Loved it - a gorgeous debut with a beautiful contemporary love story. Slow burn and real and ever so tender, would definitely recommend.

Smart, funny, and heartbreakingly tender. Okay Days sometimes feels like a riff on the classic Bergman film Summer with Monika. In which love blossoms in the freedom of summer only to be suffocated by the realism that autumn brings - but instead of languishing in broken dreams our protagonists Sam and Luc find a way to love again.

Many thanks to Sceptre and NetGalley for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review. I could not put this down. I finished it in under a day. This was a refreshing take on modern relationships and love in the real world. I loved the dynamic between the main characters Sam and Lucas. At first, it was quite hard to feel empathy for Sam but as the story progresses we realize her way of thinking and why she makes decisions like those. There's a lot going on between the past and present timeline and I loved how the narration flows smoothly between them. The writing style reminded me of Sally Rooney.

This was relatable in so many ways and I've bought a physical copy to add to my collection. Highly recommend!

Sam and Luc have an authentic connection which is tested by the challenges of life. London features very well, and I found it an enjoyable read that stayed with me.

I was looking forward to reading Okay Days and it didn't disappoint. It was a fun, sharp read with a modern protagonist (Sam) who definitely captures both that awkwardness and fuzzy feeling that comes from complex relationships. In this case - Sam's with Lucas. We get both of their POVs, so the story feels fully rounded.

I found the tone of Okay days to feel really exciting and new and due to that was fully invested in the story. This is my first book by jenny Mustard and will defintiely keep her on my radar.

A love story with the air of sally rooney, but the gift of a non-toxic male lead. in a world filled with heartbreak and disheartening stats on relationships, Okay Days shows us how love can prevail —

what it can look like when both parties make the decision to fight for it. to take a chance on it. to choose one another

that it’s okay for preconceived ideas of your future to change. for your vision to morph from someTHING to someONE, and the new portrait of life to begin and end with one person. that everything will be alright as long as you are with them.

h i g h l i g h t s
🥂 set in London
💖 sam + luc
✨ beautiful prose
🫶 witty banter
💛 women’s reproductive rights

This book could be inhaled in a day or marinated over several. I didn’t want it to be over so I chose the latter. laying in the spices of the world, characters, and storytelling. spending days stuck within chapters, living in the tender swirling world of Sam and Luc.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers

This book was amazing! I read it pretty much in two sittings as I just couldn't put it down. I thought it was so tender and realistic and I genuinely couldn't guess the ending at all. A highly recommended novel!

I really wanted to like this one, but it was just ok to me...

Okay Days focuses on the relationship between Sam, who is Swedish, and Luc, who she first met when she was a teenager. They reconnect years later when Sam's doing a work placement in London and ends up becoming involved in an intense relationship. The novel narrates the comings and goings of their relationship as lovers and friends.

This book has been described as having a Sally Rooney vibe, but I think the comparison highlights how different the authors' writing styles actually are. Okay Days certainly seemed to want to appeal to readers of Sally Rooney, with the 20-something couple and the comings and goings, but it just fell a bit flat for me. I felt like I couldn't really connect with these characters and, apart from their relationship with one another, they felt very one-dimensional. The other characters in the novel weren't really developed either.

I loved the narrators of the audiobook version of this one. Their narration certainly made me enjoy the book more.

Thank you Sceptre/Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ARC in both ebook and audiobook format!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This story is about Sam, a Swedish girl living in London whilst completing a work placement. She sees Lucas again for the first time since she was a teenager and falls hard for him. They ignore reality and spend the next three months together, they both know it can’t last but enjoy it whilst they can. This story follows their affection for each other, the realities of life, male body dysmorphia and women’s reproductive rights. When is okay good enough? And what are we willing to lose in the search for a life that is much better than just okay?

I loved this debut novel so much. I really loved the characters and felt like I was speaking directly to them about their lives. This is such a realistic story about life and how not every part of our lives will be amazingly perfect. It is fine with part of your life just being okay, as sometimes this is when you are happiest. There are some important topics, such as being lost in your 20s, and it made me completely relate. I loved Jenny’s writing and I am so excited to see more from her!

I definitely recommend everyone to read, especially if you are in your 20s.

