This book was good fun, lots of examples of funny family life. I would say this is best read in chunks - the anecdotes don't blend together into a traditional narrative.

It's the start of the summer holidays, and six long, expensive weeks stretch out ahead of Ellen as she struggles to think of cheap and stimulating ways to entertain her children Peter and Jane. Without much support from her husband Simon (who I didn't initially warm to!) who says things like "you expect me to look after the children?" she gets on with the job in hand, but slowly simmers with resentment.

For anyone who has primary school age children this book will make you hold your sides with laughter as you will relate to countless stories. For me, it was the PTA (I didn't last as long on it as Ellen!) as I couldn't understand why people take the task of organising a school disco as seriously as if they were organising the next World Summit Meeting!!

You are in complete danger of laughing out loud when reading this book, so beware in open spaces!!! I also found myself sitting in bed of an evening saying to my partner, "Oh god, listen to this," and then reading page after page to him while wiping tears that were streaming down my face with laughter.

I hadn't read Gill Sims first book, Why Mummy Drinks Gin-I did get it for Christmas, but it's still on my TBR shelf, but I shall be digging it out and making it a top priority to read it, as this one was brilliant.

Ellen’s life is busy enough as it is. She has two children: Jane, who, at eleven, is obsessed about becoming an Instagram star, and Peter, who like his sister is not afraid to speak his own mind, no matter how embarrassing the talk turns out to be (from informing their cousins that Santa Claus doesn’t exist to a weirdly deep knowledge of how children are made). Then, there is her husband who considers his share of the housework to be cleaning out the cupboard of all its food.
But now Ellen has joined the PTA group and is back to work full-time. Between organising school parties, cleaning the house, finding excuses to take time off work, and dealing with step-parents and step-siblings, long school holidays, and a quite eventful (and hilarious) Christmas, Ellen’s life is far from boring.
I haven’t read the first book in this series, Why Mummy Drinks, but I am definitely going to because the protagonist’s adventures are so funny. The book is narrated in the form of a diary and the author created a brilliant character in Ellen. She is realistic, likable, and so hilarious and I found myself always siding with her as she shares her feelings, her anger and frustration towards her husband (mostly), her sister, other parents, her colleagues, and, also, her children. Full of laugh-out-loud incidents, embarrassing moments, and relatable situations, Why Mummy Swears is an engaging and captivating summer read that I highly recommend you don’t miss!

This book is hilarious, just as funny as her first book and although my child is still only a toddler I found some similarities to my own life, which made it funnier. I shared snippets with my partner, which weren’t always welcome but at times it made me giggle so much I just needed to share. Please do more, I thoroughly enjoyed both.

Another winner from Gill Sims. Every chapter has an incident that every parent will relate to.
Great summer read.

Swearing in it’s best sweary form. Life in your forties with kids at its very best. I challenge anyone to read this book and not find some affinity with the story. Cross your fingers you did those pelvic floor exercises correctly because you’ll need them working to the max. From PTA nightmares to holidaying alone with kids I loved every minute of this book. Judgy dog deserves a special mention for being so judgily fabulous!

A great funny book to read. I found myself so many time LOL at the hilarious antics and after reading it, the title of it is very apt!

I read the previous book, Why Mummy Drinks and even read aloud chapters to my husband who thought my selection of passages, funny. (He doesn't smile often, let alone laugh, but these passages at least raised a wide smile). I swore I'd seek out Gill's blog immediately after reading the first book but, as I'm sure she'll understand, life took over and whilst I have been on FB regularly since, finding her blog became a lower and lower priority until it was gone completely.

And in a way I'm glad. I'm not sure if reading her regular blog would have diminished my enjoyment of this book or not. I'm going with it would have. Because a year after reading the first and thinking I knew what to expect and the sequel would pale in significance ...... I was very pleasantly surprised. I found this sequel even better than the first. I'd also recommend it to my husband to read.

Lovely to see recurring characters in there and for it to have even more ridiculous situations and laugh out loud moments than the first one. A very relatable book to all mothers of minor children (as opposed to adult children) and it reassures we all experience the same doubts about our parenting skills and just have to make the best of them.

