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Amazing Grace Adams
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Today Read With Jenna Book Club Pick
"I dare you not to fall wildly in love with Grace...It's a book about love, about grace, about even when we fall from those we love we can always find our way home...You will laugh on the first page and you will keep laughing until you're crying on the last page."―Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna
Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove . . . meet Amazing Grace Adams,the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.
Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled—the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away.
Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them . . . and, most important, remind herself.
A Today Read With Jenna Book Club Pick
"I dare you not to fall wildly in love with Grace...It's a book about love, about grace, about even when we fall from those we love we can always find our way home...You will laugh on the first page and you will keep laughing until you're crying on the last page."―Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna
Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove . . . meet Amazing Grace Adams,the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.
Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled—the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away.
Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them . . . and, most important, remind herself.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 19, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,172 reviews
January 29, 2023
In a Nutshell: Started off wonderfully but then became farfetched. Some parts of it were really good but I wish the author wouldn’t have tried to throw in so many themes into a single plot. A decent debut work but not as good as it promised to be.
Story Synopsis:
Where the book worked for me:
✔ I loved the idea of Grace and Ben being polyglots and meeting at a language convention. It was nice to see geeks come together in a romantic relationship.
✔ There are some beautiful foreign language words regularly scattered in the narrative. These were fun to learn.
✔ Some of the parenting struggles it depicts are scarily real.
Where the book left me with mixed feelings:
⚠ Grace’s character had many admirable points but also many annoying ones. While it is easy to admire her stance of standing for herself, her attitude and her approach towards problems didn’t endear her to me. I could sympathise with her only to a certain extent.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
❌ It was way too exaggerated, especially in the current timeline. It is implausible to believe that the whole day was just one horrible event after another. A balanced approach would have felt more realistic.
❌ There is a minor mystery in the ‘Four Months Before’ timeline. It’s absolutely easy to figure out the guilty party as soon as the said character comes on the page.
❌ As with most debut authors, this author too throws in everything plus the kitchen sink into her book. There are way too many themes, and most of them aren’t really necessary for the main storyline. They just end up diluting the main point of the book, which is that of a mother desperately wanting to connect with her teenaged daughter again.
❌ The plot comes to us in three circulating timelines: ‘Now’, ‘Four Months Earlier’, and 2002 (onwards). It is sometimes tricky to keep a track of what happened in which timeline. Moreover, the three-way narration ends up with some foreshadowing that kills the fun of discovery.
❌ To add to the troublesome triple timeline, each of the three tracks has flashbacks, creating a messy plot flow. Good luck to audiobook listeners on this one!
All in all, I had expected to love this book for it promised a strong middle-aged woman protagonist who had finally had enough of everyone taking her for granted. But the potential isn’t truly realised and the book ends up as an average read for me. The writer does have a lot of promise – it is no mean task to keep three timelines blending seamlessly. But perhaps a bit of editing and finetuning would have helped, especially in the over-the-top second half.
The author mentions in her parting note that this plot is inspired by the movie ‘Falling Down’, so perhaps fans of that movie might like to give this a try. I haven’t watched that movie so I cannot make a comparison.
2.5 stars.
My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley for the DRC of “Amazing Grace Adams”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
Story Synopsis:
Early 2000s. Grace is a polyglot who has just proven how amazing she is by winning the title of ’Polyglot of the Year.’
Today, 45-year-old Grace is a frustrated lady who, one day, just snaps and walks out of her car that is stuck in heavy traffic. He daughter Lotte doesn’t want to speak to her, and her husband Ben has just served her divorce papers. But Grace is determined to show her daughter that she was amazing for a reason.
How Amazing Grace Adams went from the heights to the depths within a period of two decades is what you need to read and find out.
The story comes to us in a limited third person perspective mostly of Grace. The main story is set on a single day, with two other timelines providing the background to the current events.
Where the book worked for me:
✔ I loved the idea of Grace and Ben being polyglots and meeting at a language convention. It was nice to see geeks come together in a romantic relationship.
✔ There are some beautiful foreign language words regularly scattered in the narrative. These were fun to learn.
✔ Some of the parenting struggles it depicts are scarily real.
Where the book left me with mixed feelings:
⚠ Grace’s character had many admirable points but also many annoying ones. While it is easy to admire her stance of standing for herself, her attitude and her approach towards problems didn’t endear her to me. I could sympathise with her only to a certain extent.
Where the book could have worked better for me:
❌ It was way too exaggerated, especially in the current timeline. It is implausible to believe that the whole day was just one horrible event after another. A balanced approach would have felt more realistic.
❌ There is a minor mystery in the ‘Four Months Before’ timeline. It’s absolutely easy to figure out the guilty party as soon as the said character comes on the page.
❌ As with most debut authors, this author too throws in everything plus the kitchen sink into her book. There are way too many themes, and most of them aren’t really necessary for the main storyline. They just end up diluting the main point of the book, which is that of a mother desperately wanting to connect with her teenaged daughter again.
❌ The plot comes to us in three circulating timelines: ‘Now’, ‘Four Months Earlier’, and 2002 (onwards). It is sometimes tricky to keep a track of what happened in which timeline. Moreover, the three-way narration ends up with some foreshadowing that kills the fun of discovery.
❌ To add to the troublesome triple timeline, each of the three tracks has flashbacks, creating a messy plot flow. Good luck to audiobook listeners on this one!
All in all, I had expected to love this book for it promised a strong middle-aged woman protagonist who had finally had enough of everyone taking her for granted. But the potential isn’t truly realised and the book ends up as an average read for me. The writer does have a lot of promise – it is no mean task to keep three timelines blending seamlessly. But perhaps a bit of editing and finetuning would have helped, especially in the over-the-top second half.
The author mentions in her parting note that this plot is inspired by the movie ‘Falling Down’, so perhaps fans of that movie might like to give this a try. I haven’t watched that movie so I cannot make a comparison.
2.5 stars.
My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph UK and NetGalley for the DRC of “Amazing Grace Adams”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
———————————————
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter
September 5, 2023
Where’d You Go, (amazing) Grace?
This is what the Publisher’s blurb promised:
“Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove… meet Amazing Grace Adams, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.”
Whenever I read that I am about to meet the next Eleanor or Ove-I am all in!
But, Grace is nothing like those characters.
