I went into this book with such high hopes. I had seen it compared to Sally Rooney (though, admittedly, I haven't read any Sally Rooney) and that part of it was set in Edinburgh during the Fringe (a setting I know well) and I was really excited to read it. What I got, though, was really disappointing.

This follows Ada, a 26-year-old who is struggling to get acting work and living in a two bedroom flat in London. She is juggling a sort-of relationship with fellow actress and Australian Sadie and a text romance with Stuart who messaged her after seeing her Fringe show.

That's about as much as you know when you go into it, and also about as much as I knew at 28% where I DNF-ed. That wasn't my issue though. My issue was that I am 26 - the same age as the main character is meant to be - but everything she said and did was so textbook millennial. The way she talked and acted was as if she was an American at least ten years older than she was meant to be and I really could not get past it since so much of the story was making such a big deal of her being in her mid twenties. I tried so hard to look past this and soldier on, but I really was not enjoying it and decided to put it down.

In Go Lightly, Brydie Lee-Kennedy shows us how we being with different people brings out different sides of us, to the point that it can be hard to know what we really want. Ada is in a constant state of flux, with unstable relationships and employment. Her romantic and family relationships are chronicled via text messages, and we see how easy it is to ‘fill in the blanks’ and assign meaning to messages that we want, rather than what they mean to the sender! Ada’s love language is clearly acts of service, she describes the planning and preparation of meals in such detail that I expected food to feature in her future plans.
Despite some anxiety inducing scenes in the book, I enjoyed joining Ada on her journey of self discovery, from London to Florida to Brighton and back again. Highly recommended.

I DNF’d this one. It was a bit too slow for me, I could really get into it. I can however see how someone would enjoy this. The writing styles just isn’t for me

I found this a little hard going to begin with and hard to engage with. But the more I read, the more I enjoyed it. It is a summer read I would say, one that you can pick up and put down. I think some people will find it relatable, but some may find it a little slow going.

'Brydie Lee Kennedy's 'Go Lightly' took me by surprise, in a good way! Once I got past the initial hurdles, I was hooked. Ada, flawed and all, I found myself rooting for her, especially in her messy relationships with Stuart and Sadie. The peek into her family dynamics was a nice touch too. And I loved the short chapters too - they kept things snappy and kept me flipping pages. If you're after a breezy read that still packs an emotional punch, I'd definitely recommend picking up 'Go Lightly.' Big thanks to NetGalley for gifting me this gem in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I felt it was good but sometimes the protagonist, Ada, really annoyed me and the way she would say things was a bit weird. Like it was okay for her to do things that’s affected other people but she didn’t want them to get mad about it but when the show was on the other foot it was very obvious it affected her?

I liked the queer representation as Ada is bisexual and I think that was a nice twist because most books like this are heteronormative.

Stuart was also a bit of a weird character and I didn’t like him much as all, especially to begin with. Normally when someone like that messages you you would laugh about it with friends but not reply. He then became a bit demanding and when they met the vibes were off.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, nothing really, I guess. This was a good book and I was hooked at some bits. I like some of the texting chapters. Those were nice and fast paced. I just felt that the ending was also really rushed. We didn’t get anywhere and it was as if it stopped in the middle of the sentence. Nothing felt final about it.

I think I would rate this a 2.75 stars. Bits were good but I think some bits were slightly under developed.

Thanks to Bloomsbury for the e-ARC – here we have an entry into the "messy, early/mid-20s woman" genre that feels summery but a little underwhelming.
Things I liked about this include: Ada's relationship with her family, when it was explored (they were a lovely set of characters, and in a way their likability put Ada's immature moments into sharp relief), Mel (Ada's best friend/flatmate), Ada's contagious love of London and the possibilities she sees for herself there. I also thought the way messages were incorporated between chapters was really interesting, in that it gave you a glimpse into what would happen in the upcoming chapter and what the characters were thinking when they sent those messages. The relationship between Ada and her sister was really interesting to me, and I thought it was fairly original!
But…that was kind of it, really. Unfortunately, I found Ada's brand of inconsiderate to be pretty irritating – if I was Mel, I would be way less diplomatic to Ada – and her happy-go-lucky ways regarding money and jobs made me more antsy about her future than anything else. Usually a book with a main character like that will have something more to say about the economy/job market, but Ada didn't seem to have thought about it beyond it not appealing to her. I was also never fully sold on either Stuart or Sadie – Stuart's appeal didn't shine through and I wasn't sure what Ada saw in him, and Sadie felt like she needed a bit more definition/humanisation. I would've also loved to have a more defined resolution in the end, which felt a little abrupt. The blurb asks "Who is Ada?" and the answer, at the end, is still "I'm not sure".

I didn't love this book, but I also didn't not love it. I feel that this book would be more suited to the people in their early 2o's. As someone approaching their late 30's I found parts quite irritating.

I did like that the character was bi, that area was quite relatable.

The story itself was ok but as I said earlier, definitely for someone younger than me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Ada sleeps with Sadie at the Edinburgh festival. Stuart watches Ada’s show and slides into her DMs. Back in London, Sadie has nowhere to live and asks to stay at Ada’s.

I enjoyed this low stakes romantic novel. Ada’s living situation, expat woes and strained relationship with her sister aren’t often represented in fiction. The writing is also really warm and believable.

Unfortunately Stuart is not at all appealing, which prevented me from buying into one of the main romances.

There’s a lot to like in Go Lightly and it will make for a great beach read. I will be interested to read what Brydie Lee-Kennedy writes next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have mixed feelings.

