Such an incredibly enjoyable debut adult novel from Bethany Rutter.

This had me smiling and absorbed in the life of Serena, right from page one. It's the story of Serena starting to come to terms with her body image, and of potentially finding love, after jilting her fiancee, about an hour before the last possible minute!

Her new work colleague Nicole has a larger than life personality and I loved all scenes she was in, and her attitude towards life was great. And she had a storyline that is potentially and sadly relatable to as a larger woman.

I kept wanting to slap Serena and tell her, that she is wonderful and that weight doesn't come into how attractive you are to men, and for her self esteem to be better, but as I say this was a self discovery journey as much as anything else.

It's also a look at dating in London for the plus sized woman, and I loved the variety of men she meets, and in some of the circumstances too. And on the odd occasion there is a mention of sex, it was written fantastically!

I had a fabulous time reading this book, and have already told my mum she will love it, when I get her a copy! It's just my sort of book, and brilliantly entertaining with it!

Thank you to Harper and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I LOVED this book. Rutter's signature wit, warmth and style sings throughout it and I missed it whenever I put it down.

This book gets you hooked from the first page, after an opening like that you just have to find out what happens next. An enjoyable read that is light and entertaining whilst containing some serious messages about self worth.

I loved that this book had strong girl power vibes throughout the whole book, plus size representation and focuses a lot on friendship over relationships. I devoured it in a day, I found it so easy to read, and the characters were very likeable.

Uplifting and fresh, this is a story to make you smile and to never distrust your gut.
When Serena Mills decides to leave her groom, Alastair, at the altar, she is not doing it to hurt him or because of an ulterior motive. She simply knows that she can’t marry the man she has been for the last 10 years. Yes, what Serena does is a little bit extreme, but let’s be honest, what did she have to do? Go with the wedding knowing that is not what she wants? As you can imagine, all friends and family support Alastair instead of her, so, when one of her oldest friends offers a flat in London to share, she can’t say no. This will be the beginning of her new life; in every way, a way to rediscover herself and believe that she can fulfill all her dreams. She will have to start from zero; horrible dates, new job and finding new friends. Scary but exciting at the same time, don’t you think?
This is a quick and funny read, but I think we all should take a little bit of inspiration from Serena’s trip. Try to not be moulded with the perspectives of the ones that surround us but to try to achieve our dreams, and be happy!
Are you ready to “Welcome to your Life”?

I enjoyed this book and the fact that the two main protagonists were larger ladies, both physically and also in character. However I think that this was maybe played on too many times and this lost a star from me for this.

This is a well written story and keeps the interest going. On deciding on the morning of her wedding that she isn’t getting married to her fiancé of 10 years our heroine Serena moves to London and into a flat share with a uni friend. She decides to sign up for a dating app and have one date every week for a year.

Good humour throughout and this helps with the more serious issues discussed, including weight, sexual orientation and behaviour in the workplace.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bethany Rutter is one of my all time favourite authors and I was so happy to read her first adult novel!

Welcome To Your Life did not disappoint and I ended up devouring it in one sitting. I loved the characters and Serena was just a brilliant main character. I loved all the dates and watching Serena grow as a person and become more comfortable in her own skin.

I love the positive reps for plus size women and it's one of the main reasons I love Bethany Rutter's books! Honestly go pick this one up!

Read electronic copy of the book, and read along with the audio book too.
This book was fun, and nice. Nothing too full-on. Very cosy, and very quaint.

It was enjoyable to listen to, and the narrator was great. She felt really relatable, and had a good humour that was helpful with the style of book.

Bethany Rutter's writing was really easy going - easy to read. But I just found the plot to be a little dull. I wish more happened. However, I really did like the central character of Serena - I definitely could compare her to a modern day Bridget jones. She felt like that type of person, and definitely felt very real.

Overall a nice book - would make a good beach read i reckon!

It has been a warm, enjoyable reading but I thought that at some point the characters didn't have enough depth. Only the main character, Serena, seemed to have a real voice, and even her, sometimes it wasn't really relatable in the sense that her personality changed quite drastically at some points through the novel.

I give it a 3.5 because overall it has been a fun read and it has moments where it really makes consider your life choices. It "teaches" you about not settling and pushes you to fight for your happiness, even if it has to be done through pain. It tackles body image issues, fatphobia, and women supporting women.

A fun, light read that has been overall very enjoyable (and sexy at times too!).

I loved the start of the book and found it great that there was a plus sized lead in the book with all her self doubt and body image hang ups. The idea of 52 dates in 52 weeks was great but it didn’t happen. It was after this that my interest wained as it became a tale of how many people she could have sex with. An easy read though so worth giving it a go.

What I did love about this book was the representation of a plus-sized character, Serena Mills, as someone who designs and stitches her own clothes, and I felt it could be perceived as a strong skillset, show of independence and control over self expression. I went in with a lot of hope from the story based on the blurb, a woman who decides to choose herself and doesn't proceed with her wedding on the day, knowing for weeks it was not the right person or decision for her (kind of like our s-hero Deepti from Love is Blind anyone??) rather than giving into family pressure and shrugging it off as "nerves". It started off so well, the first few chapters were a pleasant read...but as the story went on, I just found myself struggling to keep going and was fast losing interest. It felt like, in knowing what Serena wanted, she was then obsessed with going on dates (one a week as she was dared by her best friend) and picking out faults with every single guy in those 52 dates. It was as if I was reading someone's private diary than a novel at one point. Unfortunately not for me hence the rating. Thank you to @netgalley @harpercollins and @harperfiction for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this! A joyful, warm and funny story with romance and mega cool chub ladies living their best life - what more can one want? I'll definitely be pushing this into a lot of friends' hands!