However, the story is reminiscent of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” (Maria Semple) so at least that comparison is accurate.
In 2002, Grace Adams was an AMAZING woman-a polyglot who spoke 5 languages and was also beautiful, competitive and impulsive. She had her whole life mapped out and was confident about what she wanted.
Four months prior to the “NOW” chapters, we learn that Grace has lost her husband Ben’s love and her daughter Lotte’s trust.
“NOW” It’s Lotte’s 16th birthday, and Grace will reach her breaking point, while stuck in standstill traffic.
She will exit her car and abandon it-determined that she will pick up her daughter’s birthday cake and deliver it to her party on time- despite the fact that she wasn’t invited and EVEN if she has to walk the rest of the way to her ex husband’s new flat, carrying the cake the rest of the way there!
She will NOT let Lotte down again.
How can a woman fall so far from grace?
This is her story.
Round and round and round we go-alternating between the THREE timelines, throughout the entire book.
It was not at all confusing -BUT, I think if the story had been told chronologically with just flashbacks to 2002, the story would have worked better.
Often manic, and rarely funny, this one didn’t quite work for me, but it also has many 5 star reviews, so it just might resonate with you.
AVAILABLE NOW!
A buddy read with DeAnn. Did it resonate with her? Be sure to checkout her insightful review!
Thank You to Henry Holt and Co. for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review.
This is what the Publisher’s blurb promised:
“Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove… meet Amazing Grace Adams, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.”
Whenever I read that I am about to meet the next Eleanor or Ove-I am all in!
But, Grace is nothing like those characters.
However, the story is reminiscent of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” (Maria Semple) so at least that comparison is accurate.
In 2002, Grace Adams was an AMAZING woman-a polyglot who spoke 5 languages and was also beautiful, competitive and impulsive. She had her whole life mapped out and was confident about what she wanted.
Four months prior to the “NOW” chapters, we learn that Grace has lost her husband Ben’s love and her daughter Lotte’s trust.
“NOW” It’s Lotte’s 16th birthday, and Grace will reach her breaking point, while stuck in standstill traffic.
She will exit her car and abandon it-determined that she will pick up her daughter’s birthday cake and deliver it to her party on time- despite the fact that she wasn’t invited and EVEN if she has to walk the rest of the way to her ex husband’s new flat, carrying the cake the rest of the way there!
She will NOT let Lotte down again.
How can a woman fall so far from grace?
This is her story.
Round and round and round we go-alternating between the THREE timelines, throughout the entire book.
It was not at all confusing -BUT, I think if the story had been told chronologically with just flashbacks to 2002, the story would have worked better.
Often manic, and rarely funny, this one didn’t quite work for me, but it also has many 5 star reviews, so it just might resonate with you.
AVAILABLE NOW!
A buddy read with DeAnn. Did it resonate with her? Be sure to checkout her insightful review!
Thank You to Henry Holt and Co. for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review.
September 3, 2023
Grace has had enough. So when she’s stuck in a traffic jam, at the prime perimenopausal age of 45, she exits her car and walks away. Because it’s her estranged daughter’s 16th birthday, you see, and she’s bought Lottie a cake, and come hell or high water, Lottie is getting her cake.
Grace's memories flash as she walks to her daughter. And slowly we begin to understand not only what she’s suffered, but that there’s a reason why Grace Adams is amazing.
Never did I see coming the emotion that permeates Fran Littlewood’s debut novel. I went into Amazing Grace Adams expecting an almost absurdist, satirical portrayal of a middle-aged woman on the verge of snapping, and though I did find some of that, I was also rewarded with a thoughtful and sensitive story of a mother fighting to regain her family and her life.
As revelations about Grace’s past came to the forefront, my heart ached. I felt such empathy for her, and I knew that if I were Grace, I’d too be pushing back at the world. I’d be screaming my frustration to the universe, all while swinging my golf club at whatever tried to keep me from my child.
A relatable and empowering read, Amazing Grace Adams is a standout 2023 debut.
My sincerest appreciation to Fran Littlewood, Henry Holt and Co., and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.
Grace's memories flash as she walks to her daughter. And slowly we begin to understand not only what she’s suffered, but that there’s a reason why Grace Adams is amazing.
Never did I see coming the emotion that permeates Fran Littlewood’s debut novel. I went into Amazing Grace Adams expecting an almost absurdist, satirical portrayal of a middle-aged woman on the verge of snapping, and though I did find some of that, I was also rewarded with a thoughtful and sensitive story of a mother fighting to regain her family and her life.
As revelations about Grace’s past came to the forefront, my heart ached. I felt such empathy for her, and I knew that if I were Grace, I’d too be pushing back at the world. I’d be screaming my frustration to the universe, all while swinging my golf club at whatever tried to keep me from my child.
A relatable and empowering read, Amazing Grace Adams is a standout 2023 debut.
My sincerest appreciation to Fran Littlewood, Henry Holt and Co., and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.
October 6, 2023
Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood is an Emotional Family and Women's Fiction Story!
Grace Adams is a genius. Really. She's an award winning Polyglot who's fluent in five languages. With all the great things she's achieved in her forty-five-year-old life, all she thinks she is now is perimenopausal. She feels like it defines her.
Today Grace is having a particularly bad day. She's stuck in traffic and all she wants to do is hand deliver a cake to her daughter, Lottie, on her sixteenth birthday. She's had enough, so she bails. She simply gets out of her car, lets it stand where it sits in traffic, and off she goes.
Unfortunately as she walks, life keeps getting in her way and Grace becomes more and more distraught and agitated. She just wants to talk to Lottie. She needs to talk to her.
The problem is, Lottie doesn't want to see her mum. Lottie wants nothing to do with her and my heart just simply breaks for Grace...
Amazing Grace Adams tore me up, touched my heart, and resonated with me like no other book has in a long time. It's sad, edgy, heartbreaking, and yes, there's a little bit going on in this story. But who doesn't have a lot of stuff to deal with at some point in their life when one more thing may put them over-the-edge?
As the present timeline 'Now' plays out, we slowly learn about Grace's backstory through two additional timelines of 'Four Months Ago' and 'Sixteen Years Ago' when she met Ben and gave birth to Lottie. We find out how passionate, fierce, and complicated Grace can be. We also discover why this family is separated and so broken.
