This book is like nothing I’ve ever read before!

When the narrator is persuaded to drive to New York from her home in L,A rather than fly, she sets off on a voyage of discover that doesn’t actually take her very far from home. Struggling with her monogamous marriage, and releasing that she is basically half-way through her life, she wonders what the future might hold if she stays conforming to the idea of being a faithful wife and mother.

It’s really hard to describe this book or explain the plot. Decorating a motel room at a cost of $20k is just the start of the unusual plot twists that this book takes, but it had me gripped. Themes of birth trauma, menopause and female friendship is just the start of the long list of things that the narrator explores. There are some steamy scenes which might make this one a tricky read on the bus, but there’s a reality and a rawness to the feelings of the narrator that we’re swept up on this journey of sexual self discovery with them.

An unusual read, but one I would recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review,

I really struggled with this book and only made it 25% through before I had to DNF it. Unfortunately it just was not for me.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

This was a wild ride. I loved the book, but I hated the MC! I guess that's the mark of a great author - that I wanted to keep on reading even though I couldn't stand her. I'd be really interested to learn more about how much was autobiographical.

I was asked to review this by NetGalley. My father has just passed away and instead of getting sad and fed up guess what I read this - totally funny feel good.

The multitalented artist Miranda July has written a fab sexy book about a woman approaching menopause.

Loved this super recommended.

Probably the least favourite book that I have read, over the last year.. Written in a very confusing way and with explicit sexual detail I decided to throw in the tail. The book is probably better suited to younger readers.

I have very mixed feelings about this book.: I really enjoyed part 1 but then found it increasingly tedious. I still got the protagonist’s motivation in those first chapters but eventually the story ended up being a hot mess.

Oh deary me, where to start with this one? At least once a year, I read a book that is very difficult to rate and impossible to recommend without caveats. All Fours is that book.

Have you ever had a really weird, really sexy dream about a random stranger or person in your life and it plays out in the most bizarre but raunchy way, where you wake up and you think, holy smoke, I'm never telling anyone about that dream?! All Fours is that dream in novel format.

Our protagonist is a 45 year old artist on a sexual, midlife, menopausal safari. She's about to embark on a trip driving across America to New York for some work, leaving her husband and non-binary child Sam at home, when 30 minutes into the trip she stops at a small town, She meets a young guy working at a Herrz garage, gets the horn for him and takes a notion that she's going to redecorate the motel room where she's staying, at great expense in the style of The Bristol in Paris.

The whole plot is so utterly bizarre and implausible, hilariously funny and profound at times, and totally ridiculous at others. Some great writing is offset by a lot of kink - far too much of it to be honest - and there was one scene involving a tampon that can never be unread.

If you love writers like Jenny Offill and Olivia Laing, this is one for you. If you were grossed out and loved Children of Paradise, and you love surrealist humour, you will likely enjoy this. I was bored by about 50% and slogged my way through the rest. It rips up the heteronormative relationship playbook which should be really interesting, but the intrigue wears off pretty quickly owing to the sheer amount of preposterous naval-gazing and kink in it. Not for me overall, but I can absolutely see why others will love it. 2/5 stars

Many thanks to the author and publisher for an advance review copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a confusing read. The main character in her inability to commit (to projects and her marriage) made it incredibly hard to like.
She came across as flimsy and the part where she pays £20K to decorate a motel room??
The themes of infidelity, which then leads to an open marriage, seemed far too convenient for an easy pass for the main character.
I can honestly say that this book left me baffled!

I really tried with this one, but couldn't do it. I was annoyed by the main characters and couldn't get into the story.

Like how it started off - interesting premise, amusing, sort of quirky tone, and then it just spiralled into something that just didn't suit my literary taste. A shame because I find the author's other books far more impressive - and engaging in a more consistent way. This one just felt off to me. I like how it explore (peri)menopausal women's inner conflicts and otherwise, but it sort of lost its narrative control and flow towards the second half. Wish it was more controlled. Would probably work better as a short story collection, or at least divided into chapters - with multiple perspectives of different characters. The protagonist felt too much in her head, and her self-obsession made other characters felt unconvincing and lacking of layers, felt flat and awkward somehow - family members and lovers in particular.

I’d heard so many people raving about this book that I was desperate to read it and it did not disappoint. Funny, smart, and challenging, it’s been stuck in my head since I finished reading. In fact, I’ve been telling people it pummelled me. But gently. And positively. I loved it.

Despite being a woman in her late 20's I really enjoy stories about women of any age on the search for their identity.

It's a vulnerable and witty account that demonstrates no matter what part of life you are in there is always room for a cheeky crisis. This is definetly a marmite sort of book (you either love it or hate it). Stick with it though it's worth it.

I loved NO ONE BELONGS HERE MORE THAN YOU and Miranda July's films so I was really excited to read this, and it didn't disappoint. I read it in one day. It's funny, it's weird, it's wonderful!

I knew I was going to like this after reading the synopsis but I didn’t expect to be one so invested in the life of this woman ! As a woman of 46 this book was far too relatable in many ways , it had me laughing at times yet also had me drifting into long spells of thought about my own life and future .
The sexual references were a bit much towards the end but aside from that it’s bloody brilliant !

This was absolutely brilliant — such a moving portrayal of the idea of exploding a life in order to pursue something *more*. Fantastic.

The story of a die-hard romantic who has lost the spark through marriage and children. All Fours hinges however on a wildly privileged narrator, who spends $20k redecorating a hotel room to indulge herself in romance for a couple weeks. Perhaps the point of the book is to get lost in the romance of the impractical, but this reader did not enjoy the journey -- it was too hand-wringing and indulgent, spending far too many pages on ruminations, banal details and minute-by-minute detailing.

All Fours by Miranda July feels like a cross between a mid-life crisis narrative, a sexy fever dream, and an essential manual on the usually not discussed implications of menopause. As a 44-year-old woman, so much of what July's narrator has to say really resonated with me -- the nuances about the intersections of power and love and hope and despair of marriage and family life chief among them. I am grateful to this book for digging deeply into the experiences of women at midlife, and for speaking candidly about both the practical aspects of the changes it produces, as well as philosophising about how that change can be transformative and beautiful. The novel began to lose me about 3/4 of the way through, where I became, frankly, a little bit bored of all the lesbian sex, but it also won me back at the end, where the final, climactic moments - in their joyous mix of earnestness and absurdity - brought tears to my eyes along with the narrator. A strange, beautiful, imperfect book that I was surprised to like as much as I did.

I read this on holiday and needed to sit with it for a while before being able to write this review. This book was completely different to how I expected, but in the best way possible. I've been thinking about it at least once a day since I finished it 2 weeks ago. Something about it really got under my skin.
Sad, funny, insightful, tragic, sexy.... It was refreshing to read something so explicit but from the perspective of a woman reaching menopause and still trying to figure her life out.
Really enjoyed it and will be recommending to everyone in my life.

"Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic and domestic life of a 45-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectations while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman."

This is not your typical romance novel - the main character is 45 for a start. She has many facets and throughout the book takes the reader through a whirlwind of highs and lows, At times her experiences are uncomfortable to read and I cried, nodded and squirmed with embarrassment in almost equal measure. But I couldn't put it down. The writing is gritty, raw and unapologetic - a breath of fresh air.

With thanks to #netgalley and #Canongate

Fantastic read one to recommend and will stay with me for a long time. That drive cross-country from LA to NY is one I loved reading about and will endeavor to do one day!