This was a lovely book so easy and entertaining. I read it in one go as it’s short but definitely worth a go. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

In her first adult novel (although her YA is also really good even if that’s not traditionally your thing), Rutter has created such a joyful, hopeful, and unproblematic character. My only (tiny) issue with Welcome to Your Life was that the initial promise of the protagonist Serena aiming to go on 52 dates in 52 weeks to explore romance after a break up is just sort of forgotten about quite quickly so, in my opinion, shouldn’t have been referred to quite so heavily in the marketing. But that’s by the by, because this is such an enjoyable and fun read.

I have read, loved and pushed Bethany Rutter's YA books on my teenager daughter, this is Rutter's first non YA novel and its a joy.
The book opens on Serena's wedding day. She has been with her partner for a safe and secure decade but instead of going to the venue, Serena asks her taxi driver to stop at a pub beside a motorway. She orders a glass of wine and an ice cream and calls of the wedding. Serena moves to London, starts over and dives into dating and new experiences.

This was just a gorgeous warm distracting read. A welcome balm to my mind after reading a lot of heavy and dark books this month and a fresh perspective on a story of self discovery and self worth. So easy to read, engaging, funny and warm. Rutter writes with such lightness of touch an of characters, I'd want to be friends with. I loved Serena. I was completely on her side from the opening chapter until the final lines.

Very much recommend, perfect heartwarming holiday reading, I hope it jumps off the shelves in Airport bookshops this Summer.

the first book I've flown through in a while - has to be a good sign!

serena miller runs out on her wedding day, make one vow only to herself that she is going to have the time of her life being single in london! she doesn't just embark on dates, but new friendships and a newfound self-confidence as a fat woman 🥰

was this the best book I've ever read? no. were there things I wished happened that didn't? sure! but honestly, this is just such a cute and fun read that it's all ok. definitely good for getting out of a slump.

out this thursday!

This is an enjoyable debut!
The concept of 52 dates in 52 weeks reminded me of a blog from years ago, but it’s obviously been updated for the modern audience and the ever present use of technology etc.
Serena is a great main character, thank lucifer we finally get some plus size characters who aren’t just bit parts for laughs!
Through the hilarity of some chaotic dates we get some good storylines about friendship and love, discovering who it is you really want to be and it does that without being preachy. It does allow for self reflection if you care to do so.
Would recommend for fans of Dolly Alderton and Lucy Vine.

🪡🧵Welcome To Your Life by Bethany Rutter 🧵🪡
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have a few Bethany Rutter books to read but this is the first one I’ve ever actually picked up. So thanks @netgalley & @harpercollinsuk for my ARC!

It’s Serena’s wedding day, however, she’s sitting in a pub instead of getting married. She knows she shouldn’t have left it so last minute and everybody is going to hate her, but on her way to the wedding she realised she didn’t want to get married. She’s not even sure she’s happy anymore.
Not only does she walk away from her wedding, she takes a leap and moves to London to start a new job and live with a friend she’s known for a while. The world is her oyster! However, she hasn’t dated for over 10 years and the dating world has changed a lot which she isn’t prepared for. She’s also fat so she’s worried that using dating apps may lead to her being stood up. But she makes an agreement with her friend to go on a date a week for a whole year. She can do it right?

It isn’t until Serena meets Nicole who is also fat but totally owns it and overflows with confidence that Serena starts to realise she needs to love herself before anybody else can.

Filled with body positivity, self-love and humour I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I now can’t wait to pick up the other books by Bethany I have on my shelf!

This is released on Thursday and I honest recommend it! Go order it now!

#netgalley #welcometoyourlife #bethanyrutterbooks #booksta #2022inbooks #bookstagram

Welcome To Your Life ⭐️⭐️

Blurb
Serena Mills should be at her wedding.
Instead, she’s eating an ice cream sundae and drinking an obscenely large glass of wine in a Harvester off the M25.
Everyone thinks she’s gone mad. She’s jilted the man everyone told her she was ‘so lucky’ to find.
But Serena wants to find love. A love she deserves – not one she should just feel grateful for.
So, she escapes to the big city and sets herself a challenge:
52 weeks. 
52 dates. 
52 chances to find love. 
Easy, right?

Will keep this short and sweet as I don’t enjoy giving negative reviews but afraid to say this was a bit of a disappointment. Lots of unnecessary swearing (#fuckingsouflee), the sex scenes did nothing for me, and the whole premise of the book falls flat as she ends up not going on anywhere near 52 dates!
On the plus side (pun very much attended!) it was great to have a self proclaimed ‘fat girl’ as the romantic lead rather than the funny best friend

Thank you to Random Things Tours for my hardback copy and spot on the blog tour!
This was exactly what I needed for my bedtime read. Funny, warm and light but with some serious issues being tackled.
It even made me question my own life decisions! As someone engaged for 2 and a half years, I even doubted myself slightly when I started this one, it definitely highlights someone's self worth and what they deserve, but this just shows the power of the author's writing.
The huge issues don't stop there. There are debates surrounding the dating scene, and particularly with a woman who is overweight. Rutter asks some strong questions and there are quotes aplenty that really made me think.
The humour throughout really helps to balance the serious thoughts though and some of Serena's dates made me howl with laughter. I did really enjoy the date caption at the start and the description of Serena's date and wish this could have been continued through the book for longer.
A fantastic book, and I definitely now have Bethany Rutter on my radar!