DNF at 27%

Due to the chaotic jumping in timelines (it even as past flashbacks within timelines!) I was already struggling to connect with the characters. However, what caused me to DNF were a couple of things.

Firstly the casual observations about women's bodies with no commentary about it. In particular when our MC was being called out for putting on too much weight (when she's clearly not overweight) and her internalised acceptance of this, followed quickly by a judgement of her stick thin colleague who must obviously have an eating disorder. Like what?!?!

Can we please stop shaming women's bodies in media please!

Finally we found at that the MC who is very vocal about not wanting children has fallen pregnant because she had unprotected sex and didn't think to get the morning after pill. Her perplexed response to this highly probable predicament? "but he withdrew"

Life is too short to be reading books that are irritating me I'm afraid.

Very relatable for anyone over 40. Grace feels her life is slipping away as she reaches peri menopause. Her husband has moved out, her daughter hates her and she’s lost the work she had as a teacher and translator. She is determined to deliver a fabulous cake to her daughter on her 16th birthday by hook or by crook.
We also see Grace at 28 when she appears to have it all - how did it go so wrong? We gradually see what has happened in her life and it encompasses love, tragedy, a breakdown and a determination to keep going. A great read.

A powerful story, readers cannot feel anything but empathy to the woman whose life just keeps going downhill. A very well written story and I throughly enjoyed reading it.

It took me a good while to get into this story, and it wasn’t long after I began reading that I realised I probably wasn’t this books target audience.

Grace is 45 years old, going through a divorce, struggling to maintain a relationship with her teenage daughter and she’s perimenopausal. The story starts with Grace ditching her car in the middle of a traffic jam and walking away to make her way across London to see her daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Everything that happens to lead to this point is told in a mish mash of flashbacks, that are sometimes difficult to follow. I’ve seen some reviews say that this approach felt quite messy, but I think it worked to really make the reader feel the chaos that was Grace’s thought and general state of mind.

It wasn’t until around 70%, when the reader was finally shown certain elements, that I actually began to enjoy the story a little more and even warm to Grace, who up to this point I just didn’t like. I did begin to sympathise with Grace but still some of her actions seemed, at best, far fetched

I’m sure this story will really resonate with some people, and they will feel every peak and trough of Grace’s emotional, and physical, journey. However, it just didn’t tick the box for me although that’s not to say it wasn’t a very admirable debut for Littlewood in terms of the writing.

A powerfully written account of Grace's life, the reader cannot help but feel empathy for the woman whose life is going steadily downhill. An enthralling read, I could not wait to see how the present time accounts panned out.

Absolutely loved the main protagonist Grace. What a character!
This book had me laughing and crying throughout and was a real page turner.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review. It was an absolute pleasure.

This was such a wonderful read. At times very funny, at times heartbreaking. It's a story about life and adulting. Because sometimes we are reluctant adults!

When you reach a certain age everything goes downhill. For Grace, it is 45.
Grace has had enough! She has reached her boiling point and beware anyone who wants to get in her way!
Her relationship with her daughter is non existing at the moment but she is adamant to change that.

We get to meet Grace through three different stages of her life; when she meets Ben, the birth of their child and early years; a few months before the fatal breakdown; and the present.

It's a story that a lot of us can relate to!
Highly recommended!

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph, PRH UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Amazing Grace Adams is aptly titled. This book and this character blew me away.

Grace is on an epic walk to deliver a birthday cake to her sixteen year old daughter Lotte. It's not a walk Grace planned to have, but she is determined to walk as far as it takes to deliver the cake and prove her love to a daughter she feels she is losing.

As Grace walks, we move between now and the past, both recent and further back. Grace slowly unravels as more trauma is revealed, but ultimately she proves to be a phoenix.

Grace is so relatable and the writing on parental guilt, peri menopause, teenagers and grief is so eloquent and so absolutely on the money in every way. I could not devour this book quickly enough as I became more and more invested in Grace and her walk towards her daughter with all defences ripped away.

Written with depth and visceral emotion, this is a wonderful way to start a new year of reading.

Amazing Grace Adams was an ARC that immediately caught my attention not least because of the stunning cover. It’s a debut book by @_franlittlewood and comes out January 19th.
Grace is a 45 year old woman whose life in on the brink: she’s perimenopausal, tired, hot and hormonal – her husband has left her and her daughter moved out to live with her dad. Grace is a polyglot but over the years has lost the ability to communicate with Ben her ex-husband and more recently her wonderful daughter Lotte who seems to be getting into trouble online and Grace doesn’t know how to help her.
This book takes place in one gripping day – the day she is taking back control, it’s her daughter’s 16th birthday and she is bringing her the perfect Love Island Cake even if she isn’t invited to the party and telling her and Ben how much she loves them.
The book really reminded me of the movie Falling Down as I was reading it and interestingly in the acknowledgements Fran Littlewood indicates that it was the inspiration. There are hilarious moments when Grace starts to take back control and calls out the sleazy men and interfering school-gate mothers but then moments of incredible sadness as you find out what caused all the challenges she is facing in her life (DM if you want trigger warnings) and the guilt and fears of motherhood and never managing to do enough.
It's a lovely, heart-warming book that was so emotional towards the end but the topics were dealt with such compassion.
I absolutely loved Grace, I would want to be her friend and just wanted to give her the biggest hug and tell her absolutely amazing she really is.
A wonderful debut novel that I can see being incredibly popular this year!
Huge thanks to @michaeljbooks and @netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

This is a story about a stressed mid-life woman who snaps while stuck in a traffic jam on the way to picking up a birthday cake for her estranged daughter. It’s engaging and relatable but the multiple time frame flash back to explain how Grace has reached her breaking point interrupts the narrative flow and could have been better structured.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the book in advance of publication.

