For some reason I didn't realise this novel was set in France and wondered why they kept referring to euros! As the novel progressed I wondered why they hadn't reached Dover yet as they seemed to have been travelling for ages. I was a long way into the story before I realised they were in mainland Europe.

I felt the comedy was slightly too slapstick for my taste and unrealistic events. Combined with not really understanding where they were or what year it was set in was niggling at the back of my mind disrupting my enjoyment of the story.

Whilst the story deals with Maxine who has Alzheimer's this wasn't upsetting for me and it was dealt with rather light heartedly.

This was a really cosy read! Lots of funny moments and tender ones. Reminded me a bit of Beth O’Leary style stories! Easy reading

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This was a predictable but pleasant story about an two people who didn’t know they needed eachother (non romantic for a change too)!

I’ve given this a 3/5 stars, easy reading.

A lot of the writing was rather offensive and borderline rude... Guess it might've worked in French, but it got lost in translation. And that's another thing - the translation felt stilted and it just didn't flow. The constant head hopping was also super distracting and I didn't know whose POV at was reading at every other paragraph, and this got tedious since they both sounded the same.
Again, might be better to read the original version which might be redeemable

This is one of the funniest and most thought-provoking books I have ever read. The twists are ones that you can never predict, and you have no idea what Max is going to say or do - the adventures between her and Alex need to be read by one and all. It really makes you think about life and death, what to do... and to smile at everything as you go along, even if life frustrates you... and people mix up their phrases.

So glad I read this and would recommend it to anyone!

OK, so you may need to suspend your disbelief slightly with this one, but my gosh I loved spending time with this crazy duo.
Maxine is 90 something, has Alzheimer's and wants to travel to Brussels to an end of life clinic, Alex is a 20 something with depression who is also travelling to Brussels, but for an unknown reason. After meeting each other on car share the pair go on a madcap adventure, which becomes a man hunt from the police and had me laughing aloud on many occasions.
The characters were larger than life, their friendship was brilliant and I just loved every minute of the healing that each character provided to each other.
The books isn't all fun and games though as mentioned before it looks at depression and Alzheimer's as well as adoption, grief and loneliness, but each is handled well.
So if like me you enjoy pensioners in books and intergenerational friendships then I would recommend picking this one up.

When unlikely duo Maxine and Alex find themselves car sharing on a journey to Brussles you know this is going to be entertaining. This had me giggling throughout and I loved how their friendship developed as the journey continued. As we learn more about the characters I also found it emotional to read. This reminded me a lot of The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan. It was fun, hopeful, uplifting and engaging throughout.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good funny women's fiction novel. Recommend

Had this not been a NetGalley I would’ve DNF’d it. Max and Alex have a very unstable and chaotic relationship that had they truly been strangers in a car I suspect Alex would’ve taken her straight back home again. The up and down attitude levels were hard to comprehend and the man hunt was what felt like an unnecessary addition.

What an uplifting tonic this book truly is.

It is madcap, its slightly bonkers but above all it features a wonderful new friendship that over a short space of time changes both Alex and Max's lives forever.

One is depressed, the other is looking to end their life in Brussels, but they meet on a car share website and are on this road trip together.

Max is larger than life, has all sorts of thoughts and also gets her sayings muddled, which is always amusing

Alex is lacking in self confidence, is love torn and isn't expecting to bond with Max in the way that he does.

I loved seeing how their fledgling friendship developed, as well as all manner of other bits of plot that couldn't help but make me smile.

And the scene is the petrol station was just utterly brilliant and one to look out for.

I really enjoyed reading this novel and am curious to see what else this author has written.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I should imagine that if you were to read the blurb, you'd expect that to be a real bummer of a book.

But, if you persevered - or if you like depressing books - I hope you were pleasantly surprised by this brilliant book.

Without rehashing and filling this review full of spoilers, Alex and Max meet through a Car Share App to share the journey to Brussels.

This is a great story and will make you life and cry and realise that you don't have to share blood to be family.

Oh so funny & delight to get lost in!
The best kind of escape from reality.
This is one ride you won't want to miss.

A lovely little story about the escapades of a ninety year old woman and the young ma'am suffering from depression who she goes off to a clinic in Brussels with.
At times the story is a little ridiculous, but on the whole it was an enjoyable read.

Maxine and Alex were quite a pair. Not in the way you are thinking. She is a ninety-year-old lady and he is only twenty-five. Yet, their friendship works.

Max(ine) lives in a retirement community and using the app car share, she pays Alex for a trip to Brussels. Maxine is going there to end her life. She believes she has Alzheimer's and she doesn't want to live that way. So she has an appointment she can't miss.

Alex is a depressed young man who is going to Brussels after having his heart broken. He needs a vacation but needs help with gas so he puts an announcement in the app. At first, he is not sure about Maxine. She seems to be crazy but soon he realizes she is just that way. A spirited and funny lady who he starts caring for.

Between Maxine and the neurotic Alex, the trip is quite memorable. In a way, both helped each other open up about their current situation and realized that life is not so bad after all if you have someone who cares about you.

I love Maxine, she was full of life and her purse was the bomb. Alex was a little harder to like at the beginning but this mismatched pair worked in the end.

3/5 Fangs

Cliffhanger: No

A complimentary copy was provided by Hodder & Stoughton via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book hit exactly the spot it needed. I laughed and cried throughout the entire book and it left me with a huge smile on my face and warmed my heart. So beautifully written and compelling. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

Sweet and silly in the vein of Frederick Backman, this caper was often funny or surprising with some appealing characters and plot lines. A tad hyperbolic and sometimes verbose but if you read it like a satirical fairy tale type story it works well overall.

DNF'd at 35%.

I've tried to get into this one a few times. but couldn't--unfortunately. I hate not DNF'd a book, but this one was insufferable, and the writing felt too stilted for me (and now I know it was translated from French to English, so maybe it's because of that, the translation was just very weird.)


Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange of an honest review!

This is a rather badly translated from a French novel, and this stilted and jarring translation was quite difficult to read.

I also didn't enjoy the storyline here, it was just too far fetched for me.

An interesting premise for a book. Alex, in the depths of depression seeks our a companion for his car journey to Brussels and Maxine, 90 years old and in pursuit of an adventure of her own, is happy to oblige. The relationship between the two blossoms and both bring out the best in each other. The highlight was Maxine's own zany adaptations of well-known expressions.