Absolutely adored this book. A fast paced, hilarious tale with an amazing leading character. This book will not fail to have you sniggering away - if not laughing out loud - on your commute. Fantastic.

I enjoyed this book so much.  Prickly Susan Green was right up my street - a character I can certainly identify with!  Fans of Eleanor Oliphant will love The Cactus.  Highly recommended.

A  very  entertaining  read  with  some  laugh  out  loud  moments.  I  would definitely recommend this book

Heartfelt read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It shows Susan's life which is turned upside down by the death of her mum. This book goes through every emotion. 
Great book.
Thank you to both publisher's John Murray press and netgalley for the ARC. In exchange for my unbiased review.

A delightful book that sees the main character Susan bloom from a prickly, opinionated loner to a who has few friends, to a first time mother at 45, taking a chance on someone she would once have considered completely incompatible. I loved it.

I really enjoyed this book. 
It made me laugh out loud. It also made me think about how we are perceived by others in relation to what our intentions actually are. 

There is a bit at the beginning where Susan’s dialogue with her Romanian cleaner at work did irritate me, to be honest. As a Romanian living in an English speaking country I can see that the author tries to emulate an Eastern European discourse, but for me personally it doesn’t resonate. The lack of articles in the cleaner’s speech doesn’t gel well with her otherwise advanced vocabulary. 

For the rest of it, I quite liked it. 
I thought, however the ending was a bit rushed. After more than three quarters of the book portraying the main character as a recluse stuck in her ways with a firm barrier against the outside world and pretty much any form of intimacy and social interaction, I’d have thought a slightly more gentle easing into society and its norm would have worked better. As it stands, it felt the character changed her views of the world rather abruptly. 

I did however, for the most part enjoyed getting immersed in Susan’s world and the narrative captivated me. So 3.5 starts. Closer to 4. 

Thank you Netgalley and John Murray press for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't read the other books that are claimed to be similar to this one, so was reading it and judging it stand alone.  I enjoyed the book and found Susan a really interesting character, I particularly enjoyed the way she spoke the harsh honest truth many of us hold back from spouting. She has very low emotional intelligence and is quite self centred for the majority of the book, she isn't always easy to warm to but I still found my self rooting for her.  This book was a nice refreshing change from the plethora of chick lit and crime thrillers I normally end up with and was certainly worth the time invested reading it.

Going by the description and the author comparisons I thought I was really going to enjoy this book.

How wrong was I.

Now don't misunderstand me, the story was ok and the writing was alright, dry witted/sarcastic which is normally the sort of thing that I like but for some reason this novel just didn't do it for me.

I had to keep picking it up and each time not getting very far, taking me a lot longer than it usually would to complete a tale like this.

The story felt like it could have been wrapped up a lot quicker, it just seemed to take forever to get to the point.

There were a couple of secrets which I guessed early on so I guess there was no real urgency to keep reading.

The Cactus is a book that should be funny but just wasn't. Perhaps I was just the wrong audience for this story.

I was emailed about this book and it suggested it would be suitable for fans of Eleanor Oliphant so figured it might be something I would enjoy! Susan definitely has a lot of social issues and is a very literal person. She's 45 and her mother has just died. Never one for relationships, Susan has an 'agreement' with a man she met years ago and she falls pregnant but doesn't need him financially or emotionally. I can definitely see the comparisons with Eleanor from Susan's demeanour but otherwise, this is a very different book. I read it really quickly as I found it well written and engaging throughout.

This is a super book, I enjoyed every page. I have not read the much described 'Eleanor Oliphant' so had no comparisons to make.
Susan is indeed a cactus, prickly, self absorbed and unbelievably self centred. She has a huge problem to solve on her mother's death when she is told that her somewaht feckless brother has been left a life interest in the house. She goes through so many avenues trying to get hwhat she sees as her fair share.
All the time we are seeing new sides to her, some of the prickles fall off, new thoughts emerge.
I'd love to read more from this author.
Thanks to Net Galley for  a review copy.

