At times very dark in subject but I very much enjoyed this book overall. Would read more by this author. Thanks for the ARC!

"The Last Days of Joy" stems from an interesting concept, as the past stories of present-yet-already gone Joy are interwoven with the snippets from lives of her adult children. Stories that they will never get access to serve as an explanation of why Joy was the way she was, resulting in an attempt to end her own life. But these experiences had an impact on the entire family system, as the kids are not fine, either.

Very moving read but in my opinion there were too many characters and events to follow to let the familial tragedy really come forward.

Well written with a compelling story line and well developed characters. A good read that I found hard to put down

I liked this read but at times was predictable what was going to happen but other times was a twist wasn't expecting. Would recommend.

A family drama centred around the attempted suicide of a mother which brings her three children to her bedside and forces them to address their past. A great read

Took a while to get into this book- but I did enjoy it. Some deep and dark storylines- the story seemed to take the the long way around. But worth it.

This was a hard read at times but equally beautiful. It is the story of Joy and her relationship with her children, but also the story of her past that shaped her into the person we see today. Honest, heart breaking writing about a dysfunctional family.

A devastatingly wonderful book to read. The characters were wonderful and the content very engaging. This author has talent.

👩‍👧‍👦 REVIEW 👩‍👧‍👦

The Last Days of Joy by Anne Tiernan

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

The Last Days of Joy is an in-depth examination of an extremely unstable family. Joy, the mother who has been abandoned by her husband following a tragic incident, and has struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues all her life. Conor, the oldest and most self-absorbed child, running a not-for-profit but making decisions that will come back to haunt him. Frances, the oldest daughter, who has spent her entire life trying to bring order to everything she can, now struggling in her marriage and as a mother. And Sinead, the youngest, a writer struggling to come up with her second novel, and battling with her own mental health.
After the three siblings suffer through a traumatic, neglectful childhood, they are brought back together in the final days of their mother’s life, and are forced to re-examine the past and the present, and address their own shortcomings.

The Last Days of Joy is an intense character-based read, with each member of the Tobin family so well fleshed out and realistic. There are some bitingly funny moments as you see each sibling’s perspective on their childhood and the present, but the family relationships are well defined and very believable. As each sibling tackles their own problems, they develop massively, and while I enjoyed seeing this, it felt a bit too “happy ending” for me, and some of the final moments seemed a bit unnecessary.

There are definitely multiple content warnings for this book, and it deals with some very difficult topics of motherhood, alcoholism, abuse, trauma, suicide etc.

Overall, it was definitely an enjoyable read, but had some scope for leaving the characters’ lives less neat and perfect tied up towards the end.

To the Māori of New Zealand, the silver fern represents new life and new beginnings. This is exactly what Joy longed for when she escaped Ireland - for herself and her three children.

A deeply troubled mother, she has spent her life running. Frances, her ‘perfect’ daughter, is about to make a mistake that could destroy her own family. Conor, the eldest and high-profile charity CEO, is walking a very fine line - personally and professionally. Sinead, the baby and an acclaimed writer, is struggling with her own stagnant career.

When Joy’s children learn that there has been an “incident”, they (along with their problems) rush to her bedside in Tauranga. In doing so, they unearth the hurt and dysfunction that has plagued them since their childhood in Ireland.

A beautifully written story of trauma and tragedy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette and Anne Tiernan for access to this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. “The Last Days of Joy” will be published on March 30th.

DNF- I will revisit this book when the first version is released. I found the e-format difficult to work through & there were some errors within the text that took me out of the experience. I was hooked into the story upon the first chapter - not for the deceit but for the interpersonal relationships. Therefore I’m halting my reading here until I can get my hands on a completed version.

Joy is a conflicted and complicated woman whose life has been lacking her namesake. When she only has days to live, her three children come to her hospital bedside to say their goodbyes, bringing with them all of their own conflicts and complications. Conor the eldest, is a charity boss chasing a bit of celebrity, Francis the dependable daughter is considering doing something to add excitement to her stale life and Sinead the youngest, enjoyed success with her first novel years ago and is struggling with writers block since. All three of Joy's children are at a juncture in their lives and none of them are happy.

This was not the book I expected it to be. It was quite a difficult read in parts and there are a lot of hard subject matters tackled. I will say Tiernan deals with them well, her writing is full of compassion and empathy and this is a well told story. The book starts very strongly and each character is introduced and developed with care. While I didn't necessarily like all of the characters , I was invested in their story and I also enjoyed the conclusion of the book.

The pacing throughout was a little disjointed or maybe it was the subject matter but at around the half way back I found the story dragged a little. I did have to push myself to return to the book a couple of times but once I got back to it, it held my interest. There is some lightness in the pages, I think had there been a bit more, I would have enjoyed this one more. Nonetheless, its extremely well written and absolutely worth the read. I really enjoyed Tiernan's writing and will look out for more from her in the future.

A difficult, emotional read, captured well.

3.5- 4 star.

This wasn't the light, humourous read that I was expecting it to be. However, Tiernan is clearly an author of ability and told a difficult story very well.

Highly recommended but may not be for everyone.

Joy is a complex, deeply troubled woman with a host of regrets especially over motherhood and what appears to her grown up children as a lack of maternal instincts. There’s Frances, her loyal daughter but who is struggling in a variety of ways, her son is Conor a ‘celebrity’ charity boss whose current actions implode in his face and finally there’s the youngest, Sinead. She is an acclaimed writer but is suffering from a massive case of writers block amongst other things. When the three siblings learn that Joy has little time left to live they rush to her bedside bringing all manner of baggage with them. Although they are very different personalities each of them has decisions to make that will affect their futures. Will they be able to forgive their mother and move forward in whatever direction life takes them?

This is a beautifully written but quite tough novel to read but I really like the way the author tackles the situation facing Frances, Conor and Sinead. Each one tells their story warts and all and you are able to picture them and empathise with their problems. Most moving of all are Joy’s memories with her story being heartbreaking and so sad and you understand why she becomes what her children see, witness and feel. The dysfunction is wide, embracing several issues and you view trauma and tragedy. Parts of the story are emotionally told with the ending feeling spot on.

The standout character for me is Sinead although against expectation I grow to like them all. It isn’t all a tale of woe and I really do appreciate the odd snippets of well placed humour.

Overall, although this is not an easy read I’m so glad to have done so as Anne Tiernan is clearly a very talented writer.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hachette Books, Ireland for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Hard going read with a lot of harrowing subject matter, I think was expecting something a little lighter so I really couldn’t get into to it. It was was well written and plotted but just not for me

The subjects of this book are really tough to grapple with but the writing is captivating. It’s a tough but a page turning read.