Okay Days by Jenny Mustard is a smart and spiky modern love story that tells the tale of the rise and fall of Sam and Lucas's affection for each other. The story is set in London, where Sam, a 28-year-old Swedish woman, is spending the summer working for a top marketing agency. It is during this time that she falls hard for Lucas, a man she first met as a teenager. Lucas is working at a boutique clothing store while trying to get a foot on the corporate ladder and is struggling to hold the pieces of his life together. Sam is a gorgeous distraction, but both Sam and Lucas know their relationship can't last. Nobody can be this happy forever, surely?

The book explores themes of modern love, male body dysmorphia, and women's reproductive rights. The author looks unflinchingly at the pitfalls of modern love and asks when is okay good enough? And what are we willing to lose in the search for a life that is much better than just okay?

The writing style is engaging and the characters are well-developed, making it easy for the reader to empathize with them. The narration in the audiobook version is excellently executed, further enhancing the experience of the reader.

However, the plot of the book may remind some readers of Sally Rooney's Normal People, as it revolves around the familiar "will they won’t they" trope. While the book is a pleasant read, it may not offer anything particularly unique or groundbreaking in terms of the romance genre.

Overall, Okay Days is a well-written and enjoyable read that will appeal to fans of modern romance. The book explores important themes in a thought-provoking way that will leave readers pondering the complexities of modern love and the search for happiness.

Okay Days by Jenny Mustard is a delightful and refreshing read that captured my heart on a weekday. The story revolves around Sam, a carefree and chaotic 28-year-old Swedish woman, who finds herself in London for a work placement. There, she meets Lucas, a sensitive and calm Londoner whom she had first encountered as a teenager. Their immediate attraction is undeniable, but they both know their time together is limited. Despite the looming end date, they cherish every precious moment they have.

Jenny Mustard's debut novel impressed me with its unique and captivating writing style. The book delves into thought-provoking topics like male body dysmorphia, women's reproductive rights, and the complexities of modern love. I was drawn to how Jenny skillfully explored long-distance relationships and the challenges of living abroad. The characters felt so real, and their struggles and dilemmas were easy to relate to in our own lives.

Okay Days is a modern fiction gem that takes you on an emotional journey through the ups and downs of a fleeting romance. If you're looking for a heartwarming read that will leave you with a smile, this book should definitely be on your TBR list. Many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and Jenny Mustard for providing me with this copy!

Really wanted to like this, and while I enjoyed the format of the countdown to the end of the relationship, I didn’t find there to be a hugely powerful connection between the two protagonists.

Okay Days follows the two main protagonists during their tumultuous late twenties when every choice they make is starting to feel like it might be permanent. This, together with their different personalities and the beginning of their romance taking part over a carefree summer, stacks the odds against them. I found it interesting to see how both Luc and Sam grow and learn about themselves through their relationship, and also really appreciated the author's introduction of Sam's immigrant dilemma of when it makes sense to stay, or why you are staying somewhere that is far from its idealised version of your youth. This book made me miss London so so much!

This is hands down one of my favourite books of this year. From page one I could not put this down, I loved every character in this book, they felt so real i did not want it to end. The writing was so beautiful and I just adored every second of it. Sam and Luc have my whole heart. If you love Sally Rooney, please pick this up !

I read a book that I think deserves 5 stars. The author captured the excitement and nervousness of meeting someone for the first time, and the feeling of butterflies when seeing them again. As the story progresses, the relationship fades and the emotions that come with a breakup are accurately portrayed. I liked that the story was told from two perspectives, one character being flawed and the other positive. Together, they were beautifully imperfect and honest about their problems and desires. The author's writing made me feel like I was falling in love for the first time. The countdown to the end of the book made me appreciate the journey of the characters even more.

