I totally loved Gill Sims first book ‘Why Mummy Drinks’ and so was very keen to read the follow-up. As before I found this a delightful read with many laugh-out-loud moments. She has a great sense of the absurdity of aspects of modern life such as electronics addiction. Though not a Mummy myself still a great deal to relate to .

I was moved to tears by one section and there is drama admidst the comedy but it is skill fully woven in.

As the title suggests there is a great deal of strong language so those likely to be offended will likely steer clear. I am hoping she finds another Why Mummy along the line as both novels have been so much fun.

All rings so true! My daughter-in-law had just read "Why Mummy Drinks" and regarded it as a self-help manual rather than fiction. This carries on in the same vein and reflects the daily experiences of many working mothers. Not a heavy read or great literature but fun and has entertainment value. Unusually I found myself laughing out loud several times.

I laughed a lot reading this. Some of the rants are OTT. Some parts of the book are laugh out loud funny. I read the Facebook page and always enjoy it. This is a comical laugh out loud look at parenting and trying to juggle all that entails.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A light-hearted, Bridget Jones-esque book with some very creative swear words! I found some of the yummy mummyness and the poetry-reciting sister-in-law scene a bit OTT, but it was a fun/funny read overall.

Why Mummy Swears is the second novel by mum-blogger Gill Sims, and is even better than the first.

Obviously if you’re already a fan of the ‘Peter and Jane’ blog then you already know what you’ll be getting: rambunctious moppets, Gadget Twat, Judgy dog, and Wheeler-fucking-Dealers make their usual eleventy billion appearances, requiring lashings of wine and sneaked choccy biscuits.

This time the main plot focus is on Ellen attempting to regain some sort of life outside of motherhood, whilst juggling the demands of school, children, husband and work, and various family dramas. And as usual, Sims totally nails it and manages to do so in an entirely relatable and hilarious way. In addition, Sims gives us an accurate and scathing look at the differences between men and women in the home and workplace, but in so entertaining a way that you only realise after the fact that she snuck the lesson in, like celery in a shepherd’s pie.

I hate spoilers so will just say that the ‘Sarah’ storyline was a particular highlight for me and raised a good few giggles; I was incandescent with rage over the half-term holiday events (to the point that I transferred some of it to my own bewildered husband, with some poisonous looks and pointed comments); and I blubbed far worse than any graduate’s mummy over the nice-lady-with-the-car bit (you’ll know when you get there!).

It helps that I thoroughly agree and identify with Ellen’s parenting style (and general approach to life), and find Gill Sims’ writing skilful and upliftingly light-hearted. Also, and this is fairly important…I am NOT offended by swearing! Especially not when it is realistic and in context, as here.

Recommended if you have your own moppets and a sense of humour!




Jane has obviously point-blank refused to take part in any such babyish activity as being read to in the evening, and so we compromised with her promising to read something herself instead, which I felt was a perfectly reasonable offer, until after two chapters she announced that Anne of Green Gables was stupid and boring and why was Anne always wittering on about imagination and I shouted that Jane had no soul and was clearly a changeling as no child of mine would speak thus of Anne Shirley. Now I pretend not to know that she is watching YouTube make-up tutorials instead of wandering the enchanted lanes of Avonlea with Gilbert Blythe (who I still totally would, incidentally).

– Gill Sims, Why Mummy Swears

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

I really enjoyed this! Entertaining perspective on life as a parent, juggling a return to full-time work with the PTA and family life. As well as being funny, with some excellent ranting on the small things in life which irritate, there was also some great reflection on how differently mothers are viewed in the workplace compared to fathers or women who don't have children. It's an easy read, with plenty to enjoy and would be a great book club book as there's loads to discuss.

Not one for those who don't like a lot of creative bad language though!

After spending time at home, Ellen decides she needs to be back a5 work full-time, leading to rows with the husband and chaos with the children. She then agrees to not only join the pta but ends up being chair. Cue lots of mummy swearing. At times I found myself #nortin* with laughter in public and learned a few choice phrases....

Having read ‘Why Mummy Drinks’ and laughed (ie snorted) my way through it, I couldn’t wait for the sequel. I also love reading the ‘Peter and Jane’ blog online.

My son is now an adult, but I can still clearly remember going through some of the situations that ‘Mummy’ went through with Peter and Jane and, quite a few times, I found myself saying, “Yes! I know!” at something familiar.

Gill has a wonderful way with words, along with a great wit, and the combination produces a fabulous, addictive read. This review is short, but I can’t think of anything else to say, except, “Buy it! Buy eleventy billion copies for your family and friends to enjoy!”

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

I loved the author's debut novel, why mummy drinks, and Gill Sims has written another great book.

