So Thrilled For You follows four friends in their early 30s - Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi - on the day of of Nicki's baby shower. Former university flatmates, the four have found their paths diverging somewhat as the complexities of motherhood (or lack of), relationships and adulthood have borne down on them. Perfectionist Charlotte, who has struggled through years of IVF, has decided to 'gift' Nicki with her own ideal baby shower in the knowledge she may not ever be able to have one, and she is determined that the party will go off with a bang. However, when when a gender reveal smoke bomb ignites an enormous fire, risking lives and destroying properties, the police start to investigate all four women.

This is a powerful read and one that I particularly would like to gift to the women in my life who are mothers. As someone childfree by choice, I think I was supposed to relate most to single career woman Steffi - who feels that her friends don't appreciate or celebrate her significant life events because they don't involve marriage or children (which did feel very recognisable) - but it is Lauren's brutal, visceral experience of early motherhood which felt most immediate and urgent. After reading Bourne's afterword, it is clear that it is this narrative which was most informed by her own experience, and it shows.

If I had one niggle, it's that the book felt slightly over-long, and the sections where the police interview each friend in turn did not feel particularly authentic. But it is a gripping and emotive read, and an important one.

📚 review 📚
so thrilled for you - holly bourne

ooof holly bourne has done it again hitting me where it hurts. I have long been a fan of holly bourne’s writing - the places i’ve cried in public is nothing short of a masterpiece and i love the way that women and the relationships they have with each other is portrayed in holly bourne’s books and this was no exception.
so thrilled for you is a literary fiction through the lens of a thriller. at its heart it is a character study - our four main characters have been friends since uni but their lives have taken them in different directions, their povs are interspersed with news articles and police interviews which really help up the stakes.

This felt so realistic and raw, like steffi i am child free and most of my social circle have children - so i did really resonate with the misunderstandings between all their ideas on life, love and children.

so thrilled for you well-written and brings all the points across with sensitivity - though some of the plot lines might be triggering for some so, do research before diving in
thanks to @netgalley for the early copy. so thrilled for you is out in january and holly is doing a few events - i have my ticket ready, check out your local bookshop for more details!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for my ARC.

So Thrilled For You is an exploration into friendship, womanhood, and motherhood, following a group of friends as they begin their very different journey's into becoming mothers. I'm sure lots of people will relate to this book and relate to at least one of the group, but also this might be an upsetting book to some. I personally related to it quite deeply, especially that feeling of loneliness and loss that comes with being the only one in a group of friends who does not have children and does not wish to. I appreciate what the author is doing with this novel, and I enjoyed reading it.

SUCH a good book! It’s about female friendship and motherhood, and will strike a chord with any woman in their 30s and beyond. I will be recommending this to all my female friends, particularly those who are mothers.

A baby shower on a hot summer day in a fabulous countryside house filled with old friends. What could be more lovely?

Over the course of the day, we watch relationships old and new melt in the summer heat as a group of friends gather to celebrate. One is suffering intolerable post natal depression, one is about to give birth, another struggles with her fertility whilst the fourth is committed to the childless life. Friends for many years - but do they really like each other? And who set off the smoke bomb that led to half the county going up in flames?

The characters are all believable. The fractures in their relationships are relatable. It's probably written for women younger than me, but that's not a big deal. I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy.

So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne

Nicki, Charlotte, Lauren and Steffi have been friends since university and are now in their thirties. They gather for Nicki's baby shower on a very hot day that will end with a terrible fire. What really happened leading up to the baby shower and on the day itself?

Oooh this book is delicious! I read it in a day because it has the compulsive nature of a thriller, but really it's SO much more... Holly Bourne is so wise and absolutely spot on about female friendship, childbirth and motherhood. It's 21 years since I had my eldest child but Lauren's experience was so familiar, it's like the author was in my head. If I'd read a physical book I would have been furiously underlining so many bits that resonated on how society treats mothers, gender roles despite best intentions, weaponised incompetence etc etc. It's BRILLIANT!!! Very VERY highly recommended.

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

I really enjoyed this book. Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi have been friends since university but life has since taken them in different directions. Charlotte has organised the most lavish baby shower imaginable for Nicki and the 4 friends are reunited on a scorching hot day. Nicki never really wanted a baby shower and is horrified when she sees the name of a former female colleague who she became way too close to on the guest list. Lauren has a young son and, after an horrific birth, has been struggling massively with motherhood. Charlotte is desperate for a baby having had a number of failed IVF treatments. Steffi does not want to have children ever. This is a really great read about what it means to be a woman. Lauren's experience is probably not a good read if you are pregnant or trying to be.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Holly Bourne delivers a sharp and compelling exploration of modern womanhood in So Thrilled For You. Tackling themes such as motherhood, infertility, relationships, sexuality, and the societal pressures placed on women to conform, Bourne dares readers to question ingrained expectations and the silent shame women endure when they choose a different path.

