DNF

I think I'd probably enjoy this more if I was anywhere near the target demographic. I'm nowhere near menopausal, I don't yearn for the 90s when I was still in nappies and couldn't do a single thing for myself or even string together a coherent sentence for most of it.
Just the wrong book for me.

This book is so cute .
And omg the nostalgia . I felt like I was reliving the 90’s right alongside her .
A super cute, ‘what if’ book . That will keep you gripped to the end

This was a really fun and enjoyable read filled with nostalgia and brilliant characters. Would highly recommend!

A fun read that did the 90's amazinglyyy. Talk about nostolgia! I loved this book and didn't want it to end.

This was a cute story. I love stories where someone gets to see what their life could've been like or a glimpse into the future. Thank you to NetGalley for sharing this book with me in exchange for my review!
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Fifty four year old Kate is married and a mother-of-two, dreaming of her past and wishing she was somewhere else. She’s stuck in the mundane reality of life as a grown up…her marriage is lacklustre and her thoughts often veer to her ex boyfriend Tom.

When Kate finds herself back in her 28 year old self’s body and life, she is elated, and tries to find out what would happen if she had made different decisions back then. But as she relives her youth (and the 1996 Euros), Kate starts to realise that she’s missing her real life and the family that she’s built. Will she manage to get back to 2022? And will anything have changed based on her new actions in 1996?

I normally love this kind of book, I’ve already read a couple like this with the time travelling/what if element already this month and I loved them. So I really did expect to love this but I just didn’t. And I can’t even put my finger on quite what it was that didn’t do it for me. I found it to be very jumpy and hard to follow. The plot was very here there and everywhere and I just couldn’t keep up. I didn’t know if it was just me being tired whilst reading but other readers have said the same. I couldn’t fully warm to Kate either. She seemed very superficial and seemed to care more about what she looked like in 1996 than anything else! I thought there was quite a bit of body shaming which didn’t sit well with me.

Overall, I found the plot and characters quite vacuous, which is a shame as this book had the potential to be so much more. Wouldn’t recommend this one!

"The Glory Years" is a masterful portrayal of the human journey, reminding us of the resilience found within enduring connections and shared experiences. It is a riveting exploration of friendship, dreams, and the passage of time. With vivid storytelling, the novel immerses readers in the characters' joys and trials, painting a rich tapestry of emotions. The book evokes nostalgia and introspection and was original, enthralling and un-put-downable!

Mink Elliott revitalizes the time travel trope with a refreshing touch. Through her innovative approach, she brings forth a much-needed perspective, rarely explored, especially by women in their fifties. With subtle twists, she captivates readers, subtly altering their perception, leaving a satisfying impact.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Any reader that grew up in this era will enjoy. After a freak accident Kate is time warped back to 1996. It was such a great read for anyone that would want to do things over again,. This could also be dubbed as a mom-com. I am not a mom myself, but could relate in a way.
I normally do not enjoy time travel books, but this was the exception.

The "About Mink" section at the end of the book summarizes the author's refurbished version of a story she had already published in 2013 (to dismal acclaim): A dissatisfied, frustrated, nostalgia-mad suburban mum who stumbles upon a time portal in her pantry that whisks her back to London at the height of her heyday, 1996, where she gets a once in a wife time second chance to make some tiny tweaks to her relationships and hedonistic outlook so that she can reap the benefits in the present, if she ever gets back to the future... and breathe."

Time travel stories are hit and miss, either they are executed based on an original concept and all characters find their niches or they are just plain flops. This story, while the "back to the future" concept is not that original (but still a good one), fell short.

I personally found the FMC to be vapid and shallow, both in 2022 and 1996 versions; the amount of references to her body shape/size (flabby stomach, chin hairs, hanging jowls in 2022; flat stomach and perky breasts in 1996) were wholly unnecessary and just added to the self-esteem issues that she had (but tried to convince herself that she didn't). Her relationships with her family, boss, boyfriend, best friend, and (ultimately who would become her future husband) co-worker also felt very surface level, and I'm not sure if the lack of emotional attachments were missing due to the time travel element or if that was actually how the characters were supposed to be written.

