So Thrilled For You is a well written and thought provoking read. It follows four friends as they attend a baby shower which ultimately goes wrong and ends in a large fire. The book shifts through the perspective of four friends as they each deal with their own problems, miscommunications and misunderstandings throughout the day of the baby shower as we unravel the events that led to the fire. The different perspectives does a really good job of examining the different experiences the women are going through and highlights the expectations that women face. Holly Bourne does a brilliant job not shying away from some difficult content and it makes for some difficult and uncomfortable reading at times but is very thought provoking. Definitely check the trigger warnings before picking this up! The characters are not all likeable and your levels of sympathy change as we delve deeper into each of their backstory and decision making but I think this also makes them feel real and more relatable even if you don't like them. Overall its a really interesting character driven book with thought provoking perspectives. The addition of the whodunit storyline surrounding the fire adds a layer of mystery and intrigue that kept me gripped and unable to put the book down.

This was another amazing read that I absolutely ran through. Full of beautiful writing that touches you if you are single, in a couple or a mum. Will stay with me for a while

Four friends (one with a young child, one heavily pregnant, one who wants a child, and one who is happily childless) attend a a baby shower where one is the organiser and one is the focus. Sounds like a nice premise for a character-driven story about friendship, right? But add a gender reveal firework gone wrong, burning down the venue and setting fire to the nearby surroundings, and this becomes a whodunit.

Quite a few years ago, I saw Holly Bourne speak at a women's literary festival. At the time, she was a widely acclaimed young adult author. She spoke about her passion for gender equality and mental health. I was surprised and intrigued when, a few years later, I saw that she had begun writing contemporary adult fiction. I've read all three of her previous adult novels ('How Do You Like Me Now?', 'Pretending' and 'Girl Friends) and found them all very engaging and readable.

However, with 'So Thrilled For You' she has really upped her game. The absolute searing honesty of how she approaches motherhood, dating and friendship is almost painful. It's pretty tricky juggling four point of view characters (the last novel I saw execute this so well was 'The Friend' by Dorothy Koomson) but she did this with panache. She draws you right into this tight friendship group, informally named 'Little Women', and explores the dynamics in a very realistic way. I was out with a friend the day I started reading this book and I still managed to finish it all within 8 hours, reading it frantically on public transport and then in bed when I got home.

Given the continuing upwards trajectory of the calibre of Bourne's books, I'm very excited to see where her next novel will take us.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC!

Four extremely annoying women.

I really couldn't warm to any of them

I've no idea what happened to them, because I didn't make it to the end

I absolutely loved this book! Through its use of multiple POVs of Lauren, Steffi, Charlotte and Nicki, the story provides an emotional insight into the impact of motherhood and female friendships in the past and present, all through the setting of a disastrous baby shower!

This book is so funny and entertaining, but at times the main thing that struck me whilst reading this book was the pervasive anxiety imbued in every woman’s POV. The strain of motherhood, infertility and the decision not to have children are all explored equally and fully in a realistic way that does not glamourise or hyperbolise the experiences these characters have of this time in their lives. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for approving my request to review this book.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the author Holly Bourne.
I found this story incredibly stressful, but gripping nonetheless. It was well written but I wouldn't really recommend it if you're looking to relax and rewind before bed. It's essentially every intrusive or anxious thought possible communicated through the four main characters.
For that reason, I wish I hadn't read it, but can appreciate the writing. 3 stars.

Love a Holly Bourne book and this one did not disappoint. Forever friends since meeting at university aged 19, now 32 and very different.
You will recognise part of yourself and your friends in each of the central female characters.
Choices that we all make and the consequences they create.. The brilliant ending left me astounded.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Four different women, best friends since university, come together to celebrate Nicki’s baby shower. Lauren brings her 9 month old and is severely sleep deprived. Steffi is on the brink of the biggest deal of her career and doesn’t want kids. Charlotte is desperate for a baby, but struggling to convince, pours all her energy into organising the baby shower. When a fire starts everyone is a suspect.

Wow wow wow! I have that devoured this. I lived it so much to the point I haven’t been able to put it down!

The characters are so relatable. Their experiences so true to life. The friendship so powerful, but filled with life getting in the way. I couldn’t have guessed the ending. I loved the epilogue. I want to read it again it was just so good.

Completely brilliant! So brutally honest, it refreshing. Hilarious, yet also utterly heartbreaking. Holly Bourne, you have left me still chuckling away to myself, yet emotionally wrung out, all at once!

Nicki’s baby shower should be everything she wants, but it’s been organised by her friend Charlotte, who has chosen to gift her own baby shower dreams to Nicki, as she hasn’t been able to conceive herself. To say that Charlotte is a control freak is a huge understatement and the baby shower is nothing like Nicki would have planned for herself. The two women met and became friends at uni, along with Steffi and Lauren. Steffi is a career focused businesswoman who doesn’t want children and Lauren is mum to Woody, a seven month old who doesn’t sleep for more than 40 minutes and cries constantly when he’s awake. Lauren is a shadow of her former self, exhausted and desperate.

This amazing story explores friendships and relationships, new motherhood and the impact of our actions on others. I really appreciated the honest take on pregnancy and motherhood as I have always wondered how anyone can find it as easy as some women seem to claim, because IT IS INCREDIBLY HARD! No, no, whatever you’re now thinking, it’s harder than that!

Within the story of the baby shower, the women are being interviewed by the police after the party, which has ended in disaster. There are also flashbacks to their uni days, which gives an insight into the early basis of their friendships and relationships.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Holly Bourne and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Another crowd pleaser from Holly Bourne! The usual smart wit and clever prose. An easy read and one the reader can empathise with.

