Title: Screw Cupid: The Sassy Girl’s Guide to Picking Up Hot Guy
Author: Samantha Scolfield
Publisher: Experiment, The (September 1, 2009)
Genre: Self-help

About the book: Screw Cupid is the guide for every woman ready to take her dating life into her own hands. Samantha Scholfield has many years of dating experience, and the techniques and strategies she reveals here were developed via extensive trial and error – and by consulting and collaborating with hundreds of women (and many men), and by refining the best of the extensive pickup advice that already circulates among men. The result: perfectly calibrated guidance on how to initiate a conversation – anytime, anywhere – and get right to a date, all without the guy knowing he’s being picked up.

I don’t usually read self-help books, but something in this book made me want to read it. I never thought I would ever rate a book on how to pick up hot guys, but here it is – 4 out of 5.

I decided to try a different approach with the review and so I asked my lovely readers to ask a few questions. I’ve answered them as best as I could and without spoiling the book too much.

Veens: Can teens [in college] really use the advice? If so, I would like to see a few examples of advices
I don’t think this book is aimed towards college going teens but then you can always customize right? The book mentions how to initiate conversations in bars or say bookstores. But there is a section at the beginning where the author mentions a mistake she did in high school. Something on the lines of ‘do not stalk the guy you like’ which I feel is the mistake so many of the girls do But as I said one can always customize and adapt.

Stacy: would be curious about what they say about where to meet someone these days. I have so many friends finding dates (sometimes souses) online.
It mentions a lot of places actually. Bars, bookstores, parties etc. In fact, there is a list of places that tell you where to meet guys. Obviously not all are feasible, but most are. The author mentions online dating too and she also gives a very good way to contact guys through dating sites which would help them notice your message among the many others they might get. I really liked that advice which in spite of falling on the “common-sense” side is overlooked by many girls.

Care: DO tell us the sug that seems the most daring idea and the one that is the most ridiculous! Any that you will/want to try and then you MUST go apply that knowledge, come back and report EVERYTHING — we want to know all the juice details!
I don’t think there was any ridiculous idea but for me approaching a group of guys that also had a girl in it would be daring. But then the author also says it’s an advance step I’m actually going to give this book to a friend of mine who is desperately looking out for a descent guy. I could ask her for a guest post to fulfill our needs of gossip and juicy details

Jackie: I’d want to know if this was funny and if you tried any of the tips – did they work?!! I love a bit of gossip!
Oh well, I’ve just read it, so you’ll have to wait for the gossip. But yes, this book was funny at times and always entertaining. Even if you are not looking to pick up hot guys, you will definitely find yourself nodding at mistakes you did once or have seen someone else do. But the author has tried every tip she has mentioned in the book and vouches that they work if tried correctly.

Trish: How does one gain the confidence to ask a guy out? Should she be straight forward or try to be friends with the guy first? (And I’m part of that camp that thinks girls and guys cannot be just friends!). Anything NOT to do?
Definitely a lot of do’s and don’ts here and also a lot of busting of myths. This book is basically intended towards picking up guys for a date. But she also tells us how to approach a guy without actually suggesting anything and gradually going ahead from there. I think the best “NOT” was to not stand with a group of girls and wink or smile at a hot guy across the room and expect him to approach you. However absurd it may sound I have seen this happening. And it almost never works. Guys will rarely approach a girls group just because you seemed interested in him.

Eva: I suppose I want to know what you thought the five best suggestions from the book were
–>Never settle for a guy. If you don’t like a comment he made, loose his number.
–>Have a lot of guys to go out on dates, so that you always have options and in turn don’t think you have to settle. But then, I’m really not sure how feasible this advice is.
–>How to approach a guy in the first place without it being too awkward for the both of you. The opening lines examples were great. Some were weird (I would never try them), but they do give you a good direction to start with.
–>A huge list of places to find guys.
–>A small but superb suggestion for online dating. I wish this part was covered more in detail though.

Ceri: What do you think would be the most important lesson you’ve learned from the book?
Number one in Eva’s answer. I think it’s very important not to “settle” thinking you’ll never find a better guy. There are a lot of guys out there. You just need to put yourself out there and approach as many guys you like and then filter. And don’t forget to have a blast in the process. The initial rejections will hurt but you learn from the process and move on.

Melody: What do you think of the advice given? Would you recommend this book to your readers?
I thought the advice was very practical and definitely something that can be used. And the author’s voice comes off as friendly without sounding full of herself. I guess if women could customize certain things, this advice is definitely the best I’ve seen around. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to take things in her hand instead of cribbing that there are no good guys around. May be that’s true, but at least you could say that after trying. Read this book, try out the advise and if it still doesn’t work, I guess email the author. At the end of the book, there’s an FAQ section with questions from women who have tried the things in the book but are still unsuccessful. The author explains exactly what went wrong with the approach, pointing out the small mistakes that might get overlooked otherwise. But having said that, I’m not really sure the advice could work everywhere. It seems to be targeted for big cities where you probably won’t run into the same guys over and over again.

So yes, it’s definitely worth trying out with a little caution and adapting it to the situation you are in.

Thank you Lisa for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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