Olive is a regular working woman, with a fab bunch of friends. But due to life getting in the way they have of course become distant, something I think we are all too familiar with. Whilst her friends are moving forward with their lives with getting married and having children, Olive can’t think of anything worse! But the pressures of society cause her to rethink all of her decisions, is she making the right choice? Will she regret it? Should she listen to what everyone thinks that she should do with her life?

Thank you to Emma Gannon & Harper Collins UK/Harper Collins fiction for allowing me to read a copy of this. This was released back in July, and I honestly think it’s a book that every woman should read.

I have to say that this book is amazing, it’s relatable and it’s REAL. There are too many books out there that create this ‘perfect life’ for a woman including marriage, babies and just generally having their act together. But guess what? We don’t, not really. If you do then hands up to you, but in general women deal with societal issues (and so do men), but I think that there is a lot of pressure on women and what they should do with their future and their bodies. And this book brings all of those issues to life in the most amazing way, and it’s resonated with me ever since I finished reading it.

I am someone who has been ‘on the fence’ about having children of my own for years. I was in a relationship a while ago with someone who wanted that ‘perfect life’, and that included children, therefore because that was what he wanted, then I had to do it. Long story short, that relationship ended for lots of reasons. But the moment it did, I came back to myself. I realised that for years I believed that I wanted children because so did my ex, but now that I have control over MY life (which sounds ridiculous because I always did) I realised that actually, I’m not so sure that I do. It’s still something that I think about daily because unlike men, women have a little clock inside their bodies that tells them when they’ve run out of time to have children. I’m a long way off of that deadline, but it’s such a huge decision that I feel needs a lot of thought.

The book looks at how society EXPECTS you to have a child because you’re a woman. You get the people that say ‘you must be next’ or ‘are you trying yet?’. When really, it’s such a personal decision and if people feel the need to say anything, it should be something like ‘do you think you’ll have a baby one day?’ or something as considerate as that.

The book looks at the kind of thoughts that you may face in the future such as regret and loneliness. These are thoughts that run through my head too, and as much as I’m still not sure, this book made me realise that it is completely NORMAL (whatever that is) to feel the way that I do.

Not everyone is maternal, not everyone can have children and some people will just never have children by choice. It is not something that you should ever be forced to do, bringing a life into a world as crazy as this one is something that should be thought about and whether it’s something you really want to do.

All in all, it’s got to be one of my most favourite books hence the five stars. I’d recommend it for anyone. Whether it’s someone like me who still doesn’t know if they want children or someone already with children. If it helps take away the stigma of not having children, then I’m happy.

I also want to say that I recommend this book for men too. It can be helpful to have an insight into a woman’s mind, as it’s not something a man might personally experience, but of course, men can be in a situation where they don't want children either, and that is OKAY.

Not having children for whatever reason needs to be normalised, and a book like this in today's society is greatly necessary.

This was a refreshing read as it features a character who has chosen not to have children, and they seem very rare in a lot of fiction nowadays! It centres around her and her group of friends who have been together since Uni and the ups and downs that follow the lives of the women as they follow different paths.

Olive has a really great career as a journalist and you get the impression she always has her writer head on all the time as she does tend to over analyze every situation she finds herself on - my only gripe about the character! - and those thoughts then plague her response as she lets them fester.

As her friends around her begin to get married and have kids, she finds herself becoming an 'outsider' to their conversations and I can totally relate to her on that account! When she is suffering personally she doesn't find it easy to share what she is going through as there's always something else going on in their lives so she tends to keep things to herself and try to work through them, but does find salvation in the form of her elderly neighbour Dorothy and that was a really touching aspect of the book.

Her ex is still on the scene as they obviously still care for each other, it was just the issue of babies that split them. He wanted them, she didn't. And it really captured the battle of emotions - the little comments of 'you'll change your mind' to name but one! - that she faces over 'her choice'! This book really does explore the judgement of others over a choice made by an individual that doesn't fit the social norm! Why should young girls just grow up wanting to get married and have babies?! And why are those who choose not to do those things judged so much by others?

Olive gets to see that the life choices of her friends who she thinks have it all together, aren't quite as great as she imagined and I think that helps show the balance between women on either side of the debate! As she investigates the 'child free' lifestyle for part of the article she is writing she meets a variety of people who think the same way as her, and those who offer therapy for women to change their mind.

I really enjoyed the wide range of angles about the debate that this book throws up and found it a really easy read. Seeing how their lives change over the years when looking back but what counts is the friendships that endure over the years despite the hiccups along the way. A really interesting read and nice to see a character in Olive that doesn't conform! If only we lived in a world where others respected other people's choices!!

