Unfortunately I didn’t really like this book. There is a lot of detail, and quite a few characters but it just didn’t click with me. I didn’t really have any empathy for the characters and although the story flowed well, I just wasn’t invested and sadly lost interest. Thank you #netgalley

Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me and it was abit of a struggle to continue with although I did read until the end. I was expecting good things after seeing the initial synopsis and early headline reviews however I found the plot and the characters quite unimaginative and just didn’t find the book very funny.

I was expecting something special from Mel Giedroyc and The Best Things is just OK. The storyline isn't very original but it would be perfect for an easy, entertaining beach read.

I was given a copy of The Best Things by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

What would you do if you had it all (and then some), but you lost it? That's what happens to Sally, when her whole world comes crashing down around her. Gone are the days of lavish parties, staff to wait on you hand and foot and a neverending supply of money.

What Sally finds out is that not only can she survive without these things, albeit not very smoothly, but that she learns some strong life lessons only the way. Maybe having it all isn't the be all and end all.

The Best Things is great escapism and enjoyable read.

2.5 stars

I had really high hopes for The Best Things by Mel Giedroyc. As a comedienne and presenter she brings a lighthearted joviality to her work and I'd hoped that this would be in a similar vein.

Sadly this was not the case and The Best Things became difficult to read and enjoyment was hard to find.

I would so love to have recommended this book to my informal book club but sadly that won't be the case!

Overall, a good book which I enjoyed. There were some laugh out loud moments and very clever humour, where I could almost hear Mel narrating the book to me. I did enjoy the story, however, I felt there were a lot of characters and at times, I had a bit of trouble keeping up (not something I would normally say). And I'm sorry, but I found the end quite disappointing - I feel like it was very rushed, didn't arrive there naturally and not all the ends were tied up. There were also a few things which didn't seem to make sense to me - for example, why would Sally stop to spend the day as a farm hand when she was trying to get to Bronwen's and her family (I know she wanted to do a day's work to prove that she could, but it made no sense at all to do it at that time). And it seems very odd that Frank had got quite a way to Wales only to then phone someone to come & pick him up, take him all the way back to Leatherhead then drive him all the way to Bronwen's!). There were several examples of this sort of thing.

Sorry, I was really enjoying this book but the ending did spoil it. Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book in exchange for an honest opinion, which is what I have given.

Loved the author on tv so when saw the book on here it was a definite interest for me. Read the blurb and thought it sounded brilliant. Funny and witty like you would expect so I was delighted when I got the book.

I didn't get the beginning of the book, even after re-reading so it didn't start well. Honestly if that had been the blurb or description I would not have read on. It was weird and then it seemed to get weirder as I read on.

Then it was mania, difficult to follow, confusing and not funny.

I am so sad I didn't love this book as I do love the author but I am just not sure if it is because I do love her so much that it just does not translate as well in writing

I’d like to thank Headline and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Best Things’ by Mel Giedroyc in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Sally and Frank Parker are members of the affluent Leatherhead community with their children and niece who want for nothing and can only be described as spoilt brats. Then the stock market crashes and Frank loses his hedge-end management business. Sally could collapse as the world as she knows crumbles but she’s made of sterner stuff as she picks herself up and deals with being penniless and losing their home and possessions.

I always look forward to reading novels by celebrities as the majority have been thoroughly enjoyable and as I’m a great fan of Mel Giedroyc I jumped at the chance to read ‘The Best Things’. As I started to read I could almost hear Mel saying the words out loud but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to make me want to continue as I didn’t like the story, had no empathy with any of the characters, and stopped reading well before the end. Perhaps it would’ve improved had I continued but I lost all interest in the Parker family who to my mind had no redeeming features whatsoever, and I had no desire to find out what happened to them in the end. My apologies for not continuing, I just hope other readers find more in the novel to enjoy than I did.

The Parkers have it all - big house in a prosperous area, staff within the home, expensive cars and wardrobes and bling. But then the bubble bursts and as they lose their luxurious lifestyle, can they keep their sanity and family?

I wanted to like this story, I love the author and find her hilarious. However, this book just seemed to lack direction and finesse and originality. I didn’t like the characters and, whilst that felt to be deliberate, I feel that there usually needs to be some connection with at least one character, especially with a comedy, but I didn’t like any of them. In fact, I would go as far to say that each character annoyed me, which meant that it was difficult to finish the book. I almost gave up on a number of occasions, and part of me wished I had, but I persevered.

I wouldn’t recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

I am absolutely gutted to say this a DNF from me and that has not been an easy decision. Being a huge fan of hers I wholeheartedly wanted this to be phenomenal. But it has fallen short for me.