Amazing Grace Adams was an enjoyable immersion reading experience through a DRC and an ALC. Either format will deliver a pleasant connection, however my preference is the audiobook with the excellent narration of Claire Skinner, whose voicing of Grace is exceptional.
Amazing Grace Adams is a wonderful debut novel and I found it to be a relatable story that stirred memories in me from long ago. By now I'm sure you realize that I think Grace Adams is simply amazing. I love Grace's story and I look forward to what this author comes up with next.
I highly recommend Amazing Grace Adams to readers who enjoy a blend of Family and Women's Fiction with a fierce, edgy, and memorable female main character!
5⭐
Thank you to Fran Littlewood, Henry Holt and Co., and Macmillan Audio for a DRC and ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.
Grace Adams is a genius. Really. She's an award winning Polyglot who's fluent in five languages. With all the great things she's achieved in her forty-five-year-old life, all she thinks she is now is perimenopausal. She feels like it defines her.
Today Grace is having a particularly bad day. She's stuck in traffic and all she wants to do is hand deliver a cake to her daughter, Lottie, on her sixteenth birthday. She's had enough, so she bails. She simply gets out of her car, lets it stand where it sits in traffic, and off she goes.
Unfortunately as she walks, life keeps getting in her way and Grace becomes more and more distraught and agitated. She just wants to talk to Lottie. She needs to talk to her.
The problem is, Lottie doesn't want to see her mum. Lottie wants nothing to do with her and my heart just simply breaks for Grace...
Amazing Grace Adams tore me up, touched my heart, and resonated with me like no other book has in a long time. It's sad, edgy, heartbreaking, and yes, there's a little bit going on in this story. But who doesn't have a lot of stuff to deal with at some point in their life when one more thing may put them over-the-edge?
As the present timeline 'Now' plays out, we slowly learn about Grace's backstory through two additional timelines of 'Four Months Ago' and 'Sixteen Years Ago' when she met Ben and gave birth to Lottie. We find out how passionate, fierce, and complicated Grace can be. We also discover why this family is separated and so broken.
Amazing Grace Adams was an enjoyable immersion reading experience through a DRC and an ALC. Either format will deliver a pleasant connection, however my preference is the audiobook with the excellent narration of Claire Skinner, whose voicing of Grace is exceptional.
Amazing Grace Adams is a wonderful debut novel and I found it to be a relatable story that stirred memories in me from long ago. By now I'm sure you realize that I think Grace Adams is simply amazing. I love Grace's story and I look forward to what this author comes up with next.
I highly recommend Amazing Grace Adams to readers who enjoy a blend of Family and Women's Fiction with a fierce, edgy, and memorable female main character!
5⭐
Thank you to Fran Littlewood, Henry Holt and Co., and Macmillan Audio for a DRC and ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.
November 15, 2022
Fran Littlewood's powerful and moving debut is simply marvellous, a family drama, she writes with depth, humour, wit and insight about the fraught lives, frustrations, and challenging issues women face on a daily basis, trying to hold it all together, as they become more invisible as they age. Grace Adams is in her forties, perimenopausal, a broken woman who used to be amazing, a genius polyglot, with a life seemingly brimful of potential. This story spans a day, detailing how her life fell apart, going back and forth in time, from the time 2 decades ago when she first met her husband, Ben, gave birth to her daughter, Lotte, the loss of career opportunities, right up to the present, where she is facing divorce and an estranged 16 year old daughter who lives with Ben, and refusing to speak to her. It's Lotte's birthday, and Grace is aiming to deliver and give her a birthday cake.
On a hot, sweltering day, Grace is feeling tense, overheating, and desperately uncomfortable as she sits sweating in a traffic jam, when it all becomes too much and she snaps, getting out of the car, abandoning it as she walks away. However, she has every intention of walking back into the life she left behind, back to Lotte who does not want her, and back to Ben. In this emotionally poignant novel of grief and loss, we learn exactly how strong and resilient it is possible for Grace to be, I could not help but feel for her when it becomes clear what she had to face, she is the Amazing Grace Adams. This is beautifully written and raw multilayered storytelling, about the contemporary realities of women's lives, the prevalent and pertinent issues present in our society, marriage, being a mother, the everyday burdens and struggles that weigh heavy.
Littlewood does a stellar job in highlighting just how hard life can be, being a family, for women it is a battle just to survive the daily ordeals, doing what they can to try and keep it together, and just how easy it can be for lives to unravel and become derailed. The character of Grace is an inspiring and memorable creation, as is her daughter Lotte, portraying the impact of modern life on a teen today. A wonderfully compelling read of hope, it made me both laugh and cry, and it touches on issues that will resonate deeply with so many women. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
On a hot, sweltering day, Grace is feeling tense, overheating, and desperately uncomfortable as she sits sweating in a traffic jam, when it all becomes too much and she snaps, getting out of the car, abandoning it as she walks away. However, she has every intention of walking back into the life she left behind, back to Lotte who does not want her, and back to Ben. In this emotionally poignant novel of grief and loss, we learn exactly how strong and resilient it is possible for Grace to be, I could not help but feel for her when it becomes clear what she had to face, she is the Amazing Grace Adams. This is beautifully written and raw multilayered storytelling, about the contemporary realities of women's lives, the prevalent and pertinent issues present in our society, marriage, being a mother, the everyday burdens and struggles that weigh heavy.
Littlewood does a stellar job in highlighting just how hard life can be, being a family, for women it is a battle just to survive the daily ordeals, doing what they can to try and keep it together, and just how easy it can be for lives to unravel and become derailed. The character of Grace is an inspiring and memorable creation, as is her daughter Lotte, portraying the impact of modern life on a teen today. A wonderfully compelling read of hope, it made me both laugh and cry, and it touches on issues that will resonate deeply with so many women. Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
September 1, 2023
Whew wasn’t expecting this to be as difficult emotionally as it was.
I'll put the trigger warnings behind a spoiler because they are spoilers, but if you have some you might want to check them out before embarking on this book. I thought from the cover and the description that this would be lighthearted and it is definitely a lot heavier than anticipated.
Trigger Warnings:
Told in three timelines, the book takes on a frantic, chaotic feel, but I honestly think that is what the author was going for. Grace's life is frantic and chaotic, it felt so frustrating to me as a reader to see Grace letting things fall by the wayside, picking some of them up at random times, not caring about things that seemed very important. I honestly almost threw in the towel on the book because I just could not identify at all with the way she was thinking and behaving.
