An easy to read book covering the life of Nell who is finding her way in life. Relatable and funny in parts. Sad in others especially when her father is in an accident and she holds a hospital bedside vigil.
Loved her relationship with Cricket which showed that age has no barrier and they both gained a lot from it.
A predictable ending where everything fell into place. Could of ended earlier as I found the last ten pages strange, unnecessary and not in keeping with the rest of the book.

I really like the writing style of this, I’ve never listened to a podcast so I can’t compare but the snappy sections made a real change and focussed more on the content than the scenery. As a forty something I find it relatable and it’s very relevant especially in the days of social media and living our best lives etc. This is a very humorous yet thoughtful book and Cricket was a fabulous character who added a great dimension to it.

I absolutely loved reading this. I literally laughed the whole way through and related far more to Nell than I probably should! I'd read this over and over again.

Thank you to Netgalley, Alexandra Potter and the publisher for the opportunity to read such a fabulous book in return for an honest review

What a rollercoaster read that was! This is a lovely book to read for anyone at a bit of a crossroads in life. Nell teaches us that we can find love, friendship and happiness in the most unlikely of places.

I put this book aside several times before finishing it. I think it’s very similar to but not as entertaining as the Bridget Jones series of years ago.. Plot okay and I may have been more generous with my rating but the last chapter jarred (no spoilers) and was distasteful to me.

I really enjoyed this book, to me it felt almost like a grown up Bridget Jones type story. It was funny and easy to read. I’m nearing 40, so some of this felt very familiar! This isn’t an author I have read before, but definitely one I will look out for now.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Written in a different way , diary like in parts. It was an easy read. I love the friendship angle between Fiona, Annabel and Nell. Also the school sports day mummy race was so funny. . The house share with Edward was funny with the arguments/ discussion over recycling and heating. We.can all relate to men and having the heating up or down. An enjoyable read.

This feels so relevant in the 21st century. The book is about a woman in her early 40s who has recently split up with her fiancé, and moved back to the UK from the US after her business and marriage break down. Her circumstances force her to rent a room in flat and take a job writing obituaries in the paper – a bit of a come down from her previous glamorous life in America. Back in London she has good friends who rally round and she also has loving parents but Nell feels as if everyone else has the perfect life while her perfect life is passing her by. Her ideal life would be living in a beautiful home with a loving husband and children, which many of her friends seem to do so Nell feels as if this has all slipped from her grasp. Then she makes a new friend – a recently widowed woman who is suffering from grief over the loss of her husband. This unlikely pairing support each other and Cricket opens Nell’s eyes as to what is really important.

I loved this book. Although not in Nell’s age group it is an easy story to relate to. FOMO is such a thing nowadays with people posting on social media it is easy to feel that everyone else has a better life. This book shows that this is just an illusion and everyone has their own problems. I loved the characters. They felt really solid and anyone reading this will be rooting for Nell and wanting her to turn her life around. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to preview this book.

Absolutely brilliant. Nell returns from USA following a break up with her fiance, can only afford to rent a room in Edwards house and has no job, all her friends have moved on in the 5 years she's been away. Brilliantly written, funniest book I've read in ages but true to life.

A bit like a U.K. Sex and the City blog and just as good!
Nell, back from USA after a break up from the love of her life, is living at her parents and is jobless. Can life get any worse in your 40s?!
She rents a room off Edward who works in London and goes back to family at weekends. She is on her own and lonely as all her friends are now married with kids. she feels out of place and starts a blog to document this.
It’s a great style of writing in the first person. Nell blogs about everyday things that affect us all as well as thinking each day of things to be grateful for.
It’s a clove my read and it gives you hope and optimism!

I really enjoyed this book! Not my usual genre but I am glad I moved out of my comfort zone! Nell was great and as a 50 plus year old I still saw so much of what she talked about in me! Would definitely recommend as a page turn, with a lovely ending.

It took me a little while to get into this story but once I did I was hooked. The story is well written and has a quite unique way of putting the story across, which I really enjoyed. I loved Nell's "I'm grateful for" lists at the end of each chapter, I looked forward to reading them all.

I loved watching the characters develop and their lives intertwine. Nell was great, I really loved her attitude and perseverance. I liked the way she learnt to look at life and it actually made me think about my attitude to getting older too. Saying that though the real inspiration was Cricket, what a lady. The "Things I've Learned From Cricket" list is going to my new mantra, that's for sure.

There were plenty of laughs in this story as well as some more poignant moments. I did find the ending a little drawn out but overall it was a great read and I highly recommend it.

