Well, This Is Awkward

by Esther Walker, Sophie Roberts (Narrator)

Mairéad is single, child-free and head of a successful influencer talent agency. The young people at work may be mean to her, she hasn’t seen her only sister for nine years and she’s one bad date away from giving up on men completely – but other than that, she’s got life sorted.

Until Sunshine shows up. When her militant, off-grid sister has a mysterious accident, Mairéad’s inscrutable niece comes to stay, turning life upside down. Just for a couple of weeks. Or is it?

Audible Audio

Published November 13, 2025

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was kindly sent a free copy of this book as part of a book tour in exchange for an honest review. I breezed through this book in a day as I was so invested in the characters. I didn’t warm to Mairead initially but in the end I loved her and everything she did for her family and really felt she blossomed as a character. Sunny was great and my heart absolutely went out to her. It’s a hard read in places because of everything that happens and there needs to be some trigger warnings for child neglect etc. I think Sunny (and probably her mother and grandmother) were all neurodiverse in many ways although it doesn’t ever get explicitly mentioned, but it was nice to see that it wasn’t sugarcoated. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, but I’m also kind of glad it wasn’t a completely happy conclusion, I think that fitted the lives of the characters and I hope the author revisits them in a future book because I’d love to continue with their stories. There was a raw honesty to the writing that really spoke to me and the pacing was spot on. I will definitely be reading more books from this author. 4 stars.

[BestZebbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick holiday read that I enjoyed a lot - I found it hard to identify with the main character as I’m neither a childfree London fashionista* or someone who goes on mass holidays to Devon, but the story was well-crafted and I liked the portrayal of the niece and the emerging reality of motherhood. I’d recommend it to a friend looking for something unserious.
*I presume actual childfree London fashionistas aren’t the target audience either though, given the eventual moral is that children are more fulfilling than capitalism.

The major plothole for me was the character who was a mother-of-three but had decided to “take to her bed” for the majority of her day once they were born - v. v. unrealistic!!

[Vani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read - not predictable and glad that there was no perfect ending.

[Yolande · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little gem. Enjoyable quirky read. Although I found the ending a bit abrupt. However still worth it. Loved the children Sunny and Dibs.

[Jen Mactaggart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this! Loved the characters and the writing style.

[Natalie Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the characters. Felt like I wanted a more drawn out ending though. I'm actually going to miss Sunny and Mairead!

[Avril Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t decide if this was a badly written book or not. Some of it was completely unbelievable and not based in a reality I recognise. I almost stopped reading at 50 pages - but persevered. It was readable and only took me a day or two, so was a swift read. I felt like k was taken in by who wrote it and not the story , when showing to read this. 3 * as I did finish and it was an ok read even if unrealistic in places