Thoroughly enjoyed this book by Michelle Gallen. A fantastic debut set in a small close knit town in Northern Ireland. The book follows a young woman navigating her life after the death of her grandmother whilst dealing with an alcoholic mother and an absentee presumed dead father.

Marjella is witty, realistic and completely recognisable. I loved the fact that she knows and loves who she is and doesn't change herself for others. Her coworker Marty at the Salt and Battered! Really lifted the book, along with the different faces that visited the chippy adding the right balance of humour and light.

Gallen's use of unusual chapter headings and varying lengths almost gave this book a diary feel and a connection to Marjella in away conventional chapter headings fail do. Also, the use of hyphen for speech, and dialect really helped transport you into Arghybogey and made you feel like a local.

My one issue with this debut is the lack of closure you get as a reader surrounding the murder of Marjella's grandmother in regards to who was responsible, and the actual truth of what happened to her father - where he went, what happened etc.

Overall, a stunning book and I will definitely purchasing this once it's been published.

Thank you to Netgalley and Michelle Gallen for allowing me to receive this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is such a great book! Took a little while to get into but once I felt I knew Majella a bit more I was full y invested and rooting for her! I really hope there is a second book as this almost leaves more questions than answers...

I loved this book, Majella is one of the best characters I’ve read or seen written in a long time, she takes time to warm up to but once she is in your heart she doesn’t let go. This book is about the everyday, the mundane and real emotions, I get why people may not enjoy it as much, but for me makes it a truly relatable, empathetic and powerful read. I really hope there is a second book and we get more of Majella


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

I tried to get into this book, as the reviews and synopsis sounded really good however I just couldn't and in the end didn't finish it.
I found the language in the book difficult and, as well as the lack of capitals at the start of sentences or for names.
Sorry, just not for me!

My thanks to Michelle Gallen, John Murray Press and NetGalley for the ARC.
Majella's world is very small. She works at the local chippy, creatively named a Salt and Battered on the evening and nightshift, lives with her alcohic mother in Aghybogey, and after her da goes missing years before has missed him and wondered what happened to him. She has no close fiends yet knows many people. Marjella is clearly on the autistic spectrum and the unique way she looks at life is intriguing. One can't help but love her. When her grandmother is murdered in her caravan most think ir's connected to her sons disappearance and therefore The Troubles. The cast of characters frequenting the chippy is very entertaining. Loved it!

It took a while but I got attached to the protagonist Majella and I feel strangely protective of her.

The book is full of every day life and emotions that she doesn’t always understand which makes it a relatable and good read.

I couldn't get into this book at all and gave upon it. Sorry this one isn't for me but it has got good reviews from other readers so it is just me

I loved this book, which managed to combine some of the seriousness of the troubles with the effects on ordinary people's lives in a very readable way.
Majella is a wonderful central character, and the reader lives the complete gamut of emotions with her even when she has her blank face on. There were moments that almost moved me to tears, particularly about her father, and others that made me laugh out loud or flinch at the reality of them - cervical smear speculum being a notable one!
I can imagine her life as a tv series, maybe with spin off series for some of the chip shop regulars, and hopefully a happy ending for Majella.
Thank you to netgalley and John Murray press for an advance copy of this book.

I loved this book so much that it makes me feel a bit inarticulate. I miss Majella already: she is the most compelling character I've read in ages, and the depiction of her thought processes and neuro atypicalness is brilliant; the narrative of her grief was particularly well-drawn and moving,. It almost made me really, really want fish and chips.

This is 28-year old Majella’s O’Neill’s life in Northern Ireland. She’s stuck in a dead-end job doing the late-shift at the village chippy, living with her alcoholic Mum. Her father has disappeared and her Nan has recently been murdered. She spends her life between a mundane job, avoiding social interaction, occasional sexual encounters and watching old episodes of “Dallas”. Her long list of dislikes (gossip, banter, repeated jokes) serves as a framework of her days. After a while, I found that I cared more about the weird chip shop customers, e.g. Jake “The Snake” Connolly, Jimmy “Nine Pints”, “Cabbage” Mcateer (a “dirty wee croil of a man”) than I did about Marjella. But then, I almost adopted her as a cause worth rescuing. And in the end, I was cheering her on: you GO, girl!
Random capitalisation or lack thereof made the text awkward to read.