****** ALERT EVERY WOMAN OVER 40 *****
You NEED to read this book, it is a long time since I laughed out loud at 2.30 in the morning. But Alex Potter has made you feel part of this book if you are going through these issues; marriage, childbirth,separation, divorce or surprise babies
It will make you look at all your girlfriends on every day of the week with a renewed sense of kinship especially Monday's!
If you want to know what it's like to never have children will you feel bad hell no it's not very everyone then again those of us that seem to never be left in charge of the tv remote suddenly handle their newborn like an old pro - who would have seen that coming
If you are breastfeeding, menopausal or just a woman you will laugh, cry and totally understand how other women feel
Love it ❤️

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of ‘Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up’ by Alexandra Potter from Pan Macmillan via Netgalley. I requested the book for two reasons: the title and I had positive feedback from the author’s previous work and was curious to see how her new title would fare.
So, onto the title – let’s be honest, it does tend to stand out a little. While the professional barriers to swearing are still (largely) in place, swearing seems to be more commonplace in everyday life and indeed throughout our media. So, it is hardly surprisingly that the term ‘F##k Up’ should appear in a book title. Also, what is exactly is a ‘fuck up’ – how do you define one?
Well, according to Nell, this is someone who has discovered that their life is not at all going to plan and in fact seems to be missing out on the many ‘steps’ accomplished by her friends. Nell is going through the heartbreak of a recent breakup, the loss of her business and the subsequent return to London. A traumatic time for any woman but added to the difficulties for Nell, is the realisation that at the age of ‘forty-something’ she will need to find a housemate and start the relationship game all over again.
It’s rare that I can find a book where I laugh out loud from start to finish - ‘Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up’ by Alexandra Potter is one of those rare finds. Unwittingly, Nell seems to stumble from one incident to another. Yet, so many of these situations remain plausible despite being a work of fiction. Written as a strong woman who faces the disappointments of life head on (though sometimes after some wine), Nell is a character that many woman could identify with and does not fall into the trap of becoming pitiful or blaming others for her misfortunes. I found myself cheering on Nell and also disappointed to come to the end of her adventures.
Read it and enjoy!!

So beautifully written - I’m going to miss Nell and Cricket now I’ve finished the story! I hope I’m like cricket when I get to 80!

While I’m not forty years old yet, I could totally understand everything that Nell goes through. It’s a story about trying to make something out of her life after a broken relationship and moving back in England while all her friends have their lives settled with kids and jobs and weekends already planned.
It’s funny, poignant and heartwarming while interesting in being so opened up about nowadays lifestyle and changes that people around us are going through.
Thank to the publisher @panmacmillan and @netgalley for my review copy

I've read most of Alexandra Potter's work and I like her. She's someone I'll turn to when I want something light and easy to read and generally sweet and gentle. I haven't read her for a few years so when I got the chance to pick this up on NetGalley I went for it even though I was a bit unsure about it because of the blurb. I mean how much fun can a book with an eighty-something woman at the centre of it with a forty-something woman taking the lead. N.b. I was great with the latter because I've been there and I'm sort of still very much a F**k Up.

I want to say how wrong I was to worry about how enjoyable it would be. I LOVED this book and I think it's Alexandra Potter's best work so far. It was funny, moving and covered so many aspects of the lives we leave. Love, grief, friendship, family, fear, and so on and so on and more. I think this book will make anyone who is feeling that they've not quite made the grade sit back and reevaluate how hard they are on themselves and also realise that it's never too late for things to work out, to take a new start in life and no matter what, to learn to believe in yourself.

Nell and Cricket are wonderful characters. I wish I had a Cricket in my life, she's everything I want to be if/when I become an eight-something. The other characters are equally believable and likeable and I adore Nell's notes of gratitude throughout the book. They are funny and real.

Although there is love and romance in this book, it's so much more than that and happy endings are not written in the stars because the most important thing in life is not to hold on too hard to the past, not to worry too much about the future and when you are experiencing a moment of happiness, contentment, real pleasure, acknowledge that moment and own it. You're allowed to have really down days and to be miserable and allow yourself to be miserable because life isn't all happiness and happy ever afters, it's about taking the time to stop and smell the roses.

This book was a joy from beginning to end and I sort of wish I'd taken longer to read it so I could have gone on living happily with it for just a little longer.

As noted above, I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of this from NetGalley and I'd like to thank them for that in return for an honest review.

Keeping it real and very refreshing. A take on modern romance, but... this book is so much more. I’m sure most can relate to the characters and their lives. I’ve typed and rewritten this review because I didn’t want to do this book an injustice! All I can say is, it fantastic and well worth reading.

A forty year old should be in control of their life not trying to start again after moving back to the UK from America.
All her friends are at that successful and settled stage of their lives and there is Nell, looking for a job and living in a rented room.
Accepting a job writing obituaries Nell meets Cricket with whom she forms a friendship and a more positive outlook on her life.

Well observed characters that everyone can identify with no matter your age. A basic romance bought up to date.