And then...we find out about a major thing that happened, and my heart just broke into a billion pieces and 100% understood why Grace, Ben, and Lottie acted and kept acting the way they did. I understand because I have lived it and everything is so realistically portrayed I had tears running down my face.
I listened to this as an audiobook and Claire Skinner does a fantastic job at capturing Grace and all she is going through.
This is a very powerful book, but you can't have any preconceived expectations about it and you have to let it come together without being frustrated. It is certainly not going to connect with every reader but it certainly did with me.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
I'll put the trigger warnings behind a spoiler because they are spoilers, but if you have some you might want to check them out before embarking on this book. I thought from the cover and the description that this would be lighthearted and it is definitely a lot heavier than anticipated.
Trigger Warnings:
Told in three timelines, the book takes on a frantic, chaotic feel, but I honestly think that is what the author was going for. Grace's life is frantic and chaotic, it felt so frustrating to me as a reader to see Grace letting things fall by the wayside, picking some of them up at random times, not caring about things that seemed very important. I honestly almost threw in the towel on the book because I just could not identify at all with the way she was thinking and behaving.
And then...we find out about a major thing that happened, and my heart just broke into a billion pieces and 100% understood why Grace, Ben, and Lottie acted and kept acting the way they did. I understand because I have lived it and everything is so realistically portrayed I had tears running down my face.
I listened to this as an audiobook and Claire Skinner does a fantastic job at capturing Grace and all she is going through.
This is a very powerful book, but you can't have any preconceived expectations about it and you have to let it come together without being frustrated. It is certainly not going to connect with every reader but it certainly did with me.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
December 20, 2022
4.5 rounded up
In 2002 Grace meets Ben at the Polyglot of the Year which she wins with Ben in second place and well, let’s just say their relationship starts dramatically in Cornwall. In the present day, their daughter Lotte is shortly turning 16 and it’s tricky to say the least. Grace ignores the warning signs even the explicit ones, because of guilt. She contemplates, not happily, the aging process as she is now perimenopausal and that her life is on a distinctly downwards trajectory. What happens next is not just a midlife crisis it’s bigger than that as both Grace and their lives unravel. The story is told from 2002, four months ago and in the present day and is done so well you barely noticed the time differences.
Yes Grace, you are actually pretty amazing, you’re fierce, funny and currently faltering but you’re certainly unforgettable. I am going to channel my inner Grace with some of the “twits“ (keeping it clean) she and women generally can encounter daily. All the characterisation is exceptionally well done especially teen Lotte whose rebellious turmoil is palpable.
Not only is Grace amazing I think Fran Littlewood is too. It’s hard to believe this is a debut so accomplished is the storytelling and the creativity in some of the phrasing. This is a clever novel as on one level it’s about motherhood, family dysfunction and individual fears which is so well done it’s emotionally raw at times. They have to face huge difficulties and surmount enormous obstacles. On another level it’s about language which is what brings Ben and Grace together, it’s about a different and often secretive language of Lotte’s generation and it’s also about the inability to find the right language, the right words at the right time.
The day of Lottie’s 16th birthday is brilliantly done, it’s full of drama and emotion but we are left feeling optimistic. I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
In 2002 Grace meets Ben at the Polyglot of the Year which she wins with Ben in second place and well, let’s just say their relationship starts dramatically in Cornwall. In the present day, their daughter Lotte is shortly turning 16 and it’s tricky to say the least. Grace ignores the warning signs even the explicit ones, because of guilt. She contemplates, not happily, the aging process as she is now perimenopausal and that her life is on a distinctly downwards trajectory. What happens next is not just a midlife crisis it’s bigger than that as both Grace and their lives unravel. The story is told from 2002, four months ago and in the present day and is done so well you barely noticed the time differences.
Yes Grace, you are actually pretty amazing, you’re fierce, funny and currently faltering but you’re certainly unforgettable. I am going to channel my inner Grace with some of the “twits“ (keeping it clean) she and women generally can encounter daily. All the characterisation is exceptionally well done especially teen Lotte whose rebellious turmoil is palpable.
Not only is Grace amazing I think Fran Littlewood is too. It’s hard to believe this is a debut so accomplished is the storytelling and the creativity in some of the phrasing. This is a clever novel as on one level it’s about motherhood, family dysfunction and individual fears which is so well done it’s emotionally raw at times. They have to face huge difficulties and surmount enormous obstacles. On another level it’s about language which is what brings Ben and Grace together, it’s about a different and often secretive language of Lotte’s generation and it’s also about the inability to find the right language, the right words at the right time.
The day of Lottie’s 16th birthday is brilliantly done, it’s full of drama and emotion but we are left feeling optimistic. I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next!
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
October 3, 2022
3.5 ⭐️
I don’t think I am the target audience for this book. I gave it a go anyway and there were definitely parts I liked.
Grace Adams has hit rock bottom. Jobless, divorced and now her 16 year old daughter doesn’t want her at her birthday party.
So while sitting in gridlock she gets up, leaves her car and walks away.
Meanwhile we get flashback episodes from 4 months earlier and 8 years earlier. I found the flashbacks confusing at times.
The main thing that annoyed me was Grace’s daughter. I know later on we find out what has been going on with her but for me she was a brat and it wasn’t enjoyable to read about the way she spoke to her mother.
Ultimately a powerful story about resilience, and the struggles women face every day. Grace was a wonderful heroine and I enjoyed her telling the world she was done with its shit.
Take back the power Grace!
****************************
Early proof copy won through Facebook reading group 😊💖
I don’t think I am the target audience for this book. I gave it a go anyway and there were definitely parts I liked.
Grace Adams has hit rock bottom. Jobless, divorced and now her 16 year old daughter doesn’t want her at her birthday party.
So while sitting in gridlock she gets up, leaves her car and walks away.
Meanwhile we get flashback episodes from 4 months earlier and 8 years earlier. I found the flashbacks confusing at times.
The main thing that annoyed me was Grace’s daughter. I know later on we find out what has been going on with her but for me she was a brat and it wasn’t enjoyable to read about the way she spoke to her mother.
