Member Reviews

It’s taken me a long time to start this, reviews had put me off a bit. Reviews saying the dialect and Irish references were hard to understand but it was fine.
I really enjoyed it, liked her and even though it did feel like a bit of an Irish Bridget Jones it didn’t put me off. There are now 4 books in the series which I will be continuing on with.

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A really great read, which treads the perfect line between humour and emotion. Aisling's voice is perfectly conveyed, I felt like I knew exactly who she was even though I don't have much experience of life in rural island.

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I enjoyed this story which revolves around a relationship breakdown .Aisling is the main character and is desperate to marry her long term partner and when things don't work out the way she hopes the relationship ends . The story delves into her many friendships and the lose of a loved one .It's a funny but serious look at life failings throughout her naïve life … It's not a gripping story just a nice easy read .

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I picked this novel up because I thought it was going to be a light read. A funny story about a country girl who finds her feet in the big city. What I wasn’t expecting was the laughs, the being kept on edge, the almost tears. I think my fingernails might be permanently damaged from digging them into something that fingernails aren’t supposed to be dug into.

So my favourite things about this novel include how intricate it is. It’s a light read, but I also love the feeling of ‘oh!’ when everything comes together at the end. It’s funny, light, touching, and anxiety-inducing all at once.

The only thing I struggled with was simultaneously something else I loved about the book – it’s set in Ireland. I love emerging myself in a different culture, but also, have your Irish dictionary to hand! The slang is craic.

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Very funny and very Irish. I enjoyed the humour. Very easy read - perfect for a holiday read. The story moves along at a quick pace between Aisling's home town, where she comes home every weekend, and her commute to Dublin during the week. This book perfectly captures the Irish culture and will be instantly recognised by any Irish person. A real insight into pull of friends where you grew up and building a life where you've moved to,

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I have just finished reading "Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling!" it is definately going onto my list of favourite reads. I laughed and cried and didn't want it to end. I loved the way it was written and completely fell in love with Aisling and her family. Please let us have more like this.

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A lightweight book about a young Irish woman and her various escapades. It didn't really tick my boxes.

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I really tried, but this one is just not for me. I just could not engage with the main character. Sorry.

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Oh my word, what a delightful surprise this novel was! The first couple of pages, I needed to settle into the chatty Irish way of speaking the story, but once I was adjusted I was utterly beguiled by the voice and the gentle manner in which the book unwound.

Aisling is a joy of a character - she's friendly, well-mannered, compassionate, and a little bewildered by the world around her. She is just the tonic for an escapist story, to get away from a real world that feels a little too unlike her these days. The rest of the cast are perhaps a little less finely drawn, but they weren't two dimensional and they all helped the plot along.

The plot feels like well-worn steps along a path I've read before, but, honestly, that did not matter when the voice of the novel was so beautifully done. I ripped through the book, just gulping it down, and am desperate for the next.

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Oh my God, I was so excited about reading this book, but was so, so disappointed!
Aisling is a 'small town girl' with a steady job and a boyfriend who is yet to propose after 7 years of being together - so far, so boring. However, after a rather disastrous getaway, she leaves her boyfriend behind to head for the 'bright lights', where everything becomes that little bit more dramatic.
As per a lot of the UK population, I have an extensive Irish side to my family and was really looking forward to reading a book that summed up all their foibles. However, this is a really cliched book with strong Irish stereotypes that just don't exist anymore. It would have been nice to explore a modern Ireland instead of relying on age old assumptions of how 'small town' people live their lives.
I also found the way the authors use little mini dramas within the book quite breathless. Perhaps they could have added a bit more substance to a few of the stories and it wouldn't have seemed so scatty (which again is trading on old fashioned views of the Irish).
I know a lot of people really loved the book, and Aisling, but she just wasn't for me.

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I quite enjoyed this book but sometimes I fear the humour was lost on me although I did have the odd laugh out loud moment! A so-so story line centered around main character 'Aisling' who at best is the sensible irish friend we all have who somewhere! . I have not seen or heard of the facebook page and perhaps should have taken a look first or then again not bothered to read the book in the first place. Having said that, I did enjoy parts of it, just not enough for me to give it a higher rating. Thanks to netgalley for an ARC in return for my honest opinion.

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I absolutely loved this book by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen. It tells the story of 28-year-old Aisling, a small town girl at heart, who tries to survive in the big smoke of Dublin. She is hilarious and as so many reviews have said, if you don’t know a girl like Aisling, it’s probably because you are one. I could see so much of myself in her – being a smallish-town girl myself with some Irish blood in me. Aisling is so sensible – the kind of girl that will always take a jacket with her (that sounds familiar to me) and definitely wouldn’t ever get a parking fine. I even had a Forever Friends duvet just like her. She gets herself into hilarious situations that had me laughing out loud on the train. She’s such an endearing character that you’ll learn to love – an Irish Bridget Jones for the 21st century. Anyone who has grown up in the country and moved to a big city will recognise the characters in Aisling’s hometown and remember the struggles as you try and shake off the country girl habits. Having a lot of Irish family meant that I understood a lot of the jokes and slang but I’m not going to lie, I did need to look up a few, but I now feel confident that I can speak the lingo the next time I visit the Emerald Isle. I can’t wait to read the sequel - there’s also talk of a film - as this was a hilarious and heart-warming read.

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A funny, bittersweet, observant novel about a young working woman in contemporary Ireland. A vibrant title character in Aisling that the reader will adore and cheer on. A lovely, warm and uplifting novel.

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Such a feel good book. Very Irish, lot’s of terms, words new to me but all the nicer for that.

A funny sweet tale of a 28 year old who wonders when her big day will happen.

Read armed with hot chocolate, biscuits and a box of tissues. This is a fabulous big hearted read.

Grab a copy for your bestie, she will love it.

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I am currently working on expanding our school library's senior section after years of a dismal and uninspiring selection of books that our older readers never checked out. My job has been to seek out much more diverse, gripping and modern books that will get them into reading by appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible. This really appealed to me because of its fantastic narrative and sense of atmosphere, combined with believable characterisation and its page-turning nature. It's hard to get young people into reading and if the library is not stocking the kind of book that they might grow up to buy as adult readers then we are not really meeting their needs. I can imagine this provoking lots of discussion after finishing it and a long queue of people trying to reserve it as they've heard so much about it. Will definitely be buying a copy and know that it's going to be a very popular choice. An engrossing read that kept me up far too late to finish reading it. It certainly stood out from the other books that I was considering and I look forward to converting more Aisling fans in future!

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Ah Aisling! She's brilliant! Aisling wants to get married to long standing boyfriend John - after all its what everyone else is doing, and they've been going out for years! But John is happy the way they are, as she finds out when they book a holiday to Tenerife. This is a hysterically funny story of Aisling's life following their break up, making new friends (she'll always have Maj as her best friend though!), moving into a new flat and then the subsequent drama of a family illness making her consider whats really important. After all, she still loves John. This book was a wonderful, witty and entertaining road. It reminded me in some way of the Walsh Family, made famous by Marian Keyes. I'd definitely love to read more about the individual characters separately. Highly recommend!

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Aisling is a typical small-town Irish girl who loves her family, a good feed and her boyfriend of seven years, John. She dreams of getting married and moving out of home, but when no engagement ring comes she takes matters into her own hands. Aisling is the reliable, naturally funny and spirited friend we all wish we had; ive had a friend similar to her and she made me smile and reminisce. The book is warmly written and makes you feel that you know all the family and that you are with them, I loved mammy and daddy so much, I actually snorted with laughter at some of their dialogues.
I researched the authors Emmer McLysaght and Sarah Breen after reading this book that they concocted Aislings character in their sitting room in 2008, where they discussed the quirks and characteristics of a particular type of Irish girl, one they have seen around them in their day to day lives. The book that they crafted ‘Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling’ was an instant hit in their native Ireland and the Number One best selling adult fiction title of 2017. I loved it.

I chose to read an ARC thanks to Netgalley and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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Fun, entertaining and, at times, a bit emotional, Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling is a fast-paced, funny read which I really didn’t want to put down!

The word ‘Aisling’ seems to be a term originally coined in an Irish Facebook group set up by Emer and Sarah, which has amassed many members who discuss the things they’ve noticed and observed about a certain type of Irish girl, known as an ‘Aisling’. I didn’t know this before I read the novel, so it’s not essential information, but I found it interesting that Aisling is a (seemingly fond, not cruel) term for a certain type of girl – and what an amusing character this novel’s Aisling is!

Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling made me smile and laugh, and though she’s odd in many ways, I really warmed to Aisling – seeing the world through her eyes is so entertaining, and left my hugely amused. Her observations on other people and their habits are brilliant. Some parts are ridiculous but that’s all part of the fun, and there are some much more serious moments too – it’s not all light and fluffy.

I wish there were more pages to this novel so I could spend more time with her (Emer and Sarah, write a second book asap please!). Definitely recommended.

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If you want to know the difference between 'going out' and 'going out out' then this book is for you. An amusing read. Possibly for a younger audience. I found myself reading it in an Irish accent. The Irish references were an education, I now know what 'fluthered ' means and I am on the look out for Barry's tea. Anyone who has been to Slimming World will recognise the syns.
"A treble jig while reciting Pangur Ban" is a vision that will stay with me.

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A genuinely lovely book. It's a really modern take on 'chick-lit' and I'm so happy about it. It's real joy to read about women like myself and be able to have great empathy whilst also being entertained.

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