I adored this book! What I loved in particular was the exploration of motherhood and friendship through the four main characters, each at a very different stage of their lives. It was funny, caustic at parts and beautifully paced.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC.

I love Holly Bourne as an author. I have read all of her YA books, as well as her adult fiction. I adore her writing style, and I love the way she writes about hard hitting topics but in a really accessible way, that allows the reader to question their own lives.
However, I just couldn't get into this book. I liked the characters, and how different they all were - but I found the plot to be incredibly slow. Sections of the plot were repeated but looking at a different character perspective - but we didn't really need the second or third perspective as the characters were so fully formed, I already knew what they would think or do in particular situations.
The premise was really interesting to me, being a similar age to the characters within the book and having friends from university that may not be at the same 'life' stage as me. But the execution was just so so slow. I wanted more things to happen rather than building to this big fire at the end, that actually was a bit of an anti-climax.

Definitely not the best Holly Bourne book I have read, but I will still read whatever she releases in the future - hopefully will be back to her best!

So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne is about Nicki, Lauren, Steffi and Charlotte who have been friends since university and are now in their thirties.
It was interesting seeing all four Point of Views but most of them were honestly unlikable and I’m not sure how to rate this book.. I finished it because I wanted to know who started the fire and how the situations for Charlotte and Steffi will play out.

Thank you to Holly Bourne, Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Holly Bourne’s books really knock the wind out of me - the woman writes about such complex and urgent topics with a fearlessness that’s lacking in her field. So Thrilled For You is no exception, though it did leave me more disquieted than her other novels. It’s set over the course of one day; the day of Nicki’s baby shower. Among the guests are her best friends from college: childfree-by-choice Steffi, a hotshot literary agent, who is about to see her career skyrocket, new mum Lauren, struggling with what might be PND and what might be intense sleep deprivation. And we have Charlotte, who has organised the whole thing and wants it to go perfectly. Charlotte is struggling with infertility, and her magical thinking has led her to believe that the perfect baby shower will lead to a pregnancy.
HOWEVER: it’s the hottest day of the year, and by the end of the shower, the house will be burned to the ground. This dash of high drama gives the novel a thrilling hook, as it’s a whodunnit as well as an exploration of life for women in their thirties.
Switching between the POVs of the four women, it’s a poignant and honest exploration of changing friendships, motherhood and pregnancy - there’s a lot to take in, but Bourne manages to keep all the balls in the air. There are simply so many big topics discussed! Infidelity! Infertility! New mother regret! Friendship dynamics! It is by turns incredibly juicy to read, almost soapy, until it becomes the most upsetting thing you’ve ever read. One chapter, from the perspective of new mother Lauren, gave me a physical pain in my chest from anxiety, whereas other chapters had me shouting and revelling in the messiness.
I got a bad case of emotional whiplash from So Thrilled For You, especially as I tore through it in 24 hours - it’s a real page-turner. It’s also a raw book; in the afterword, Bourne explains that it was written while her own daughter was a newborn, and it shows! She really isn’t afraid to explore the uglier elements of motherhood. As a woman in her early thirties, this book scared the bejaysis out of me, and I am still trying to decide if that’s a good thing or not.
It lost a few points for me for that fluffy little epilogue; it felt a bit neat after 400 pages of knotty, difficult feelings, but fair enough - it's not like these gals didn't deserve a happy-ever-after after all that mess!

I absolutely ADORE Holly Bourne's writing - she manages to capture the exact thoughts and feelings of women at every stage in their life. A tremendously enjoyable read!

Oh. My. Goodness. This book *had me in a chokehold*! Holly Bourne has done it again, delivering a brilliantly sharp, painfully relatable, and darkly funny story.

So Thrilled for You dives deep into the messy world of friendship envy, societal pressures, and the silent competition we all pretend doesn’t exist. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s utterly unputdownable. The characters were so well written—flawed and human—and I found myself alternating between cheering for them and wanting to shake them.

