🎶 REVIEW 🎶

The Mess We’re In by Annie Macmanus (Annie Mac)

Publishing Date: 11th May 2023

⭐️⭐️/5

Orla, an Irish girl just out of university, moves to London to pursue her dreams of making it in the music industry, aiming to become a producer and singer songwriter. At a music technology course she meets Neema, whose brother is in a rock band and has a spare room for them to share in Kilburn. The pair move in, finding themselves sucked into the life of the band, taking drugs and drinking too much, all the whole Orla is still trying to find her feet in the industry.

The title is an extremely apt description of Orla’s life. She’s all over the place, taking countless drugs, drinking until she blacks out, and generally just stumbling through life. While she is young, only 22, I still had very little sympathy for her as she just kept making horrible choices. I was waiting for something to happen to make me feel sympathy for her but really she was just quite naive. Other characters I also found a bit one-dimensional, apart from maybe Kesh who, despite being generally unlikeable, had at least a consistently manic personality. Because of this, I found it quite difficult to get invested into the story, and so couldn’t really enjoy it.

If you were into the music scene in the 00’s you will identify with many of the characters and settings, and enjoy this. I thought it was okay but did find my interest waning in sections.

Really did not enjoy this book.
I found Macmanus writing to be really 'bitty' - short and snappy, but without any real substance or emotion. The setting and atmosphere was written well, but when it comes to relationships and characters I just didn't feel anything.
Just couldn't connect to this one. Didn't see the point in the book, didn't get anything from it.

Really enjoyed this great story interesting characters and a nice easy read. Bit more a story would have made it more enjoyable as it sort of felt like ending didn’t really go anywhere but I suppose suited the style. Would be keen to read Annie Macs other release after this!

This definitely has the authenticity of a life lived in many ways. As a fellow Irish person on the move, this feels familiar and that's where I connected with Orla. That said, I did think it felt a bit meandering at times especially in really landing the emotional side. I just stuggled to find my main hook to hold on to. But it's doing a great job at bringing together Annie Mac's worlds of music, Irishness, and finding your feet.

Thank you to Netgalley and Headline for this arc in exchange for my review.

I unfortunately couldn’t finish the book. From the synopsis I believed it would be a coming of age Irish girl moves to London and tries to make it in the music industry and I would be interested in the pitfalls and what happens to her.

I got 20% in and felt like I was in the wrong place. These aren’t my people! I didn’t understand the music terminology or recognise half the bands and that seemed to be ALL it was. An excuse to talk about bands and music with a bit of a story to facilitate this. While I know this is Annie Macs business and life, it just didn’t appeal to me as while I enjoy music, I don’t want to just read about that especially when I’m not cool enough to understand a lot of it.

I also struggled with the lack of speech marks and I basically think I’m too old and frumpy for this book.

The Mess We’re In follows Orla in the early 2000s who has moved to London to chase her dream of becoming a music producer/artist. Living with her best friend Neema and Neema’s brother’s band mates we follow the housemates through all the twists, turns and their messy relationships.

I loved this story. I really felt I could relate a lot to Orla and some of the poor/impulsive decisions you make as a young adult living for the moment. The characters really come to life and the setting is so vivid, I really felt like I was part of the story and devoured this book so quickly.

The story captures the hedonistic, drug fuelled, party driven lifestyle. Music is woven through the pages of the book, from the titles of the chapters, the vivid descriptions of songs, and music that follows Orla throughout the stages of her life. I think this shows Annie’s musical prowess and is a nod to her own life.

I loved how Macmanus also examined Orla’s relationship with her mum and dad. I felt like this was really honest and emotional, being from a non-nuclear family myself I related to Orla’s feelings of hurt and abandonment towards her father in particular, and I can see how this impacted her other relationships.

I’m really impressed with this book and went in completely blind and new Annie as an author but I’ll definitely be reading her other work. Her writing is fluid, real and immersive. I can’t wait to see how she continues to grow as a writer. I’d love to know more about the inspirations behind this story.

The only parts for me that would make this 5 ⭐️ would be that some of the characters didn’t get a rounded off ‘ending’ and just seemed to disappear. I also felt like some of the devices used to mark the setting didn’t overly add to the core plot and again were briefly mentioned then forgotten. This didn’t necessarily detract from the plot but wasn’t needed in my opinion.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Following Orla, an Irish girl in her twenties that’s moved to London to start a career in the music industry in the early 2000’s, there’s plenty of expected highs and lows. I loved all the music references and the Irish characters felt so authentic.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with the ARC.

The Mess We're In follows Orla as she tries to navigate the new city and life she is trying to build for herself in there. Focusing on music industry and all main characters ambitions with it is quite interesting, While the book focuses on their every day lives and provides an amazing view in to your early 20s and the struggle of finding yourself and finding your voice, it also feels a bit empty. The writing is interesting but it is not enough to carry the story as the at parts it feels like nothing is happening but writing isn't there to romanticize that parts of the story.

However the story was interestingl the dynamic between everyones wants and the way they act is quite interesting to observe,

I was keen to read this because I really like Annie Mac. Set in the 1990s, Orla has moved from Ireland to London to work in the music industry. It's one of these books where not a whole lot happens but its a pleasant enough read. It's about a women trying to figure out her identity and relationships with friends, family and partners.