Okay  Days by Jenny Mustard.
This was a beautiful  surprise of a book. I knew nothing about it before reading and was drawn to it by the title and its cover. It did come with yet another Sally Rooney comparison, they really are being thrown out hard and fast such comparisons now and while I would not make the comparison myself you could maybe find some parallels between Normal People and Okay Days in that this is a love story but more so about making a relationship work and the consequences when it doesn't .
Okay Days is the story of Sam and Luc. Sam is Swedish and is spending the summer working in London. She met Luc ten years previously briefly and when they met again they spent the summer together. There is always an end date to their relationship when Sam is returning to Stockholm but they find they can't quite give each other up.This is a realistic, messy ,clever, funny and bittersweet exploration of a relationship. It took me a while to warm to the characters initially but once they clicked with me, I could not put this book down. I was engrossed in their relationship and really wanted things to work out for them.I loved the writing in this one. Jenny Mustard captures real love in all its glory and she writes with a great mix of warmth and sharpness and intertwines themes of reproductive rights, male body dysmorphia , self discovery and questioning is it okay to settle for just okay?
There were several paragraphs , especially in the closing chapters that I wanted to highlight and went back to reread. Wise and moving, well paced with a great cast of secondary characters. A gorgeous read. Recommend.
4.5 stars

Okay Days is an okay book that I'm finding very hard to get into. I've made 30% progress and yet I'm not interested in the events or anything that's happening between the MCs.
Thanks for the opportunity to read the book but I'm gonna have to DNF this one.

Jenny Mustard's debut is a winning novel that only gets stronger as it progresses!
I was absolutely thrilled to be approved for an e-ARC of Okay Days, as it sounded perfectly up my alley. Love letter to London? Check. Characters feeling lost in their twenties? Check. An examination into relationships, friendships, and finding your place? Consider me completely sold.
Okay Days places us into the story of Sam and Luc, who seem like one of those fated matches (they met ten years prior and have reconnected by chance), but who have no illusions about the nature of their relationship. After all, Sam is only in London for the summer, and Luc is trying to get his life together. Determined to enjoy the time they have, they launch straight into a relationship that, regardless of its duration, will change them forever. The chapters count down, but towards what? A breakup? A reconnection? A change, minuscule or massive?
I loved the way that countdowns and the idea of time running out loomed over the entire novel. With European, middle-class characters having doubts over their careers and relationships, it's sometimes easy to feel a sense of "first-world problem"-ness. The recurring idea of ticking clocks and turning pages on calendars grounded us in the very real anxiety that tends to come with being in your 20s: too new of an adult to remember how arbitrary most of the deadlines that we feel we should meet in life are, too old, it feels, to not have it figured out yet. Sam and Luc are warm, and well-intentioned, and they're trying – to find their places, their people, their passions, their homes. You have to love that about them.
Jenny Mustard's prose is consistently polished, tender, and sensory. I found the dialogue particularly strong – believable, clever, with just the right hint of sweetness. As someone who now lives in London™️ I really enjoyed finding the little Easter eggs – favourite places and views, love notes to a city that will always have a special place in my heart. The food and setting descriptions were subtly and beautifully done, and even after a few days, images of Sam and Luc are still drifting through my mind.
I thought the second half was stronger than the first, and I would have liked to see more build-up with Luc's body dysmorphia, which is why it didn't get the full 5 stars, but I will definitely reread (can't wait for the paperback!) and pass on to my fellow lovers of character-driven contemplations of life and love in big cities.

First I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for the arc copy💫.


This story was a well-deserved 5 stars. Right from the start the author was able to trasmit the feeling of a when in you meet someone for the first time, the butterflies in your stomach every time you see them again.. and when the magic ends. In fact, the author through the characters was able to make of the reader all the feelings and actions of a relationship that is coming to an end ranging from starting to drink too much to going out less.

I loved the double pov: Sam is flawed , witty and constantly running away from her problems. Luc on the other hand always sees the bright side in everything and I love him for that very reason. Together they are beautiful , imperfect and at times honest about their problems and desires.

The author managed to make me feel like I fell in love the first time and I loved this book for that very reason. Also, the chapters marking the countdown to their end made me appreciate even more all the ups and downs that Sam and Lucas go through together!

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sam and Luc are spending the summer together before Sam returns to Sweden. Both know their romance isn’t going to last, and that’s ok. Isn’t it?

Fans of Sally Rooney will really enjoy this, I think. It’s pithy and sombre and explores the uniqueness of human connection. We see their in jokes, their flaws, their development.

I think this gets better the further through the book you get. There are moments that should probably be more closely addressed that aren’t, but that’s probably more realistic than everything being neatly wrapped and concluded.

It feels quite real in its exploration of intense relationships.