The themes of comparison and toxic friendships were handled with such honesty, making this not just a read but an experience. There were moments where I was laughing out loud, moments where my chest felt tight, and moments where I wanted to throw the book across the room (in the best way possible!).

If you’ve ever felt like you’re running a losing race against your friends or like your life doesn’t quite measure up, this book will hit you square in the feels. Bourne balances wit and heartbreak masterfully, creating a story that stays with you long after you’ve turned the final page.

Highly recommend to anyone who loves a deep, thought-provoking read with a good dose of snarky humour. This is a must-read!

I liked the idea of this story but I really struggled to get into it. I found the multiple character narratives confusing. Clever writing but didn’t work for me on this occasion.

I liked the blurb but just couldn't get into it. There were too many characters for me and the background stories were very confusing.

A painstakingly curated baby shower in a beautiful house on the hottest day of the year with four best friends each hiding their feelings from one another. What could possibly go wrong?

Only everything.

Lauren, a new Mum struggling with severe exhaustion and PND.

Nicki, heavily pregnant and overwhelmed by a face from her past.

Charlotte, secretly pregnant and terrified of anything going wrong.

And Steffi. On the brink of huge success in her career, but feeling ostracised by her lack of maternal instinct.

A child left unattended for a minute.

As the heat builds and tensions rise, arguments break out that leave all the women fraught and deeply upset. I loved everything about this book, but in particular the portrayal of Lauren's experience as a new Mum, felt entirely authentic and incredibly moving.

Firstly I would suggest this book is not for those who just want the cut and thrust of a mystery. Secondly I would say this is a book for women.

While there is a mystery, this book is built on a beautiful narrative of friends in very different places. One pregnant, one recently postpartum, one dealing with loss and one who is child free.

I found myself lost in this book, I loved every moment of it. The skill Bourne has at writing is truly expansive. I don’t think we commonly think about how our casual behavior could be harming our friends and this book was a masterclass in it. Taking huge issues and boiling them down in to succinct jabs was masterful and I found this book important and I got more than I have ever got from another mystery/thriller.

It’s deep, it has very light parts and you’ll see someone you love in it.


I received this eARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review, which this is.

#netgalley #SoThrilledForYou

Written the in the ilk of Liane Moriarty or we might say with echoes of Lucy Clarke, Holly Bourne attempts a different genre with this latest release, and in doing so shows some gravitas and departure from both the Young Adult and previous adult fiction she has released.
Not a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, but given the premise, this did not exactly set in motion the 'wow' factor.

The narrative is centred around the lives and intersection of friends since university Charlotte, Nicki, Lauren, and Steffi . Life has been pulling them in different directions now they are in their thirties, but a baby shower which is deemed less than appealing for pregnant Nicki reunites the group and the trajectory of the story is launched from. Perhaps predictably, the pathetic fallacy of a sweltering summer afternoon catalyses the already rife tensions within the group - then a fire starts at the house, with the lingering mystery being that of who started it and why.

Though well-written, with a really effective use of multiple perspectives, the point of the fire and then the subsequent conclusion just let the book down a bit in the latter third. The relationships, histories and unspoken emotional ties amongst the women lay some excellent groundwork in engaging readers in the first part of the novel - and Bourne's characters are, as always, relatable and believable. But this dissolves a little into thinly laid conclusions wherein the final outcome is already understood and quite cut and dry. Therein there is a fizzle out of both engagement and continued level of mystery. Not so much predictable, but underwhelming as an overall narrative.

Nonetheless some well-written characters, believable exposition and well built world wherein the friendships live and breathe. Marketing perhaps a little misleading - or just personal preference for a mystery/thriller to be a bit darker and make me work a little harder...

Another absolute pageturner delivered by Holly Bourne. I have lots to say — and I will in a proper review — but mostly that I am amazed by Bourne's talent in presenting all her characters with so much empathy. I have felt extreme emotions, both good and bad, for each of her characters in this book.

