https://www.instagram.com/p/CCwNBnMgs89/Olive by Emma Gannon - out July 23rd!!!

Definitely one to purchase or pre-order if you can! I absolutely loved it. I was given the ARC of #olive by #netgalley this morning at around 11am and I have non stop read it all day. I could not put it down, literally.

Olive is a novel which focuses on motherhood, friendship, relationships and modern day adult life.

Olive is such a relatable character and any book with a focus on female friendship is something I am all over. I really enjoyed how positively wanting to live a child free life was portrayed; it made me strongly empathise and relate to Olive.

Emma Gannon writes in such a beautifully compassionate and warm way, she handles motherhood with care and doesn’t force opinions on you. You are left reflecting after each chapter, thinking about what happened and your own life in comparison.


I love how the book flicked back to Olive’s uni days and her life in her twenties then back to present time. Olive really made me think and reflect on my friendships, how as I have got older they have changed, we are all doing different things and have different aspirations in life, which is okay. We are not as close as we used to be, and that is okay.
Gannon really captured Olive’s struggles and really, really made me feel for her. I found myself thinking “oh Olive, if only I could give you a hug” numerous times.

Reading a book about such an ambitious, aspirational, head strong female lead, with no desire to have children really made me fall in love with it. A fantastic read that I am going to be recommending to everyone. I am extremely glad I read it and so thankful for such a book to exist!

This book is told from experience. It follows 4 mothers through rearing their children. The reason it felt so real to me was the happiest, sad and emotional times they each went through. Just like life itself.

An adorable olive tree of a book! Olive is in her early thirties, writes for a Pool-type online magazine and knows that she doesn't want children. She just isn't feeling it. No New Age healers or baby-besotted friends can help change her mind, but Olive knows what she stands to lose, not just her ex-boyfriend Jacob but also her three best friends, who have very different ideas about children (new mum, experienced earth mother, and the one desperately doing rounds of IVF). This book explored some similar territory to Dolly Alderton's debut novel Ghosts which I also read this week, and it's really great to see more women writers exploring ambivalence about having children - there's also hints of this internal (and often lonely) debate in Holly Bourne's How Do You Like Me Now, but in that book the main character is eventually driven to make a change in her life because she does want a baby after all. I was terrified that this was going to be the case here and Olive would end up barefoot and pregnant, but (spoilers) she doesn't and a lot of other equally rewarding territory is explored instead. I look forward to seeing more fiction from Emma Gannon. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the PDF.

*thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the advanced reader copy

Olive is a thirty-something who doesn’t want kids. She’s part of a group of friends - Bea, Cecily and Isla, who’ve navigating exams, university and things that life throws at them together.

Olive faced hardships - society casts judgement and she ends her long-term relationship because she doesn’t think she’ll feel maternal any time soon. She faces the adjustment of her closest friends trying to have a baby through IVF like Isla or parenting a brood of excitable children in the case of Bea, and welcoming a new baby dubbed OAP like Cecily and feels out of sorts compared to her friends. The topic of motherhood and being childless is handled well and is definitely at the fore front of this novel.

The non-chronological timeline gives you an insight into the relationships of Olive and her best friends. We see the shared experiences and history, placed starkly beside the differences in their current life. There’s drama with partners, child-free events and bust ups that will be familiar to every friend group.

My only dismay is that it felt really slow building and never really went anywhere so the latter half of the book felt a little flat especially after I raced through the beginning and the ebbs and flows of Olive’s life.


This is like Dolly Alderton’s Ghosts meets Anna Hope’s Expectations. A rich tale of women’s lives and the pressures society puts upon them.

Olive is one of a group of 4 who have been best friends since childhood and have gone through everything together. However as they reach their 30s the women find their lives being pulled in different ways with their decisions being different from one another.

This book follows as Olive addresses her very different opinion to her friends on some of lives biggest decisions. While Olive is positive she doesn't want children she is constantly surrounded by women who are having children, wanting to have children or already have children and so she wonders if she is missing something?

As she is left out of numerous discussions with those her age, and older than her around the topic Olive starts to question if there is something wrong with her and so decides to investigate further. Ironically (or because of?) these feelings come at the same time as she is asked to write an article around the subject for work, providing a good cover while she really figures things out. 

I really enjoyed the fact that this book didn't follow your typical story of a woman falling in love (or making do?) and settling down because she was a certain age. I love that it challenged a lot of societal expectations and it really made me think about a few things. 

The characters in this book all seem real, and the friendships described were very realistic, with the challenges of childhood friends developing as you reach adulthood. 