“Go Lightly” started by irritating me profusely. I was having a hard time making sense of spending time with Ada. I couldn’t stand her, to be honest. Then something shifted. I’m not sure what and can’t pinpoint when exactly either. I was drowning in her self-obsession and then I found myself swimming under the warmth of a summer that feels more like a broken promise than anything else. Could be the homesickness, the nostalgia, the 'I want to go home but home wasn’t always the safest place for me to be myself so perhaps not'. Again, I’m not sure.

I wouldn’t say I loved it, but I wouldn’t say I didn’t. Ada is annoying, but at times I found myself relating to her — perhaps because lately I’m also finding it hard to stand myself, my inertia, my settling, my compromising until I can barely recognise myself. The irony is that this negotiation is between me, myself, and I… and too much about me and too little about the book. A bit like Ada, I guess! What I can tell you is that at some point they’re having Popeyes and I took a reading break to have some myself.

A self-pity trip? Maybe. Something magnetic. Perhaps self-obsession? I somehow ended up falling for it.

Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing for gifting me this ARC.

Go Lightly - Brydie Lee Kennedy 🌊

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thoroughly enjoyed this, when I first started the book I was unsure but in time became hooked!

At points I really related to the main character Ada and truly felt what she was feeling.

It was really interesting to see how her relationship would develop with Stuart and Sadie (of course the boy was awful) and I really enjoyed the small glimpse into the relationship with her family.

Also appreciated the chapters that were the messages between Ada and others, having some short chapters in a book is just *Chefs kiss*

Definitely recommend this book if you are looking for something light hearted and easy to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own*

#NetGalley #GoLightly

I was not expecting this book from the cover or the blurb and I did manage to read it. I didn't, however, enjoy it much. I could not find myself caring about the main protagonist, I found her self-absorbed and trite, maybe that was the point? I also found the writing quite difficult to read at times.

Go lightly
This book was not exactly what I expected going off the cover and brief description but I did enjoy. I think I would have enjoyed more if I was in my early to mid 20’s, some of the scenes were definitely hard for me to relate to.

As for the relationship, I found Ada and Stuart’s relationship more exciting to read about and connect with, I didn’t enjoy her and Sadie’s relationship as much. I don’t know if it was the writing in their scenes of the main character but it just didn’t click with me as much. As someone who is bi, I enjoy the representation within books but this one just didn’t 100% hit the mark for me. Which is totally ok, it’s a subject which everyone relates differently to and experiences differently.

The main character was probably my least favorite. I didn’t find her humour relatable or funny at all, but I think that may be due to different backgrounds personally. The writing isn’t my usual style either so this could have definitely contributed.

Overall I did enjoy the read and read quite quickly.

It's tricky reviewing a book like Go Lightly from the other side of 30: its themes are set so intently on youth and 'coming-of-age' that you feel anything you think of it is probably mired in your own memories of being 26 and what's happened since and will be deeply biased. With that bit of self-awareness out the way, I'll give it a go.

I raced through the book in a day, which I think is a testament to both Lee-Kennedy's pacing and use of Facebook Messenger. Cracks start to form in the moments where the book slows down and you're left alone with Ada and her environment; I think the writing is liveliest when describing character interactions and their direct consequences, and much more awkward the few times it attempts to describe the characters moving through space and reflecting on natural surroundings. Perhaps the author intended it this way, to demonstrate how dependent Ada is on her relationships with others. Perhaps not.

On the romantic and sexual aspects, I was definitely much more invested in Ada's relationship with Stuart than with Sadie. There was real dread for me in Brighton, whereas I finished the book still feeling like Sadie was a mirage with no real personality or qualities worth wanting after.

Overall a fun read that firmly grasps how good (and bad) it feels to want and be wanted, and where family and friendship are interesting asides, but no more than that. Self-aware and gestures at the right things, but not so sharp as to point where it hurts.

I don’t really know what to make of this boo it felt very slow moving buts also fast paced the characters were very well written they were so unique in their sense of taste and like and dislikes the love triangle was very well written and I genuinely loved this amazing story and characters

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book but I look back now I’ve finished it and feel that overall I enjoyed it. An Australian bisexual comedian, Ada living in London with a really good friend, Mel commences two relationships simultaneously: one with Sadie a fellow Aussie gay female and bizarrely with Stuart, a young boy living in Liverpool who purports to be a fan. The book is predominantly about this relationship triangle which is well written, even if you don’t like some of the characters. There were moments when I just wanted to hug Ada and others where I was virtually shouting at her. I will definitely look out for more from Brydie Lee-Kennedy as she intrigues me.

I thought this was a fine book but unfortunately it was just fine. I didn’t particularly feel connected to any of the characters and therefore didn’t really care about what decisions they made. I felt it was lacking the depth I desired but was overall a relatively easy book to get through.

I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest unedited feedback. Thank you NetGalley!

This book was made up of lovely short chapters which made it easy to pick up and read. I also enjoyed how the format changed between traditional and text exchanges.

We follow Ada as she navigates through life and manages the relationships she has with different people in her life. We see the different dynamics she has with her family, friends and love interests. It’s a story about the human urge to want and to be wanted. I personally enjoyed the way that Ada was unapologetically herself in every situation even if that resulted in her own downfall.

The characters felt very real and it was an accurate depiction of modern relationships, however I personally felt a lack of closure.

Overall, this is a great debut and I know that it’s going to be a hit!

Ada observes a lot of the world insightfully, though she bulldozes her way through it, and feels way too much about it all. If I'm exhausted by her, she is even more exhausted by herself.. A funny and heartfelt exploration of modern love.

Go Lightly was fine enough, and I found enough things to like to finish it. However nothing stood out to me as particularly special about this book. I didn’t connect with the characters or get invested in anything that happened to them, and I found myself skimming over the sections that included Stuart. He is one of the most unlikable and irritating characters I’ve ever come across.