt so torn from her Seven Jeans and designer goods. Yick. Being a Mom means sacrafice -- and if you can't handle it -- get the damn abortion. Nuff said.
November 27, 2011
A great book, very well written and a definitely interesting story. I read Christine's blog regularly (when it was "Storked!" for Glamour magazine) and now she is blogging at parenting.com as "Mama's Boy." It's so fun to read her book, chronicling her unintended pregnancy and all the ups and downs of that being a young, single, NYC loving girl. And now, to read her blog, you can catch up on what has happened to Christine and Jack...after Jack was born and the book ended. That's a bonus!!
Christine is also on FB and that is awesome too! I feel as though she's a friend, even though I've never met her! Reading her book and following her blog, although I am not an "IRL" friend, I still feel apart of the story, as Christine has been so great in opening up her life and experiences to other young women who may be going through the same thing. Either we have, or we know someone who has, and that is what brings us all together.
Long story short, BUY THE BOOK! It's a must read, especially for the ladies. I read it over 3 nights in my bathtub (my fave place to read).
Christine is also on FB and that is awesome too! I feel as though she's a friend, even though I've never met her! Reading her book and following her blog, although I am not an "IRL" friend, I still feel apart of the story, as Christine has been so great in opening up her life and experiences to other young women who may be going through the same thing. Either we have, or we know someone who has, and that is what brings us all together.
Long story short, BUY THE BOOK! It's a must read, especially for the ladies. I read it over 3 nights in my bathtub (my fave place to read).
April 7, 2010
This book was just okay. It's written in the present tense despite the fact that these events ocurred years ago, which I found annoying. I also felt the "flashbacks" to earlier in her life were random and pointless. I thought it would be a light, easy read but I pretty much trudged my way through this one.
April 24, 2009
I like reading Chrissy's blog, but I didn't think the book added much to it...and I did not like her writing style...I never really felt an emotional connection, the whole thing is just fact, fact, fact. I went here, I did this, and oh yeah, I felt this.
August 27, 2009
If only every single 26 year old mother had the support and resources to fall back on when she accidentally got pregnant. Idyllic to say the least. I don't think I've seen a Gucci diaper bag at any baby shower I've attended.
January 28, 2024
Besides this book being like white noise or that old rerun you put on in the background, it was a story with familiar storylines to follow along with. Supportive Italian family, life in NYC, the fear of unplanned pregnancy- you've heard or seen it all before - but this was a memoir that made it endearing and interesting.
Don't read this book if you're hungry, or if you're hungry at night- the mention of food throughout this book will torment the hungry feeling inside of you. Don't do it.
Don't read this book if you're hungry, or if you're hungry at night- the mention of food throughout this book will torment the hungry feeling inside of you. Don't do it.
August 13, 2019
Very well written and hard to put down.
January 14, 2021
It was okay - I needed some light reading to pass the time and it delivered exactly that. Loud, funny-ish girl who talks a lot becomes single mom falling in love with accidental baby. That's it.
April 8, 2010
*shriek* this book freaked me out. it bills itself as a humorous memoir of a new york city magazine writer party girl finding herself unexpectedly knocked up & having to make the transition to responsible mommy chillaxin' in the suburbs. which it is, minus the part where it's all that funny, & minus the author really being all that much of a party girl. she kind of seems to be living this weird "sex & the city" fantasy lifestyle, with friends who work for designers, trying to launch a new women's magazine (which sounds like an off-brand "cosmo" & sports the incredibly unfortunate monkier "cocktail"), living in a crowded NYC apartment with two roommates, dating boys who are cute but don't necessarily have a lot of substance. two or three months into one such relationship, christine realizes that she is pregnant. the baby daddy is at first supportive & says that having the baby could be a really positive thing for them to do, but he fades out of the picture before long. he stops returning her calls & eventually moves back to indiana & takes up with his ex. christine gets no closure with him, he says he wants nothing to do with her or the baby, he wants to sign away any paternal rights he may have, & christine is assuming complete responsibility for her baby's future.
i always get a touch anxious at these unplanned-pregnancy-begets-single-motherhood stories, because there's always the moment where a decision needs to be made: be a mom, have an abortion, or go for adoption? sometimes this question is handled really clunkily in narrative contexts, & the authors are like, "i'm pro-choice but i just couldn't kill my baby!" hint: if you are pro-choice, you won't use that kind of loaded language. i'm pro-choice, i hope to have a baby one day when i'm prepared, & i have had an abortion. having the abortion was a no-brainer, even though i knew i also wanted a kid eventually. just not right then. anyway, the point is: christine handled this moment with a fair amount of grace & i appreciate this book for that.
