I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read it.

Advanced Reader copy - Enjoyed this book, really opened my eyes and made me seek out other similar books to read.

This was overall a funny read with moments I laughed at but I didn’t love it!
Thank you to netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Standard Deviation was not at all what I was expecting - although I’m not sure exactly what I *was* expecting. I very much enjoyed it - Katherine Heiny is an excellent writer and it’s a genuinely funny novel. My reason for giving it four starts rather than five is that, as many novels do, it assumes all readers to be neurotypical and ‘others’ the neurodiverse experience. Something to be aware of if you’re a neurodiverse reader!

I originally requested this book in 2017 but couldn’t get into it so abandoned it. Then this year I loved Heiny’s new book, “Early Morning Riser” so went bak to this one. To think I almost missed such a treat!
Graham has been married to two very different women. His second wife, Audra, is vivavious, outgoing and talks to everyone- she is also indiscreet and overshares, regularly leaving Graham mortified. When she instigates a friendship with Graham’s first wife, Elspeth, he is reminded of the differences of his life before his divorce. Elspeth is cool, elegant and understated, and Graham begins to find her company soothing. He and Audra also have an autistic 12-year-old son, Matthew, whose obsessions, behavior patterns and friendship difficulties present constant challenges for his parents. Heiny is brilliant at portraying quirky individuals, and children in particular, and this character-led story is funny, moving, hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time. Any parent will feel sympathy with the anguish Graham feels for Matthew, who struggles with friendships, especially when the callous youth he has formed a close relationship with rejects him despite an unwise fishing trip he and Audra have engineered to try to rekindle their bond; a set-piece that manages to be both hilarious and devastating.
Hopefully the success of the new book will lead many readers to discover this one. Meanwhile I have now bought Heiny’s short story collection and look forward to another slice of reading heaven!

Three and a half stars, really readable but such odd characters. Some of the situations and conversations Audra had did make me laugh but also think ‘really’?? Then disappointedly book just finished. It was very readable though.

This was quite an entertaining book and I loved learning about the different characters. Especially Matthew and his origami buddies who I found to be the most interesting characters in the book. Graham was selfish and always wanted what he didn’t have, Elspeth was bitter and Audra was.. well Audra. This was a quick and enjoyable read.

How is this not a film - I loved very funny book, I laughed so much. Flawed and eccentric characters take centre stage, it's a book about love, family, heartbreak, missed chance and the greener grass. Would definitely recommend.

I really liked this book. It was different to anything I have read before and really relatable for a female who shares everything with her other female friends (and is also very nosey)

Unfortunately, I read this book back in 2017 but completely forgot to upload a review on here, so can't remember exactly what I was going to say about it!

I adored this book. I loved the concept of it and found the characters so identifiable in a really human way. It was a beautiful piece of writing.

Audra and Graham’s marriage is both standard and unique, and this novel charts a year or two in the midst of changing relationships, potential affairs and their enduring love for their son, Matthew.

While much of the novel is about their relationship, it’s also about the complexity of parenthood, and the particular worries of parents whose children are different.

A whole cast of comic and poignantly sad characters weave in and out of the family’s life, which brings a lot of humour to the novel, and acts as a counterpoint to the uncertainty and loneliness Graham often seems to feel. At times I found this frustrating as I wanted the focus to be on one big moment between Audra and Graham, but by the end of the novel I realised the idea of marriage presented is that of survival. This is a little depressing, which left me with mixed feelings about the book. I enjoyed reading it, but am not sure I’d read it again.

This was through and through a character-driven story, so if you are looking for a storyline with twists and turns you might be disappointed. In a matter of fact, there is no actual plot. There is just a simple, whimsical glimpse into the life of the main characters. As said in the blurb, it is definitely funny at times. It might not make you laugh out loud but would definitely make you chuckle at one point or another.

Recently I have read so many books from a female pov so it was good to read a male pov and knowing his view of life. I felt that the pace of the book was quite slow especially in the middle and dragged a little. But I am glad it gained the momentum towards end.