The biting context and theme were a ride as well.

I found elements of this book annoying but it's a very good dissection of university friendships once you hit your thirties and in particular what happens when some women have children and some don't. I found it very readable and I genuinely didn't guess where the story was going. Recommended and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A heatwave, a baby shower and a group of best friends - what could go wrong?
Best friends since university and now the women are all in their thirties are all going in different directions. They all attend their best friends baby shower hoping to reconnect and celebrate. But tensions rise, words are said and the aftermath involves the police.
I love the fact the book goes back in time to give versions of the characters individual stories. This was a book I just couldn’t put down. It was a journey I didn’t want to end! From start to finish I was hooked. 5🌟

This was a quick and easy read, I think it would be a pretty successful bookclub choice because it invites opinions as much as it explores the lives and choices and friendships of women.

It very much reminded me of Liane Moriarty’s books, and I think this would make a very watchable miniseries. I liked how it didn’t pull any punches or romanticise female friendship, whilst acknowledging that it’s an incredibly powerful and unifying force.

The story centres on a baby shower that is being held for one of a group of four university friends. Charlotte who is struggling with fertility problems has arranged the shower for her friend, Nicky who is heavily pregnant. The other two women in the group are Steffi and Lauren. Steffi is a career woman who is in the middle of a life changing book deal for the publishing company she has just started and Lauren who is there with her baby, Woody. Lauren had a traumatic birth and has barely slept since Woody was born. The baby shower is taking place at Nicky’s parents’ house on one of the hottest days of the year. Of the four women the only one I could take to was Steffi who had come to the baby shower despite being very preoccupied with amazing offers coming in for the book she is publishing. Despite not wanting children she seems to be one of the most unselfish of the four of them. Charlotte almost appears deranged with her manic organisation for the event which has been planned with military precision, while Nicky comes across as totally self-centred. I found the story slightly confusing with the characters and the time lines not always clear. The investigation into the fire seemed rather unrealistic and I found the description of the actual baby shower dragged on somewhat. Overall the book is well written but could be very off putting for anyone planning parenthood. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of this book.

this is released today and i'm SO DELIGHTED about it because i LOVED this book. holly bourne has such a clear and wonderful talent for writing intense, messy interpersonal dynamics and making it gripping, emotional and also funny. if that's what you're into, i super recommend this book.

the novel follows a friendship group. it's the type of female friendship group that met in their teens, at university, but now they've reached their thirties and all the complicated mess of life that goes along with it. within the friend group, there's a heavily pregnant woman, whose baby shower is the main event of the book, someone struggling with infertility and pregnancy loss, someone who has chosen to be child-free and instead concentrate on their career and a brand new business and a woman who is really struggling with post-natal depression. this book really wonderfully presents, skewers, and appreciates the complicated ideas of femininity that society sells and how much people take that into themselves, i thought. all four characters felt huge and funny and heartbreaking and real to me. what holly bourne does here is allow each woman to be as "likeable" and "unlikeable" as each other. they have huge flaws and are worthy of huge amounts of sympathy as well. they have often diamtrically opposing ideas about the same thing. it's so much fun to sit in each of their heads as the book takes its turn with them.

something wonderful i also think she does is such these particular female friendships as messy and human and petty and selfish, sometimes. each character falls victim to pretty severe misunderstanding of others. they think unkind things about each other and sometimes themselves. they are jealous and impatient with each other in a way that i thought rang very authentically when you've known someone for nearly longer than you haven't but your lives have diverged so much. this seems likely to be one of those books that makes some people uncomfortable, but what i thought it did was showcase something with so much bombastic fun and also care. to me, it was so obvious that these women did care about each other -- but life is hard. the constant societal pressures regarding womanhood, and personhood, and motherhood are huge and ever-present. it's hard to get away from and it's even harder in your thirties.