I think more young women need to read this book, and books like it, as it has things everyone needs to hear, whether you feel like Olive or her friends! 

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for an ebook copy in exchange for review.

Olive is a woman in her thirties, who is feeling more and more distant from her child obsessed friends. Her best friend Bea has a large, young family and barely has time for her anymore, party girl Cecily is pregnant for the first time and seems like an entirely different person, and Isla is struggling to conceive and avoiding her old friends who don't seem to understand the pain she is in. Olive is also becoming obsessed, but she is obsessed with finding out if there is something wrong with her for not wanting to have children.

This is such a relatable read. You will find yourself relating to one of the four women in this group, or at the very least relating to feeling your friendships change as you grow and work, relationships, and children take over.

Thank you, #NetGalley and Harper Collins for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Olive is fed up of people telling her that it’s just a phase and that she’ll definitely change her mind. She’s fed up of people assuming that there’s something wrong with her, that her life choices are selfish, and of people looking at her as if she’s somewhat less of a woman than others. Despite this, nothing will change the fact that Olive doesn’t ever want to have children. This decision causes her to lose her long term boyfriend who is desperate to start a family, and to drift from her close-knit friendship group who are all either entering or trying to enter motherhood. Although following her heart has consequences, it’s a decision that she knows is right, because in her heart she knows that she’ll never feel like a mother.

Olive is a unique and insightful read; I’ve never read a book where the main female character doesn’t ever want to be a mother, and this was a really interesting perspective to explore. I liked how by detailing both the pros and cons of Olive’s decision to be child free by choice, Gannon shows how although such decisions are tough, it’s important to follow your feelings and to not give into outside pressures. Although Olive loses her perfect boyfriend and believes she’ll never find love again, Gannon gives her a happy ending and shows how Olive’s decision doesn’t have to be an obstacle to her happiness, which I really liked. Gannon also incorporates Tweets and comments written by real women throughout the book to bring Olive’s experiences into the real world, which I think would be helpful to a lot of like-minded women. Although at first I struggled with the book because I found Olive’s friendship group to be quite unbelievable, Gannon uses them to show how despite having different perspectives on motherhood, the four women are more than just what motherhood does, doesn’t or could bring them, and I think the group’s dynamics play a vital role in the narrative.

I’d give this a rating of 3.5/5 as I loved the concept but felt the writing style was quite simplistic in places. It was a really easy read and one which definitely gives food for thought on a subject which can be taboo. Olive is a really well-rounded character who I think can be related to by many, making this a really great debut!

I was lucky enough to get sent an advanced copy of ‘Olive’ Emma Gannon’s debut novel, before its publication date for an honest review. Thank-you Netgalley and Harper Collins UK !!!!!

Meet Olive, our 30-something protagonist who’s reached a massive crossroad in her life. She’s broken up from her longterm boyfriend of 9 years, her friends have babies and babies only on their mind, her once tight-knit friendship group is drifting apart, Olive is considering a child-free life and Olive feels ALONE. FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK.

‘Olive’ is an extremely relatable story for many millennial women which focuses the obstacles of adulthood:
reminiscing and missing your ‘wonder years’ and wild university life, the breakdown of relationships, feeling like an outcast in your friendship group, breaking women stereotypes, a journey of discovery for self-acceptance…
‘Olive’ is not only a woman’s journey of accepting her child-free life, although it is the core of the book, it’s a story of acceptance, an entertaining and thought-provoking one at that.

The writing style isn’t preachy or judgemental (I HAVE NO TIME FOR THAT), instead I found it honest, warm and fresh.. almost like a present day Carrie Bradshaw thinking out loud mixed with a slightly less chaotic Bridget Jones. It’s released on July 23rd (NEXT THURSDAY). ‘Olive is a little bit of all of us’ and I couldn’t agree more.

Olive tells the story of four friends. Having gone through every milestone together, the highs and the lows of growing up, they are closer than family. They vow to never let life get in the way of their incredible bond. But as they reach their 30's, Olive is beginning to feel she is losing them. Bea, Isla and Cecily are all at the stage in life where they either have children, or are desperate to conceive. Whereas Olive isn't sure she ever sees herself having children. This is a feeling that leaves her confused and uneasy. Is there something wrong with her? Is it ever ok to openly state that you have no desire to procreate? Why does it provoke such strong reactions in other people? Why is it selfish not to want children?

When Olive breaks up with her long-term partner due to him wanting children, she is devastated. But she knows that she cannot hold onto him, as it would be stealing his dream. With a growing distance between her and her friends she doesn't have anyone to talk to, and feels incredibly lonely.