but from there...it just got kind of boring. it's not a terrible book, i wasn't offended (as some other reviewers seem to be) by all the love & support (emotional & financial) that christine received from her friends & family. yes, it totally sucks that we live in a world where too many young women facing a similar quandary don't have the emotional & financial support they need to make the choices they want to make (whatever those choices may be), but i'm not going to begrudge someone who does. she seemed to be aware that she was really fortunate.
it's just that the story really dragged. & there were some weird flashbacks to christine's first love getting into a motocross accident & becoming a paraplegic, & the difficult choice that christine eventually made the end that relationship & move to new york. that was actually the most compelling part of the book, really, but it wasn't really relevant to the single mom story...i don't know. i can't say i'd really recommend this to anyone i know because christine's professional & family lives seem so different from those of most people i know, & it's tough to eke out any kind of insight from such a boring story. people have babies every single day, after all, & while it is a life-changing event for the people directly involved, that doesn't mean the rest of the world will be spellbound.
i always get a touch anxious at these unplanned-pregnancy-begets-single-motherhood stories, because there's always the moment where a decision needs to be made: be a mom, have an abortion, or go for adoption? sometimes this question is handled really clunkily in narrative contexts, & the authors are like, "i'm pro-choice but i just couldn't kill my baby!" hint: if you are pro-choice, you won't use that kind of loaded language. i'm pro-choice, i hope to have a baby one day when i'm prepared, & i have had an abortion. having the abortion was a no-brainer, even though i knew i also wanted a kid eventually. just not right then. anyway, the point is: christine handled this moment with a fair amount of grace & i appreciate this book for that.
but from there...it just got kind of boring. it's not a terrible book, i wasn't offended (as some other reviewers seem to be) by all the love & support (emotional & financial) that christine received from her friends & family. yes, it totally sucks that we live in a world where too many young women facing a similar quandary don't have the emotional & financial support they need to make the choices they want to make (whatever those choices may be), but i'm not going to begrudge someone who does. she seemed to be aware that she was really fortunate.
it's just that the story really dragged. & there were some weird flashbacks to christine's first love getting into a motocross accident & becoming a paraplegic, & the difficult choice that christine eventually made the end that relationship & move to new york. that was actually the most compelling part of the book, really, but it wasn't really relevant to the single mom story...i don't know. i can't say i'd really recommend this to anyone i know because christine's professional & family lives seem so different from those of most people i know, & it's tough to eke out any kind of insight from such a boring story. people have babies every single day, after all, & while it is a life-changing event for the people directly involved, that doesn't mean the rest of the world will be spellbound.
July 27, 2009
I read this memoir by Coppa in one night. I am a daily reader of her blog on Glamour.com and was really interested in what she had to say about her transition from city girl to mommy. For those who do not know, Chrissy is a single mom to JD and a freelance writer. She blogs daily about JD and her daily occurrences at Storked! and her writing over there got me interested enough to purchase not one, but two copies of her book the day it came out. One for me and one for my best-friend.
In Rattled! Chrissy relays how her boyfriend of three months and her had one night of unprotected sex and she ended up pregnant. The boyfriend stuck around half-heartedly for a few months while Coppa was thrown head first into mommy-hood and adulthood with a bleep on a sonogram.
Throughout the novel you want to throw things and swear at the boyfriend, hug and love her family (especially her very supportive father and brothers), giggle at the antics of her dear Nanny and sometimes throttle / sometimes desire to befriend her posse of pals.
Coppa is a very beautiful writer and really brings to life images and thoughts. My only complaint was that I wasn’t particularly moved by it. I thought there was emotion that could have been added but wasn’t. I don’t know, something just seemed a bit off, however I would recommend it and will most likely re-read. And would definitely read the next book that is sure to come!
In Rattled! Chrissy relays how her boyfriend of three months and her had one night of unprotected sex and she ended up pregnant. The boyfriend stuck around half-heartedly for a few months while Coppa was thrown head first into mommy-hood and adulthood with a bleep on a sonogram.