The narrative is punchy, fast-paced, and brimming with intrigue, carrying echoes of a “whodunnit” that keeps the reader hooked. Bourne’s ability to balance weighty themes with an engaging storyline ensures the book is both thought-provoking and entertaining. The depiction of Lauren’s postnatal depression is particularly poignant, offering raw and relatable insights into a subject often shrouded in stigma.

Bourne’s storytelling feels modern and urgent, making it easy to imagine this novel adapted into a gripping TV series. A thoroughly compelling read that challenges societal norms while delivering an unforgettable story.

When four friends who no longer have much in common gather for a baby shower thrown by one of them for another, they are supposed to be celebrating. Except that the seething summer heat serves to bring tensions to a boiling point, with outcomes no one could have predicted.

When things go up in flames, one of them literally burns the house down. But who was really responsible for what happened? It's hard to tell, when so many secrets are being protected by members of the quartet...

The book has things to say, both poignant and troubling, about motherhood and female friendship that may have resonance for many readers, but there is also laugh out loud humour sprinkled on top. Well observed social commentary, for those who are interested.

So Thrilled For You is a smart, absorbing, and eye-opening depiction of motherhood. I couldn't put this book down and I can definitely foresee this release becoming wildly popular.

Bourne sets up a captivating 'whodunit' plot by introducing news reports of a devastating fire and sharing snippets of police interviews with suspects throughout the novel. Specifically, four women are suspects for arson and the police are trying to figure out who started the fire — and with what purpose or motive. These fragments set up a wonderful atmosphere of suspense. They are also often quite comical and grant the readers an interesting perspective into the lives of our main characters.

However, the majority of the novel is told through four first-person perspectives. Nikki, Lauren, Charlotte, and Steffi form a close-knit group of university friends that call themselves the 'Little Women.' However, now that they are in their 30s, their group is falling apart. Lauren is a mother with no time or energy to see her friends, Nikki is pregnant, Charlotte is struggling to conceive, and Steffi is a career woman scorns the ides of kids.

My one complaint is that I found Nikki's character irredeemable. I don't want to spoil anything, but she makes many self-absorbed choices and she is an awful friend, especially to Steffi. I loved the other three women though, even with their quirks. My heart broke for them and soared for them in different moments. There is also a wonderful emphasis on the importance of female friendship (as well as its difficulties).

The novel intensely scrutinises societal pressure placed on mothers and the judgement endured by women regarding their reproductive choices. So many passages delve into ugly truths about motherhood, jealousy, and loneliness. Bourne expertly crafts a novel that champions the sleep deprived, lonely mothers who are struggling postpartum.

All in all, So Thrilled For You is an amazing read that I won't stop thinking about for a long time. I can even imagine this making a wonderful movie or tv series.

As a mum of 2, albeit my children are now 11 and 14, I found this book so utterly and refreshingly honest. I too had birth trauma ending in C Section, in fact Lauren’s story could have been mine. The way the story is written around the Little Women and being able to relate to all of them at some point was so clever. I adored the humour, I can’t remember the exact quote about Grand Designs/the glass house but that made me hoot! I can’t say I was surprised to get to the end and read that Holly wrote this whilst nursing a newborn. I feel completely seen and represented in this book that I’ve never felt before so thank you Holly. First time motherhood is daunting and scary and to see myself in literature even 14 years after my first born has made this a stand out book.

What happens when four long time friends through a baby shower during an protracted heatwave?

Charlotte who is desperate for a child of her own decides organises the event of the summer for her heavily pregnant friend Nikki, who really doesn't want the fuss , reluctant university pals Lauren, and Steffi round out the group, Lauren however is struggling with aspects of motherhood while Steffi is blissfully child free.

Simmering tensions threaten to boil over as the sweltering temperatures continue as distant group are thrown together.

And just which one of them has set the house on fire!!!

I do not envy the marketing team for this book - how do you explain that it will be so viscerally relatable it will feel like a gut-punch, but it will also make you snort with laughter even if reading it in public?

This novel explores the friendship group formed at university, and how the onset of their 30s brings the question (and reality) of babies. Who is having them, and why? Who is not having them? Who wants them, but can't have them? Who is judging who for these decisions, and how does motherhood change a friendship group?

