Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book

A sweet and lovely book, with an adorable main character. I loved the humour and such a gentle, warm story. A poignant tale.

This book was very well written,
It was emotional and heartfelt. Story of love, loss, heartbreak and sadness but also of hope and strength
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion

A beautiful, touching and heartfelt read. Annie is such a likeable character, with just the right balance of chaos and gumption to leap off the page and be true to life, and the way she tackles the challenges of her life are almost painfully relatable. The light comic touches used to talk about much darker subjects, like grief and mental health issues, keep things fun to read, without morphing into either the morose or slapstick; it really feels written by someone who has been there themselves (especially the Pringles shaped container with the woodland on which I suspect many of us know well!). Overall a lovely book to curl up with and dream of coastal journeys with those we love.

A story all about love and loss
Annie is single, unemployed and just a bit stuck when her beloved father dies unexpectedly. Furious at his partner’s plans to scatter his ashes somewhere of no emotional significance, Annie seizes the urn and, on a whim, decides to take it on a tour of the thirty-one sea areas that make up the shipping forecast, which her father loved listening to, despite living in landlocked St Albans.

Travelling around the coastline of Britain searching for the perfect place to say goodbye, she starts to wonder if it might be time to rethink some of the relationships in her life – but is it too late for second chances?

Annie is struggling with life in general . When her father passes away and his partner announces where she wants to scatter the ashes, Annie steals them and heads off to shipping forecast areas, knowing it was a broadcast her father never missed.
As she makes her way around the country, she has some adventures and meets new and old friends along the way, but will she find her way back to Rob, the man she is still in love with?

A fun and quirky read, with some great characters.

4.5 stars from me!

Annie Stanley has got herself stuck in a rut. Still processing her grief from losing her mother a few years before, she struggles to process her father's sudden absence and has many regrets. Annie has lost herself but this trip gives her motivation to realise what she wants and where she can go. Annie has made many mistakes in both her past and her present but as wounds heal, things become clearer and her process of healing can begin.

What I liked about this story is that Annie isn't always right. She gets things wrong, does bad things and makes very questionable choices and although she annoys you, you understand it. We all know what it's like to make spur of the moment decisions, act on impulse and then regret it. Her relationship with Bev (her father's partner and now widow) was one I was desperate to see be mended. Annie never accepted Bev because she was so lost in grieving for her mother, she felt insulted that her father would just replace her. But we as the reader can see that Bev's intentions were always good and that she's just trying her best. As we move through the story, Annie starts to see that too and the character development for both of them is great.

Though the story is laden with grief, it is light and has such warmth. Following Annie on her journey is cathartic and a real pleasure.

Annie Stanley is taking time out; she has given up her teaching job, split up with her boyfriend and is spending a lot of time on her sofa. When her father dies suddenly she is, as the title suggests, ‘all at sea’. When she finds out that her father’s partner, Bev, plans to scatter his ashes somewhere that has no significance for her or her sister, Kate, she acts on impulse and steals the urn. She embarks on what becomes a road trip around the coast visiting all the areas mentioned in the shipping forecast. Despite living in landlocked St Albans, her father had been an avid listener to what he called ‘the soundtrack to our lives’ and ‘the poetry of our Isles’ and had even named the cat, Cromarty.
Annie is grieving and needs to find a way to say goodbye that means something to her, which I can totally relate to. What starts as an ill-thought-out impulse, becomes a plan to visit all the coastal areas mentioned in the shipping forecast. As she travels from Cromarty to Forth, Tyne, Dogger and beyond, Annie re-evaluates her life, past and present, and gradually makes peace with herself, and comes to appreciate that, even if just for a short while, Bev was an important part of her father’s life.
The characters are well drawn and believable, a road-trip theme always appeals to me, and each chapter is aptly prefaced with a phrase from the shipping forecast. I had to look up the shipping forecast online to find out where some of the areas were and discovered some beautifully illustrated maps which are well worth a look. I really enjoyed this book, it made me laugh despite the sadness and grief, and look forward to reading whatever Sue Teddern writes next. Thanks to Pan Macmillan, Mantle and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

Annie Stanley is having a bit of a crisis, she recently broke up with her boyfriend and quit her job. Now she sits around the house all day doing nothing; except sometimes going to the cinema. Then unexpectedly her Dad dies making Annie an orphan which allows her to wallow even further into her self-pity black hole. Until she has an idea; she is going to take her dad’s ashes on an adventure to scatter them.

