An easy, entertaining read with lots of self-reflection and honest truths that we would never normally admit!

Tori has the perfect life - soaring career, lots of fans and friends, devoted boyfriend of 6 years. But you never know what goes on behind closed doors. She is desperately unhappy. She tries to maintain the perfect facade but her relationship has been in trouble for some time now and while she is stuck, all her friends are moving on ....in other words, getting married and having babies. As a girl in her thirties, she feels the pressure of conforming with societal norms.
I love that we hear what Tori is really thinking and how "real" she can be. Her obsessions and insecurities are common experiences. As is the destructive relationship she cannot escape. The suspense of the book lies in whether or not she can admit how unhappy she is and take the risk to do something about it. Lots of wise, empowering messages for the modern woman.

Tori has based her career and through her book, her fame on her relationship with Tom. Is she really happy though. ? The reader is kept enthralled until the very last pages to find out if their relationship survives and if she can overcome her writers block to write another best seller.

A funny and in places very poignant novel about the breakdown of a long term relationship.It's a while since I was in my 30s and things have changed but I could still identify with the main character and the feelings she describes as she moves from her 20s to her 30s.
Easy to read and very enjoyable.

Tori Bailey seems to be living the life as someone who has literally redound a life when something fell apart in her 20s. Now she is approaching her 30s she begins to look at what exactly she is accepting whether it is Tom her partner, who became her “rock” in her book. She is continually travelling the globe promoting her lifestyle book and giving fans her views in arranged meetings. But when her best pal who she comes to a wedding with her and meets the “love of her life” Tori begins to look at her unpromising life with Tom. A witty examination of the fast paced life of a thirty something. Really enjoyed it and identified the choices women have to make. A great read!

I had been looking forward to this book from the second it was announced, I need to say that at the start of this review. I'm a huge Holly Bourne fan and so the idea she was releasing something a little older was exciting and, I'm a little underwhelmed.

This novel follows Tor in her early 30s a successful author with a 'fuck it attitude' or that's what the outside sees because she makes it so. In real life Tor is stuck in a rutt, she's not happy in her relationship, everyone is getting married and having babies and she has no idea what to write for her next book. But at least she has her best friend Dee...until she gets news of her own.

I was back and forth on what I thought of this book constantly. I could see what Bourne was trying to do with the protagonist but I honestly couldn't stand her. I kept trying but whenever my opinion changed and I started to like her, she reacts to a situation in, quite frankly, a very childish way. That said, I liked the premise, I liked what was being said and the things that were being pointed out but it just felt the character did come across as whiny and irritable.

That said, I did agree with a lot of points made. I agreed that we seek validation online, that there's an idea that you're less of a woman unless you get married or have a baby. It was all relevant and the thing that I love to read from Bourne. I just continually got frustrated by the decisions that were made by Tor and some of the ways she reacted. There were also some issues in the novel such as some very questionable actions by her boyfriend and the topic of self-harm which were seemingly brushed over.

I gave this 3 stars because while some points I thought were excellent the protagonist just ruined it for me because I kept not caring about her and wanting her to just get on with something. Overall a very 'meh' experience.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy.

I instantly liked the main character Tori Bailey, which is always a great start. She just seemed like part me, part my friends and all the wonderful women I know. She is successful, she is insecure, she is awesome, she is confused; she is every woman!

As far as the story goes. I like that the story is about a relationship that the main character has been in for six years. I like that she loves her partner, but that she has doubts. Her feelings are realistic and so is the relationship. I think the author got the nuances right of what it is like to have been with the same person for a long time. A lot of the situations I could relate to, though luckily not all!!!

However, I do wish there had been a bit more to the ending, though I am sure there will be a sequel. I am also pretty sure I will be reading it.

This is such a great book! I found is super relevant and funny and the main character really speaks to me. The plot is engaging and it was a really compelling but easy read, I highly recommend

Great summer/beach read. One to relax to while hoping that your life isn't playing out that way.

