If you ever just feel like you are getting everything wrong and life isn't going to the plan you made when you were 8, then this is the book for you.

This novel really is a celebration of what it means to be a normal person in a world of people pretending their lives are perfect with the aid of filters, surgery and photoshop. Nell offers hope to all, as she battles her way through her forties, embracing her new superpower of invisibility.

This made me chuckle and gasp and left me feeling thoroughly cheered up. What more could anyone want in a book?

This started so well. A new Bridget Jones but sadly lost the plot towards the end and I thought it lacked taste with the part about her future. Without giving spoilers. For that reason I have changed my rating from four star to three.

I really needed a funny lighthearted book to take my mind off what is going on in the world, (read during the coronavirus pandemic), and this was the perfect prescription.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it is very well written with a great cast of characters who are likeable and who you really care about and get to know like virtual friends. It is very modern and on point with today's society.

It is the first Alexandra Potter book I have read but it definitely won't be the last.

Highly recommended

Nell’s life is a mess - almost 40, heart broke , failed business, renting a room with the thermostat warrior Edward and almost skint! Life doesn’t always pan out the way we think it will - the dreams of a floaty wedding dress, the picturesque cottage, 2.4 children, the crufts winning dog... for Nell, life definitely did not turn out as she had expected.

As she celebrates her 40th birthday, Nell compares very life to the perfection that is her friends lives, including Annabel the absolute image of Miss Perfection. However what looks perfect on the outside, might not be all it seems.

Being and feeling like a f*ck up she finally lands a job writing obituaries, Nell then meets the Cricket, an eighty-something widow with challenges of her own, and they strike up an unlikely friendship. Together they begin to help each other heal their aching hearts, cope with the loss of the lives they had planned, laugh and cry together and push each other into new adventures and unexpected joys.

With Nell, I found that I had a lot in common with her idea of being a f*ck up and it was almost reassuring to know that I am not alone.

A laugh out loud with the odd sniffle, a brilliant read!

This book was great. The main character was very relatable, navigating not being where she thought she'd be at this time in her life. I would recommend and read more from this author

The book is told in a humorous, introspective way by Nell, who has broken up with her American fiance Ethan, and returned to the UK to find that her old friends have now moved on, leading completely different lives to those they had. All are in relationships, with children and absorbed in family life, leaving Nell feeling depressed that she has missed out.

There are no chapters in the book as such, and it is slow to start; it just seems a long, depressing monologue, with short motivational comments narrated by Nell, with little happening. The only positive things in her life are her parents, Cricket (an older lady whom she has befriended), and her landlord’s dog Arthur. These characters bring humour and interest to the story, but I feel that the book lacks pace and needs a much stronger storyline than it has. I also feel that there is too much bad language in the book, which is unnecessary.

Nell is a likeable, humorous and friendly character with whom you can readily empathize, and I enjoyed reading about her relationships and interaction with her family and other characters. Although the ending wasn’t what I envisaged, I think it worked perfectly. However, I feel that the book needs a stronger storyline to make a more interesting read.

A fun, light hearted reading that made me giggle a few times. A realistic illustration of how a 40 something woman comes to terms with impending middle age. Really well developed characters - I particularly warmed to Cricket. An easy feel good read.

Quite a fun read; Bridget Jones meets Fleabag! Some nice insights into what it is to be female.
Good chick-lit for a lazy weekend or holiday read.
Enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.

What a brilliant book. Especially for a 40 something who may be at a kind of crossroad of her own life.

Far too realistic at times but it made me laugh, it made me sad and at times, I even sat and stared at the wall trying to make sense of stuff.

I was so so happy and excited when I saw that Alexandra Potter released a new book! I read so many great books by this author! So I was confident that I was going to love this book. Well in the end, I can say that I liked this book but I didn't love it. Some parts of this book are so great, so fun, I even found myself laughing out loud, I even recognized myself in so many ways (I am myself 40 years old) but unfortunately this book is waaaaaaay too long for what it has to tell and this meant that some parts of the book are a bit boring... and that's really a shame because it's good. I gave this book a 4 stars out of 5 but in reality I would like to give it a 3,5 stars. I hope Alexandra Potter's next book will be a little more exciting! I still recommend this book warmly because it's so much fun to read especially if you are a 40 something woman!