This is such a great book! Took a little while to get into but once I felt I knew Majella a bit more I was full y invested and rooting for her! I really hope there is a second book as this almost leaves more questions than answers...

This Irish language novel takes place over the course of a week in the life of Majella, the antithesis of the Aishling character in another current series of novels. Majella lives in a small town with her alcoholic ma and has recently buried her granny who died as the result of a violent attack. She works in a chip shop, has a variety of likes and dislikes and self soothes to control her mild ASD. The novel is a visceral description of her day to day, hour by hour existence including toilet trips and menstruation. She enjoys sex and although not predatory in her search for it perhaps is a bit exploited because of it? She’s never been a typical person and in her early life was clearly exposed to violence and alcohol abuse. The Troubles feature heavily and there is a cast of many characters of the small town who feature in Majella’s past and current existence and who serve to present a picture of a life with limited horizons.

I'm feeling bereft to get to the end of this novel, after spending so many entertaining hours in the company of the indomitable Majella . I was engrossed by her tales of the chippy with all the gossip and the unforgettable characters - not forgetting her co-worker Marty, who knows everything there is to know about any of the customers. I enjoyed reading about Magella's thoughts and (often intimate) daily routines, especially as told in the Northern Irish vernacular which spares no blushes.
I shall really miss reading more about Majella and wish there could be a sequel as some of the storylines are left unfinished.

Brilliant and funny book. Loving the quirkiness of the story. Coming from Belfast loving the lingo and just such a good book to have a laugh a minute but has some serious times.

I LOVE MAJELLA! Apart from the slightly naff title, this has been one of my favourite reads of 2019. The titular character lives a completely claustrophobic life hemmed in by her alcoholic mother, working in the town's chippy and all set against a backdrop of the Troubles. When the book opens, Majella has just lost her grandmother and this casts a shadow over her day to day life where everywhere she turns, somebody else from the town wants a piece of her. I truly didn't want this book to end, rooting for Majella book 2 soon please! Thanks NetGalley!

I received this book for an honest review from
Netgalley, I read the book description and was intrigued.
Majella is 28 and lives with her mum in a small house in her village, based on her mannerisms and ways she sees the world she’s either Aspergers or Autistic she has ticks and ways of coping.
We see her through many weeks over the book as she goes through her life working in the local chippy, looking after her mum and dealing with the aftermath of her grandmothers murder in a village that feeds itself on gossip and rumour.
The catholic/Protestant divide is still strong and they still live with the memory of English occupation during the troubles.
The book is sometimes harsh and unyielding as is Majella and how she views the little world she lives in.
The language in spoken Irish wording took some getting used to but I got there.
My only issue was the lack of a full closure of the story as such.

This was described as the next Eleanor Oliphant, well as I haven't read that I can't compare.
There really isn't a lot to say about the book. We follow Majella on her daily life over a few days. She doesn't do much except sleep, work in the local chippy and eat a free supper most nights.
Her father has gone missing, her mother is an alcoholic and enjoys being one and her grandmother has been murdered.
All makes for one very depressing read. I know the troubles were tough, but I read to escape not to be thoroughly depressed.
The book is aimed at Young Adults but I found the use or not of capitals throughout the book annoying. I'm not talking about the dialect used, I found that worked quite well. Just names not being capitalised.
There was some humour but not a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book.... mostly light hearted and very true to life and I believe typically Irish. Marjella the main character was a lost soul who lived a very simple life and wanted for nothing as she had nothing.. I would have loved her to find love, though the ending was a happy one.

Hailed as another Elizabeth Oliphant but I found Majella a difficult person to empathise with.
For me it was difficult read, I could not find the humour in it and I struggled to get to the end.

I tried hard to like this book, far harder than I usually do. The reviews were Good,so I thought I just needed to get into it.
I got into 50%of it,then gave up... I found it dull,repetative and a little depressing. It's probably supposed to be. Same old same old.
But I found no humour... and so I gave up.
Not for me.