I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book.
This story was very realistic in parts and I think Viv handled herself very well. It's not the romantic comedy I thought it was, with the main character being slightly older than I imagined. However, it was easy to read and the plot moved at a reasonable enough pace for it to be entertaining.
In the end, you don't despise the ex for what he did to her, and I think the author did a good job of keeping her voice neutral, wrapping up all issues nicely.
3.5 stars

Thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this book.
I could have written this book!
Such a fun, wild and light hearted read and a look inside what most women are faced with today!!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure if it’s because I am not the target audience for this book, but it never really gripped my attention. I found it difficult to pick my back up after putting it down and I never really connected to the characters.

This is such a delightful book. The characters are realistic and go though the normal things the rest of us do, there is no over the top jobs or homes. Vic and Andy are a typical married couple with two children that are 18 years apart in age. Vic is going through menopause and I loved how the author describes her night sweats and hot flashes, making Viv a real person in my eyes. While the breakup of her marriage is emotional and heartbreaking it is handled well in the book. I felt so bad for Viv and I was cheering her on when she had her little drunken adventure. There are many parts of the book that make yOu laugh while others tear at your heart. The author manages to blend the good and bad creating a book that is neither sad nor morose. Viv’s neighbours add a nice touch to the story and you can’t help but love Ludo in the end. This story covers many things that occur in our lives and shows how we can overcome these through with the love and support of friends. I would call this a light read or a feel good book, one that has you smiling in the end and leaves you content and happy. I appreciate NetGalley and the publishing company allowing me to read this ARC.

"Why mummy drinks" it is not, and unfortunately it is not much of anything. The whole cheated wife storyline is not particularly original nor well thought out or written. I could not find any humour and lost interest very fast. If you are looking for a rom-com type of book maybe it will appeal to you, if looking for a good relatable laugh then look somewehere else.

Full disclosure, I am 26.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book. Let me tell you why. First of all, it addresses a category of readers who are often left behind. There are far more Young Adult books than Menopausal Woman books. While I can understand in part why is that, can we also understand the fact that women in those times in their lives need literature they can relate to too? I have been having a very big problem with the word "diversity" lately. Somehow it is believed that diversity means just race and weight. No, diversity means, as seen in this book, different ages too. Life doesn't stop at 20. It really goes on and it is just as worthy to be written about as all those others.

Closing my rant, I appreciated the theme of this book, the frankness and the humor. I loved to see women coming together supporting each-other, confronting their fears, their insecurities, moving forward.

Highly recommending it not just to women in their third youth but to women and men of all ages. Life is beautiful and it should be appreciated and read about in all its forms and stages.

I'm a big fan of Fiona Gibson and had high hopes for this one as it targets my age bracket. Unfortunately this didn't do it for me. I read half the book and gave up waiting for it to be funny as it was quite sad.

I've never read a book by Fiona Gibson - and after struggling through this one I'm not sure that I will try another. There was nothing out of the ordinary within this book - nothing different - no big revelations - it was all somewhat predictable. A book about a woman whose husband has left her and she thinks that life is over...is quite an overdone concept. So when reading about it I want there to be something else that sets it apart from those that have gone down that road before. Sadly, it was lacking in this book.

I wasn’t sure how much I could get into the story of a menopausal woman whose husband cheats on her and then moves out. But Fiona Gibson writes so engagingly that I found that I couldn’t put down this story. Viv is so miserable most of the book with her physical ills, her rat of a husband, and her dismal job. But she has good friends and an adorable little girl that I kept pulling for her. I would have enjoyed it even more if the turnaround in her life had started a bit earlier since all the glum moments in her life seem to take up a good part of the book.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Nice enjoyable read. Good plot . It was easy to read. Interesting. Not the most exciting of books but nice all the same

This book started well but I found that it became boring. The ending was predictable and took fat too long to reach. The main character Viv, started to irritate and needed a good talking to! Well written but could have been a third shorter

I started to read this but dont think I'm the target audience. I think it's great that there are books like this out there for middle aged readers who can identify but for me in my 20s it didnt land and I felt the main character was a bit moany and whiny and I couldn't get on.