"Why Mummy Swears" covers a year in Ellen and her family's lives, starting in July and with school holidays and ending the following July. And ah feck it, guys. This is probably one of the hardest reviews to write because well, I simply loved everything in this book and about this book. Everything. So there. And now I'm going to immediately order Gill Sim's first book "Why Mummy Drinks" because I know that I'm also fecking going to love it. If it's only half as brilliantly funny as "Why Mummy Swears" than I've already won.

The best thing about this book was that it was so relatable. From the very first page I couldn't stop but roar with laughter at all the similarities between the characters in the book and me and my husband, who also doesn't understand that spices are only good when they're out of date (I'm not even sure if there is the best before label on spices, as they live for ever) and that out of date doesn't start one minute after midnight. And it is only the first thing that comes to mind, and there were tons of them. Ellen has only the balls the say what she thinks and to actually pack the kids and take them for holidays while I sit here and only fill the money - box that I've received with my review copy. It's full. Almost.

The things that happen in Ellen's life are mostly hilarious but they are also very realistic and this is brilliant - it could be easily overdone but it's simply perfect and possible to happen. You can't help but laugh out loud at the way the characters act and react, roll your eyes or simply nod your head in agreement. I only pray to God that my daughter won't turn into Jane. Who was incredibly clever, by the way, probably too clever.

The writing is addictive and so easy to follow - I couldn't, and didn't want, to put the book away for a single moment. The way it was written - as a diary - was the best possible way in my opinion. This reminded me a little of Bridget Jones, of course, and there is absolutely room for more books to come.
This book tells how it really is in a perfect tone, not too patronizing, not too aggressive, and it gives hope, and really guys, I feel better after reading it. It turns out that I'm not the only one who can't cope with everything, who swears under her nose, who leaves the dishes in the sink over night, whose husband goes only on holidays when there is breakfast buffet.

"Why Mummy Swears" was a hilarious, uplifting read that I easily could identify with. The fun and humour poured from every word and this is what I really needed. It was brutally honest in telling how it is to be a part of a family, to have a family. It was light, it was bright, it was refreshing and full of painful truth of being a parent. Simply, it must be one of the best books I have ever read - and it's saying something as I've read many books. Many. Highly recommended!

Gill Sims has well an truly surpassed Why Mummy Drinks with this book.
Laugh out loud, amazingly funny book.
I would rate this book Eleventy Billion stars if I could.
Please tell me there is more to come, this can not be the end of Ellen and her fun and frollicks.

Absolutely brilliant .Ellen struggles to manage a new job, a family, including a bad tempered 11 year old ,a useless husband and the PTA. I don't think i have ever laughed so much whilst reading a book. Loved it and cant wait for the next !

This book was just hilarious. It was so great to be back with Ellen again. I felt as if I was on her team and we were fighting the injustices of the world swearing and drinking together. If you think they covered every possible funny mummy scenario in Why Mummy Drinks then think again because there is so much more trouble children and mummies and daddies can get into and it is a just as funny the second time around.

Ellen is such a great main character to spend time with. She is just down to earth and she gets to say and do exactly what we are all thinking. On the pages of her diary of course. She is strong and opinionated and always feels like she should be doing more to be a good mother. She debunks all the myths surrounding child raising, working and marriage and its just great to get to live vicariously through her for 300 or so pages. The other characters in this book are those that we met in Why Mummy Drinks. Peter and Jane are very typical for children of their age, Jane wants and Instagram account and Peter has been absolutely fascinated by the sex education video they watched at school.

I absolutely hated Simon, Ellen's husband, in this novel, like seriously shouted at the pages hated him, but well written Gail Sims, I love a character I can feel passionate about! Ellen's family are also featured in this novel and provide great comedy value, serious good fun! I also loved the fact that we get a lot of feminist values coming through the pages of this novel concerning working mothers and fathers babysitting their own children. The way this book is structured is one of my favourites in a novel. I love a book written in diary form because rather than think you'll just get to the end of a chapter, you think you'll read on until the next month and so this was a very quick read for me, but one I laughed my way through entirely!

Although this is a sequel to Why Mummy Drinks, you don't have to have read the first book to enjoy this one, it works on its own. If you ARE planning on reading the first novel in this series though, I would recommend doing that one first so you don't get spoiled for some of the details by reading this one. I read them back to back and can highly recommend both for a jolly good time-so much fun!

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.