The pace is simply too slow, I'm 37% in and just cannot get engaged in whatever is happening or due to happen.

At this point the character description/voice changes so frequently it is leaving them lacking depth. The chopping and changing of perspectives is also confusing and, I struggled to remember who was who and why their voice/ point of view was even relevant to the story. However, part of me thinks/knows this is probably intentional, they are a product of their environment, but there simply isn't enough to keep me going. 

On that note I can see the intention of the "Loss of who we were" clearly, thus proving the point of money not being the best. I get the impression that is was supposed to be similar to Schitt's creek but I'm not finding it as enthralling.

I do wonder, if I persevered there may be better things to come but unfortunately, and it really is unfortunate, I can't muster up the inclination to get there.

I really like Mel and was so looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately I just didn't click with it, try as I might. I can only hope other readers enjoy it more than I did.

I was really expecting a great read especially as it was written by Mel, so very sorry Mel. I tried so hard to get into this story and then tried for a second time a few days later but the results were the same. I always try to finish every book that I read but I was unable to this time. I was expecting a fun book with great characters but this didn't deliver any of that for me. I will give 3 stars for this as any less would be unfair for the work that has been done. So sorry Mel.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC.

I’m sorry but I really didn’t enjoy this book. I thought it would be entertaining due to the celebrity author but no. I just couldn’t get in to it or feel any empathy with the characters. There was some strong language which always puts me off a book and I never find justifiable. I have to admit I didn’t finish it.

I have just finished (through sheer determination as I really did find it hard going) “The Best Things” by Mel Giedroyc. Oh dear! I try to be constructive so maybe should just say this wasn’t my cup of tea and leave it at that. However, in the interests of giving an honest review, I feel I have to refer to the plot line (wealthy, bored wife, driven alpha male husband and underachieving children.) I found the book highly frustrating and the story quite hard to engage with. Mikey’s entrepreneurial exploits are hard to swallow- she’s eleven after all! Sorry but it’s a romp with a cast of what feels like thousands and a well worn theme of finding oneself and what’s really important in life. It’s a two and a half star read but I’ll ramp up to three stars as the odd glimpse of human decency shines through, especially with Geoff the jeweller/ erstwhile philosopher and poor lovestruck Janice. Two decent human beings, especially when juxtaposed with the avaricious Paloma and Colette and Francesca the faux friend. I did find it a slightly depressing read.

Sally and Frank had everything ... then the stock market crashed and they have nothing.
Sally is left to pick up the pieces.

A light hearted book that’s funny in places but not as funny as I expected.
A little slow but enjoyable over all

Actual rating 4.5 stars.

🎶Money money money must be funny in a rich man’s world.🎶

The perfect soundtrack to accompany this rib tickling, riotous romp through one family’s dramatic downturn in fortune as financial fiasco sees them swapping their lavish lifestyle for a more pared down, less materialistic existence. Sally and Frank Parker and their four children enjoy a luxurious five star life in Cedar Vale, part of the monied Surrey set for whom housekeepers, nannies and owning thirty two John Deere lawnmowers are considered de rigueur. But are they happy?

Frank is out of his depth heading up HNB (Hayes naughty boys) hedge fund, a far cry from his humble beginnings selling brussel sprouts on his uncle’s market stall.
Sally is totally redundant in a household ruled by Spanish housekeeper Paloma and Australian nanny Colette. Having never done an honest day’s work in her life, Frank’s money means she never has to lift a finger and she has no grasp on her children’s lives, although she really does keep meaning to have heart to hearts with all four of her precious poppets. But she just needs one more Valium to help her through her empty days before she resumes control of the parenting reins!!
Stephen is overweight, addicted to his Xbox and PS4 and Oreo filled sandwiches, unable even to walk the 800 metres from his front door to his private school St Bede’s.
Cleo is a typical reality TV junkie, Instagram obsessed and not to put it too unkindly, a sandwich short of a picnic!
Emily, who is actually Sally and Frank’s niece has more brains than the whole Parker clan put together, outshining her cousins much to her uncle’s dismay.
Mikey, the youngest is following in her father’s footsteps, albeit more successfully, as a school ground budding entrepreneur. Look out Alan Sugar, she might just be your best apprentice yet! However, aged 11 going on 21, no one really wants to listen to what she has to say, but that could prove very short sighted indeed!
Hanger on, globe trotting Kyle, Frank’s brother and nonagenarian granny Bronwen more or less complete the Parker clan apart from one more wickedly funny surprise Mel has waiting in the wings for her readers further down the line.