If you are looking for a satire comedy and a delightful read to spend your afternoon, you might enjoy this with some good chuckle.

Katherine Heiny’s Standard Deviation is filled with wry and acute observations on life while Graham Cavanaugh takes stock of his: realising how greatly he and his second wife, Audra, differ from each other, the day before an encounter with ex-wife Elspeth.

Graham’s remarks about his second wife, Audra, chimed with me as I read the first few pages of Standard Deviation. They’re a variation on what I hear from my husband when I go out with him or the way I feel about a friend from university days who seems to know everyone when we’re out together, whichever one of us is visiting the other. We are all the Graham to someone else’s Audra.

Standard Deviation opens in the aisle of a grocery store on a Saturday morning and I loved that Katherine Heiny did this. She takes us behind the scenes of a marriage and a family, finding the humour, poignancy, hurt, love and affection in our everyday lives. We see the discussions that happen while running errands and during food preparation more than we sit down to meals with these characters. Even Thanksgiving Dinner has to be savoured more in the anticipation than in the coming together of Audra’s motley assortment of guests. Barely has it begun before we are getting our coats and moving on elsewhere.

Graham ruminates on marriage, both past and present, the challenges they face in bringing up their son, Matthew, and the people who come into their family’s life, however fleetingly. And while Audra voices every thought, devoid of any filter, Graham considers himself to be the more tactful. I’m not convinced that he is; he’s just rather more circumspect in what he shares with others, Audra included.

I admired Audra and how open she is to new people and situations. She appears to breeze through life, taking in waifs and strays along the way, as entertaining as she is indiscreet. I’d probably find her exhausting and need to take regular breaks from her if I knew her in real life but there’s a real generosity of spirit and kindness behind her actions which makes me want to emulate her approach to life.

Standard Deviation is a humorous and insightful meander around a marriage (or two), family life and the people who cross our paths. It’s the type of book I want to share with others by reading passages aloud to them. It made me snort laugh in places, and wince, nod or smile in recognition in others. Even in the book’s moments of real sadness and upset, Katherine Heiny finds the ways in which we show that we love or care for others, while still being ridiculous in all our eccentricity. I absolutely loved it for doing that.

6A story about love, marriage and infidelity, subjects covered in many books however this was a book that I really enjoyed and appeared to have that little something extra that made it stand out from the crowd as I have found myself recommending it to others., a sure sign that I loved it.

The book is told from two points of view, both husband and wife, and I really like this style of writing. They are in love, but they are two very different people, they say opposites attract and in this couple., I think they really did. Their son is autistic, and it is through origami that he his able to express his thoughts and it is when he starts to attend a origami club that his true self begins to grow.

It is through Standard Deviation that the author is able to look at a couple's relationship and the pressures felt and the difficulties faced by a couple and the family as a whole who have a child with autism. it is a sympathetic but true account of such a family and I really enjoyed reading about it.

I read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman and Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny. I didn't read them with any pre-conceived ideas - in fact both were from NetGalley and I knew very little about them and it’s possibly only a similarity of my own thinking, but they seem like a match to me.

Eleanor Oliphant is a massive success; a debut novel that started a bidding war and won The Costa First Novel prize. Widely acclaimed and apparently a prime example of feel good “Up Lit” I feel entirely at odds with popular opinion as I loathed it.

Eleanor is a lonely thirty-something who works in an office and adheres to a strict routine she feels safe with. There is unspecified trauma in her background. She’s an oddball, a figure of ridicule at work, out of step with her colleagues and apparently all of modern society. She’s a cartoon character: LOL she's so weird cos she gets things wrong! Don't worry though, she's going to undergo an ugly duckling to swan transformation via a wax, a haircut, a make-over and some new clothes. The characterisation throughout is wafer thin and the plotting seemed incredibly obvious. Eleanor develops a crush on a lead singer in a band at the same time as meeting Raymond, a man seemingly not at all put off by the things that every other person in the book are. Everything is telegraphed well ahead. The voice adopted is a one note bright, play it for laughs (never mind the trauma) voice.

