Just finished this heart wrenching story about the two week wait that women with fertility issues go through between the time of ovulation and taking their pregnancy tests.

It was truly eye opening and I recommend for anyone who knows someone that is going through this, or has/is going through it themselves.

The story is set based on five women that talk on forum for support as they go through the process. I truly enjoyed the book and found myself fully invested in the journey of each woman

First off, this book has really good intentions and the storyline is really great focusing on 5 women who are all having fertility issues, a very upsetting topic. I really liked the way the author wrote this book with a simple and easy writing style and this shows by me finishing it the same day I started, I liked how there were inserts of the ‘TWW’ forum that were put between days of the two weeks period as well as having inserts of diary entries from each person.

However, I did struggle to keep up with the amount of characters and information for each of them and it did get confusing at times. Some points I didn’t realise who I was reading about and at the end I was still getting a bit muddled with each of them. I also felt that there was a huge perception on how it is believed that women need men, yet there was so much focus on the other halves being horrible to the women whilst they were going through this two week wait, which is clearly shown that it is incredibly tough and heartbreaking when you just desire one thing and that is for a positive test. Although not all partners were like this and some were incredibly nice and supportive, Keith being one of them. Jane was one of my favourite characters and one I would believe to be most relatable to those reading who are suffering with the same issues.

It does show that there has been a high amount of research put into this book. Overall, this book was an easy read and would recommend to those who want to fly through a book but I would obviously bare in mind the upsetting topics as I imagine it would be a difficult read to those going through the same thing. I would recommend to those who want to learn more about the topic and understand what it is like for those people having struggles when trying to conceive. As a younger reader I didn’t relate to the topics discussed so I don’t feel I can comment on whether those who are struggling with the same thing would confide in reading this book or whether it would make them feel worse.

Five women, coming from very different backgrounds, meet on line in a forum chat during their two week wait, that is those 14 days of the month during which you don't know whether you've conceived or not and you can only wait to test.
I really liked the outline of the book, part prose, part forum posts, it made the reading very easy, entertaining and quick, even though a bit ripetitive.
The theme of infertility is treated lightly, with a right amount of humour.
It was good to follow these women, so different, in age, background and motivation, during their 14 days journey, getting to know each other and getting to understand each other's motivation, doubts, hopes and struggles.
I also liked the ending and would like to know, from someone who has read the book, who your guess is on in the last post :-)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a very interesting insight into the mindset of those trying to conceive and waiting for what could be the happiest time of their life. I must say I enjoyed the writing style as it was an easy read, and I imagine it would be very comforting for women going through the same situation as Jane and the other women featured in the book.

I will say, this was a difficult read in terms of the formatting of the ebook I received from Netgalley. I do not know if this was simply an issue with just my copy or if it was an issue with the formatting in general, but the actual prose sections had few paragraph breaks, and the sections featuring posts from the main characters had the tags of who posted what with inconsistent line breaks. I think this would be a 3.5 without the formatting issues but this one is a 2.5 for me with the formatting -- it just makes it very difficult to get through.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC. This is a story of infertility where a group of women finding solace on an online forum during their "two week wait". I liked how all the characters bonded since they were all going through it together. Each of the characters came from different backgrounds and had a different life but all wanted one thing, to have a baby. I was real rooting for the characters by the end. Overall would recommend.

I really wanted to like this because I remember when I was ttc I would often peruse forums with other women. But something about this story overall made it hard for me to get into it. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Thank you to Net Galley and The Book Guild for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed this book a great deal. Several women, hoping to be moms, enter the "two week wait," when they believe they might be expecting, but it's not yet time to take the test. They meet online, with very different backgrounds, expectations, ages and hopes. They grow, and they support each other. The ending was very clever.

Book Review for The Two Week Wait by Lucy J. Lewis.

Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

Lucy J Lewis’s novel follows five women as they suffer the agonising “two week wait” to find out if they are pregnant, sharing their experiences on an online fertility discussion forum.

Having experienced fertility “issues”, I’m no stranger to the horrors of the two week wait, although it’s all thankfully a number of years in the past now. I’ve also done my share of posting on online forums on the subject, and in fact had the idea at one point of writing a novel based on the forum chat. Well, it turns out that’s what Lucy J Lewis has done (though it’s not entirely forum chat). It was interesting and nostalgic, kind of, to be reminded of the jargon – TTC, BFP, and the rest, and the endless and usually fruitless symptom-spotting, and definitely brought back some memories, not necessarily good ones!