As she pushes herself out of her comfort zone, she slowly begins to accept that there is nothing wrong with wanting a different sort of life. And when she meets Marcus, life begins to look like it has a silver lining after all. Needing to build bridges with the amazing group of women she has known all her life, Olive reaches out, and in a beautiful scene, they all apologise to one another, and rebuild their wonderful friendships.

The prologue to this story is a beautiful conclusion and the story as a whole is a testament to the power of true friendship and unconditional love.

Olive is the debut novel from Emma Gannon, but it’s far from her first contribution to media and publishing. An award-winning writer, broadcaster, speaker and host of the careers podcast Ctrl Alt Delete, it’s no surprise that her first novel examines some of the defining issues of her peers. It’s a contemporary and entertaining take on the overwhelming amount of options facing young women, but it’s primary focus is her protagonist Olive’s refusal of a supposedly essential milestone: motherhood.
Anxious and uncertain, but also loyal and kind, Olive tries to cope with the break-up of her decade-long relationship and the judgement she faces for her decision to remain “child-free” rather than “childless”. She also struggles with the fact that her once close-knit group of friends have slowly branched in different directions and made different choices. Her best friend Bea is busy contending with the challenges of family life, while new mother Cecelia is facing her own battles beneath the surface of her desirable looking life. Isla’s fertility issues and IVF treatments are at times a source of tension between these two women with vastly different desires for the future, but also serve as a reminder from Gannon that her book isn’t about pitting one way of life against the other.

Olive is about motherhood in all its forms: mothers and pregnant women but also women who can’t have children and women who decide to be child-free. Emma Gannon’s debut novel is witty, compassionate and so timely. It’s such an enjoyable read, I devoured it within a day! While the main character wasn’t super likeable at first, I was rooting for her at the end, hoping she’d get the happy ending she wanted - without compromising.

Olive and her friends have been together through thick and thin since they were kids. Now grown up and in their early thirties their lives are starting to diverge, with Olive, in particular, taking a different path. Can they put these differences aside for the sake of their friendship?
Content warning: this book could potentially be quite triggering if you have fertility issues.

I chose to request “Olive” because I felt like I would identify with our titular protagonist and I absolutely did. As a 36 year old woman I’m slightly older than Olive but could see a lot of similarities. I have a small group of close female friends and we are now at different stages in our lives but it still works. Like Olive I don’t feel that I want to have children but I love spending time with my friends’ kids or with children in my family. I agree with the main theme during the book that there is still a lot of stigma around women who say they don’t want kids. Over the years I’ve had pity, I’ve had people being dismissive and assuring me I’ll change my mind when I meet the right person and I’ve had people who look at me like it’s a completely alien concept and I’m the worst person ever! A lot of people seem to feel they have to right to be nosy and judgemental when it comes to a woman’s choices about having a family.

I really liked the quotes on the chapter headings from other women who don’t want children and thought it was interesting to see a variety of reasons and also them describing a lot of the reactions that I had also received.

I also loved that between the whole group we saw a range of different journeys as far as adulthood goes. Olive, as mentioned, doesn’t want kids and is newly single at the start of the book; Bea, has 3 kids and appears to balance motherhood and work quite well; Cecily is struggling with being the “perfect” Mum; and Isla, is desperate to be a Mum but struggling with fertility problems. The book stresses that none of the women are more right than the others, everyone is entitled to live their life the way they want to and just because someone’s chosen a different path to you doesn’t make either of you wrong.

Although Olive’s child free journey is the main focus of the book, Gannon also touches on the pressures that a lot of women are under to be seen to “have it all” and be these perfect Mums. There is a character that is a friend of Bea’s that admits she feels like other Mums are in competition with her and that she has to act like she has it all perfectly together in front of them. I think with the rise of social media there is a lot of rush to judgement of people in general but Mothers seem to get it a lot. Just because someone raises their kids differently than you do doesn’t mean either of you is wrong and it certainly doesn’t mean you should feel it’s okay to be telling other people how wrong they are on social media. It’s also important to remember that social media is only ever a snapshot of people’s lives and is also only the bits they want you to see. I read a quote somewhere that fits well for this, don’t compare your entire life to someone else’s highlight reel. People need to be kinder to themselves and not beat themselves up over this.

The story is told in first person narrative from Olive’s point of view and it switches between present day and past events with her remembering times gone by. It’s very clear where we are in the timeline with the year being put at the start of the chapter, which I thought was a nice touch. Obviously the first person narrative means what we see is coloured by Olive’s view of it but it did seem fairly balanced overall.