Although her adventure definitely does not start with the good intentions Annie convinces herself it does, she is soon on a path of self-discovery and appreciation for those around her.

If I’m honest I wasn’t totally sure how much I was going to enjoy this book but it was genuinely lovely. It wasn’t a mine blowing exciting story but it was a medium-slow paced warm and fuzzy sort of read.

A charming book, with a great main character. I loved the gentle humour in the book, and the pace, and story. A lovely and poignant book.

Such a lovely and enjoyable read. Would wholeheartedly recommend. Pop it in your beach bag. You will have it finished in a day!

I really loved this book. I loved Anne, pronounced An-An and her sister Kate, and would love an older friend like Hilary. Captivating, sweet, a little bit of hope and tinged with sadness as you’d imagine when you read the synopsis. Recommend.

This is a fabulous character lead book about the eponymous Annie Stanley who struggled with life a few years back after her mum died and when her dad suddenly dies it throws her into a very unconventional tailspin. Annie couldn’t accept her dad moving onto a new partner after her mums death and so when she disproves of said partners plans to scatter his ashes she takes matters into her own hands and ends up on a very unplanned coastal tour during which she meets up with faces from her past which cause her to face up to who she is now. I love the randomness of this and the characters are really solid, Annie is one of those brilliantly flawed people who stick with you and in some ways it’s easy to relate to elements of her, this is a really refreshing read.

Loved this book! Such a fast paced and fun read with some lovely settings on the way.
I'm a huge fan of road trip books, and Annie Stanley. All At Sea, hits all the sweet spots of its genre. Annie is a great character and some of her antics (maybe more than I'd admit to) are so relatable. After her father dies she makes a rash decision to pinch his ashes from his partner's house and take him on a trip of the Shipping Forecast locations- something that held great meaning for him.

The book is about love and loss, and friendships, old and new. It was great fun to follow Annie on her journey, both emotional and physical.

Thanks to NetGalley and to Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

This book is simply lovely. I love Annie and could really relate to her. Single in her late thirties, assuming she'll never have kids. Eating too much. And she's a teacher - I worked on and off as a teacher too. Love her sense of inferiority to her sister. And I love this beautiful story of her grief for her Dad (I've been there too) and how she takes his ashes on a roadtrip around the areas mentioned in the Shipping Forecast. This is a witty book written with a light touch but it feels deeper somehow than other books in its genre.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Annie is 37, she's single, unemployed and stuck in a bit of a rut when her father dies unexpectedly. In a moment of madness, after learning her father's partner's plans to scatter his ashes at a place of insignificance, she seizes the urn and makes a plan to scatter them somewhere her father would have loved.

Following the shipping forecast, which her father loved listening to, Annie travels around the 31 sea areas on the coastline of Britain searching for the perfect place to say goodbye, and she starts to wonder if it might be time to rethink some of the relationships in her life – but is it too late for second chances?

This is a book about life, love and loss and is not only poignant, but also funny and witty. It is a delightful read and is a lovely story about family and grief.

What an enjoyable read this is! The characters are drawn perfectly and the story line is thoroughly engaging.

Annie Stanley is 37 and has fallen into a pothole in life. After the death of her mother and breakup with her boyfriend she becomes rudderless and lethargic pushing everyone away, leaving her job and spending her days on the couch. When her father dies suddenly, in a moment of madness, she steals her father’s ashes and sets out on a road trip determined to spread them somewhere he would have wanted and not somewhere her disliked ‘step-mother’ wants.

At first, she has no plan but soon realises that her father was a lifelong listener every morning to the Shipping Forecast even though he had never had anything to do with the sea so she sets out to take his ashes on a journey to all the UK places mentioned. It becomes a journey of self-discovery as she reminisces on her past life and mistakes, runs into old flames and meets new and interesting people.

Her observations and situations are funny as well as enlightening and the ending is perfect. Easily 5 stars and I eagerly look forward to Sue’s next book.