An enjoyable entertaining read. I found the use of “Mom” instead of “Mum” irritating as the book is set in Birmingham and so obviously English in everything other way. Apart from that I thought it was well written and moves at a satisfying pace. 
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher  for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review

What a refreshing book this was to read, I couldn't put it down. Imagine someone who looks like Kylie Minogue but has the personality of a cactus, in keeping with the plants she loves. The first half was fabulous, oh how we wished we could think and say some of the wonderful reproaches that the cactus chimed in response to everyday people at her work, social life and family, not to mention the poor souls she encountered in everyday life.. The second half did slide a bit into chic lit but was still totally enjoyable. I really loved this book and would very much look forward to more by this author although I think her prickly heroine may be unique, so a follow on would be perfect.

I noted the comparison to “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman and also the similar characteristics of the main player in Graeme Simsion’s “Rosie” books. For anyone who enjoyed those books this first effort by Sarah Haywood will prove rewarding.
It does seem to take a little time to get going but the novel has some interesting twists as Susan Green goes on a journey of discovery both in terms of her own history and of unplanned motherhood.
The ending leaves a lot of hope in the air for a number of relationships and I will watch out for further books by the author.
This book was provided as an advance copy by the publisher in return for an honest review.
Note : 
I intend to provide the above review on Amazon when the book is released on 04 Oct 2018

Thank you so much to John Murray Press for sending me an ARC of this book! The Cactus is an entertaining novel about a woman finally fully engaging with life. I read it quickly and really enjoyed it. The only issue I had with this book is that it is almost *too* reminiscent of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, which is an unfortunate coincidence. I’d never read a book about characters quite like Eleanor/Susan, and this year, I’ve read two. This doesn’t mean that The Cactus isn’t great – I just felt like I’d read it already, so I wasn’t as emotionally invested in Susan as I’d been with Eleanor a few months ago.

Thank you very much for sending me a copy! I hope it does really well when it’s published tomorrow!

I LOVED this book!! Susan lives a mostly solitary life and is fastidious about her work.. Her life suddenly takes a turn when she has to deal with the aftermath of her mother's death and navigate family politics. I would love to read more by this author and was sad to finish this book. Highly recommended. Thanks NetGalley!

I enjoyed reading this book. It was amusing at times, sad at others, and the characters were well drawn.

However (rightly or wrongly) some of the main character's attributes and behaviours reminded me of Eleanor (of "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine") - and although I didn't warm to Susan in the same way as I warmed to Eleanor, I would still recommend this as an enjoyable and absorbing read.

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for an ARC in return for my honest review.

It’s almost impossible to review The Cactus without mentioning the obvious - that if you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, you will most likely enjoy The Cactus. Usually, I’m hesitant when I see that a book is compared to another that I loved, but at least in the case of The Cactus, I felt the comparison was warranted. Susan is definitely reminiscent of Eleanor, but very much stands out on her own. I warmed to Susan fairly quickly, but I imagine she’s very much a love her or hate her type of character. For me, there was never a dull moment with her and I wasn’t expecting to find the book as funny as I did, while at the same time, heartbreaking and genuinely touching. The closer I got to finishing, the harder it was to put the book down, though I didn’t want it to end yet. This was such a fascinating story for me. I would love to read a second book on Susan, to find out how she’s adjusting to her new life. I’d love to see how she tackles motherhood. I am so glad I read this book. I’m going to be thinking about it for some time.

I was looking forward to reading this due to the hype about it being ‘the next Eleanor Oliphant’ which is my favourite book that I have read so far this year. Unfortunately, the similarities between the two books turned out to be the downfall of ‘The Cactus’ for me. I felt like I was reading a second rate Eleanor Oliphant and for that reason, I just couldn’t get on with the book and actually DNF at 25%. I really wanted to like this and maybe if I hadn’t read and absolutely adored Eleanor Oliphant than perhaps my opinion would have been different. But for me this is just a pale imitation of Eleanor Oliphant.

This is a heartwarming tale filled with very rich and dynamic characters. 
As someone who lives in Birmingham I almost felt as though this story was happening down the street from me which only increased how invested i was in it.
This story is well paced and well written and i think it will appeal to many people.

Susan is an odd character.  She keeps people at an arm’s length and likes her life to run like clockwork.

We learn through the book about Susan growing up, her relationships with people.  

The story meandered a little at times and I found Susan somewhat frustrating - people seemed overly tolerant of her and she was somewhat rude at times.

One thing that really did annoy me was the constant use of “mom” instead of “mum”

Thank You Netgalley and Two Roads got the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.