Throughout the novel you want to throw things and swear at the boyfriend, hug and love her family (especially her very supportive father and brothers), giggle at the antics of her dear Nanny and sometimes throttle / sometimes desire to befriend her posse of pals.
Coppa is a very beautiful writer and really brings to life images and thoughts. My only complaint was that I wasn’t particularly moved by it. I thought there was emotion that could have been added but wasn’t. I don’t know, something just seemed a bit off, however I would recommend it and will most likely re-read. And would definitely read the next book that is sure to come!
July 25, 2009
This book is a very touching account of a young woman living the dream life of a great job in NYC, traveling and partying with friends but that changes when she has an unplanned pregnancy. Rattled follows Christine's experience from learning she is pregnant, her struggles as she comes to terms with being a single mother, to her son's birth, and life as a single mother. It was a realistic as she dealt with the shock of being pregnant, hoping A would be involved. "A" is a jerk. On one hand I can understand him not being involved with Christine as they had only dated a short time but this is his son and think it is terrible he just walked away. Christine and Jack are better off without "A". I loved how she made decisions and changed her life for the good of her child. She struggled but always made the right decisions. Christine had a wonderful support system. Her family and friends supported her throughout her pregnancy and after, so it is wonderful that Jack has a large and extended "family".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 8, 2009
Excellent book.
About 2 years ago, one of my dear friends from HS posted a link to her friends new blog, called "Storked!". The blog author: a girl she went to college with at UofA in Philly, named Chrstine Coppa. A good friend of Tanika's and Tanika was spreading the word about her new blog.
Fast forward 2 years later. The blog is popular worlwide, daily column on Glamour.com, and Chistine has now written a book about her "Storked!" experiences. I have really gotten to know Christine over the years through her blog and this book opens up yet another window into her life. It's a memoir about her experiences of getting pregnant by her boyfriend of 3 months, going through the emotions of fear and regret, then finally coming to terms with someone who is now her beautiful 2 year old Jack Dominick (check out http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/... he's ADORABLE!!!)
It's my claim to fame too because Tanika is mentioned multiple times in the book!!
About 2 years ago, one of my dear friends from HS posted a link to her friends new blog, called "Storked!". The blog author: a girl she went to college with at UofA in Philly, named Chrstine Coppa. A good friend of Tanika's and Tanika was spreading the word about her new blog.
Fast forward 2 years later. The blog is popular worlwide, daily column on Glamour.com, and Chistine has now written a book about her "Storked!" experiences. I have really gotten to know Christine over the years through her blog and this book opens up yet another window into her life. It's a memoir about her experiences of getting pregnant by her boyfriend of 3 months, going through the emotions of fear and regret, then finally coming to terms with someone who is now her beautiful 2 year old Jack Dominick (check out http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/... he's ADORABLE!!!)
It's my claim to fame too because Tanika is mentioned multiple times in the book!!
August 29, 2009
Enjoyable memior from a 26-year old, single woman who choses to have her baby without support from the father (her ex-boyfriend). She had just recently moved to New York City from New Jersey after an emotional break-up from a longterm relationship, and was living a "Sex in the City"-like, carefree and fun lifestyle. After dating a new guy for 3 months, she has unprotected sex once, which she continually berates herself for doing throughout the book, and finds herself pregnant and unsure of her feelings for the father of the baby. She details how her life changes as she moves back home, loses her job, finds a new job, moves into a new apartment in the suburbs and then gives birth all within 9 months - and alone (save the excellent family-support system). An easy read from the author of the Storked! blog on glamour.com.
February 9, 2010
I thought this book had a lot of really funny and really sad moments. Christine finds herself pregnant with a baby daddy who could care less. She chooses to have the child which I really admired. It had some great anecdotes about her family that had me laughing out loud. It did get a little repetitive that in every chapter she comes to the "realization" that she will be a single mom. There is lots of brand name dropping. She goes from being a NYC girl having the time of her life, to living in Jersey. She worries a lot about money, but throughout the book she definitely drops a lot of dough on some weird things (like a palm beach babymoon)-but I cannot judge. Do other single moms have it harder? Sure, but I do not think Coppa is trying to speak about anyone but herself. This is a quick easy read, and if you can get over the repetition, it is really rather good.
