A woman in her late 20s is going through a divorce. I’ve seen a lot of reviews about how hilarious and amazing this book is, and while it is funny, it just wasn’t one for me.
Think it will do really well though and is perfect for fans of Dolly Alderton.

The summary for this is so good! I was looking forward to a warm hearted, funny novel about learning to love yourself and be your own person and find value outside a relationship.

Instead I was annoyed by the narrative voice until I gave up and stopped reading.

It's a taste thing, I know, and other readers won't be annoyed at all. But Maggie was written in (what I felt was a) very stilted way. I thought "Maybe this is deliberate because she's heartbroken and in shock, and she'll loosen up as we go. That could be cool!" Nope. Still just as stiff and formal in the pages I checked at the back.

There are good points. Her friends are a good bunch, and beneath the language the story is more or less what I'd been hoping for. I just couldn't get past the tone, personally.

Not for me, but hopefully it does well.

Really Good, Actually is a witty, emotional and entertaining novel about a situation many of us can relate to: heartbreak. Even if you’ve never experienced it yourself, you’ll have some idea of how upsetting and earth-shattering it can be. Maggie’s marriage to her high school sweetheart has just finished – her husband of only a few years has left her – and she is struggling to come to terms with her new life without him.

We follow Maggie as she goes through the full spectrum of emotions. Platonic friendships have never been more important, but she’s not in the best place and we see her push some of her good friends away.

It’s clear that Monica Heisey has written for some great comedy shows and has a talent for making people laugh, and we see this in the many funny and sardonic moments Maggie goes through. As a character, she is messy and chaotic but ultimately, she feels real. She’s not perfect but she’s well-rounded and convincing and, though at times she behaves frustratingly or in a way I don’t agree with, I really enjoyed reading about her antics. Some parts of the novel are perhaps a little repetitive but it didn't matter at all because they still offered laughs throughout, and that is something this book doesn't fail to provide.

This is a great debut which feels fresh, funny and creative. I am sure this will be a huge hit!

A fast paced, contemporary read. Easily relatable with humour, pathos , heartbreak, confusion, loneliness & friendship. There could easily be a sequel as this book covers events in life after a marriage separation at a young age. All the characters are beautifully drawn & engaging. Hugely enjoyable.

I fell in love with Schitt’s Creek during the start of the pandemic back in 2020 and ended up binging the whole show and then going back and re-watching it a slower pace to enjoy it all over again. When I saw this book on a NetGalley email I knew I needed to try it and see how Heisey’s writing translates from screen to novel format.

The book is written in first person narrative from Maggie’s point of view, which gives us a full insight into exactly what she’s going through but does mean some of the other characters don’t feel as fully fleshed out as they might otherwise. Maggie’s brain is also not always a great place to be as she struggles with her single life. I did find her difficult to relate to but that’s more on me than the writing, I’m a 38 year old single woman who has never been married and isn’t really bothered about finding someone so hasn’t led the kind of single life with dating apps and going on multiple dates with multiple different people that Maggie leads during this book.

I liked the fact that Maggie explores her sexuality as a bisexual woman without it being made into a big deal. A lot of the time queer representation in books can be made into a massive plot point with the characters going through some kind of struggle because of it or to prove some kind of point about sexuality but here it is treated as just part of the story, the same way heterosexuality is in most other books.

I found the Toronto setting interesting. I haven’t read many books set in Canada, certainly not outside of Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan series, so this was quite different for me.

Heisey’s dialogue is snappy and had me smiling at the occasional similarities with Schitt’s Creek.

I liked the inclusion of some lists, which gave extra insight into Maggie’s mindset and would like to see how these were formatted in the final copy as formatting is often an issue with eArcs, which obviously isn’t the author’s fault and I haven’t penalised her for this.

Obviously with a first person narrative there can be a slight issue with the reliability of the narrator and I think it’s clear that in Maggie’s case, understandably so, everything she experiences is coloured by her loss and the way she is feeling about herself in the wake of the end of her marriage.

I wasn’t a fan of her ex-husband, Jon, but I think that’s kind of the point and it is hard to judge when you only see Maggie’s side of it. I’d be interested in a sequel from his point of view actually.

Overall an excellent debut novel and I’d definitely be interested in reading more from Heisey.

I think it's a bizzarre reading experience: you read some pages loving what you read, the following chapter maybe is repetitive or simply drags.
A more compact plot would have helped and make Maggie a more consistent and less silly characters.
I can't say I hated it but I wasn't a fan.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Maggie has been with Jon for years. Then they decided to get married and, well, from then it was all downhill and 608 days post wedding, they are getting divorced. After the initial shock, Maggie has decided to embrace her new founded situation... This book charts that transformation... warts and all.
I tried to like Maggie. I really did. I also know that usually I don't have to like the MC to enjoy the book. Sadly this was not the case for this book. For me I think I would have had a better time if I actually liked Maggie.
Yes I did laugh at a few of her shenanigans. But mostly I rolled my eyes or cringed. She could win Olympic gold at making mountains out of molehills and, well, she was a but dumb in places. Not my cuppa at all, sorry. I could wax lyrical about all the rest of the stuff I didn't like about her but I think I have spent long enough in her company to know how that would turn out and I'm better off walking away. That said, I am a sucker for punishment as I did finish the book, maybe I was hoping for a satisfying ending... sadly, this book was not for me.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I was looking forward to this one after reading others opinions, but sadly I just did not enjoy it. Thank you for the opportunity.

