Kathy Lette is such a hilarious author and I find she talks about difficult topics that are very relevant with a humourous spin to take the edge of and HRT encapsulated all of that. I can just imagine being a fly on the wall when Ruby made her IDGAF speech in front of all her family and friends and the looks on their faces (!) but also at her bravery for not GAF as she hits them with the big C as she walks away (heartbreaking). So many emotions with this book, I felt strongly for Ruby and where her head must be at with her diagnosis of terminal cancer but also for all her loved ones around her and also her husband. I was laughing and in tears and just feel Lette has such a powerful way with words to deliver uncomfortable topics with humour.

Not to my taste. I can see it would be an entertaining romp for a lot of readers but I just didn't warm to any of the characters or care in the least what happened next. I struggled to finish it.

Having read some of Lette's media columns I decided to request this book as I was hoping for some of the same. Unfortunately this book did not engage due to the 'over the top' adult nature. I'm sure there is a large market for this but it is not to my personal taste.

“An outrageously funny, heartbreaking read – when Ruby finds out she has cancer on the brink of her 50th birthday, she decides to start living instead of complying…
Ruby has always been the generous mediator among her friends, family and colleagues, which is why they’ve all turned up to celebrate her 50th birthday.
But after too many glasses of champers, Ruby takes her moment in the spotlight to reveal what she really thinks of every one of them. She accuses her husband of having an affair and lambasts her mother for a lifetime of playing her three daughters against each other – it’s blisteringly brutal.
As the stunned gathering gawks at Ruby, the birthday girl reveals that she has terminal cancer, and has cashed in her life savings to take her two estranged sisters cruising into the sunset for a dose of HRT – Husband Replacement Therapy. But is Ruby being courageous or ruthlessly selfish?”

Having just turned 50 and with 2 sisters myself – I felt I had to say yes to an advance review copy of this! (Although thankfully I got through my 50th without a cancer diagnosis or upsetting anyone, despite too many glasses of champagne!)

I have to say when I started the book it felt incredibly similar to another Kathy Lette book I read recently, and whilst the wise-cracking humour was amusing – I wasn’t sure I could cope with something almost identikit – group of middle aged women against the entire male population. I almost gave up – but I’m glad I didn’t – as once the sisters were back from the cruise the book improved dramatically and had much more interesting storylines.

It looked at sibling relationships as well as romantic relationships, plus parental ones both as the parent and as the offspring. I also loved the setting in Sydney (having lived and worked there for a few months back in 1999 – it will always have a special place in my heart)

Overall I enjoyed the book – and I think most women of a certain age would! (But I won’t be booking on a cougar cruise any time soon!!)

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for my ARC – and it’s out NOW if you fancy the sound of it!

Ruby Ryan is having an interesting 50th Birthday Party. She has gotten very drunk, accused her husband of having an affair and then accused most of her friends of being the other person in the liaison. Then she has insulted her controlling mother, and the rest of the family. She then announces that because she's been given a terminal cancer diagnosis, she wants to take her sisters on a cruise with her, so that they can patch up their differences.
At first her sisters don't want to come, but both then have their reasons for coming along. It's not until they are underway that they realise that it's a Cougar cruise. This prompts confessions from the other sisters about the state of their own marriages and they each embrace the cruise in their own ways. Ruby, unfortunately, seems to keep ending up in the Doctor's office with an annoying sideline sarcasm.
Things change for each of the sisters on board, but when the cruise finishes the two elder ones are keen to revert to their lives and despite Ruby's pleas, they want her to do the same.
Roll forward to Christmas and the whole family gathers at their abrasive Mother's house for the Christmas Day festivities which after their Mother drops a few truth bombs of her own, things descend in chaos.
A laugh out loud read and very funny.

I considered not finishing this, it's so crude and OTT, but something about the main character made me want to find out what happened to her. I liked the ending, but the cruise section was crass and I skimmed over some of it. If this is the tone of Lette's other books, then I won't be reading any more. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grabbed me from the first page. Made me smile. A life ending diagnosis and a big birthday party. A chance to say everything you really thought as you find out your husband has been having an affair.
Throwing money and caution away, booking a three week cruise for you and your two sisters. The two sisters who don't speak due to darling mum's comments and manipulation.
Enjoy the fun, characters and maybe the truth happens along the way.
50 is the new 40, menopause is not the end. Find your passion and go for it.

This is a book about a 50-year-old woman having kind of a mid-life-crisis. After learning her husband has beem cheating and getting a cancer diagnosis Ruby burns a lot of bridges and goes on a 3-week-cruise with her two elder sisters. They land on a "cougar's cruise" and try to figure out what they want from life.
I liked reading this book, it was entertaining and had interesting characters. I couldn't fully relate to the main character because she acted so irrationally and kept changing her mind. Also she acted like a doormat so often. Still it was very enjoyable to read about the adventures the sisters had on the cruise and I really liked the ending.

I am a huge fan of Ruby Wax, I love her trademark sense of humour, wit, and the way she just cuts to the heart of an issue, much of which is on display here. However, whilst there is much to entertain, laugh, and engage with, there are some brilliant one liners, for my personal tastes, it becomes too OTT, a little too relentless, and far too crude on occasions. Ruby's well attended birthday bash does not go as planned, perhaps not surprising as she had the shock of discovering her husband, Harry, has been having an affair that day, but even worse, she has been informed that she has terminal cancer.

