"Nina did not want to spend her thirtieth birthday in a prison cell. But, unfortunately, it looked like that was exactly what was about to happen."

Thirty was meant to be her year - the year she came back from her devastating break-up, unstable journalism career and general chaos of her life. But instead, she's sitting in her PJ's at Leicestershire jail after an ill-fated attempt for a late night falafel.

But as she's sitting there, alone, the only entertainment available is an old self-help book that she's sure will be so boring she'll be able to sleep - but instead she can't stop reading. And as a journalist, she can't help but wonder if something so simple as finding things you love about yourself could change the world so drastically. By the time her first morning as a thirty-year old woman arrives, she realises she doesn't love three things about herself, let alone thirty, so something needs to change.

Despite all the challenges, from her brothers severe mental illness, her cold and judgemental mother, her broken heart and her ex-fiancé moving on, she realises there's only one constant in her life - herself. And it's time she finally finds out if that's enough.

"You have a very big heart, Nina, and it'll just get bigger the more it breaks. Remember that the cracks let the light in."

From the very moment we meet Nina, with her hummus-stained PJ's, she immediately became my friend with her wicked humour and unique voice even when faced with spending the night alone in jail for something she (technically) didn't do. She encapsulated a young lost soul, watching everyone put out their image of a perfect life and constantly wondering why their timelines don't match up.

The story flowed seamlessly, luring us quickly into her life and quickly piecing together the different parts of her life and painting a beautiful picture. We learn about Nina, and so does she. Everything felt very natural, like a conversation rather than the info-dumping that can often happen when we learn a lot about a character in little time. This is kind of book that's so easy to read and you know that means it was masterfully written.

Each character was remarkable, full of life and vibrant - with a stunningly diverse and inclusive cast full of people I found different parts of myself in and I'm sure any reader will too.

Even if like me, you don't believe in astrology or self-help books, you'll find behind all that it's a story about learning and self-love and all the many ways you can try and find it yourself.

A heartbreaking story about love, loss and life, about the darkest and lightest parts of the human condition -full of feminine fury and totally unforgettable.

I absolutely loved Thirty Things I Love About Myself and completely fell in love with Nina. I think we’d all really like to have a friend like Nina.

Nina is a brilliantly comic heroine, who is prone to oversharing the most intimate and often inappropriate personal information, but you can’t help falling in love with her. There were so many laugh out loud moments on her journey of self discovery to find thirty things that she loves about herself.

The book is also incredibly moving dealing with very real issues of mental health and suicide with tremendous empathy and in a very sympathetic manner.

Can’t wait to read other Radhika Sanghani books!

Huge thanks to the publishers, Headline, and Netgalley for making this ARC available to me for a fair and honest review.

Excellent life-affirming novel about self-love. I saw so many parallels to myself in this, having recently turned 30, even if I have never spent the night in a prison cell (yet at least!)
Funny, warm and engaging, I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to more from Radhika Sanghani.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

A brilliant book from Radhika Sanghani. Nina is a lovable lead and I found myself wondering if I need to make my own list, take up yoga or mindfulness!
4 stars.

This is 100% absolute perfection. A crazy start that hooks you in and the concept is just utterly brilliant. Perfect January read if you are trying to beat January blues, or stick to resolutions.
A clever blend of humour, craziness, reality and mental health. The subject of mental health is poignant, and sensitively well handled.
Definitely gave me a boost reading this, and I am very tempted to try and get to the magic 30 things about myself.
Inspirational.

I kept hearing about this book, and with so much universal praised, I jumped at the chance to read an early copy.

I found the topics of depression and suicide were written with such empathy, you can feel there’s such heart there; these topics aren’t just there for pure entertainment, there’s a real message there. Likewise with the depictions of racism. I found them so cruel and upsetting, but sadly, so real, but they’re so sensitively handled that I feel Radhika must have had similar experience herself - which I desperately, desperately hope isn’t true.

I think in anyone else’s hands, the topics of astrology and star signs and self love and “finding yourself” could have felt a bit twee, a bit pushy, and a bit annoying. But they’re a real standout plot point in this book for me. I’ve never read too much into things like that, and often felt a bit blasé about them, but they’re written so well that it’s actually peaked an interest for me.

I can fully identify with the plights of a single, sometimes unemployed, thirty-year-old (ok I’m not 30 until next year) woman, who has an older brother, has anxious and depressive thoughts, who lives in her mother’s spare room, and has a father who is no longer with us. She may be of a different culture and background, but she was so familiar it was quite scary.

This book is funny, sad, real, heartwarming, cuddly, thoughtful, harsh, hard, and transformative. This may be a fictional book, a fictional story, not a self-help book. But I wager anyone to read this and not feel improved and enlightened. It’s as positive and life affirming as any book, fiction or not, out there today.