Although I related to Olive that doesn’t mean she was without her flaws, which I found made her more relatable as people aren’t perfect. Although she complained that sometimes her friends weren’t there for her I thought sometimes she was a little selfish and could have been a better friend herself. She also didn’t seem to have many people in her life outside of her close knit group, which I thought was a bit of a shame. I have my two best friends who I’ve known since primary school but then I also have whole other groups of friends I’ve met throughout my life.

“Olive” was fairly well written, there were some parts that felt a little unrealistic but on the whole I really enjoyed it. It’s definitely different to most of the books I read so it was nice to expand my genres a little and get outside my comfort zone.

I was really looking forward to reading this book but sadly it really missed the mark for me.
The story centres around Olive and her 3 friends, and Olive’s decision not to have children. Two of her friends have children and 1 is going through IVF. I really did like the sound of this book about the 4 girls friendships and their journeys to motherhood, but unfortunately I just found it quite repetitive and felt the pace was very slow. This is purely my preference as I do prefer for a book to have pace too it.
I like to really bond with characters and unfortunately I just didn’t with any of these ones.
It is a really good concept to base a story around, and I’m sure others will connect with it more than me, I just felt Olive needed to be a slightly stronger character to lead this storyline.

I didn't know too much about this book going into it but as soon as I started reading, I felt like a little piece of me was part of this book, I'm a similar age to Olive in a similar situation and it's very rare to find a book that feels so relevant, the story touches upon the societal pressures for women to follow the path of getting married, having children etc but Olive brings a voice to those who don't necessarily want that particular path and it's very much needed in this day and age. Aside from that, Olive tells a story of friendship, navigating life in your 3o's and how we all have choices and it's those choices that make us who we are. A really enjoyable read!

An emotional rollercoaster of a read as Olive explores whether she wants children or not. The store explores sensitively delicate themes such as infertility and choosing not to have children and the tensions that may arise because of this.

Olive was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020!

We follow a group of four friends, introduced to them as they're leaving their shared university house the majority of the book is set when the women are in their early thirties. For everything these best friends share they all have different opinions and experiences around motherhood. Which becomes on of the main themes of the book, exploring not just their own thoughts and opinions but the opinions society has about them because of their opinions towards motherhood. It addresses head on the societal expectation that every woman wants a child and those without are just waiting to meet the right person or for that maternal instinct to kick in.

Olive is an ambitious, hard working woman who has been with boyfriend Jacob for nearly ten years, all their friends expected them to be next to start a family so when they break up she struggles to find the right moment to let her friends know. It doesn't feel like the kind of news she can text and when they meet up in person something always gets in the way of Olive breaking the news. This paired with Olive coming to terms with her own decision not to have children starts to be a strain on their usually, very strong bond.

For me this took a quite stereotypical opening set up of a woman dedicated to her career who's just experienced a relationship breakup but did something completely different with it than you might expect from more traditional chick-lit.

I'd really recommend this book - its a topic that gets you thinking about how much you know of what's going on in other people's lives

Olive, Bea, Isla and Cecily are in their 30's and have been friends for years. As their lives take different directions Olive begins to question the friendship and her role in it. The crux of the matter is Olive, rightly or wrongly, doesn't want children. Emma Gannon writes a beautiful novel around this, the girls and their relationships.
It took me a while to warm to the book but as I kept reading I found myself caring about the girls and their lives. I enjoyed the book and will recommend to friends. Look forward to reading more from the author.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

I love fiction that makes me consider the choices I have made and my perspective. This story does that and more. The relationship between the four best friends and their choices as women is engaging and insightful. The characters are all dealing with different challenging events in their own lives and yet also doing their best to support each other.

The themes dealt with are part of real life for myself and so many other women. I am grateful to read a book that I feel I can relate to.

Wow, I loved this book. One of the best books I've read this year. Such a refreshing look at female friendships and the choices that women can make. As a woman who has had similar experiences, it was wonderful to see them written about. The narrative of old friends changing and experiencing difficulties in communication is a reality for so many and to see it written so well was refreshing. I highly recommend this book.

PR sample for review, thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins

I really enjoyed this book - it tackles an issue that many women my age have to deal with - the 'do you want kids?' question. The protagonist, Olive, is definitely in the 'not for me' camp and this book explores how she deals with this and manages her relationships both with lovers and friends. I felt very empathetic towards Olive and definitely saw similarities to particular conversations that I have and continue to have!

This exploration of women, their relationships and how they want to live their lives is an important one to tackle - we're hearing/seeing more and more articles in the press about this and I think too it's important to represent this in fiction - well done Emma for broaching it!