The idea of this being a mood-lifting “up” style of novel only works if we can ignore rape, murder, fire, crushing loneliness and abuse. The representation of trauma and (possibly) additional needs is woeful.

Standard Deviation, another debut novel, is about Graham, whose inner voice we are privy to, his younger wife, Audra, and their son Matthew. Matthew is an 11 year old with Aspergers and is described in a wonderfully relatable way and is genuinely funny. There’s a warmth that comes through in this novel, and an authenticity that is lacking in Eleanor Oliphant.
“The terrible twos seemed to have a magical stretching ability when it came to Matthew. They went on for years. Eruptions over milk served in anything other than the Buzz Lightyear soppy cup, over music that was too “tinkly”, over carpet that was too scratchy, over people who stood too close, over the smell of sunblock, the prospect of butter on biscuits, the sight of cheetahs in an animal documentary. The littlest thing could set Matthew off, and there seemed to be no way of calling him back from the land of the tantrum - in an instant, he would be flat on the floor, back arched, legs rigid, mouth a wide open circle of angry scream. They would do anything to prevent it. Graham could remember scorch-taping the last banana in the fruit bowl back into a banana peel so Matthew could eat it monkey-style. Graham’s hands had been shaking with desperation.”

Audra is an excellent (over-loud, over-chatty gossipy) character who is a great foil to Graham (and his ex wife who seems the opposite of her) and is the stand-out star of the book. I enjoyed this novel far more than I expected to and really am quite puzzled why it doesn't seem to have garnered more praise. Especially considering how feted that blooming Oliphant book is.

One of the strongest books I’ve read this year - human and hilarious. Loved every minute of it. A great reminder that it’s our oddities and quirks that make us individuals.

Brilliantly funny 😁 fantastic read , really enjoyed the writing style . A very character driven story that blends well it deserves
To be a best seller , I personally have recommended to my Bookclub and others

Could not get engaged with the characters who always felt quite distant. There wasn't much warmth or humanity in the story and it felt like hard work at times.

Have you ever read a book with no plot? I just have, and it’s called Standard Deviation. It’s as good as you’d expect a book with no plot to be.

The novel centres around Graham, a bland little man who has unfeasibly managed to convince two real life women to marry him (separately – he divorced his first wife then somehow gets a second). The first wife is Elspeth, a cold, precise, self possessed wraith of a woman who appears to have almost no personality. His second wife is Audra, a loud, shocking, in your face kind of person who makes “friends” everywhere she goes and will happily chat about her most intimate issues (and other peoples) with anyone that will listen. Graham ends up with both women present in his life, plus an autistic son called Matthew and a cast of Audra’s acquaintances who often end up sharing his house. They all sort of rub along….and nothing really happens.

I’ve seen that other people found Audra hilarious but personally she grated on me. She was a bit like Janis in Friends – initially amusing but that wears off pretty quickly. I thought that a lot of her dialogue was just there for the shock value of being so inappropriate. I also hated how condescending she and Graham were, making comments about how they hoped their autistic son didn’t grow up to be like any of the men who went to his origami club and being really judgemental about Matthew’s school friends.

I found the lack of plot in Standard Deviation quite frustrating – I was waiting for something more to happen. I liked the idea of providing a snapshot of everyday life but I really didn’t like not having a structure to the narrative. There’s one big event further on in the book but no beginning, middle and end to the story. It’s like a very dull midweek episode of Eastenders.

Overall, I didn’t like the main characters in this book and despite a host of quirky peripheral individuals I didn’t feel like I got to know any of them in enough detail to really enjoy their presence. I found the plot slow going (that’s me being kind – entirely absent is probably a better description) and most of the dialogue quite tedious. I know some people have raved about this novel but it really wasn’t for me.

Ummmm…that’s it really. So little happened that I have nothing more to say.