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.

Why Mummy Swears is a brilliant follow up to Why Mummy Drinks which was one of my favourite reads of last year. I love the humour in these books and the way in which the many dilemma's Ellen faces with Peter & Jane are written, I think as a parent you can relate to similar experiences and it helps you to realise you are not alone in the daily trials that you face.

This book particularly focuses on being a full time working Mum and injustices with regards to being treated equally that still unfortunately happen within the workplace and how as Mum you need to be able to divide yourself many times in order to be able to work and ensure that your children have everything they need for the many events that happen on a daily basis.

Another brilliant read that I thoroughly enjoyed and laughed throughout, I love the humour that Gill Sims demonstrates, she has a wonderful way with words that makes you chuckle whilst being able to relate to the subjects she is discussing.

This book is funny, entertaining and incredibly true to life in so many ways. As a parent there are so many things that resonate throughout this book. The everyday mundane is described with hilarity and intrigue. It's a great follow on form Why Mummy Drinks and I really enjoyed reading it.

Absolutely brilliant. All I can imagine is that Gill Sims must have sneaked into my house and spied on my life - and then made it very funny indeed.

Actually, while there are more than a few laugh out loud moments (oh just wait till you get to the bit where they split the bill, or where Laura Ashley's discontinued fabric takes a bashing) there are also moments of utter truth.

Here, Sims has cleverly, oh SO cleverly, brought us a funny story of the ups and downs of motherhood, from the PTA to work, from wanting to drop kick the ungrateful monsters out of the nearest window to moments of overwhelming, heart-filling pride that we all recognise, while at the same time weaving in very powerful messages about equality, respect and the double lives of working mums.

It's quite brilliant, and should be made required reading for all men who A) have wives who work AND have children, B) all men who work in offices with working mums and C) all women of childbearing age - then maybe we'll start seeing some parity in the workplace. In fact, pop it in GCSE required reading lists...let's start them early. They will probably learn some new words, but who doesn't need the term 'arse-faced cockwomble' in their lives?

Don't get me wrong, that element of the book is barely a thread, but it resonates, it really does. The rest is a comforting (in as much as you will scream "oh thank God it's not just me") account of daily life in a house where mum sits at the centre of everything, which means that while she holds it all together, everybody simply walks straight across her in order to achieve their own objectives.

Hilarious, brilliant and absolutely 2018's best read so far.

Review Totally hilarious and definitely a laugh out loud book. I did try not to swear in front of my children but I can certainly remember desperately wanting to many times.

I have read a few of the authors blog posts on Facebook, and have also read her first book, Why Mummy Drinks. Mummy finds herself drawn into the murky world of the PTA as well as having a new job. In trying to stop her two separate lives from becoming twisted together, she becomes embroiled in lies and deceit.

Another funny book from the author. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.

I very much enjoy the Facebook page written by Gill Sims - Peter and Jane, and this is much more of the same. Gill Sims is very funny. It made me laugh, it made me cringe (I am a Mum after all, and I can relate to so much of what was written) and it provided some very light relief at the end of a stressful few days. The descriptions of the situations our heroine finds herself in are brilliantly observed, and it provides a very current reflection on parenting in modern Britain (if you are middle class of course). Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review an early copy of the book #NetGalley #WhyMummySwears

Definitely one of the better 'blogger-turned-author' books that are hitting the shelves lately, this is a brutally honest and at times, hilarious look at modern life as a working mother. Featuring characters I think most of us can relate to (or at least, know them to avoid at the playground gates) and situations that are all too real (her arguments with Simon could've been transcribed word for word from my hubby and I!), this is a quick and easy read that is definitely worth the effort.

The second funny book from the author. So easy to read and had me laughing at times with the way it was written. Would highly recommended if you want to read an easy lighthearted honest look at motherhood.