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Unfortunately this just didn’t do it for me. The writing style was a bit juvenile and I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters. As someone with no children, and no friends with children, it wasn’t all that relatable to me which probably contributed to my being unable to connect with the characters.

Four best friends come together for a baby shower which doesn't go well. A page turning thriller, it was so easy to get gripped by it. Great twist at the end

Four best friends - Charlotte, Nikki, Lauren & Steffi, are getting together for the first time in a while for Nikki's baby shower. Charlotte has obsessively organised the event to keep her mind off her own fertility issues, Lauren is struggling with her own 9-month old son Woody, Steffi has made it well-known she doesn't want children and Nikki is hoping that this baby will help get her marriage back on track.

Starting with the dramatic events at the end of the baby shower, the story changes POV between the main characters, shows the build up to the event as well as when the girls were all at university together, giving a very well-rounded and fleshed out story. With very realistic characters and friend group, as well as some brutal truths about infertility, pregnancy and early parenthood, this gave a raw and honest look at this time of life.

I ADORED this book. Even though my baby days are over and nothing but I distant memory.
All the characters were so well written and they actually felt like real people. Oh Lauren, I related to Lauren so well. Nicki, Steffi and Charlotte were all drawn out in their own ways. I could also heavily, heavily relate to Charlotte the way she was portrayed.
If the author, Holly reads this, then I want her to know that she’s written a barn stormer of a book. I can only sing its praises. I was enraptured from the beginning, I even resented going to bed and having to go to sleep when all I really wanted to do was read on and on.
I’m sad it’s ended , but thank you so much for the opportunity. #NetGalley #SoThrilledForYou #HollyBourne

I LOVED this book. As a mother just a little over a year out of the newborn stage, I CACKLED at some of the traumatic Lauren bits. But all the characters are just so relatable no matter what your choices or where you're at in your own life. I felt like this book was brilliant at representing women friendships and that weird sense of constantly comparing ourselves to each other and feeling so lost and messy while trying to put on a brave face for others. Also, 12/10 for Seth in this one. The fantasy of a nice solid emotionally stable finance bro really is what our fiction dreams are made of. Negative points for Matt (you know what you did). I don't think there's been a book in recent memory that I have devoured so quickly. It had such complex characters while being so accessibly written. The story was easy to follow despite switching perspectives and jumping back and forth between past and present. This book made me call up my best friends and just remind them how much I love them and how proud I am of them and how grateful I am to experience life at the same time as them.

Holly Bourne is an exceptional writer. When I read her book, You Could Be So Pretty, it made me so angry with the world our children are growing up in, with the permanent pressure to look good and fit in. I've recommended it to everyone I can.

Now 'So Thrilled For You' has taken that same laser focus and shone it on the world of pregnancy and early motherhood, another life stage where society tells women they should be grateful and happy to be mothers, that they should know what their babies need, that childbirth can be a breeze. If you're not feeling like that, are you an anomaly?

Four best friends -Nikki, Steffi, Charlotte and Lauren- are coming together for Nikki's baby shower. Charlotte, desperate to have a baby and deep into the IVF journey, has ploughed all her energy into making this the best baby shower ever - she has planned every detail and every second of the day. Lauren is already a mother to 9month old Woody, but it is more exhausting and tortuous than she could ever have dreamt and she can't see a future where this is going to change. Steffi has decided she doesn't want children but her friends can't see her perspective without feeling judged. She is on the verge of a huge business success but feels unsupported by her friends. They all call each other best friends but in amongst that, there are buried animosities and misunderstandings and none of them are entirely honest with one another.

The story opens with police investigating a wildfire spreading at the baby shower/ gender reveal party and interviewing all four women about their movements and motivation. Snippets of police interviews are scattered throughout the book, reminding us where the story is heading.

The book doesn't shy away from the realities of giving birth in underfunded and under-resourced hospitals, or the shock of taking a new baby home and being totally responsible for every aspect of their lives. It also addresses the overwhelming need some people have to be parents, dedicating their lives to making it happen at the expense of everything else as well as how we treat women who decide not to have children.

Its not an easy read and it should make you angry at what we expect women to go through without complaint. When you read the acknowledgements and realise that Lauren's storyline cover some of the author's own experiences, it is even more hard-hitting. Its going to be a story that I think about for a very long time.

I absolutely adored this. As someone who has been the Charlotte of a couple of baby showers and had very close friends who have been both Lauren and Steffi, this was a brutal and touching read. I know people say this a lot, but I did genuinely struggle to put it down and got through the whole book in a couple of sittings. So funny yet heart-achingly spot on in terms of what it feels like to go through these massive changes in a friendship group at this age. I've recommended it to so many people!

This hit hard! I highlighted so many lines in this, I may as well have highlighted the whole thing. It was painfully relatable, in ways that made me reflect on my own female friendships and their sincerity. I saw a lot of myself in Charlotte, including her too-muchness, and appreciated how the different characters' perspectives were nuanced - Lauren, for example, was like a slice of lived experience: unique while also being recognisable, and never straight-forward. I'll be reading more Holly Bourne (and will check out baby sensory videos of dancing veggies... I had not come across this before!!)

Delighted to be sent an ARC of this by the publisher as HB is one of my favourite writers. I found it incredibly confrontational and stressful in the best ways and it was all I was talking about for days as I was reading it. An uncompromising and incisive view of how motherhood changes women and their relationships. Absolutely stunning.

This book was a first for me by this author, but that said, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a variety of characters and and and interesting storyline. A bit of a different read for me, but look forward to more from this author