I’d like to thank Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Amazing Grace Adams’ by Fran Littlewood in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Grace Adams is stuck in a traffic jam in her hot and stuffy car on her way to collect her daughter’s ridiculously expensive birthday cake when she’s had enough. She climbs out, abandoning her car amidst the cacophony of car horns, and walks away.

‘Amazing Grace Adams’ recounts the events in Grace’s life over the course of a day that have helped shape her present situation, with numerous flashbacks including the one when she first meets Ben at the ‘Polyglot Of The Year’ contest. The book has been well-written with imagination and flair and I couldn’t help but sympathise with Grace who’s finding life tough as she treks across a hot North London with an expensive birthday cake in an attempt to get back into favour with her daughter Lotte and ex-husband Ben who used to think she was amazing. I found some parts amusing, some extremely sad, but I’m afraid I struggled to get as deeply involved in the story as I wanted to, and was confused at times by what was happening and when. Generally it’s a good solid read and worthy of praise.

Loved this book and couldn't put it down! Grace Adams is struggling - her marriage is failing, her daughter is turning away from her at 16, she's peri menopausal and is behaving in an odd way. She also decides to deliver a birthday cake to her daughter who is now living with her dad, on the hottest day on the year which turns into a very eventful journey

Grace Adams is relatable and you cannot help but feel sympathetic.
Her life is unravelling bit by bit and sitting in traffic on a swelteringly hot day she finally snaps, and who could blame her?
We revisit times in her past and find out the reasons for her current situation.
I felt for Grace and the book was well written but it was not really for me, don't think I'm the target audience but I can see the appeal for others.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC

When we first meet Grace she is stuck in a traffic jam and just snaps. She leaves her car, in the traffic jam and embarks on a journey, seemingly to pick up a birthday cake in time for her daughter’s 16th birthday. What follows is an account of Grace’s life from before she became pregnant. It is told in a then and now chapter format which I enjoyed. Without giving any spoilers I went through so many emotions towards all the characters, feeling at times they were selfish, thoughtless, uncaring to the times where the joy they gave out was almost palpable. You are given a wonderful window into the very heart of Grace and learn exactly what led her to abandon her car.

A wonderful story which touched me to the core

Set in lots of different time frames so much it makes you dizzy.
Grace`s life has gone crazy and she has finally flipped, separated from her husband and her 15yr old daughter refuses to see her, she`s in a traffic jam when she gets out of her car and just walks away.
I felt Grace had finally had a mental breakdown and life was against her and she had no one to help her or understand her anywhere through the book so was disappointed with the ending.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC

Grace Adams is struggling. Her husband and teenage daughter have moved out and she's struggling to function during her day and at work. The story takes place over one day as Grace is trying to take a birthday cake to her daughter's party. As the journey continues, there are flashbacks as Grace thinks about her life so far.
I could not get into this story. I usually like family drama and like dual timeline stories. Maybe I was I the wrong mind set but I couldn't engage with Grace at all. The timeline jumped all over and I couldn't line everything up in my head.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I'm sure others would love it, but I couldn't connect with the main character - in fact she just annoyed me, and I struggled to finish the book. I hoped I would enjoy it towards the end but I just didn't.

Grace is stressed, incredibly stressed. Her marriage is over and her daughter doesn't want anything to do with her and has gone to live with Grace's ex husband. Grace is also harbouring a guilt so huge it consumes her. When she isn't invited to her daughter's 16th birthday she decides to go anyway and take her a stunning cake to prove her love for her daughter. Unfortunately things don't go smoothly. To start with she gets into a massive traffic jam, and decodes to abandon the car in the middle of the road and walk!

This story was too far fetched for me, and the characters were not likeable, but I'm sure others would love it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5144801968

This book kept me so engaged, it captured me straight away and kept me intrigued and curious for more throughout. Once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. I loved the writing style and the way it guided me into and through Amazing Grace Adams world. I could feel the intensity of emotions pulsing through Grace and taking me along for the journey, pulling such concern and empathy from me.

It touches on a variety of intense life experiences that can catapult a person into an explosion of hitting rock bottom before one can rise up and heal from the traumas. The description of emotions and the way it portrays the flashback that takes Grace out of where she is in certain moments, was well written and expressed exactly how it can feel and how the mind can shift one moment to the next.

This book is so beautifully written. Whilst dealing with difficult situations it carries you away, into a world where you can only feel heartfelt compassion.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and all responsible for allowing me to read this book.

Not the book for me unfortunately. I really struggled to get into it and didn’t help by the timeline jumping all over the place just as you were getting into it.

I really enjoyed this book - it's well written, amusing in places and very true to life without being about the mundane. Grace is highly educated and highly gifted in lots of ways but things have gone wrong somewhere and the book moves between different times to let us see gradually what has happened while we get to know Grace better. There are twists in the story but they aren't the obvious 'reveals' that you sometimes get and although there are clues about the story behind the story, they aren't obvious but once you get to the end you see the whole picture and it makes sense. I enjoyed Grace's love of language and words and I ended up very fond of her as well. I could have read more about them all actually, which is unusual for me. It was good to read a book which wasn't afraid to use big words sometimes and wasn't patronising to the reader about spelling everything out in detail - you are given some credit for some intelligence to work out what is happening. I would read something by Fran Littlewood again and I don't say that lightly!