I absolutely loved this book!

A fantastic debut novel from Emma Gannon - heart breaking at times, empowering and so wonderfully written.

'Olive' explores a wide range of topics such as fertility and motherhood which Gannon writes with such sensitivity. A book that has made me think and at times I found myself relating to Olive. As well as connecting to her friends, Bea, Isla and Cecily.

It was also an easy read. I would highly recommend this.

Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collins & Emma Gannon for letting me read and review Olive!! I'm definitely going to buy a physical copy now!

I have never related to a book so much as Olive. As a 32-year old woman, I'm often asked about children and as ever it annoys me more and more. It shouldn't define who we are and more importantly, it's got nothing to do with anyone!

It was refreshing to read a story of a woman with similar life struggles because you could relate to Olive and her musings. Her character was honest, realistic and normal. Granted, there were elements of your typical chick lit (romance and friend drama) but it was subtle and enhanced the story.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this, but I absolutely loved it. It was so fresh to read something about someone who didn't want children, and although I didn't necessarily connect, it has opened my eyes to what people tgo through.

I wasn't sure what to expect at first when I read Olive, but it was more than I'd hoped for. This is the first time I've read modern fiction which chooses to put a character who wishes to remain child-free front and centre. Olive's decision isn't a sidenote in the story of a successful woman, it's an issue that arrests the focus from beginning to end. Any modern woman in her later 20s to early 30s will find something in common with Olive, and it's this connection to the protagonist that makes this book so important. Olive feels like someone we might know. Maybe a best friend or a girl you met at uni. Maybe the online journalist or blogger that you follow from a distance. But most importantly, you'll relate to something in her character, even if it's not her main struggle.

This is a really important book at a time that it is becoming more commonplace for women to choose specifically not to have children. However - it still remains a sticky issue and Olive illustrates that perfectly, as she tries to navigate her way between offspring-sprouting BFFs, a long-term partner, a child-free women's group, and a dodgy shaman. Although the book is very funny in parts, it's also quite poignant and painful too. Emma Gannon does the tricky job of making the reader empathise with not just Olive, but the varying situations of her friends too, as different as they may be. You leave the book feeling that there is truly no right way to 'be' a woman at any age, but modern society hasn't quite caught up to knowing that yet.

Extremely readable and extremely relevant. I have given this four stars because I felt that a little something was missing from the ending to make the book feel whole, but that may just have been my personal interpretation. I'd recommend this to every woman I know.

I just absolutely loved this book!!! The character of Olive is amazing and I just loved everything, her honesty, her humour, her relationship with friends and the story of how she navigated through life. Such a lovely story about a 33 year old who against convention doesn’t want to have kids. And her journey to find peace with that. So wonderfully written and I loved it!!!

An excellent book, representing contemporary discussions around motherhood, and how being child-free is a valid choice, and different entirely from being child-less. Well written, engaging and funny. Highly recommend.

Although I had some small issues with Olive, I found it highly enjoyable. I found once I hit the halfway point I had a hard time putting this book down. While I had a hard time loving the character Olive, she still had her moments that I found her lovable and HIGHLY relatable as a fellow woman who also does not have maternal desires. My main issue with this book is it felt a bit too "I'm not like other girls" to me, especially at the beginning. While I can appreciate how hard it is feeling guilty about not wanting to have kids, I don't think it is right to constantly talk about how boring your friends who have kids are now. However, Olive shows great character growth in that aspect because she learns to appreciate not just her friends as moms, but any mother that she just passes by on the street. I just wish she took more accountability for herself. I also felt that there were a few too many loose ends that had not been tied up by the end of the novel. All in all, though, I had a good time reading this and it was nice to read a contemporary novel with not your typical protagonist.

Have followed Emma Gannon for a while and have enjoyed both her non-fiction titles so was excited to read her debut fiction book.

I really like Gannon's writing, she has a way with words and it really shines through in her debut. Olive is a great exploration of what it means to be a young woman struggling to find herself on the path that society has dictated for so long. Gannon captures the expectations, the hopes and dreams of a millennial living in London perfectly whilst exploring deeper issues of motherhood and the choice surrounding having children. This isn't a book of argument, she isn't fighting for one opinion over the other simply using a story to divulge the confusion and emotional turmoil women can have over this decision. Olive as a character was well developed and flawed, which made her truly believable and the dynamics of female friendships written sensitively.

The story is well paced and emotionally vulnerable which I loved. I have recommended this to all my friends and is a great gift for female friends.

Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed by this book.
It's a refreshing subject matter but not executed very well.
I felt like Olive was a very unlikeable protagonist and came across as very selfish. I have read books before with unlikeable protagonists which have been done much better than here.
The other characters didn't seem padded out and there are a lot of continuity errors which were distracting.
The ending also seemed very rushed.
Overall, an interesting topic but this book missed the mark for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the digital ARC

On all honesty, I struggled initially with this book but I stick with it, and I'm so pleased I did. A great warming story of women in there really 30's who've been friends since primary school, finding themselves thinking about family and what having children means to them.

I love how the focus is on the title role of Olive, who categorically doesn't want children, has broken up with her long term partner over this and had felt small and insignificant with her friends who are having or wanting babies, who can't really understand why Olive feels this way. We follow Oliver's journey to a happy, fulfilled life.

I love the author and have followed her podcast for years. I enjoyed this book and I’m a mother of two. I felt sorry for Olive and I could see how lonely it must feel when everyone is having babies. I feel there is a lot of pressure on us to have kids and this book highlighted the issue perfectly. It was a good read and I thought the ending was perfect for Olive.

I loved Olive, it captured perfectly how it feels to be a childfree woman of a certain age and how that inevitably brings you into subtle conflict with your friends and family. It follows Olive and her 3 best friends and how their relationship changes as they move through their twenties and thirties. Olive has made a choice not to have children and we see how challenging it is to carve out that path, even with her closest friends, as her news takes second place to talk about babies. How motherhood acts as a clique that can feel excluding even when people have the best intentions. And how hard that can be if you are childless not through your own choice, as one of the characters is. I felt really seen by Emma Gannon as she reflects on all the ways that society uses to shape women to following the accepted milestones of marriage and babies and how they are valued if they choose to deviate from this path. Hopefully Olive opens up lots of conversations about how women can really be free to choose without the subtle coercive control that is applied, wittingly or unwittingly by society.

I was excited about reading Olive, due to the topic of the book (having/not having children), but sadly I found it be disappointing.
Olive is an unreliable and unlikeable narrator, and there are barely any other perspectives expressed throughout the story.
I found this book to be quite disparaging of women who choose to have children, and whilst I appreciate the importance of having the conversation to the contrary, I found it to be a little heavy-handed.

Olive appears to tread the line between being quite commercial, chick lit type fiction while dealing with some weighty issues around the dilemmas of having (or not to have) children, and I’m not sure it was done entirely successfully. In parts I felt it was too fluffy and others not quite serious enough. It was definitely honest, but I still felt like I wanted more from Olive and the peripheral characters. I understood in theory why Olive and her friends felt the way they did, but a bit more character development would have made them more appealing.

Also, I’m not sure if it was just because I was reading a proof version, or perhaps it’s just Emma’s style of writing but it felt quite jumpy in places, like there would be a sudden shift from one scenario or conversation to another.

Pleasantly surprised to have a protagonist who chooses to be child free and is happy with that choice, without the frequently seen trope of changing her mind. (even if she ends up with step daughters, and seems to need a man to be happy)
Also - great female friendships, and readable writing style..
But it was a bit ‘and they all loved happily ever after (despite significant but briefly described blips each simultaneously)’, the protagonist was essentially a selfish narcissist with a borderline drinking problem, and the other friends were fairly one dimensional.

Love love loved this book! As soon as I read the first page I just knew it would be my kind of book. Full of love, friendship, tears, and plenty of drama that comes with life. I love how Emma has made every woman’s life feel like it matters, wether you’re a mum or not, we all have our very important roles to play within society.

Olive is a refreshing, original story examining the expectations placed on women to have children.

Olive, a woman in her early thirties, is trying to decide what she wants from life despite the pressures placed on her by her partner, family, friends and society. It's shocking how often relative strangers and acquaintances feel they can ask a woman when she's having children. This is such a personal question. She may desperately want to have children but is struggling to conceive or she may not want children at all and then is sometimes faced with judgement for this decision.

This book exposes many dimensions to this issue through Olive and her friends who are all in different places in their lives, which unfortunately causes some conflict between them. I really liked the ultimate strength of their friendship and how they stood by each other through life's twists and turns.

This is a powerful, timely, feminist novel. I give this 4 out of 5.

I think this is going to be a marmite book. I was really looking forward to reading this novel. The premise was intriguing and I really enjoyed it from the get go. However as I reached the halfway point, it then felt a bit samey and lost the punch that I felt at the beginning. It has plenty of talking points so I think it will make a good book club book.