Such a unique book, I loved the plot and oh my god the characters we're so amazing!! I definitely will be recommending it!!

What a rollercoaster. There are some really heavy themes in this book, but at its heart this is a really charming story about building a family and all the different forms that families can take. There are some lovely highs and some emotional gut punches, all wrapped up with a satisfyingly hopeful ending.

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but I’m very glad that this story is pro-choice and explores the fact that everyone’s definition of family and their ideal lifestyle is different—and valid—and that having children isn’t the be-all and end-all of a woman’s worth.

Dee and Andy’s story is really lovely. Dee’s relationship struggles struck a chord with me, especially how dating normally feels ‘like an elaborately stressful tango’. I loved that because her relationship with Andy isn’t ‘real’ to start with, she doesn’t have to perform; she can be herself and have someone love her anyway. It’s one of my favourite tropes and why I love ‘fake relationship’ stories so much, and this book is a delightful example of it.

But whilst the romance is a key thread of the book, Dee’s friendship with Minnie and Roo, and her relationship with her mum and stepmum are the real stars of the show. The characters are all so wonderful and although it’s a little difficult to keep track of them all at the start—especially when we’re given such rich insights into every character’s backstory—by the time you get to the end, you’ll love them all, and all of those extra little details will feel so worthwhile.

(Content warnings for lots of talk of fertility issues, abortion; mentions of suicide attempts.)

Not really sure what I feel about this book, on the one hand it fell in to the chicklit camp of close female friendship and unknowing love but on the other a lot of the plot line relied on fertility issues and tackled unwanted pregnancy which didn’t make for light reading I thought.