I've not read anything by Annie Macmanus before so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, "The Mess We're In" strikes the perfect balance of music industry knowledge and life for a young person coming to a new big city. So many things resonated with me: leaving Cheltenham for the excitement of London, the Camden scene of The Good Mixer/Hawley Arms, the grubbiness of Kilburn High Road, and wanting to fit in as a "real-Londoner". The dialogue was brilliant and just sums up being a 20-something, especially when she goes back home and realises things are not the same. Like a trip down memory lane.

Always a bit dubious when a ‘famous face’ branches out into writing novels - but this is incredible. The nostalgic vibes of this coming of age story of Orla had me in tears, and at times petrified of the situations she put herself in. From the chapter titles of iconic noughties songs, music also plays a main character - with trips to gigs and festivals with the band to the almost peaceful and poetical songs on St Patrick’s Day in the lock-in.

From a reading perspective the dialogue is written in a different way so that took a bit to get used to but completely didn’t notice it by the end.

I thoroughly recommend this book to any one who lived as a 20 something in a city that’s not their own, desperately trying to find their way to their goal - even if they don’t completely know it yet.

First, my thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC of this novel. I'm not familiar with Annie McManus, but, despite the three star (low, for me) review here, I quite enjoyed the feel of the novel, the atmosphere. But - and it's a big 'but', I think if you're going to write a novel in which the 'everyday' for a certain cohort of people happens (that is to say, not very much) then you have to make sure the writing carries some weight. I'm not saying the writing is bad, it most certainly isn't, but it's writing that ought to tell more of a story - there has to be something for the reader to hold on to, and I didn't feel that here. What I'm saying is, you can't have nothing much happening, *and* nothing desperately special about the narrative style. You have to have one or the other. I'd be happy, as a reader, with either, but not both together. I think what's happening here is that McManus is finding her narrative feet, and I'm sure she will, and I'll keep a look out for more of her novels in the future, for sure.

A great story about finding yourself in a new world. Mcmanus has continued to transfix me from her first sentences. A truly wonderful read that was filled with love, emotion, anxiety and those true feelings about learning who are you in your own life.

I perhaps need a bit more time to digest this book and all that it made me feel. The things I really loved was the authenticity of life as a 20-something just out of college in the year 2001, I was just a year younger than the character at this time and it made me reminisce so much about the music/gig scene and political feelings of the time. Although Orla is nothing like me, I felt I understood where she was coming from and in particular her relationships with her family. The correlation with Orla's Da and what I also experienced in my mid-20s was very well written and I felt all the emotions in my core. Annie McManus writes beautifully with such description and I truly enjoyed absorbing every word lyrically.
I just felt a little weighed down by all of the drug-taking which felt equally bleak and monotonous and I was just expecting something more from the storyline with the band- just more conflict or drama, though I figure this kind of "uneventful everyday events" was the aim of the book, which I respect I just personally wanted... more.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Wow. I feel like a new person after reading this. I related so hard to Orla as a fellow girl in my early 20s confused with the world.

Oral’s relationship with herself and those around her were beautifully explored and developed and I loved the openness of the ending in letting the reader decide what’ll happen to Orla next.

This book has left me a little befuddled. The writing is okay, the story is okay. Everything is okay but it's not great.

The story (such as it is) follows Orla who has come to London via Cheltenham to live with her best friend, Neema and the members of Neema's brother's band "Shiva". Orla has her own ambitions to write, sing and produce her own music but she finds out fast that there's no easy route to that happening.

That's pretty much it. The state of relationships between band, girls, other bands, record labels and critics seem to be dictatedby the amount of drugs everybody's had. Orla seems intent on taking everything and sleeping with anyone much to Neema's displeasure. (At one point it felt like I was reading an edgier but far less enjoyable version of Marian Keyes' Rachel's Holiday.)

I don't mind a book that goes nowhere. In fact I'm quite fond of them but there is usually exquisite writing that is on display. Annie Macmanus seems still to be finding her voice as a novelist. Or maybe I'm just too old for this book.

There really is nothing wrong with this book but it simply didn't get under my skin enough.

Set in the London music scene of the early noughties we are with Orla as she navigates life in a new city whilst burying her head in the sand in relation to family dynamics at home in Ireland.

We experience a few months with Orla as she arguably makes some rather unwise decisions. Annie Mac, perhaps not surprisingly, uses the music scene of the time as her touch point and backdrop. For me there were too many specific music references, I actually found it distracting from the storytelling and thought it may narrow down the number of people who will fully embrace this book.

I liked the relationship between Orla and Neema and thought issues around race and culture were dealt with well as well as a deft touch in handling how women were treated in that industry at the time. Perhaps people may think the media and music production companies would have been progressive and respectful, but what’s painted is a fairly unsafe space for women dominated by some pretty vile men.

Throughout the book I kept thinking I would like a memoir about Annie’s experiences at this time.

This book had me hooked from the first few pages. It reminded me of the good times at university. The characters are believable and the setting is perfect.

Orla is one of the most authentic characters I think I have ever read. When I finished reading this book I saw a review on goodreads that stated "A tale that felt so authentic it could only have been written by someone who lived it themselves". Annie Mac is an absolute rockstar and has cemented herself as such over the years on the radio and on the page.
This book is punchy, it's sexy, glamorous, horrifying, disgusting, basically everything you would associate with livin g a hedonistic, low income lifestyle while sharing a house with an up and coming rock band. It's an absolute lived experience and I felt like I gained memories from it just by reading it. I was really impressed by this!