I am afraid that I did not find this in the least amusing. I found it slow and very droll. As others seemed to like it a lot I can only presume that comedy is like marmite and you either strongly like or strongly dislike it.
I struggled but honestly could see no point in this book at all.
I found that even the type of writing or the characters were not my style either

I am going to leave some feedback, but I made such heavy weather of this book, which others seem to think is marvelous, that it would probably be unfair to the author to post my feedback to my blog or to retailer's sites.

If I read any randomly-selected section of about ten consecutive pages of this book, they are amusing and even resonant observations by someone at a difficult but all-too common stage of their life: a relationship breakdown.
But my attempts to read the whole thing from beginning to end seemed to founder because the stream of first-person observation appears to be unbroken and the difficulty I had with the overall narrative was not that I, admittedly enfeebled by illness, couldn't grasp its complexity; rather the problem I had with the overall narrative was detecting its presence in the first place.

Given the reactions of others, it seems possible to me that this is simply a new style of writing which is simply too trendy for me to understand, but I can't help that! And if someone was looking for an unbroken stream of first-person observation about life after a relationship breakdown this book would be excellent, because there's truth in all of them and many of them are quite funny or even very funny. But if there's anything else going on here then I am not seeing it.
I think I would also struggle to sit through a stand-up comedy routine the length of one of Captain Blackadder's German Operas.

When I saw this book announced, I felt like it could be one for me. I've recently enjoyed contemporary stories about women going through different life experiences and how they approach them. Also, because of who the author was, I expected a nice humourous touch. Sadly, it wasn't all I expected.

The premise was good, as I said, but the book felt a bit too long. And that led to some repetition, which is something that makes me struggle with reading any book. These stories don't need to be almost 400 pages long. That length actually hurts the story.
The characters weren't bad, even if there were a lot of clichés. I don't mind clichés or tropes done right. But the humour was definitely not what I expected and that brought my rating down a lot.
I still would love to see what this author does next.

Funny and relatable. Sad for Maggie, also makes the reader question "successful" marriages. Why do so many seemingly happy relationships end so quickly after marriage?

I really enjoyed this novel detailing the early divorce of a woman in her late twenties - funny and relatable and wise, I read it in a couple of sittings and highly recommend! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you for this ARC. I really liked this book but at the same time I didn’t like parts of it. I’ve recently got divorced so I can heavily relate to Maggies story. I don’t think Maggies friends was as supportive as they could have been, which was a shame for Maggie instead they made her feel like she was being a bad friend when she actually hurting a lot. I do wish the author wrote more about how Maggie was feeling instead of focusing on screwing around etc. Just because I didn’t agree with something’s Maggie did or said doesn’t mean I wouldn’t recommend this book as some bits was funny and enjoyable but for me this book missed the mark.

The Author had a way to help divorcees have a voice on how emotional and trumatic it is to go through instead she was made to feel bad.

I would recommend this book as like I said it was good and enjoyable, I didn’t hate it and I did highlight some bits of the book.

I have reviewed Really Good, Actually for book recommendation site LoveReading.co.uk
I’ve chosen this book as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month. Please see the link and site for full review.

You know those miserable friends you avoid at all costs? This book was like being forced to listen to one for 5 hours straight. Painful.

I had high hopes for this Canadian writer and comedian, a writer for the show Schitt’s Creek which I LOVE!

Maggie is a 29 year old struggling to come to terms with a fresh divorce and for some reason has zero self restraint. She is endlessly cringey; constantly acting poorly and saying awful things to her friends. I’m surprised her friends didn’t fall out with her sooner.

I’m giving it 2 stars because I managed to finish it, but I expected something good to happen at some point. I’m sad to say I regret the investment.

Favourite quote:

‘Call it what you must, but you need to practise walking around and living life and being heartbroken at the same time. Not in an exciting way, where you're in the thrall of some new person, or buying something outrageous, or terrorising Jiro, but in the way where you still have to go to work when you have a toothache.’

Really Good Actually will be available to buy from the 17th January 2023. Thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

A bittersweet look at divorce without the saccharine so often added by romcoms. Yes, you are unlikely to be ‘over it ‘as quickly as everyone around you would like. Yes, you will still crumple each time a certain song plays. Are dating apps a great way to meet a new partner? No. Obviously 🙄.

The expected and familiar tropes are there but there is laughter as well as tears and some interesting side characters. Altogether a sad but enjoyable read.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher 4th Estate and William Collins for a review in exchange for an honest review.

We meet 29-yr-old Maggie one year into her marriage, as she and her husband decide to divorce. What follows is a sharply observed, heartbreaking, but hilarious insight into the next few months of Maggie’s life as she moves house, starts dating again, and deals with the fallout of her life changing so dramatically.

The characters are great, and there are a lot of genuinely funny moments. The plot was well-paced and I would definitely read more by this author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

I enjoyed this book overall but I found the protagonist selfish and unlikeable. Yhe situation she finds herself in is sad and unfortunate, but is Maggie just a spoilt brat? Two many characters that appeared and disappeared and I got confused about who they were. Overall a good bóok for millenials, but not for me.

Engagingly written and very funny in places, it's easy to see Heisey's background as a TV comedy writer, and perhaps this is where this tale will find its natural home. As it stands, not enough happens to sustain this novel over its current length. But did I mention it is - in places - VERY funny? It is. 3.5 stars.