holly bourne's note at the end reveals that she was struggling with an infant who did not want to sleep ever while writing this book and i think it shows in the fierce sympathy and also cloying dread imbued within one of the narratives of the book. i gotta say, the postnatal depression here hits HARD as a storyline. it was very emotional and i thought that, as the book went on, the sheer pain and the terror and the overwhelming nature of it was rendered so well. this felt like a great glimpse at something often swept behind the curtain.

for all that this may Sound Heavy, i do think this book was really funny. i often laughed throughout it. it had a whip sharp sense of humour -- i mean, it literally starts talking about a vulva pinata. instantly hilarious, idc. i laughed so much at lauren's Cool Mum inner monologue, which pays due credit to the Cool Girl bits from gone girl and does it so well.

it's also extremely gripping. it took me maybe 3 hours to read about 75% of this book and i stayed up very late because at no point did i feel like i could put it down. the incident the book revolves around is a huge fire started at a baby shower and i was gasping to know how everything happened, when, and where. this had the cadence and tension of a thriller while also being deeply interested and invested in female spaces and friendships, the complicated areas in between. i absolutely loved this. kiss kiss from me.

i received an arc from netgalley! these are my own opinions. no one would bribe me to say kiss kiss and capitalise sweet fanny adams so

This book is a real warts and all look at motherhood and also female friendships!
Written in multi pov with some really well written and flawed characters.
It's such a good drama with so much going on in each of the characters lives .. it shows how we need to be more open and honest with each other as life can be hard, motherhood can be hard and actually being honest about it really helps.
This book had me completely hooked .. and it was easy to follow each characters story.
I'd recommend if you like a good drama about a group of friends!

So thrilled for you
By Holly Borne
Published by Hodder & Stoughton

Holly Borne’s latest novel ‘So thrilled for you’ does not disappoint!
Funny, relatable, fast-paced and punchy you will laugh, cry and shout out loud!

Four university friends are reunited for a baby shower on the hottest day of summer but time has passed, people change and tempers flare for everyone when “nobody is listening to me!”
Will it all end in tears or tantrums? Who will shout the loudest and be heard?

Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi have been friends since uni and now in their thirties, they have very different lifestyles and their outlook on life has changed.
So when the baby shower of the year is the talk of the town for pregnant Nicki, the girls have the chance to catch up.
But tensions rise and so does the temperature and by the end of the evening, nothing will ever be the same again!

The celebration becomes a shouting match, and then everyone is a suspect because the house is on fire!
Is it Steffi, happily child-free but judged by everyone?
Is it Charlotte, desperate to have her own baby and jealous of everyone?
Is it Lauren, who is finding motherhood the biggest nightmare ever?
Or is it Nicki herself, who never wanted a baby shower in the first place?

After the puzzle is solved, the police find their truth but will you agree?
Because only the four friends know the truth and that will shock everyone, including you reader!
A wonderful celebration of friendship, honesty and commitment that you will love to read, reflect and maybe change because of…

Joanne Bardgett - teacher of littlies, lover of Children’s literature.
#Netgalley

There's a lot packed into this book!

Four women, friends since school, re-unite for a baby shower for one of them on a sweltering hot summer day. Now in their thirties, life has taken each of them in different directions. Nikki, heavily pregnant, didn't really want a baby shower in the first place; Lauren already has her baby and is finding motherhood so much harder than everyone led her to believe while Charlotte is desperate to conceive and a bit at odds of those who have so easily got pregnant. Then there's Steffi, perfectly happy in her childless state but feeling judged. All those emotions and rising temperatures - inside and out - make for a stressful day . . .

This is a novel which perfectly demonstrates that no two women live the same lives - or have the same attitude towards children. I admit to cringing a bit at the details of Lauren's experience which made me realise how lucky I was when mine were born. The tension is palpable in this one and I had no idea who did what and when until all was revealed. Another terrific read from Holly Bourne. 4.5* and my recommendation.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.