Entertaining and immersive. A recommended purchase for collections where epistolary novels are popular.

Madcap Tale…
A madcap tale of a group of madcap writers and their respective works in progress and told almost entirely in e mail format. Told with an excruciatingly observant eye and ample humour this is absurdly funny, sharp and delightfully quirky. Entertaining and eccentric.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I'm rating this book 3 stars because it is a new genre to me, and I couldn't get into the way it was formatted, and the plot. I just felt like the number of characters were confusing and it was a bit mundane.
I'm sure this would be a great read for other people, so I would still recommend it.

A wonderful read enjoyed from beginning to end.Laughed kept turning the pages of this wonderful book.Will be recommending.#netgalley #unbound.

In December 2016, Julia Greengage, aspiring writer and resting actor, puts up a poster in her local library inviting people to join a new writers' group. The group will exchange constructive feedback and 'generally share in the pains and pleasures of this excruciating yet exhilarating endeavour we call Literature'.

Seven people, each in their own way a bit of a work in progress, heed the call.

There’s Keith, a mercenary sci-fi geek who can write 5,000 words before breakfast and would sell his mother for a book deal. Tom, a suburban lothario with an embarrassing secret. Peter, a conceptual artist whose main goal in life is to make everyone else feel uncomfortable. Alice, who’s been working on her opening sentence for over nine months. Jon, a faded muso with a UFO complex. Blue, whose doom-laden poems include ‘Electrocuted Angel in the Headlights of My Dead Lover’s Eye Sockets’ and the notorious ‘Kitten on a Fatberg’. And Mavinder, who sadly couldn’t make the first meeting. Or the second. But promises to come to the next one…

Soon, under Julia's watchful eye, the budding writers are meeting every month to read out their work and indulge each other's dreams of getting published. But it’s not long before the group's idiosyncrasies and insecurities begin to appear. Feuds, rivalries and even romance are on the cards – not to mention an exploding sheep's head, a cosplay stalker, and an alien mothership invasion. They’re all on a journey, and God help the rest of us.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4 stars. I laughed and laughed while I read this (and identified a little too much with several of the characters!). You don't have to be a writer to enjoy this and I encourage you to pick it up and pour yourself a glass of wine and prepare to have a giggle!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion. My opinions are my own and not influenced by anyone. Ever.

I learned so much. It was clever, insightful and written with sensitivity and kindness. A remarkable feat.

There are two types of readers. Ones that love novels told through diaries, letters, phone calls, and ones that are a little less enthusiastic about them. Surprisingly so, I think, because I love emailing, letter writing, and so on. It's just... I struggle to get into the story as much, but eventually forget that the interactions are through emails and just enjoy it. I enjoyed this story overall 3.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really entertaining look into the world of Crawley's newest writing group told through the emails it's members exchange. It won't change the world but it will make you smile and you'll zip through it.

Work in Progress is a marvelously funny "behind-the-scenes" story of the fictional Crawley Writers' Group told entirely in emails. Released 24th June 2021, it's 272 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately; it makes it so easy to find information with the search function.

This is a genuinely humorous novel which actually surprised me into laughter at several points. It's witty and acerbic and lampoons the archetypal characters so exquisitely that ribbing never shaded over into cruelty and I spent the entire read (in one glorious session) giggling out loud. There's a moneyed diva (with IMDB credits on Midsomer Murders) hosting an ensemble of oddballs, misfits, and an angsty poet. The tagline "They've all got a book in them, unfortunately." sums the whole up pretty succinctly.

I enjoyed this one enormously. The epistolary format suited the book perfectly and was a brilliant choice. It's presented in such a deadpan factual manner that it took me a while to ascertain if it really was fiction or a tie-in to an actual writers' group. For anyone who has ever enjoyed mockumentaries like This Is Spinal Tap or All You Need is Cash this one has a lot to offer. Very funny.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

“I am in shock, as perhaps we all are, after the business with the sheep.” -From Work in Progress

3.5 stars

When I opened the book and learned that this story was told through e-mails, I about died. I started questioning every path that led me to this moment, about to attempt to read an e-mail book. Why don’t I read summaries more carefully and fully? I swore I would from this point on. Alas, full of dismay I started, sure it was going to be a horrible slog to get through.

Luckily, that is not the case. It isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Would the story be better in a different format? YES. But it is what it is. I’m sure there is a (small?) selection of readers who would find it fun and quirky. The characters are almost comically caricatures, designed to be funny in the way that they are so extreme. Sometimes it is successful, other times (mostly Peter, writer probably) it falls flat. It cumulates into a narration of a TV segment the group does of one of their meetings. Alright. Oddly enough I found what weren’t e-mails the weakest part. I would like to know how to sign up for Blue’s Beet Box.

I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A more hilarious motley crew of writers you will never meet. The humour is spot on and every page made me laugh. The characters are so well drawn that you feel you’ve met them before. Not a word is wasted (well maybe by Keith…) and it doesn’t fall into parody. These people are real! Aren’t they?