July 20, 2009
Light, enjoyable read. Christine was honest in her memoir of learning she is pregnant and dealing with the fact that she will be raising a child on her own, after her boyfriend of three months cowardly abandons her. I was, however, annoyed that his name was "A." Was she hiding the fact that his name was really Adam or Aaron or Andrew? Who really names a son A? I had to read every sentence twice that she referenced him since it didn't make sense to read "A never returned my phone calls..." or "A is a complete jerk and is missing out on the life of his son..."
October 13, 2009
For the most part this was enjoyable though I personally don't live the "Sex and the City" lifestyle (though I do live in NYC) and found some of the scenes she described to be a bit melodramatic. Still, it must feel awesome to go from a 20-something assistant working your ass off in NYC and sharing an apartment with CL roommates to being a freelance columnist and published author whose work has received positive accolades all while a single parent. That I can definitely relate to (minus the single parent part).
February 14, 2011
I found this book through Christine's blog, and basically if you've been reading the blog you've read the book. It was a fast and easy read but because it's not offering anything new I can't recommend reading this instead of her blog. As some of the other reviewers said, I have to agree that there's a little too much brand name dropping (a problem always found on her blog as well) and blame on A for how hard single motherhood is on her. Yes, A is kinda an asshole but it's just so tiring to hear her complaining about it... she made her choice and he made his.
November 1, 2011
I read "Rattled" after having read Christine Coppa's Storked! blog on Glamour.com. The book essentially consists of the blog entries strung together in a more cohesive narrative. I was looking for something a little more substantial. but it's a decent read. It struck me that Ms. Coppa felt, for some reason, that having a husband to go along with her baby was "owed" to her. Yes, it's probably terrible to have your boyfriend of 5 months bail before you're even 3 months pregnant. I got a little tired of the constant brand-name dropping that she did, as well.
June 11, 2009
The author of this memoir--Christine Coppa--keeps a blog on Glamour.com that I've been reading for the past couple of years. I have been, I have to admit, sucked in, and have followed the story of her son's birth and the first couple of years of his life. I therefore had to buy the book that would give "the background of the blog". I wouldn't call this high literature, but I was struck by how movingly Coppa wrote about her relationship with her future and then newborn son.
May 26, 2009
Parts were amusing but overall, I never really connected with the character. I was never the party girl at heart, so her transition to motherly sacrifice and all seemed more like just a transition to growing up. Being a memoir, I'm glad that she was able to maintain a career and keep her sense of humor...
December 6, 2009
This is an enjoyable memoir by a single 26 year old expecting unexpectedly. The writing is pretty upbeat and almost comes across comical at times. It reminds me of the Shopaholic series. I did find it a little surprising how upbeat the writing was even when she was going through tough times. However, I do think it was an uplifting story.
May 1, 2011
This book was a quick read & while the author seems to live in a very different world than I do I enjoyed the story. There were times that it almost seemed that she had two completely different personalities though...so I'm not sure who she really is. Bottom line, it was an easy read & it made me even more happy to have my husband by my side for this pregnancy & to raise our child together.
November 29, 2015
Three stars for the actual writing, five +++ stars for getting me so dang interested in her situation that I spent an hour stalking her life on the Internet, especially the subsequent drama with her son's father, who got back together with his ex, married her, and had two more children, all the while ignoring the existence of his first child.
March 23, 2016
A quick read that was well-written but pretty forgettable. This is a pretty surface-y look at single motherhood that stems from a blog bankrolled by Glamour Magazine so it reads like a memoir written for The Hills generation - there are no guts or genuine emotion that made me really engage with Christine as a person. Glad things worked out for her though.
June 8, 2009
I was surprised at the caliber of Coppa's writing. I'll be honest, when I first started, I thought it would be just another chick lit type book about unexpectedly becoming a mom. But the story is much more than that -- it's a tale of survival and perseverance and love.
September 6, 2009
Biographic tale about a young, sigble Manhattanite who expectantly finds herself pregnant. An easy read and although not single myself, able to relate and laugh at the span of emotions shown throughout the pregnancy.
May 26, 2009
I was really excited to read this book because I am a fan of Christine's Glamour blog, but it just felt flat to me. Maybe because I know the outcome, maybe because her blog has been promoting it to death, I don't know. But I just didn't think it flowed right.
August 27, 2009
Eh - this book was just okay. The cover is totally deceiving - it is not a light hearted book about a fabulous Manhattanite getting knocked up! It is a memoir and seems to drag a bit....Even though its a memoir, i wanted closure with the baby's father.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews