Here's the thing, got about 5 pages into this and knew it wasn't going to be for me. I knew in an instant this book was written by a man as the female characters were written so badly in what I did read and were total stereotypes we had the 25 year old traveller who drinks wkd and who he refers to as a gypo (not OK) and the Scottish cat lady who of course drinks scotch whisky, we also have weight and fat shaming in these first five pages *vomit* this book is not going to be for.me at all so giving up before I get even more angry!

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

Once I fell into this book, I couldn't put it down. The lives of Katy, Pegs, Irish, Scotty Dog, Maggie and Lena, revealed one game of darts at a time, broke my heart so many times.
Each character felt original and authentic, all with their own unique voice. Parts of the women's truths were hard to read, uncomfortable even. But their story was always compelling. Highly recommend.

This book grew on me. It is gritty, down to earth and rather raw in its telling of the lives of 6 women. They all belong to a pub darts team, Six of the Best. The novel tells each woman's story by way of the darts season and the matches they play at the Bluebell Inn. There is Katy, unhappy in her marriage with a daughter who becomes very unhappy about Katy's choices. There is Maggie, looking after her husband Ken who has Alzheimer's. There is Irish who has lost a child and is married to a terrorist. Scottie Dog originates from Scotland and had a very tough childhood. Lena is living with her Mum's boyfriend and Pegs is a Traveller, trying to recover from a recent attack. Their lives are full of pain and tough decisions, traumatic events and difficult endings. Yet in amongst it there is hope and the chance of new beginnings. The language is stark and coarse, which I didn't always like but it is in keeping with the story and themes of this novel.
There's a lot of buying of drinks which gets a bit tedious but then the story is set in a pub! There's some detail about darts and the scores too which is also a tad boring to read but again is part of the location and sets scenes for us to discover yet another chapter in the women's lives, amounting to some very sordid tales.
Overall there is a pervading sense of the unfairness of poverty, lack of education, infidelity and teenage pregnancy. Add to that list prostitution, incest and rape and you get the gist that this is not a carefree summer read! It made me sad, and it made me think about class divisions. It also made me think about how some people live from day to day and what chances they have or don't have. And there is a lesson in there about love and the very different forms it takes.
Worth looking at if you fancy some gritty realism dressed up in a darts match.

Not a light fluffy read, this is about 6 women full of tales and tragic pasts, it was interesting and flowed well, but I felt the characters didn’t gel well at all and it felt like passing ships in the nice, the connectivity I would expect wasn’t there, the female bonding was lacking which I’d usually expect. Nice read, but lacked true warmth

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Six women meet mostly twice a week in an old run down pub to play darts. We follow them in practice sessions and to varies darts matches. Chapter by chapter we learn about the lives of each of the women,most are tragic.
I've never read about a group of six women before who don't know much detail of each other's lives and don't ask questions of each other either. They seemed a bit disconnected.
When one young woman is attacked no one really seems to mention it even although they all know who the attacker is likely to be, It felt like all separate stories to me and they didn't come together very well. Only a couple of happy endings and far too much swearing.
On saying that I read it and quite enjoyed it but it just needed a little bit more between the women.

Not such a light and fluffy read. These women come from murky and tragic pasts to an old worn out pub full of smoking, drinking and swearing to play darts. We learn all of their stories and while the darts season continues, some of the stories play out well, and some of them don't.

Brilliant. An emotional and honest story about six women and their lives. The raw emotion and writing had me hooked the whole way through. I laughed and cried and got caught up in the rollercoaster of emotions. I would definitely recommend this book and I will be looking out for more books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.