Funny, honest and relatable. Following the success of her best-selling memoir, which told the world about her messy 20s and finding true love with ‘the man on the rock’, the pressure is now on Tori to produce a follow up, and tell her fans how she is still living the fairytale.

Only problem is, she’s not. Now in her 30s, she’s feeling the pressure to listen to her ‘ticking biological clock’ (ugh just typing that has made me feel sick), to maintain her career and settle down with ‘the man on the rock’, AKA Tom.

Once a happy and fulfilling relationship, it has now become stale and lacking kindness and intimacy. Tori is scared to leave and scared to stay, but how long can you live a lie?

Relatable on so many levels, and almost uncomfortably honest for those of us who have stayed in a relationship well past it’s sell by date. Many of the points this book raised have stuck with me in the days since a finished it. An inspiring piece of fiction.

I am so glad that Holly Bourne writes books. "How Do You Like Me Now" was an outstanding piece of fiction which spoke to my heart and soul. Bourne's writing is intense and real and incredibly important. Feminism is hard and tricky and spiky but essential. Tori Bailey is a realistic, difficult woman. And I love her! I am her! I highly recommend this book for every single woman living in today's world, and every man living with a woman. Every single human being should read this book.

At first look, How do you like me now? sounds like any other tongue-in-cheek book about the utter horror of turning 30. I've seen countless of these books, on the shelves of airport and train station bookshops or in the must-read lists of weekly magazines, reaching out to women dissatisfied with their jobs, bodies, boyfriends. Only their feisty best friend side-kick, the one who's always drunk, sleeps around but has a heart of gold, will accompany our heroine as she transforms her life before the clock strikes midnight on the last day of her twenties and her world changes forever...

Thankfully, Bourne's book steers clear of this paint-by-numbers approach to writing. That's not to say she avoids clichés completely, but she challenges and reconfigures them rather than patronisingly prescribing them to her reader.

Bourne provides astute observations on the current state of our social behaviour. She nails the format of weddings (you'll recognise every one you've been to in the last two years) and utterly deconstructs our use of social media. If you don't see your own behaviour in her descriptions of status updates and 'like' chasing, you're lying to yourself. Initially, I thought her millennial mirror was a little unkind - yes, cheese board wedding cakes are now everywhere but are they really hurting anyone? - but it soon evolved into a book of real substance.

Its depth and heart came from Tori's relationship with Tom. Around 20% in, Bourne provides a scene in which the long-term couple attempt a sexual encounter that results in emotional turmoil for Tori and an orgasm for Tom. From then on, Bourne doesn't let up. She gets under the skin of what it's like to be a long-term relationship, to have your career successes overshadowed by your friends' abilities to procreate, and to not really know what you want to do next at work, in life or in your relationship.

This book pulls the rug from under some of the bullshit that women have to deal with right now. From arranging babyshowers (accurately described as the "death of feminism") to dealing with mates who feel the fact they have children removes their responsibility to be a good friend (you'll have those people in your life without a doubt). From a picture of Tori's niece getting more likes than the announcement of her TED Talk gig to a woman claiming she's in a feminist relationship despite her taking full responsibility for contraception because her fella doesn't like condoms. I recognised it all and it all had me in stitches.

Tori's journey allows her to understand her own motivations and desires. The book's central message is clearly about doing what is right for you not what you're expected to or what looks good online.

That might sound rather glib and obvious but Bourne explores those pressures with so much insight and honesty that you realise how such trivia does affect your life choices. This book left me thinking heavily about my own life and decisions, and pondering whether I do things for myself or to fuel the image of myself that I construct for others.

How do you like me now? might be dressed as a colourful, quarter-life crisis romp but it's actually an astute exploration of happiness and how to find it.

As always, Holly Bourne's writing is witty and compulsively readable in this book. Her style fits the adult market just as well as the teen, and this book captures with almost uncomfortable accuracy what it's like to be a 30 something. At times this is a difficult read because of the unflinching honesty, but is entertaining at the same time.