As the bailiffs come knocking join in the uproarious fun as this family battle recriminations and moments of self awakening. Stripped of their wealth, unfettered by the loss of their middle class accoutrements and fripperies, this family is rudely waking up to the not always pleasant smell of reality. The smell of the proverbial shit hitting the fan is wafting right under their noses and no amount of expensive cologne can mask it’s unpleasant odour. Ditching her botoxed, bosom enhanced,hair flicking yummy mummy fake friends for more solid friendships, Sally emerges from her self induced Valium haze, a metamorphosis that (almost) made me wet my knickers with laughter! Forget the constant games of competitive one upmanship with neighbours the Daly-Joneses it’s time to turn their attention to more worthwhile pursuits such as how to survive their immediate cash flow problem. While the head of the family dozes his way through their comic catastrophic fall from riches to rags it’s left up to Sally and the rest of the Parker tribe to save the day. But can their combined efforts to glue themselves back together in time to discover the true meaning of family be enough or is it a case of too little too late?

Written in a tongue-in-cheek style,Mel mocks and pokes fun at these middle class characters with their 4x4 Range Rovers, exclusive gym/spa and golf memberships and their precocious privately educated little darlings. Her sardonic yet good humoured ridiculing of these characters will have you raising an eyebrow in wry recognition at this cliched perspective of middle class wealth and all its trappings. Bestowing the reader with ample opportunity to chuckle, giggle, titter, snigger and guffaw at how easily fools are parted from their money such as paying £8 for a packet of biscuits (?!?)for me it is Amerjit and Laura’s experience dining in a top class restaurant that possibly trumps them all in terms of sheer absurdity and gullibility. In truth it’s impossible to single out just one prize winning comic scene from so many as it’s more or less relentless back to back humour from start to finish.

These characters may be overblown caricatures, exaggerated cliches of the type of individuals with more money than they know what to do with but what’s wrong with that? They are a loveable irresistible bunch, none more so than Frank himself who hogs the limelight, dominating every social occasion in his own inimitable style. Think of him as a combination of the likes of TV’s Del Boy and King Gary and you’ll be along the right tracks but I’d dearly love to know exactly who Frank is modelled on! When the going gets tough there’s a resourcefulness to Sally (who’s definitely no shrinking Violet) and some of her offspring that is both highly amusing and heart warming at the same time. Mikey, a real chip off the old block deserves a standing ovation of her own.

For the majority of this gloriously big hearted novel,it is one continuous laugh after another with scenes of side splitting hilarity. But somewhere along the road between financial ruin and enlightenment, from deepest Surrey to a tiny Welsh village, Mel’s tongue in cheek writing loses some of its oomph, its sparkle and pizzazz spluttering and fizzling away to a rather predictable climax. The sentiment is simple and the message is clear but the abruptness of the ending caught me by surprise. In my head I’d imagined my own version of how the author would bring proceedings to a halt so I was strangely disappointed and not fully prepared to say au revoir to the Parkers at the moment when Mel decided it was time for the reader and this family to part company.

The Best Things is amongst one of the best pieces of escapist fiction you may read in 2021 and I for one can’t wait for another helping! My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read.

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Everything is going well for Sally, Frank and their children when the stock market crashes. Frank and Sally lose everything, Frank can’t cope and leaves Sally to deal with the fallout. At first she buries her head in her sand and thinks it will sort itself out until she realises Frank isn’t going to of any use as her starts to suffer from narcolepsy. Sally takes the bull by the horns and with the help of their children takes matters into her own hands, holds her head up high and deals with the fallout.

Took a long time for me to get into the book but the ending was better than expected.

Apologies but did not finish this,it really was not for me,I am sure some people will enjoy but the humour just did nit translate well into a story

While I found the writing style light and entertaining and could hear elements of Mel Giedroyc's charming voice coming through (a big highlight, as I think she's ace), I just found I couldn't quite connect with the characters, so wasn't fully drawn into the story.

It's a riches-to-rags tale, with an affluent family losing their money, so then being forced to look at what's really important to them in life.

I've read a few books by authors with a TV comedy background (Graham Norton and Dawn French spring to mind), so I think that's where I'd set my bar and sadly, The Best Things didn't quite hit that for me.

The Best Things - Mel Giedroyc

I just had to request to read this book when I saw it available as I am big fans of both Mel and Sue. I really liked how you hear Mel's voice through her writing, as I personally find her quirky and rather relaxing, so this gave a great tone to the book for me. I must say that I expected it to be a lot funnier than it was (but that is just my own pre judgement). Overall I liked the style of writing but the story itself didn't totally grab me, so not sure if I would rush out to buy any future books from her (sorry Mel). Many thanks NetGalley and Headline for allowing me the chance to read and review this book.