Ultimately a powerful story about resilience, and the struggles women face every day. Grace was a wonderful heroine and I enjoyed her telling the world she was done with its shit.
Take back the power Grace!
****************************
Early proof copy won through Facebook reading group 😊💖
February 1, 2024
I was hoping this book was going to finish off Amazing for me, and it almost did- but as much as I loved Grace Adams, this book just went into too many directions for me. Now that I’ve finished reading this book (and even thought about it for a day), I’m still not sure what the main focus was. Was it perimenopause, grief, or relationship issues? Perhaps it was all three, but I think if we would have stuck to one main focus, this book would have probably blown me away.
This story starts off with Grace abandoning her car in the middle of a traffic jam. Grace does this so she can get a birthday cake to her estranged daughter, Lotte in time. It is Lotte’s 16th birthday, and Grace has picked out the perfect cake. 🎂
From the abandonment of the car, to the delivery of the cake- Grace goes through a series of crazy, sometimes eye-rolling events. We are taken back to 2002, when Grace met Lotte’s father Ben at a Polyglot Convention, we then go to Four Months Ago, to Now (present day). After learning of Grace’s story, and what brought Grace and Lotte (and Ben), to where they are today, I can honestly say the tears did come. 😭
Because this story was so touching, and did make me cry- I think I’m liking it more than I normally would have. However, I think this story could have been done in a less dramatic, OTT way. There were also too many issues going on, that after a while this book started going all over the place. So because of that I dropped my rating down. I still recommend this book, and I definitely suggest having your tissues nearby!
(3.5 stars)
This story starts off with Grace abandoning her car in the middle of a traffic jam. Grace does this so she can get a birthday cake to her estranged daughter, Lotte in time. It is Lotte’s 16th birthday, and Grace has picked out the perfect cake. 🎂
From the abandonment of the car, to the delivery of the cake- Grace goes through a series of crazy, sometimes eye-rolling events. We are taken back to 2002, when Grace met Lotte’s father Ben at a Polyglot Convention, we then go to Four Months Ago, to Now (present day). After learning of Grace’s story, and what brought Grace and Lotte (and Ben), to where they are today, I can honestly say the tears did come. 😭
Because this story was so touching, and did make me cry- I think I’m liking it more than I normally would have. However, I think this story could have been done in a less dramatic, OTT way. There were also too many issues going on, that after a while this book started going all over the place. So because of that I dropped my rating down. I still recommend this book, and I definitely suggest having your tissues nearby!
(3.5 stars)
October 31, 2023
Let’s be transparent here - I 100% requested this book from the library simply because I love that bird flip on the front (you’re lucky I loved this so much, cover artists, because shouldn't it have been a “V” since this took place in London????).
Even though Grace was a Read With Jenna pick I have not seen it making the rounds much on either The ‘Gram or Goodreads so I was able to go in completely blind.
Pretty much right from the start I thought this was the female equivalent of . . . .
(With maybe a little Where’d Ya Go, Bernadette? thrown in for good measure.)
And upon finishing I discovered that film was this book’s inspiration. I’ll be honest and say the all over the place timeline was a hindrance for me at the start and the not knowing what had happened between Grace and her daughter was aggravating until I settled in. That being said, it was miserable and rainy here so I read this in one day. Had I stopped and restarted my rating may have suffered while I tried to reboot my brain and get back in the rhythm of things.
Buuuuuuut that didn’t happen and as a woman of a certain age who always feels like she might be on the cusp of a quality Menty B I found a new best friend in Grace.
Every Star
Even though Grace was a Read With Jenna pick I have not seen it making the rounds much on either The ‘Gram or Goodreads so I was able to go in completely blind.
Pretty much right from the start I thought this was the female equivalent of . . . .
(With maybe a little Where’d Ya Go, Bernadette? thrown in for good measure.)
And upon finishing I discovered that film was this book’s inspiration. I’ll be honest and say the all over the place timeline was a hindrance for me at the start and the not knowing what had happened between Grace and her daughter was aggravating until I settled in. That being said, it was miserable and rainy here so I read this in one day. Had I stopped and restarted my rating may have suffered while I tried to reboot my brain and get back in the rhythm of things.
Buuuuuuut that didn’t happen and as a woman of a certain age who always feels like she might be on the cusp of a quality Menty B I found a new best friend in Grace.
Every Star
March 21, 2023
Thank you to the author Fran Littlewood, publishers Henry Holt and Macmillan Publishing, and as always NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of AMAZING GRACE ADAMS.
Grace has problems. Lots of them. Her marriage is not what she thought it was. Her daughter, Lotte, is tall and beautiful and not quite 16 years old, and is not at all who Grace thought she was. She keeps remembering the people her loved ones used to be-- her supportive husband, the eight year old Lotte whose mom was her hero, these people before they all started stepping around the same secrets. She trusts memories; it's the present she can't figure out and she responds more and more erratically to a life that no longer makes sense to her. For she would do anything for her family, including bend over entirely backward. However that comes to look.
AMAZING GRACE ADAMS is a book unlike anything I've read before. I wasn't truly hooked on this one until the second half, and then I just couldn't walk away. To be honest, I didn't like Grace much in the first half. But I think that was kind of the point. She's an unlikely character, an unlikely person, with a certain set of traits that make her difficult to deal with, both as a partner and as a parent. In dealing with the massive problems she experiences with her family in the course of this book, Grace experiences a great deal of growth. And so do we, as audience members, in being granted the opportunity to be this close to someone who is so fraught with emotion and yet unable to manage or express it. This can be an uncomfortable read, but it is well done.
I'm not always a fan of the stylistic choice to use multiple timelines, but I think it works here because of how often the main characters experience traumatic recall in the course of the story. It honestly makes the pace a bit hectic, but that might have been intentional. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and style. Good mental health rep in here too.
Rating: 🎂🎂🎂🎂 / 5 birthday cakes
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: March 7 2023
Read this if you like:
👥️ Mental health rep
👨👩👧👧 Stories about families
👩🦰 Stories about moms
👫 Coming of age
❤️🩹 Grief and healing
Grace has problems. Lots of them. Her marriage is not what she thought it was. Her daughter, Lotte, is tall and beautiful and not quite 16 years old, and is not at all who Grace thought she was. She keeps remembering the people her loved ones used to be-- her supportive husband, the eight year old Lotte whose mom was her hero, these people before they all started stepping around the same secrets. She trusts memories; it's the present she can't figure out and she responds more and more erratically to a life that no longer makes sense to her. For she would do anything for her family, including bend over entirely backward. However that comes to look.