This was so well written and relatable, it raises important qusetions of friendship and the roles of women in society. The plot is pacey and intricate, and I loved that the format included police interviews. It's part comedy, part mystery/thriller, part drama. It feels really contemporary and relevant. This will surely become a seminal text in feminist literature.

Overall I LOVED the title, cover, characters, - it is well compared to Big Little Lies meets Really Good, Actually. I think the blurb doesn't do justice to how funny it is!

This review also appears on Goodreads as a 5* read - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214868013-so-thrilled-for-you?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=ZxZuj2TqS5&rank=1

No author writes millennial women as authentically as Holly Bourne. Her characters are always real and raw, talking wounded by the fallout of systematic misogyny. So Thrilled For You is no exceptional, alternating between the viewpoints of four very different women - friends since university, nearly a decade on they are growing apart for a multitude of reasons, a prevailing one being how women in their 30s become judged then defined by their decisions over motherhood (to have or not, the choices made over birth and childrearing, or what if having them can't happen for reasons beyond their control). I burned through this book, couldn't put it down as I was so desperate to find out what was going to happen next to the characters. This is an essential read to help us understand each other and build empathy when we oft are oblivious to so many of these issues if we don't directly experience them. A powerful and bittersweet wonder of a book.

Lauren, Nicki, Charlotte and Steffi were friends at university. They are now in their thirties, at different stages of their lives, and are reunited attending a baby shower for Nicki who is pregnant. The shower is held in Summer, a swelteringly hot day, as the heat rises, so do tensions between the friends.
I am probably a little older than the target readers for this book, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters and their situations were believable, and readers can relate to them and their lives, feelings and problems.
Highly recommended.

Nobody writes novels for and about women like Holly Bourne. I absolutely tore through So Thrilled For You - a book that is both vital, and hard to read at times. Her four main characters all sit at different parts of their journey with motherhood, and each character's story is told with deep empathy and realness. That would my main evaluation of this novel: it is so utterly real, and if you are a woman existing in today's world you will recognise every part of these characters' stories, their relationships, their secrets and their feelings. As I say, it's not always an easy read, but it also shines with Bourne's trademark wit and warmth. There are genuinely funny one-liners amidst the horrors and hardships, and it's a book packed with love and connection, too. Bravo Holly- everybody should read this book!

I adore Holly Bourne's writing, and found this extremely funny and relatable. I won't give anything away, but just to outline that the beginning felt so unbelievably believable... The baby shower, the friendship groups changing, the undercurrents of feeling pleased for your friends but also comparing yourselves to them.

Gosh, this was good! I was completely caught up in how relatable/awful/hilarious/tragic/selfish/outrageous these four women were...I'm probably quite a bit older than the target audience, but memory of the hell of giving birth to my first child is still there, and those awful, awful days (and nights) when she just wouldn't sleep, and I thought I might die from being so tired. Lauren's parts are so raw that they are heart-breaking. But I love Holly Bourne's honesty, as she really doesn't shy away from just how difficult it can be, whilst also sensitively understanding Charlotte's point of view too. I really liked how I kept feeling differently about each woman as the story progressed, veering from hating them to loving them. It was a real rollercoaster of emotions. Anyway, I basically inhaled this book and whilst I didn't quite like how the reveal revealed, I was fully committed at that point to whatever happened and I loved the pace, the humour, and the truly dreadful baby shower!

I read this in a day while full of a cold and needing something easy and distracting to keep me going and it was perfect for that.
Bound to be a popular beach read and a book-club darling, this was a fun romp on friendship and motherhood in your 30s.
Warning for graphic and disturbing descriptions of childbirth, parenting and its aftermath.
4 stars.

So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne is a literary gem that captivates from the very first page. The storytelling is nothing short of gripping, weaving a tale that keeps you eagerly turning pages late into the night.

The characters are exquisitely crafted, each one fascinating in their own right. The intricate interplay between the "Little Women" is a masterclass in character development, revealing their true feelings in a raw and compelling manner. With the four women at the time of their lives when motherhood beckons, or not, there is an inevitable gap opening, and where better for this to play out than at a baby shower! I had my heart in my mouth as old rivalries and jealousy flared and the rarely acknowledged assessment of whether life choices made, were the right ones I found myself rooting for each woman no matter her choices.. It was ultimately depth of character that makes the novel so engaging; and I couldn't help but feel deeply invested in their journeys.

Every time I had to put the book down, I found myself yearning to return to its pages, eager to unravel more of the story. The author's ability to blend emotional depth with a page-turning plot is truly remarkable.

So Thrilled For You is a must-read for anyone who loves a well-crafted story filled with complex characters and emotional honesty. It's a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

An absolute five-star read that I highly recommend.