The Truth…
Jax is a low paid journalist. She worries about her lack of progression and her past bad decisions. What Jax does have is an amazing group of friends. She would do anything to protect them - but the truth usually comes with a backstory. Engaging and heartfelt with a cast of credible and deftly drawn characters. Edgy, sharp and often amusing.

This is very readable, but the characters are not particularly endearing and the plot a bit predictable at times!

This book is a friendship equivalent of a romcom. Although there are still mentions of relationships, it mainly focuses on the power and importance of female friendship. Would recommend.

I brought my kindle on holiday with the aim of making a dent in my NetGalley TBR shelf and really liked the sound of this book, positioned as a novel about the strength of female friendship and learning to accept yourself.

In reality, what did I get? A protagonist that annoyed the hell out of me and I absolutely did not warm to in the slightest, over use of “darling” and “my love” that made me feel I was watching Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, glamorisation of recreational drug use, and utter predictability.

Jacqueline ‘Jax’ Levy is turning thirty, however the celebration that she had envisioned is far from the reality of the situation as this milestone approaches. Despite her being with Leo, her rather emotionally unavailable lover, the most import relationship in her life is the one she shares with her flatmate Clara, and alongside Alice and Omni, these women mean the absolute world to her.

As Clara announces her engagement to Ed and asks Jax to be her maid of honour, Jax is determined to be there for her best friend throughout what should be the most important time of her life – however, when she unearths some secrets about Ed that will ruin everything, Jax makes it her own personal mission to save her friend from heartbreak. But as these friends are about to discover, meddling in other peoples relationships never ends well…

This story focuses on a group of confident, beautifully realistic women and the bond they share, something that I truly loved exploring throughout this wonderful book. It showed the importance of friendship, and how soulmates can in fact come in the form of a close friend rather than that of a romantic partner.

The story might initially seem like a love story, but as you delve into the world in which the author has so wonderfully created you quickly come to realise that it is so much more than that. It shows the side of friendships that books so often try to minimise, from jealousy to the more complicated issues that arise as people grow older and take their own paths in life. Full of drama and a lot of humour throughout, this is one of those books that you can really relate to, and a story that etches itself in your mind.

Ok… one thing you should know about me is I LOVE a romcom. The hopeless romantic in me can’t get enough of them and from reading the synopsis I just knew I would love this book.

The plot is a little different to your typical romcom. Although there is a background romance blossoming, the narrative mainly focuses on female friendship, families and life evolving.

Ozbek is a brilliant writer, this book has depth, humour and plot lines that seem so relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed the honesty in which Jax was written, relating at times to the feelings of being on the cusp of turning 30. With a toxic relationship and feelings of inadequacy, I felt for Jax and wanted to reach into the pages and give her a hug. To deflect from these feelings of childhood inadequacy, Jax puts everything into her friendship with Clara and is scared to lose her.

The front cover of the book asks “How far would you go to protect a friend?” without spoilers it turns out Jax would go to the ends of the earth to protect Clara. But as we all know, sometimes what we think we know is very different from the truth.

I absolutely loved this book and felt bereft as I turned the last page. I recommend it wholeheartedly. I can’t wait for more Sara-Ella Ozbek novels.

I really, really loved Ozbek’s first novel, The High Moments so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read her second. I was also slightly nervous, in the way I often get when reading a new novel from an author whose work I’ve previously loved, because how could it possibly be as good as the last one?! Happily, I definitely needn’t have worried because Nothing I Wouldn’t Do is every bit as brilliant as its predecessor. The story follows almost-30 year old Jax, whose love life is a bit of a disaster but who treasures her friendships above all else. When her closest friend Clara gets engaged it stirs up some very intense emotions in Jax and when she finds something shocking out regarding Clara’s fiancé things get seriously complicated.

I’m not sure I can pinpoint exactly what it is, perhaps the tone or cadence but there is something about Ozbek’s writing which I just love and truly make her books an absolute joy to read. Her characters are flawed and sometimes make truly terrible decisions and yet somehow are never anything other than completely relatable. They feel like real, very human people and it makes reading about them fascinating and utterly engaging. I laughed a lot and cried a bit too whilst reading Nothing I Wouldn’t Do. It is so sharp and witty but at the same time deeply moving. It’s also dead on in its depiction of the intricacies of female friendship and of the feelings many women my age get when it feels like everyone you know is getting married and you’re not. Nothing I Wouldn’t Do is funny, sad, honest and exceptionally smart – it is definitely up there with my favourites of the year. Ozbek has cemented herself as an auto-buy author for me and I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next. I couldn’t recommend this book any more highly!

It was ok but nothing special, I didn’t find the characters appealing and the plot wasn’t interesting enough to make it a better read for me. Summer/beach read only.

Nothing I Wouldn't Do is about growing up and growing apart, and is the book on friendships that I've been needing.

Ride-or-die crews are my aspirational go to, but I read this at a time when those stories only heightened the doubts I had in my own friendships. It was everything I'd been thinking, written by someone else, and there's an assurance in that I struggled to find elsewhere.