AMAZING GRACE ADAMS is a book unlike anything I've read before. I wasn't truly hooked on this one until the second half, and then I just couldn't walk away. To be honest, I didn't like Grace much in the first half. But I think that was kind of the point. She's an unlikely character, an unlikely person, with a certain set of traits that make her difficult to deal with, both as a partner and as a parent. In dealing with the massive problems she experiences with her family in the course of this book, Grace experiences a great deal of growth. And so do we, as audience members, in being granted the opportunity to be this close to someone who is so fraught with emotion and yet unable to manage or express it. This can be an uncomfortable read, but it is well done.
I'm not always a fan of the stylistic choice to use multiple timelines, but I think it works here because of how often the main characters experience traumatic recall in the course of the story. It honestly makes the pace a bit hectic, but that might have been intentional. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and style. Good mental health rep in here too.
Rating: 🎂🎂🎂🎂 / 5 birthday cakes
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: March 7 2023
Read this if you like:
👥️ Mental health rep
👨👩👧👧 Stories about families
👩🦰 Stories about moms
👫 Coming of age
❤️🩹 Grief and healing
July 25, 2022
Hmm. Think I'm going to be an odd one out here but its just too frantic. Some touching and moving subject matters are at the heart of this book but they just get lost in the melodrama. Way too far fetched to feel even a teeny bit believable.
January 2, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “Amazing Grace Adams” in exchange for an honest review. Congratulations to the author on getting published and bringing Grace Adams to life. Unfortunately, this book was not the book for me. This was in the same vein of books like Eleanor Oliphant is Complete Fine, Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties, or The Cactus. Unlike those books, the conflict, drama, and chaos was the only thing this book had. In all of the frenetic energy, drama, and conflict, there was no opportunity to connect with the characters. It was all small moments that led to plot development, but no development of character. It was so depressing, and not in the good way that makes you want to read sad books. It tackled difficult subjects (grief, sexual assault, class, infidelity, career woes, etc.) with little to no nuance or complexity. Three hundred pages of a 45-year-old woman being failed, neglected, abused, and mistreated—serving as a punching bag—for every facet of society. I’m really glad others are enjoying it. It just was not the book for me.
September 18, 2023
I had mixed feelings when reading about Grace Adams, a perimenopausal language teacher with a disintegrating marriage and a challenging relationship with her fifteen-year-old daughter. The book has a good portrayal of Grace's teenage daughter who is over her head in social media and involved in a toxic relationship.
By the time a flashback tells us about a heartbreaking event that Grace has faced, we've wondered for most of the book why Grace is often out of control. For example, the book begins with Grace just abandoning her car in the middle lane of a highway because traffic is not moving, she's having hot flashes, and she needs to pick up a cake.
"Amazing Grace Adams" is a story about a woman who is very troubled by the past, and having difficulty coping with life. The reader can feel her pain, but also feel frustrated by the choices she makes. It sometimes only takes one misstep to change a life from amazing to broken, and it's a long road back toward hope and recovery.
By the time a flashback tells us about a heartbreaking event that Grace has faced, we've wondered for most of the book why Grace is often out of control. For example, the book begins with Grace just abandoning her car in the middle lane of a highway because traffic is not moving, she's having hot flashes, and she needs to pick up a cake.
"Amazing Grace Adams" is a story about a woman who is very troubled by the past, and having difficulty coping with life. The reader can feel her pain, but also feel frustrated by the choices she makes. It sometimes only takes one misstep to change a life from amazing to broken, and it's a long road back toward hope and recovery.
January 2, 2024
Hormones.
“It’s impossible to tell where the perimenopause stops and she begins and she’s asking herself who she would be if it wasn’t for those chemical enemies raging through her body, hijacking her mind, who she would be if her self had not come apart from her. She imagines she’d be nailing life, sailing through serenely.”
Our protagonist, Grace has a lot to answer for here. Or her hormones do. Once a popular television personality, now doors slamming shut. Husband filing for divorce. Job gone. Daughter out of control. Hot flashes. Crying jags.
What now?
Do I really want to read anything more?
Who wants to relive perimenopause?
Is this modern womanhood? Is this how far we have come? Do I need to be reminded of what it was like to parent my teen boys? Oy!
Seriously. It really is hard to root for Grace. Let alone my old me, if I am to be honest. She is not only flipping off the world, but representing the darkest self-hating thoughts of a certain demographic…
And…
I remember that time. Not pretty! And…
Not fair. Very, very stressful.
How do you separate your hormones from your true self?
There is something to be said about the cover of this book and that finger, wouldn’t you say? Got to love it!
All good now. Done venting. Thank you for listening. 3.5 stars.
March 16, 2023
’How I raged, and woke to hear the rain.’ - Virginia Woolf
This is a story that goes back and forth through time, but as it begins, Grace is in her car with nothing in front of her except cars. Cars sitting in every lane, waiting, the air occasionally filled with the noise of car horns blaring around her, which does nothing except adding more aggravation.
This day is important to Grace, it is her daughter’s sixteenth birthday. Sweet sixteen and, well, her Lotte is a bit of a wild child, and has a significant following on Instagram, which worries Grace.
Traffic still isn’t moving, and she has a cake that she absolutely needs to pick up, so Grace does something pretty amazing, if not necessarily a great idea, overall. Their relationship has been very strained and she really needs this gesture to show Lotte how much she loves her, and the cake is the cornerstone of that gesture. The cake is what will rescue their crumbling relationship, it has to, everything in her feels this to her very core. Traffic be damned. She gets out of her car, leaving it to walk to pick up this very important, £200 cake.
As Grace makes her way to the bakery, she is sweating profusely, whether due to the heat or perimenopause that she really hasn’t the time to acknowledge or come to terms with - she is more focused on showing Lotte how much she loves her. She may not be the perfect mother, but her love is fierce, and she needs to prove that - not just to her daughter, but to herself.