I found that the book got off to a bit of a slow, slightly cliched start, but it soon ramped up into the unique GIll SIms style of writing that is, to be honest, a totally refreshing way to express a story. The heroine of the story is not some mythical hollywood-esque perfect warrior, picking the path of righteousness with confidence, but an everyday exasperated mother and wife. She isn't perfect. Her kids aren't perfect. Her marriage isn't perfect. Except for judgy dog - he is perfect. She is bumbling, exhausted through life, and in a situation that many of us can understand, whether we mirror her circumstances or otherwise.

This is a great book. A refreshing style of writing that I can see other authors may try to emulate. FML, bastarding and eleventy billion are now words I use regularly in my vocabulary, and I see them trending elsewhere.

I was tempted to try and write a chapter in Gill Sims style on bastarding bananas, being oh so tempting in their perfect yellowness on the shelf, yet sitting forlorn and unwanted in the fruit bowl at home, until they disintegrate into a pile of goo and eleventy billion fruit flies fill the kitchen overnight. FML.

Even though I'm not a mum myself, I still found this book hilarious and relatable in parts. It really opened my eyes as to what motherhood is actually like that's for sure!

I wish I had got my request in earlier for Why Mummy Drinks though, I feel like I would have enjoyed it better if I had read that one first.

Quite hilarious and the rants are just brilliant. I think most of us who have juggled jobs/child care/housework/PTA plus other fundraising and generally feeling put upon can identify with this book. I don't personally swear to this extent but sometimes feel explosive enough to do so. Trying to get people motivated to pull their weight is a thankless task whether within the family or the wider community.

It is a tale of modern family life and very observant, one feels that all these stories have happened to Gill or her family and friends.

I've not read Gill Sims before but will be seeking out Why Mummy Drinks.

My initial thought about this book is that it’s really funny! The style reminds me a little of Bridget Jones. The book instantly seemed modern and up to date by mentioning pop culture references like Fortnite. However the book really slowed down by the 50% mark and nothing really seemed to happen. I liked Ellen as a protagonist and her daily life is both funny and really entertaining, but the pace of the plot became too still for me and there wasn’t as much development by the mid-point of the book. I failed to get that addicted feeling that I get when I am reading a book that I really enjoy, I was just waiting for something to happen to move the plot forwards. I also felt like the book didn’t need quite so much swearing. I know the book is ‘why mummy swears’ but sometimes it seemed a little excessive with every other word being a swear word. And for someone who doesn’t swear like myself, I found it a little too much.
There did come a redeeming moment though when this moment happened:
“Muuuuum! We KNOW you only watch Horrible Histories because you fancy that one from the Dick Turpin song. You are like sooooooo embarrassing!’ moaned Jane.”
I thought this was just me. I like not being alone in my Matthew Baynton appreciation!
The book also picks up again with a family trip for Christmas. The introduction of the characters travelling somewhere works to get the plot moving again and the book becomes more interesting again. Yet I still never reached that level of addictedness that I can get from a book I’m loving. I did really like the feminist message in this book though. Both about women in the workplace, mothers with full-time jobs and about the balance between mothers and fathers and the pressures from society.
I found the last 10% of the book the best 10%, it was deep, lies unravelled and there was a tone of sadness and bittersweet, honest self-evaluation that I wish would have been in the book from the start. Yes I liked the comedy, but the last 10% managed comedy, drama and layers that the rest of the book didn’t seem to have.
I do appreciate how honest this book is about the truths of marriage and motherhood. And I believe someone who is actually married or has children would be able to appreciate this book in a way that I couldn’t. I found it a little slow on plot, and felt like it needed more depth in many parts. But I feel like this book comes with a certain level of relatability that would make it so much better and interesting if I was to actually have a husband and children. It’s funny, it’s smart, it’s feminist and it’s very honest. But for me, I just really wish the plot had moved a little faster.

AHH I absolutely love Gill Sims. This book is as good as the first I think because they're so easy to relate to. I love the characters especially Ellen (obviously) but also Sam and and I rather like Kiki with two K's :) there were parts of the book that had me howling with laughter which was unfortunate for my hubby as I'm a bedtime reader and it was 3am which meant I woke him up with my hysterical laughter and he told me off!! Never mind it was worth it!! The story was great and I got into it immediately. 5 stars from me!

This is such an entertaining book, absolutely hilarious from start to finish. I could not put this one down.

BRILLIANT, Jane ans Peter, the little moppets.....the funniest book!!! If you’re a busy working mum with eleventy billion things that need to be donw you will love this book,

Why Mummy Swears begins at the start of the long school summer holidays. Mummy is looking forward to having many jolly japes with her precious moppets #makingmemories and feeling #soblessed. The precious moppets however, have other ideas and aren't too keen on Mummy's idea of fun. Realising just how much school holiday fun will cost she begins to wish it was acceptable just to send them off with their bikes and some sandwiches to have their own adventures in the style of the Famous Five

The book is written again in a diary format making it a quick read, easy to dip in and out of, even if you just have a few spare minutes. Let's face it, if you're a mummy that might be a few stolen moments of peace in the loo!

