So Lucky: The bold, brilliant Sunday Times bestseller you need to read this year

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During your commute: If you take public transportation or have a long commute, you may find it helpful to use that time to read. Oh, he was not going to win that easily. “Christopher!” I needed a list of the Executive Committee’s personal numbers. From the author of Hild, a fierce and urgent autobiographical novel about a woman facing down a formidable foe

We have never thought to ask our disabled customers anything as a group.” That would have to change. “Meanwhile, we do have a satisfaction survey of one. Me.”It was refreshing that both MCs were portrayed as players. Eleanor and Crew weren't trying to prevent themselves from falling in love with one another, but preventing themselves to lead the other on—and that dynamic alone was gold. I'll admit that Beth's storyline interested me the most - it needed to be pitched with a more comedic tone as a guy refusing to have sex was inevitably going to amuse me.

Dawn O'Porter is spot on with the way society is judgemental and toxic. How many of us believe we need to live up to certain standards surrounding us. I loved how true to life the characters were, I think every woman can relate to them.

GROUPS

I turned away. And tripped. A slippery leaf, I thought, if I thought anything at all. A twig. Or that uneven bit of concrete we really should fix. But it wasn’t we anymore. It was just me. Being 49 and most in my book club of similar age I thought we’d all relate to the characters and their lives. Not a chance. Not one member out of 66 liked the book, laughed and many gave up on it. I found myself really moved by these characters; they’re addictive, relatable and ‘real’. O’Porter does a brilliant job at following each woman’s trajectory of growth. Each character gets a chance to grow and develop throughout the novel. Seeing Ruby’s relationship with not only her daughter, but also with herself, strengthen, and Beth’s ability to empower herself and take full control of her happiness is rewarding. Aiyana turned her glass of Pinot, playing with the refraction of the floor lamp’s low light. “So. She really left.”

By the end of it, it had just enough angst, very light-hearted, keeping up with the tone of the book. Leading to a heart-warming but also funny ending, absolutely loved it. But everything else probably is, and based on the author's experience. Mara is working as the Executive Director for an HIV non-profit, very successful, and has just parted ways with her wife of 14 years, when she has a fall. It is revealed to be Multiple Sclerosis. I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. at first, it seemed like a pretty straightforward book with pretty straightforward themes. our main character, mara, has just got divorced from her wife and just begun to strike up a relationship with someone else, and has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. for the first third or so, you think that's what it's going to be about, a contemporary-realistic sort of book about coming to terms with your MS.The male characters are very one dimensional. At one point, Ruby befriends a man in the park who comes most days to clean the bird poo from the bench he has dedicated to his dead daughter. It didn't take me long to work out who he is and how he is linked to the storyline! When it does come to light, I just found it a bit too convenient and unoriginal. So hard for me at times but I knew what the book was about and was curious as to how it would be handled, written. This part was well done, often reading like a memoir. Beth is the wedding planner for the forthcoming big day, married with a new born son - everything seems to be going well with both her business and family life. At the bottom of the pile were sign-up sheets for yoga, and support groups for depression and mindfulness—as though talking about it would help with holes in your brain. I tossed them all in the recycling bin, then frowned, and fished them out again. I’d gone through them more carefully. All the groups were run by hospital counselors, not peers. Not a single one by people with MS for people with MS. Ruby being the most intelligent of the three spends her time touching up photos of models (including Lauren) though she despises her own body and struggling to connect with her daughter.

I mentioned you don’t need to read Tangled in Tinsel, but put it on your holiday TBR anyway. Seems like a third in this series, focusing on Eleanor’s friend Millie, will be out early next year. I liked this couple together and I liked that even though they had some intense moments with the best friends, they ended up as they should be in the end... There is a theme of Sisterhood (by the end all the female characters are best friends). In the beginning I found myself liking Beth but disliking Ruby but by the end I liked Ruby but started to dislike Beth (is her husband really at fault for her subsequent actions?!).Also, this book is so funny. Like, I was listening to it in the garden on audiobook and I kept bursting out laughing. There is a whole section on dogging that the author manages to make sound hilarious and kind of hot, instead of seedy and gross. Mind you, the character observing the dogging has been starved of sex for a long time, so I think you'd find a pencil sharpener erotic in that situation. You’re rehydrating nicely. Your vertigo has passed and your vital functions are more or less normal. But I’m concerned about the possibility of a recurrence of respiratory difficulties. You’ll need to be on the IV another two days—” To be completely frank I found it dark, depressing, I disliked it and it made me angry. Why? Because O'Porter is just spot on with the portrayal of her characters. Too real. She hits the nail on the head when it comes to the judgmental and toxic atmosphere women live in and with. Believing they have to adhere to physical, emotional and psychological standards set by a patriarchal society, and what's often worse when those standards are demanded of them by other women. Crew was the usual type of hot alpha male... He was very focused on his end goal and he didn't need any distractions... But Eleanor was a distraction that he couldn't ignore...