Holly is a great writer and in her previous books she has dealt with serious and important issues. She also writes great, but flawed characters. Tori is no expection. She is not very likeable, but is often relatable, especially to women 30+. The issues that are brought up are mostly dealt with well. One glaring issue which I was angry about and I don’t feel was dealt with well at all is an incident between Tori and Tom. I felt this was an opportunity to show this was not okay, regardless of whether you are in a relationship but it was forgotten about pretty quickly.

The downside for me is there is very little plot to the story. It reads almost like a diary extract of a pretty average time in someone’s life. I also feel like Tori’s social media obsession is more of an issue for those currently in their teens/twenties. I don’t know many thirtysomethings who are obsessed with likes the way the younger generations are because they have been brought up in the internet age.

Overall, a decent first adult novel from Holly.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I'm so torn after having finished this. I loved Tori so much, her voice, her journey, how much I could identify my deepest, most secret fears, opinions, and hopes with hers. Tori and all the other characters are what make this book, as they are so wonderfully, hilariously, and empathetically drawn. I laughed out loud and was close to tears at times when reading. I raced through this, unable to totally shake the characters off when I stopped reading and desperate to know what happened. But I couldn't help feeling that the whole novel should have been made into a condensed Part One of a book which then goes on to show the next part of Tori's story. I was left feeling a little bit cheated I didn't get to see her fully in action! But I'll be so excited to see more of the same from Holly Bourne in future!

Tori Bailey has it all - because she has figured out that you don't need it all.
She has written a successful book about how to navigate your twenties in your own way, and people have lapped it up. She has a worldwide fan base, hoardes of fans on social media, and a wonderful boyfriend, Tom.

But in reality, Tori doesn't know what she's doing. All her friends are getting married or doing "proper grown up" things, her own social media streams are full of baby scan pictures or engagement shoots, and she's starting to wonder if she really wants everything she has sworn (in print) that women don't need to be happy?

I adored this book. I'm in my mid-thirties, started a family young, and yet still could identify very much with Tori. That instagram quote that says "I'm just winging it: Parenting, My Life, My Eyeliner.." is the one I identify most with so I definitely know the feeling of wondering what could be or what should be. Tori & Tom's relationship is an important one, because it's one we rarely read about - but I know that so many people will identify with it. Kudos to Holly for not shying away from difficult content - I know from reading her Young Adult novels that she's not one to stay quiet on important subjects, and wondered how this would cross over to her first Adult Novel. It works perfectly, and I need more immediately.

Social media stardom can be toxic. What happens when Tori's expectations of turning thirty are disrupted and she needs to accept her truth is not her manufactured truth? Enjoyable but a little thin.

I’d never read this author before she has written YA books previously and this was her first adult novel.
An easy read and my sort of book. I wasn’t sure if I was enjoying it much at first. I felt it was a little like a teenage book with swearing in it to make it more adult, however something clicked with me and then I got really into it.
Loved it by the end. As I said an easy read, a good holiday book.
Can recommend and will read other books by her now.

Having just turned thirty this past year I was eager to read about a character in my particular shoes. This book did not disappoint! It was a wonderful, humorous entry into this new decade of mine.

I could not relate with the main character in this book at all.
I never sat there panicking that I was going to end up single and thinking that I would need to "settle".
I adored Tori's best friend Dee and when reading about some of their escapades really reminded me of nights out with my oldest friend too.
I enjoyed the feminism aspect of the book. and how Tori wasn't afraid of calling people out on their behaviour. Also, the way that social networking was so important to Tori. I'm sure that there are people out there who rely on their posts and photos getting the all important "like" as some kind of affirmation that you are of course the funniest, prettiest, slimmest and most popular person out there and that yes, your life is perfect - but thankfully, I'm not aware of any of my friends being like this - although, of course, how would I know?
Tori is also far too self-obsessed for my liking. I couldn't possibly have a decent relationship with her. I can't be doing with people who are such hard work. Everything had to revolve around her and that's just exhausting.

I gave this book 2 stars on Goodreads.

Many thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review