Even within the first few pages I found plenty to giggle at. Ellen reflects that taking redundancy has resulted in her eating far too many biscuits so that when she sees her reflection in the mirror it reminds her of those children's board books.  You know the ones, "That's not my puppy, it's nose is too shiny". When she said hers would be called "That's not my a**e, it's far too enormous," I laughed out loud on the bus getting some odd looks! Another part that had me giggling was when Daddy threw out all the out of date food, causing Ellen to ponder if they were still middle class if they didn't have quinoa in the cupboard?

There is so much that I'm sure parents will recognise - kids who will eat something one day but not the next, what one likes the other won't touch, life being unfair, everybody else gets to do it, the despair of trying to drum up for volunteers for PTA events. Mummy's local Facebook page sounds just like our Porty People one which can be a brilliant source of info but is often full of moans about litter, dog poo, the price of bacon rolls in the various local cafes and more recently the scourge of the seagulls! And yes I know there's no such thing as a seagull (PP would set me straight on that) but tell that to the poor jogger who I saw being dive-bombed from on high recently.

On a more serious note the the stress and worry of modern parenthood is also addressed where everyone and their dog has opinion on what is right. And so many people have opposing views. Once upon a time, help and support from mothers, aunts, cousins etc but in our frantic 21st century life, so called helpful advice comes from all quarters of media, social media and internet. No wonder new mothers can become anxious, confused, discouraged and depressed.

Ellen did annoy me at times with her frequent nights out with her friends. Not the nights out as such - we're all entitled to them - but you'd think she'd have learned about hangovers by now! There's a lot of swearing in the book obviously, the book title being a big clue! So if you don't like strong language in a book then this isn't for you. I found it quite amusing when I was sent this book that it came with a swear box. As my friends will tell you, this mummy rarely swears! However, I found that it added to the comedic effect throughout the book.

Despite all her frustrations with modern parenting, trying to juggle career, marriage and childcare, and no matter how awful the children were at times ("although they are monstrous hell beasts, they are YOUR monstrous hell beasts and the also the best thing that ever happened to you."), I thought that Mummy/Ellen comes up with the best piece advice for any parent - "All you can do is your best, and love them and hope they turn out all right."

Recommended for parents just about to face the long school holidays (or already started as here in Scotland) who will need something to make them smile while entertaining their precious moppets!

Not since Bridget Jones have I identified so much with a character in a book and as soon as I finished I went out and ordered the first in the series. witty, wise and strangely moving, I loved this book

Amazing!!
I was a huge fan of Why Mummy Drinks, so when this popped up in my emails I had to grab it with both hands.
So funny I had genuine tears of laughter running down my face, grab this ahead of the summer holidays. You'll need it.

Let's get one thing straight from the start. I love rants, nothing is better than having a good old spewfest about how awful Donald Trump is or why some people (those who don't agree with me) shouldn't be allowed to vote. But the thing about rants is that they can easily go from being funny and insightful to just being boring. Same with swearing. Swearing is in my DNA (well actually it isn't; my parents never swore, maybe I was adopted) and I like a good curse word as much as anyone but in moderation. The other thing I want to say is that GS' blog is often very funny and I enjoy it a lot. Much more than her books. I think the problem is (for me anyway) is that what is funny in small doses very quickly becomes tedious. There isn't much of a plot in this novel, Ellen, the narrator, gets a full time job, finds out that mothers are treated differently in the workforce and that being a parent and working don't mix very well unless you have good support from your partner or someone else. And that's about it. There are lots of shouty capitals which ought to have been edited out as they serve no purpose other than to irritate the reader. It isn't all negative. As I say, rants are often insightful and there's lots of good stuff about how men 'help' with looking after their children and expect to be thanked for it, and as always the interactions among mothers outside the school gate ring very true. But it's all just a bit much for me. I felt as though someone had sat on top of me and pummelled me. Exhausting. But thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

A veritable lexicon of newly minted swear words.

In the interests of full disclosure, let me state first of all that I am not a Mummy, and I most definitely don’t have any kids; so this book doesn’t evoke any of the sort of reminiscences in me, like some other reviewers … but this second book by Gill Sims is a tremendously funny read, and resulted in quite a few giggles and fits of snortling laughter.

She has an incredible talent for inventing her own, unique swear words – sometimes it seems like just combining seemingly random words – but there are plenty of regular cuss words as well.

As I follow her Facebook posts, I did somewhat miss the frequently hilarious comments from other FB users, but this did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

Towards the end, I felt the ructions between Ellen and her husband were perhaps too much of a fictional emotional venting; being an actual release from real life, but happily this was merely a plot device to ensure a happy ending.