Finally, and this is coming from someone residing in North America, the amount of slang English phrases didn't help matters to following the storyline and kept interrupting the flow of reading as some parts were written phonetically and others just sounded made up. This could be a case of "it's me, not you," but again, it just took away from being in the zone of the story.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Mother of two Kate enjoys her life in the suburbs, even if her family doesn’t know how to help around the house. She can’t complain about much. But she can reminisce about the 90s. When life was simpler and adulthood didn’t take control. However, Will going back really prove to be all it’s thought out to be, or is it just life with rose coloured glasses?

I loved this book - imagine how fun would it be to go back to our younger years and relive them. This was a fun idea

It is a well written novel, with punchy dialogue that rings true, and the descriptive writing brings the scenes to life.

Thank you NetGalley and Hera Books for providing me with an ARC of The Glory Years!

Synopsis: 55-year-old Kate (who loves to daydream about her past) travels back in time to re-live her 20s! As she relives her youth, Kate reflects if some things really are best left in the past.

Review:
⚡ Perfect for those who romanticize the past
⚡ 90s nostalgia
⚡ UK pop culture (which unfortunately flew over my head haha)
⚡ Back to the Future vibes but add a sprinkle of motherhood

The pop culture references were lost on me, but I still found The Glory Years a relatable, quick read. Overall, highly recommend it to those who love time-travel tropes and those who often wonder if they made the right decision.

Note: Instagram post published on Oct 27, 2022!

I really enjoyed this one! Kate is approaching her fifty-fifth birthday and feeling a bit down. Life hasn't turned out quite as she imagined and she wonders if things would have been better  if she had made different choices in her past!

With her relationship with hubby Seamus stagnant (and sex-life non-existent) she starts to fantasise about her ex Tom... and suddenly finds her self transported back to to 1996, when she was a size 8 with a flat stomach and was in PR for a trendy music magazine. Could she distract Tom away from Tamsin, the office tart, who he originally left her for? Perhap she could impress her boss with some new ideas and progress her career in PR? However, ufbshe does this it may mean that she doesnt have her two beautiful (but rather grumpy) teenage children in the future!

A fun read! The author dubs the book a "mom-com" - how many middle aged mums look at the rose-tinted lives of peers portrayed on social media and wonder if life would better if they had done thing differently? Deep down, though, do they really want to change anything?

This was a 2.5 star read for me.

I went into this book excited it was going to be kind of like Freaky Friday, but only focus on the mother’s perspective. While I got what I wanted, nothing special was really added to the plot to make it stand out or feel new.

I cannot say anything was wrong with this book. It just didn’t resonate with me. I was hoping for a light, funny read. However, my lack of knowledge when it came to English and early 90s references could have contributed to my feelings.

Special thanks to NetGalley.com and Hera for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feelings.

This was a refreshing read. I loved the time travel and how the main character looked differently at herself from the past and the present. A fun read. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I'm really sorry, I struggled with this one. The writing just didn't flow, I didn't care enough about what was going on, and I didn't find any of the characters likeable. One star for this one.

Lovely, quirky read! Loved the trip back in time. As a nineties kid myself the nostalgia was brilliant!!! Five stars!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

I enjoyed the idea of this book, it’s similar to ones I’ve read before and it’s always a concept I have enjoyed. However for this read I felt it didn’t quite hit the nail on the head for me.

It was refreshing to read about a women in her fifties who is bored of her day to day life. And who wouldn’t want to go back to a time which was pivitotal in their own lives.

I found myself enjoying the younger Kate narrative (and maybe that is because I’m closer to her age then older Kate) however the breaks to Kate’s reflections on her current/future life got me a bit confused at times.

The ending left me thinking that it was a nice read and I would be interested to hear others thoughts on this book, especially those older then I am who may relate to Kate some more.

Overall not a bad read, but not one which I’ll be rushing to read again soon.