Once upon a time, life was easier, not quite as messy as it is these days for them. Once upon a time Grace was amazing, and so was her life. As a polyglot, doors were opened for her, and then her life changed. Hearts were broken. Mistakes have been made by all. Time has passed and Grace has regrets, but is desperate to prove to her daughter that she loves her. That she is not her enemy. That they are still a family.
Pub Date: 05 Sept 2023
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Henry Holt & Company / Henry Holt and Co.
March 26, 2023
Hated it. Unamazing Grace needs to get her schitte together and stop being so darn useless. A most unlikeable character, letting life's set backs get in the way of being useless at 2 jobs, seriously I found her so unpleasant. Young Grace had a few redeeming qualities but not enough to save this complete dog's breakfast of the current day story.
I'm tempted to return this to the bookshop for my money back.
I'm tempted to return this to the bookshop for my money back.
May 22, 2022
Truly fantastic – moving, raw, powerful, funny and thoroughly amazing.
September 12, 2023
Grace is a middle-aged woman who finds herself adrift and without purpose. Estranged from her daughter and left by her husband, Grace needs to find a way back to the person she used to be.
On the day of her daughters sixteenth birthday, Grace leaves her car in traffic and sets off on foot to deliver a birthday cake and try to mend their relationship. Along the way, Grace encounters obstacle after obstacle, but she is not going to let anything stop her. The journey leads to a look back on her life, the choices she has made, and how she got to where she is now.
This is a lovey, heartwarming look at what it is to be a mother, wife and woman and the expectations we and others put on ourselves. You will cheer for Grace. -Jennifer C.
On the day of her daughters sixteenth birthday, Grace leaves her car in traffic and sets off on foot to deliver a birthday cake and try to mend their relationship. Along the way, Grace encounters obstacle after obstacle, but she is not going to let anything stop her. The journey leads to a look back on her life, the choices she has made, and how she got to where she is now.
This is a lovey, heartwarming look at what it is to be a mother, wife and woman and the expectations we and others put on ourselves. You will cheer for Grace. -Jennifer C.
September 30, 2023
3 ⭐️
Audiobook: solid narration
I really think this book came close to being an absolute homerun 5 star experience, but there were quite a few fundamental, structural, editorial issues that really prevented me from enjoying it fully. AGA is way more than what the blurbs said and I don't think they painted a good enough picture of what you would be getting yourself into. Not to mention the THREE timelines we had to keep track of and how disjointed that made the reading experience. If the author stuck to the modern day and 2002 flashbacks, I think it would have flowed better.
In my opinion, the author bit off too much that everything felt surface level and rushed. Maybe we needed 100 more pages to really sink into the story? I'm not exactly sure. Grace was a difficult character to root for because we didn't really get to know her by the last few pages when finally understood why she was in the fallen state she was currently in. There were quite a few things going on between Grace, her estranged husband Ben, and their daughter Lotte. I really think if the author slowed the pace down, expanded some of these storylines, and took out the 4 months prior storyline, it could have been one of my top books of the year.
Audiobook: solid narration
I really think this book came close to being an absolute homerun 5 star experience, but there were quite a few fundamental, structural, editorial issues that really prevented me from enjoying it fully. AGA is way more than what the blurbs said and I don't think they painted a good enough picture of what you would be getting yourself into. Not to mention the THREE timelines we had to keep track of and how disjointed that made the reading experience. If the author stuck to the modern day and 2002 flashbacks, I think it would have flowed better.
In my opinion, the author bit off too much that everything felt surface level and rushed. Maybe we needed 100 more pages to really sink into the story? I'm not exactly sure. Grace was a difficult character to root for because we didn't really get to know her by the last few pages when finally understood why she was in the fallen state she was currently in. There were quite a few things going on between Grace, her estranged husband Ben, and their daughter Lotte. I really think if the author slowed the pace down, expanded some of these storylines, and took out the 4 months prior storyline, it could have been one of my top books of the year.
September 6, 2023
Ever heard the song “My Give A Damn’s Busted” by Jo Dee Messina?🎶 that pretty much sums up 45-year-old Grace Adams perimenopausal life at the present. It’s a tale of womanhood, marriage, motherhood as seen through Grace’s POV.. whom ironically, has just hit her threshold while stalled in gridlocked traffic.. she’s thinking enough is enough.. and whew.. I’m not doubting that one bit.
Those feels are relatable.. we’ve all been there right. Although for Grace there’d been so much sadness (not to mention crazy) going on in her life.. she gets out of her car.. and just walks away. That begins Grace’s determined journey of finding herself, along with putting a flailing relationship with her teen daughter to rights. It is a wonderful debut that is thought-provoking, emotional and tender. Not at all what I was expecting. ❥ 4 stars — Pub. 9/5/23
Thanks to the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Those feels are relatable.. we’ve all been there right. Although for Grace there’d been so much sadness (not to mention crazy) going on in her life.. she gets out of her car.. and just walks away. That begins Grace’s determined journey of finding herself, along with putting a flailing relationship with her teen daughter to rights. It is a wonderful debut that is thought-provoking, emotional and tender. Not at all what I was expecting. ❥ 4 stars — Pub. 9/5/23
Thanks to the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
July 17, 2022
I adored this. So moving (I cried my eyes out) and funny (I laughed a LOT). Best of luck to any mothers out there who think they can read it without blubbing.
Thanks for the advance copy. I’m jealous of everyone else who hasn’t read it yet.
Thanks for the advance copy. I’m jealous of everyone else who hasn’t read it yet.
November 21, 2023
This was a book with heavy meaning behind it. I would check trigger warnings!!
January 29, 2023
Grace Adams is on the brink. On a hot summer day, whilst stuck in traffic en route to collect her daughter’s sixteenth birthday cake, she decides that enough is enough. And calmly gets out of her gridlocked car and walks away from the shitstorm of her life. As she walks she considers her daughter - who doesn’t want anything to do with her, her husband - who left her and a memory, so deeply buried that it’s hard to even contemplate its emergence.
I LOVED Grace Adams! With all my heart! As a woman of a certain age she was so relatable. She could have been me. I could have been her. She was funny and frank, forthright and feisty. But as the story unfolds and her layers are shed you realise that there is so, so much more to this remarkable woman. Her rivers run deep and I felt my heart breaking for her as the circumstances of her life are slowly revealed.