Excellent. Excellent Excellent. I enjoyed this book so much. It was genuinely funny, thought provoking and involving. Great characters, especially Cricket and Edward, and a heroine to love. Highly recommended.

As a 40something (nearly 50!) f**ck up myself, I found I identified a lot with Nell.

After leaving the US due to a relationship breakdown and the collapse of her business with her ex-partner, Nell has to start again. Finances mean she can only afford to rent a room, and do she gets by day by day changing the thermostat on her landlord Edwards’s heating and writing obituaries.

I loved the inspirational quotes and the relationship she strikes up with Cricket, after being asked to write her husband’s obituary. The friendship that grows between her and Edward is lovely too.

I also really liked the way she wrote about how families change old friendships and how it can be a struggle to maintain these.

Although I really enjoyed this book, the happy ending jarred somewhat, I won’t give it away but it just seemed too cliche to give Nell a complete happy family.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

Brilliant book, well written and very realistic. Funny as well as dealing with serious topics that Nell at 40 goes through. Fantastically written, blog type in parts, which adds to the story even more. Really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommended!

An easy to read book covering the life of Nell who is finding her way in life. Relatable and funny in parts. Sad in others especially when her father is in an accident and she holds a hospital bedside vigil.
Loved her relationship with Cricket which showed that age has no barrier and they both gained a lot from it.
A predictable ending where everything fell into place. Could of ended earlier as I found the last ten pages strange, unnecessary and not in keeping with the rest of the book.

I really like the writing style of this, I’ve never listened to a podcast so I can’t compare but the snappy sections made a real change and focussed more on the content than the scenery. As a forty something I find it relatable and it’s very relevant especially in the days of social media and living our best lives etc. This is a very humorous yet thoughtful book and Cricket was a fabulous character who added a great dimension to it.

What a rollercoaster read that was! This is a lovely book to read for anyone at a bit of a crossroads in life. Nell teaches us that we can find love, friendship and happiness in the most unlikely of places.

I put this book aside several times before finishing it. I think it’s very similar to but not as entertaining as the Bridget Jones series of years ago.. Plot okay and I may have been more generous with my rating but the last chapter jarred (no spoilers) and was distasteful to me.

I really enjoyed this book, to me it felt almost like a grown up Bridget Jones type story. It was funny and easy to read. I’m nearing 40, so some of this felt very familiar! This isn’t an author I have read before, but definitely one I will look out for now.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Written in a different way , diary like in parts. It was an easy read. I love the friendship angle between Fiona, Annabel and Nell. Also the school sports day mummy race was so funny. . The house share with Edward was funny with the arguments/ discussion over recycling and heating. We.can all relate to men and having the heating up or down. An enjoyable read.

This feels so relevant in the 21st century. The book is about a woman in her early 40s who has recently split up with her fiancé, and moved back to the UK from the US after her business and marriage break down. Her circumstances force her to rent a room in flat and take a job writing obituaries in the paper – a bit of a come down from her previous glamorous life in America. Back in London she has good friends who rally round and she also has loving parents but Nell feels as if everyone else has the perfect life while her perfect life is passing her by. Her ideal life would be living in a beautiful home with a loving husband and children, which many of her friends seem to do so Nell feels as if this has all slipped from her grasp. Then she makes a new friend – a recently widowed woman who is suffering from grief over the loss of her husband. This unlikely pairing support each other and Cricket opens Nell’s eyes as to what is really important.

I loved this book. Although not in Nell’s age group it is an easy story to relate to. FOMO is such a thing nowadays with people posting on social media it is easy to feel that everyone else has a better life. This book shows that this is just an illusion and everyone has their own problems. I loved the characters. They felt really solid and anyone reading this will be rooting for Nell and wanting her to turn her life around. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to preview this book.