Welcome to Your Life

I absolutely loved this. All the charm of Bethany’s YA books (which I adore) with a main character you are going to love.

this book is ADORABLE and very quick and easy to read, I read it one sitting in a few hours. I loved writing, the story, the characters and the setting, everything just worked perfectly. I loved it

A quick and easy read! Loved the fact it was read in a sitting! I think the characters make this story along with the setting. Loved the fact that she ran away, and started her life again!

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this book. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Serena just goes to show you can be a plus size protagonist and not overtly fatphobic (I’m looking at one very specific YA novel here btw), and that she can still grow and emerge, confident and radiant at the end. The internalised fatphobia is with us all (that scene in the f-ing lift!!)

This is a story of a year of self care, of self discovery, of learning self worth, and it is DELIGHTFUL.

It starts off being typical 'protagonist sets herself a challenge' trope, but develops into so much more. The sub plots (CW toxic workplace / coercive behaviour), deepen the main plot, rather than detracts from it - it makes the story real, or rather, more believable - single women going on dates without safety concerns made this a little less believable in some instances (perhaps a me issue, not a book issue) - but this subplot allowed some reality to slip though. .

Bethany somehow crawled into my brain and wrote two amazing YA novels that teenage me needed. She has now, confidently, crawled into my brain and written the book that 37 year old desperately needed.

Thank you.

(Also, please let there be a sequel, please and thank you)

Serena realises in the nick of time that marrying Alistair would be a very bad idea indeed. So she doesn't.

Escaping the rampant disapproval of absolutely everyone for the wedding day jilting, Serena moves in with her friend Lola in Noth London, and begins to make a new life for herself.

One which involves some very bad dates indeed.

Such a wonderful, uplifting read - a brilliant addition to the genre. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella.

Bethany Rutter has jumped the divide from YA to Adult with grace and aplomb. Like the characters in her YA books Serena is completely readable and very relatable. I always love how Bethany shows there are many ways to be happy and that all routes are valid. Serena goes through various steps on her way to self-discovery, learning to love herself and reminding herself that she has value. As a fat girl myself I know it's hard to let yourself take up space when you're already, y'know, taking up space so it's always lovely to read books where people are unashamedly themselves.

Body positivity has a ways to go in the media, in society, in ourselves but at least we have Bethany Rutter leading the charge in literature.

Finallyyyyyyyyyyyy a book where a plus size woman is the lead, and she's not a joke and she's not on a diet, she's just figuring things out!

As a fat, single lady myself this speaks to me on a deep level, and really is just the tonic I need with all my own apprehensions about dating. Serena is a really interesting but very relatable character and it was a pleasure to be on her journey.

Bethany's other YA books are the books I wished I'd had when I was younger. Welcome to Your Life is the book I'm glad to have now I'm here.

A joyous, engaging story that will help so many people not feel alone. An warm, clever story focusing on love and dating is exactly what we need!

Brilliant and life-affirming! I adored this book and found it bursting with humour on every page without being superficial. There is in fact a real heart and a message of self-love in there.
I loved it and it put a huge smile on my face.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Welcome to Your Life was just the perfect first book of the year for me. It was full of love, friendship, self-acceptable and body positivity! I cannot rave about it enough. Bethany Rutter is already one of my auto-buy authors thanks to her YA but this has just cemented her as one of my favs. Also, can we all just take a moment to appreciate Nicole. It is only day 10 of 2022 and she is already one of my favourite people of the year!

Thankyou for giving me the chance to read in advance. Love it. Just my type of novel
Hilarious and couldn’t put it down. Give it a go!

I absolutely loved ''Welcome to Your Life." I read it in one glorious gulp on NYD 2022 and it provided the perfect antidote to all of the 'New Year, New You' nonsense we're bombarded with at this time of year. It's a fantastic, feel good story about learning to love yourself, the power of friendship (and girly nights in with wine, and exercising because it makes you feel good, and creating something from scratch because you can, and dating hot cool men because fat people are hella attractive!) It's fun, it's sexy and you'll definitely walk away from it with a spring in your step. A truly fantastic entry to the RomCom literary scene.

I really enjoyed this book. I was hooked from the start, and couldn’t wait to find out what happened. Bethany is a new author for me and definitely one on my watch list. You don’t see many plus sizes women in books so I thank her for that.

What an amazing debut book this is , I absolutely loved this book and have read it in day , its made me howl with laughter and also cry , I would highly recommend this incredible book and can't wait to get a copy of it when it comes out,

I found Serena's character really relatable from the beginning, having recently ended an 8 year relationship myself for no "real" reason. Serena felt like a real person that I would want to know and be friends with.

Many books, like this one, begin with the main female character starting over and developing into herself. But where Welcome to Your Life differs is that it remains true to Serena's personality to the end and feels realistic throughout.

The storyline with Nicole and Duncan felt a bit odd, it added an extra dimension to her character I suppose, showing she can be vulnerable as well, but it felt a little out of place and almost flippant. I did find the use of the word fat to describe some of the characters a little jarring at first, but it did fit in with the realistic feel of the story and I got used to it. It was much nicer than when a character gets described as "curvy" just to try and be inclusive.

Overall, I am a big fan of this book and Rutter's style of writing. I enjoyed Serena's journey and her lovable friends, the ending was satisfying and didn't feel rushed or like she did something out of character just to tie things up nicely.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for early access to this title! Loved it! Fun & light perfect for a cosy afternoon! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone as it was just lovely!