The writing feels a fraction heavy handed at times and there’s rather too much information dumping towards the beginning. Within a few lines of meeting Fern, for instance, we’ve learned that she has a Rolex (that’s in the first sentence), a Smythson notebook and a Fendi bag. Ok, we get it, she’s rich. Once the story settles down, though, I did enjoy it (and the brand-dropping thankfully ceases).

There are a lot of characters – I was expecting three, maybe four, so by the time it got to 5 I was wondering how on earth I was going to keep track of them all. In fact it wasn’t difficult, as Jane, Becks, Fern, Mandi and Star (who’s an “Instagram influencer” - I’m afraid I did roll my eyes at that) are very different, varying widely in age, situation and general attitude, from twenty-year TTC veteran Jane, to Fern who is not even sure she wants a baby. I didn’t hugely identify with any of them, but that’s not a problem, and I did appreciate the diversity.

I think women who have had or are having difficulty conceiving will definitely relate to a lot in this story - the author clearly writes from experience and it all rings true. (Online fertility forums clearly haven’t changed much, as I recognised everything here.)

The focus is very much on the women’s pregnancy aspirations, although relationships - good and bad - also get a look in (and certain people’s behaviour had me fuming at times.) Fern seems to be the only one, though, with a job she actually cares about, and apart from the fact that she works in TV we didn’t really learn anything about it. (By the way, I hadn’t realised anyone still used the surely outdated term “career woman”! Who ever heard of a career man?) On reflection, I think Fern was probably my favourite of the five women.

An enjoyable read which will resonate with many. And I do want to know who the little nameless bit at the end refers to!... my money’s on Fern... Do let me know, Lucy, if you read this!

I loved this book! It was heartwarming and strong. It was exactly what I needed with everything going on in the world! A happy little escape!

The two week wait was an interesting read for me as I’ve never experienced fertility issues so was enlightening to read about the issues other couples experience whilst trying to get pregnant!
A group of women who are trying to get pregnant but are having issues get together in an online forum to provide a support network to each other and in doing so develop a friendship although they are all very different in age, outlook, circumstances etc!
An easy read that makes you appreciate your own fertility.
Thank you net galley for this early read.

An interesting topic is derailed by an excessive amount of characters vying to be the main character. Pick one, maybe two. It's tiring as a reader to get to know so many of them in a half dozen introductory chapters. This tiresome exercise was then followed by the characters repeating these introductions to each other in the online format. It's give a "Groundhog's Day" feeing without the charm of that movie, just the exhaustion. Finally, the characters overshare in a completely not credible manner in the online forum...people would do this saying "my husband" or DH rather than using actual names. I think editors needed a role here.

Jane has been trying to get pregnant for twenty long years and this month decides to go through the dreaded two week wait with others going through the same thing. She puts a forum post online and soon four women respond to it saying they are going through the same thing. While all very different women in very different circumstances, the women all connect through their shared experience... will they all get their happy endings?

A fantastic book that is perfect for anyone who has been through that awful two week wait countless times. It gives you hope but even more than this is shows that you aren't alone. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

3.5 Stars

Having never had fertility issues this book was an eye-opener to me. How agonizingly sad to have to go through this. I am one-hundred percent feminist and believe a woman doesn't have to have children, or a man, to be complete...BUT if it is something you truly desire it must be devastatingly painful to have your heart broken month after month.

This was an easy read, with simplified dialogue and multiple narrators. It is sort of an epistolary style book as a lot of it is simple chat-room dialogue and there are some journal entries as well. I don't usually go for that but it worked here for some reason.

While the overly-simple writing style drove me nuts at times, I did like the intent of the story. The somewhat contrived parts were too convenient but the overall theme was interesting and, in the end, hopeful.

P.S.
I rounded up because the book has such a low rating and I don't think it deserves it simply because the author didn't have the same struggle as some readers. It does say in the blurb I read that Lucy J Lewis based the story on her own experiences.

Waiting for anything is rough, waiting 2 weeks to find out if your pregnant, is also rough. This is a good book, women on a forum about waiting two weeks, and how much they learn about themselves and each other in this time.

Great book! It tells a great story about the power of women and friendships. If you need a pick me up book then this is it.