I ended up not finishing this book as I couldn't relate and I only read books that truly grip me.

Thank you for providing me with an arc.

Warm, funny and a great story about when life doesn't turn our quite how you expected it to yet refusing to let it get you down. I really enjoyed this book, the characters are brilliantly written, likeable and most of all relateable. Everyone needs a Viv in their life.

I lived this book, loved viv the main character, could really relate to her. It’s hard growing older, but this book and it’s warm hearted ending had me gripped. Loved to see the cheating male lose out and really enjoyed the quirky sub characters. Every women of 40 needs to read this book.

I love Fiona Gibson's books! This story is the typical story of a middle-aged woman who has lost herself due to marriage and motherhood and reinvents herself after her husband leaves her for another woman. A fun, well-written, pleasurable read with a story that flows... A seemingly simple story that will definitely make you think!

3.5* Where was the Scottishness of this otherwise good book? Entirely missing!

So this is the second tale I've read in the space of a week that takes place in Glasgow, one of the poorer (generally) parts of the UK, and yet all we get to see/hear about is what comes across as fairly privileged people. That's a bit of a side whinge, actually, but I can't help think that both tales lost authenticity by not making any of their numerous characters seem authentically Scottish. I mean, in most novels where a lead/character is from another country, authors tend to throw in the odd bit of dialogue in that language, but here there wasn't so much as an 'och', rather disappointingly.

But, the tale drew me in, after I considered DNF'ing it about 10% in, as I have too much in common with the female lead, Viv. I think the author timed Viv's husband's dastardly deed at the right moment, with just the right number of hints and not an infodump, that I went off on a tangent and imagined a LOL tale of a woman scorned, and began to feel rather smug in anticipation. Nope, it wasn't, as it turned out, but it was a very decent tale of a woman finding herself and her backbone, realising that life with hubby wasn't and hadn't been all bliss, but that she wasn't unhappy that it had come to an end, as she'd gained her two children from it. The author's way of making me care about Viv, Izzy and Viv's friends, drew me into the tale, despite this genre not really being my thing.

The tale did have a side story happening, which wasn't the most interesting or the clearest, but at the same time, it added warmth and community spirit and friendships and relationships spawned from people spending time together when wanting to do so and also when united for a common goal.

This was a nice intro to this author, and I would read more.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Avon Books UK, for my reading pleasure.

The book started of well, then dwindled off but came back to life again. Viv reminded me of what a friend went through, the trials, tribulations and the effects of a husband leaving you. Well written and humorous in places and at times quite relatable

Viv is a 52 year old menopausal mother of two (the author made fair weather about the menopause). She has a 20 year old son and a 7 year old daughter. When her successful husband has an affair and her unfulfilling job takes a turn for the worse she is thrust into the world to find herself, all the while trying to maintain stability for her daughter.

It was a bit of a slow burn for me. The reinvention took too long to start as did the romance. It was also deeper and longer than I expected from the cover (don’t judge a book etc …). Still there were some incredibly funny and relatable moments and overall I enjoyed it. #lastbookof2019

I started out of reading this book but about halfway I found myself skimming the pages to the end. I had not real reseason, just that the story was not grabbing my interest enough to want to read word for word. Viv was doing her best with what was given to her at this stage of her life.

This is absolutely hilarious and extremely uplifting.
I haven't been able to put this one down and adore the plot, the characters and the author.
This is such a cute little book and I have found myself laughing out loud on a number of occasions. This is a great read which you don't have to put any concentration into. As a reader, you can just sit and enjoy the story unfolding.
This is not my first read by this author, I definitely couldn't wait to get stuck into it though. The writer makes it easy to become lost in the story and this is definitely my favourite so far.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️