This is such a relatable book. This book is full of strong women. It was such an emotional read. The author has written such an honest account.

I found this book really enlightening and eye-opening to life as a mother and all of the struggles and societal expectations set on women. It was really, really well-written and I would absolutely recommend this book!

Very easy to read with a nice almost comforting(?) writing style if that makes sense. I felt intrigued throughout and bonded with the characters.

Spilt Milk
Amy Beashel

I honestly wasn’t expecting to love this as much as I did, (let’s call it an age thing ☺️) but love it I most certainly did. So much so that a) it will definitely have a place on my favourite books of 2023 list & b) I will be buying copies as gifts and recommending it to EVERYONE I know.

It’s beautiful, raw, honest, funny, modern, fresh, heartbreaking and just bursting with love. Superb writing. Go buy it.

My thanks as always yo NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read & review this book

Review posted on instagram & Twitter

I read 27% of this book and I can tell it's a good book but I am not the target audience. I felt stressed while reading it and I couldn't enjoy the book like I wanted to. I am the issue and that is fine. I can see myself maybe reading it in a few years. But for now, I could not continue reading it.

As a mum to a two-year-old and many other similarities with Spilt Milk's protagonist, I found this book to be incredibly relatable. It was almost painful to read (in a good way - a testament to the author's excellent writing skills) because so many of the main character's day to day frustrations and general experiences were bang on the nose. And I loved that the ending wasn't what I expected, but it offered a wonderful conclusion nonetheless. Every mum should read it.

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done a fantastic job of creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I might be childless, single and alone, but this novel impacted me in such a freaking way… I felt everything, all the worries, all the regrets, all the sadness and happiness. You really don’t know what you’re getting into when it comes to being a mother, or if you’re actually prepared to do so…
This is the book everyone needs on their shelf and a book everyone needs to read at least once in their lifetime.

I liked this story and the characters were enjoyable. However I found the story hard to follow. It went back and fourth but took me a few seconds to work that out and the second person narrative wasn’t a good way to write it. I understand why it was written this way. Both of these things stopped the pace of the book and slowed it down quite a bit.

However I still enjoyed the writing itself and look forward to what Amy writes next.

Thanks goes to net galley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review and thanks goes to the author for writing it.

Oh my goodness! What. A. Book. I was enthralled from beginning to end. Bea was likeable, had flaws and was so relatable. I really felt for Bea, Mabel, Craig, Bryony, Alice, Caroline, Nisha, Dell they were all human. I loved Amy’s book, thank you Harper North and Netgalley for the opportunity to read it.

It’s only February but I can confidently say this is going to be one of my best books of the year.

Spilt Milk follows Bea, a mummy blogger who posts the realities of motherhood on her blog Tonight Will Bea Fine. One night after a few drinks a post is accidentally published about the fact she regrets having her daughter and she’s recently had an abortion (without telling her husband). The post goes viral and Bea’s life as she knows it begins to implode.

At its very core this is a book about motherhood, and the relationship between a mother and daughter. It really brilliantly depicts that stage in life when you realise that your mum is actually a person and not just your mother.

Another topic that is handled really well is cancel culture and how the internet can destroy somebody because of one thing they said - there’s also an awful Piers Morgan-esque character who left me fuming with his words. It looks into the abortion debate and the idea of ‘My Body My Choice’ which is an extremely timely topic.

It’s also about grief and how it can tear your world apart, and how no matter how old you get… you’ll always need your mum.

I loved it.

It all starts to unravel very quickly for Amy. A blog page open. A little too much to drink. And a chance to off load and say... quite a lot!

In truth it all started to unravel way before that night, it's just now that it's all out there and Amy is now dealing with the consequences.

Not only is this a novel about women as mothers, their bodies and rights. It's about marriage and change and how we adapt and how we maybe... shouldn't adapt. How can we stay true to ourselves along the journey... because that's important too.

Highly recommended.

This book is a brilliant expression of all the unsaid things about motherhood, I absolutely loved it.

This is a story about the women we (think we) know, the choices we make, the friends who stand by us and how the secrets we keep and the words left unsaid can be more dangerous than any lie we tell… The author has a great gift for characterisation - nuanced, interesting, believable people but created with a charming sense of storytelling.

This was a hard hitting emotional read. Even though I’m not a mother, I can relate to the conversation of my body is my body. Overall I think this book for me is all about conversations and how the media and social media can manipulate your own experiences and expectations.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e arc of this book

I wasn't sure about the way this one read to start with but I really loved it. I'm not a mother so have absolutely no experience with a large part of the subject matter, but we absolutely need to stop shaming women for having perfectly valid, normal feelings.
Thank you to Amy Beashel for writing so eloquently about abortion and normalising it, I've seen it briefly mentioned in books before but never to this extent, and it was so so refreshing.
Full of strong women and highlighting the importance of supporting each other, and that nothing is ever black and white.
Honestly there was a point I teared up in this book. I hope this starts a genuine discussion, what a wonderful read.

One of the best books I've read in ages. It was a hard read emotionally but so compelling and thought provoking. I related to so much of it and there were many parts that truly resonated with me. It was emotional and brilliant. My review is a bit crap because I just can't put into words how much this book spoke to me. It was so honest about pregnancy, motherhood and marriage in a world where people pretend to be perfect and happy when deep down they aren't. It was just brilliant.

Exquisite, artistically crafted prose that had me gasping, mesmerised and a fine plot with stunning characterisation. Amy Beashel is a huge talent and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

I wasn't sure about the tone of this at first, but once I was about 20% in I was really invested in it. An honest and necessary conversation around motherhood and what comes with it. A lot of the issues brought up here are definitely things I have thought about before and I don't even have kids.

The addition of racism wasn't necessary. It felt like a tick box and it added nothing to the story. It already had some diverse characters but the racism mini storyline was forcing it.

Outside of this though, it was like a heartfelt memoir and I appreciated it. If I ever have kids I'm sure I will think back on this book on the tougher days.

I think "Spilt Milk" will resonate with many new mothers in heterosexual relationships, who found themselves complaining "that's not how it was supposed to look like". In this novel, Amy Beashel explores important issues of warped not-so-much partnership, unwanted pregnancy and social implications of talking openly about dissatisfaction of motherhood.

This is the reason why the narrative choice to make the first-person narrator address her daughter while telling the story is so interesting. "Spilt Milk" is about the decisions that often go against the social grain, but need to be made if women want to lead more potent lives.

Big applause of portraying non-monogamy in a nuanced and non-judgemental way, as well as realistic approach to the topic of difficult, medically-assisted pregnancy and its impact of one's perception of the world.