What's more, the cast of the story really sold it for me. The characters were all flawed, some self-aware, some actively trying to better themselves and others blissfully ignoring any and all issues that should be confronted.

With so much personal improvement going on in these pages, it would be easy for it to seem unrealistic and idealistic, but the pacing made it natural, and the ending - with more work to be done, but overall a much more contented main character - only added to that.

Overall, it's a great book, and I'll be reading more from Sara-Ella Ozbek. I probably won't be recommending it to friends that I fear I'm losing though. That feels too honest.

Jax Levy is a 30 year old low paid journalist with no progression in sight, just trying to get by. Her love life is quite frankly a bit of a mess and she cannot seem to stop making bad decisions, regardless of the outcome. The only thing that Jax is great at is looking after her friends – especially her Best Friend Clara.

After Clara announced that she is engaged to her partner Ed, it is safe to say Jax goes into panic mode. She HAS to be the best maid of honour of all time. That is until she discovers something about Ed that will ruin everything, so she decides to go on a wild mission to save Clara from heartbreak.

At first I really enjoyed this book as Jax’s life was reassuring to say the least. Ozbek really portrays a realistic life through the character of Jax and I really admired this, I mean what a way to make yourself feel better eh?

For me though, I felt the book started to go downhill once I was half way through which is such a shame. Whilst the ending was unexpected, it just wasn’t the direction I wanted to novel to go. Maybe it was a bit rushed? I’d probably rate the first half 4 stars and the second half 3.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a super easy, quick read, but nothing that will blow your mind and stay with you for life! If you’re after something like this I recommend.

I really enjoyed Sara-Ella Ozbek's first novel, The High Moments, and was keen to see what she would do next. Nothing I Wouldn't Do didn't disappoint and was a great look at the complexities of female friendship in the vein of I'm So Happy For You or How Do You Like Me Now.

Jacqueline 'Jax' Levy is turning thirty and can't afford the ironic vodka luge she always planned on celebrating that milestone with. She loves her badass friends above all else and the most important relationship in her life isn't Leo, her drugged-up and emotionally unavailable lover, but Clara, her actress flatmate from a Bohemian family. When Clara gets engaged, Jax and her friends Omni and Alice wonder if fiance Ed is gaslighting their mate - but it's never a good idea to meddle in other people's relationships, as the girls are about to find out.

Even better than her first novel, with some deliciously weird moments (including Jax thinking about sleeping with real-life poet Anthony Anaxagorou, who I think has a partner, and dealing with constant outbreaks of 'hungover face' as well as her glamorous, controlling mother) this is another book from Sara-Ella Ozbek that's richer and more powerful than your average chick-lit. Some things worked less well for me, including:

- Too many characters with weird names (Fabian, Moll, Budi, Theodora) and then having the two main male characters called Ed and Ned was a bit of a nightmare!
- A scene with a tampon similar to the one in The High Moments, which I could also have done without
- The Anthony Anaxagorou bit was quite strange - I was glad she didn't sleep with him!
- The article Jax writes that 'breaks the internet' is actually one of the least interesting parts of the book
- Unnecessary Covid update at the end - some (most)? books are better without pandemic references

Still, I couldn't put it down. Great fun with a little splash of darkness. Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for the ARC.

Release Date: Expected 22nd July 2021

Genre: Fiction | Adult Fiction


Jax Levy. Almost thirty years old.
Journalist (with no hope of progressing)
Single (no hope there either)
But the best friends in the world.

Clara, Omni and Alice are the real loves of Jax's life, they're soulmates. The four of them are a perfectly wrapped package deal - but now Clara is getting married to Ed and there's one more soulmate to make room for. Trying to get past the growing jealousy, Jax tries to throw herself in the role of Maid of Honour and make sure Clara gets the day of her dreams. But during her mission, she discovers some secerts about Ed that will ruin everything - and she isn't going to let that happen.

This was a story about beautifully real and honest women. Confident, Sexual and Vulgar. Nervous, scared and insecure. And it made me feel seen. (And a book with the main focus being a wedding that actually passes the bechdel test? Yes please!)

This might seem like a love story on the surface - but it was so much more! This was about friendship, about the trouble and jealousy and complicated sides that nobody likes to talk about. Fully diving into the insecurites and terrors of being a twenty-something woman who feels like they haven't made it yet and not even knowing what making it looks like.

Hilarious, Heartbreaking and

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Thank you to Sara-Ella Ozbek and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I was obsessed with Sara-Ella Ozbek’s first novel, so was super excited to get my hands on this one, and it didn’t disappoint! I raced through it! Her characters are so well crafted and believable, they are flawed but not tokenism or in a super obvious way. I LOVED the bohemian vibes of Bella, Clara’s mum. I liked the exploration of a distinction family relationship which didn’t have a cliched ending. It’s an absolute must read, it felt current and funny and relevant, was so colourful and would make an amazing Netflix series! Just brilliant- again!!!!

Jax is stuck in a rut, her friends are the best things about her life something has got to change.
A beautifully written uplifting novel based around friendships, female solidarity and lifting each other up to be our best selves.