Hitting the bottle hard, her no holds barred, brutal drunken speech has her let rip, not mincing her words, with the truth of what she thinks of her family, friends, and work colleagues. She is keen to heal the divisions between her and her estranged sisters, Amber and Emerald, keen for the 3 of them to take a cruise and time out of their normal, hard pressed, everyday lives, and learn to heal and connect with each other. The morning after the night before, Ruby is now a social pariah, but she learns the cancer diagnosis was a medical error, but does she come clean, no. She perpetuates the deception as she chivies her reluctant sisters to come on the cruise.

Where will it all end? Lette touches on some important themes and issues, such as the invisibility of women as they get older, being taken for granted, midlife crises, family, mothers, sibling and marital relationships. I do recommend this to readers, particularly women, just be prepared for those times it may not chime, where characters may irritate or when it is all is too much. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

It’s prime Kathy Lette, what more do you need? This book in your life!! Buy it, kick back and enjoy.

Thank you netgalley & Kathy Lette for an advanced copy and brightening up my life.

Reading this as a 50+ woman, some of it did resonate. I think we all wonder if this is it and having a shock does tend to focus the mind. I loved the three sisters and their dysfunctional dynamic fuelled by a mother who played them of against each other.

The antics on the cruise (which is not my idea of fun) made me laugh and the fact it was themed even more so.

You were willing them to all get their happy ever after - in whatever shape that it might take and maybe they go it!

This isn't my favourite book from this author, however it did make me laugh.
It was funny and kept my interest to a degree.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was totally bonkers and a real breath of fresh air! Very funny if a little crude and vulgar at times. Fabulous characters and full of fun throughout.

A really enjoyable funny book which I will certainly recommend to others.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

Certainly a fun and funny book which was entertaining throughout, with totally over-the-top situations. Totally barmy at times with three sister's, told from, Ruby's, the youngest, point of view when they come together on an unexpected 'cub' cruise. Not at all sedate as they all begin to relax with much drink and frolicking. Lot's of banter with some parts verging on too much information, although occasionally frustrating . Beneath all the fun the sister's do assess their pasts and in particular their marriages slowly becoming unraveled, the reader just doesn't know what will happen next.

At her 50th birthday  party Ruby gets a bit drunk and tells her family and friends exactly what she thinks of them in a speech, before revealing that she has terminal cancer and that she will be taking her estranged sisters away on a once in a lifetime cruise to try to mend their relationship.

The next morning she wakes up with a banging hangover, finding that she has beclme a social pariah and her mum has written of her out of her will... and then discovers a message from her doctor saying that there has been an administrative error and she does not have cancer....

Realising that the expesnive cruise tickets are non-refundable Ruby is faced with a dilemma: should she fess up to her sisters Emerald and Amber, or use the opportunity to go away and mend bridges?

This is a very funny book, with relatable characters, i really enjoyed it!

I’ve seen Kathy Lette on television over the years and she always comes across as a great racanteur. Despite that, I hadn’t read any of her books before until now and HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy. As I was reading it, I could absolutely hear Lette’s voice!

Ruby announces at her alcohol fuelled 50th Birthday bash that she has incurable terminal cancer and uses it as an opportunity to tell some jaw-dropping home truths to her family and friends. I mean what did she have to lose? It’s a totally mesmerising car crash of extreme awkwardness. Still on a roll, she announces in her speech that she’s taking her sisters Emerald and Amber with her on a Farewell Cruise around South Pacific islands. It’s her dying wish that her sisters Amber and Emerald bury the hatchet and become better sisters and friends again.

Without wishing to reveal any spoilers - this book is a fast-paced funny and at times crude treat. It’s also about sisterhood in both senses of the word. It also reinforces that women in their 50s can do what they want and lead the lives that they want and deserve.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Aria & Aries, for making this e-ARC available to read in exchange for a fair and honest review.

HRT: Husband Replacement Therapy,is the latest laugh out loud,with the occasional cringe at "too much information", from the deservedly popular Kathy Lette.

When Ruby discovers that she has terminal cancer on the eve of her 50th Birthday celebrations she delivers a drink-fuelled "what have I got to lose" speech that would make Frankie Boyle blush. Giving the assembled (about to be former) friends and family both barrels she rounds off an exceptional piece of oratory by very publicly revealing that having seen his phone messages her husband is having an affair. The next day,hung over but glad that she's outed the liars,losers and hypocrites in her life she receives a letter........informing her that there's been a mistake and she doesn't have cancer after all.
Having deeply insulted the 2 sisters she'd booked a "farewell cruise" with Ruby manages to convince them not to back out.........which they only agree to as they still think she's dying, Keeping her not so little secret Ruby and her sisters set sail on a holiday involving much debauchery and exploring much more than the Pacific Ocean.

While this is a very funny book it's also insightful and often moving as Ruby and her sisters look at the lives they've got,or rather have settled for,and what they really want. It's a bit of a roller coaster that successfully mixes humour and pathos, one scene in particular comes out of the blue and kicks the reader in the guts while the family Christmas is the funniest thing I've read for a long time.

It's rude,often crude, extremely funny and unpredictable,just as I thought it was winding down ..............well you'll have to read it for yourself to find out.