Fran Littlewood has created a spectacularly glorious debut novel. I think every woman who reads this will recognise a little of Grace in herself (and if you haven’t yet, don’t worry, she’s coming) because she really has perfectly captured the struggles of the peri menopausal middle aged woman; juggling everything and watching helplessly as the balls come crashing down.
Grace Adams, you really ARE amazing. 🙌
I LOVED Grace Adams! With all my heart! As a woman of a certain age she was so relatable. She could have been me. I could have been her. She was funny and frank, forthright and feisty. But as the story unfolds and her layers are shed you realise that there is so, so much more to this remarkable woman. Her rivers run deep and I felt my heart breaking for her as the circumstances of her life are slowly revealed.
Fran Littlewood has created a spectacularly glorious debut novel. I think every woman who reads this will recognise a little of Grace in herself (and if you haven’t yet, don’t worry, she’s coming) because she really has perfectly captured the struggles of the peri menopausal middle aged woman; juggling everything and watching helplessly as the balls come crashing down.
Grace Adams, you really ARE amazing. 🙌
August 20, 2023
I understand that I am not the targeted demographic for this book. I am 24 years old, have no children (nor do I want them) and I have a good relationship with my mother and I always have.
That being said, I couldn’t stand this book. I’ve read other books where I was also not necessarily the targeted demographic but they were still enjoyable to read. Not in this case.
Grace adams is a self-centered woman who has a terrible relationship with her daughter and spends the entire story complaining.
I found every character to be miserable to read about and quite frankly, anxiety inducing. Grace herself is NOT amazing and makes everyone’s life around her harder because she is so caught up in her own problems to care about anyone else.
Other than one shocking fact near the end, everything was predictable.
All in all, a disappointing read. I would probably recommend this to someone who is going through a difficult time with their child or spouse, but for someone like myself, I’d stay away.
That being said, I couldn’t stand this book. I’ve read other books where I was also not necessarily the targeted demographic but they were still enjoyable to read. Not in this case.
Grace adams is a self-centered woman who has a terrible relationship with her daughter and spends the entire story complaining.
I found every character to be miserable to read about and quite frankly, anxiety inducing. Grace herself is NOT amazing and makes everyone’s life around her harder because she is so caught up in her own problems to care about anyone else.
Other than one shocking fact near the end, everything was predictable.
All in all, a disappointing read. I would probably recommend this to someone who is going through a difficult time with their child or spouse, but for someone like myself, I’d stay away.
September 16, 2023
4.5⭐️ While this story is a bit over the top at times (in the best way) there is something very relatable about Grace Adams and her struggles to be a good wife, mom, career woman, etc. She is the perfect representation of what we as women go through trying to navigate our various worlds, often feeling as though we cannot let anyone down.
I loved the dual timeline format, and how we simultaneously go forward in both the past and present until we begin to fully understand what drives Grace to seemingly lose her mind. Part romance and part mid-life crisis, it’s hard not to become invested in these characters, particularly Grace, and root for them to work out their deep rooted issues.
ʀ ᴇ ᴀ ᴅ ɪ ғ ʏ ᴏ ᴜ ʟ ɪ ᴋ ᴇ :
👩👧mom life
💁♀️character rich stories
🤭quirky characters
✌🏼dual timelines
📕where’d you go Bernadette
Thank you Henry Holt and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies.
I loved the dual timeline format, and how we simultaneously go forward in both the past and present until we begin to fully understand what drives Grace to seemingly lose her mind. Part romance and part mid-life crisis, it’s hard not to become invested in these characters, particularly Grace, and root for them to work out their deep rooted issues.
ʀ ᴇ ᴀ ᴅ ɪ ғ ʏ ᴏ ᴜ ʟ ɪ ᴋ ᴇ :
👩👧mom life
💁♀️character rich stories
🤭quirky characters
✌🏼dual timelines
📕where’d you go Bernadette
Thank you Henry Holt and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copies.
September 23, 2024
Rounding up to a four. The books starts out in a way I’m thinking is going to be cute. It’s anything but. It’s arduous, and I was annoyed for a big part of it because it seemed like everything was being dragged out too slowly between the three timelines. But when everything was finally revealed, I realized it needed to take all this time.
September 4, 2023
I have nothing positive to say about this book. Horrible writing coupled with non-existent character development make this a hard no for me.
October 10, 2023
Awful. Who let this through publishing? What was the premise? 0/5 if I could.
September 1, 2024
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Henry Holt and author Fran Littlewood for the opportunity to review this debut novel.
Women of a certain age, and perhaps all women, are living vicariously through Grace Adams. Without a doubt, these micro-aggressions are not limited to those going through a life change. Fran Littlewood's sparkling debut novel, Amazing Grace Adams both heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once, bottles these micro-aggressions and gives women a champion.
Heartbreaking: This story deals with a sexual predator at her daughter school who gets involved with Lotte and three other unsuspecting students.
Heartwarming: The kind woman who sees her, buys her water and treats her wounds, was truly a balm.
As a medical professional who spent the pandemic "rage sewing"TM after work, I felt Grace's frustrations in my bones -- both her day-from-hell, and everything leading up to it.
Honestly, who hasn't felt like swinging a stolen 9-iron, channeling Tonya Harding, on an errant driver's headlights after they attempt to run you down? Personally, a clueless, horrific driver illegally crossed several traffic lanes, ran me off the road, and then proceeded to a pizza parlor as if she had done nothing wrong, so I totally get it.
Women of a certain age, and perhaps all women, are living vicariously through Grace Adams. Without a doubt, these micro-aggressions are not limited to those going through a life change. Fran Littlewood's sparkling debut novel, Amazing Grace Adams both heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once, bottles these micro-aggressions and gives women a champion.
Heartbreaking: This story deals with a sexual predator at her daughter school who gets involved with Lotte and three other unsuspecting students.
Heartwarming: The kind woman who sees her, buys her water and treats her wounds, was truly a balm.
As a medical professional who spent the pandemic "rage sewing"TM after work, I felt Grace's frustrations in my bones -- both her day-from-hell, and everything leading up to it.
Honestly, who hasn't felt like swinging a stolen 9-iron, channeling Tonya Harding, on an errant driver's headlights after they attempt to run you down? Personally, a clueless, horrific driver illegally crossed several traffic lanes, ran me off the road, and then proceeded to a pizza parlor as if she had done nothing wrong, so I totally get it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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