All In’ is a deceptively simple and incredibly easy to read story about life in those middle years where you haven’t really got to where you think you should be. The pages absolutely melted away and I was totally transfixed,

Jo and Dave are muddling through life, they have had several unsuccessful IVF attempts ,but starting to face the truth it might not happen. Dave’s brother Teddy is an incredibly wealthy bachelor in Dubai who has offered to take them and his father on a weekend away. Also joining them is Teddy‘s latest girlfriend.

From the very outset tension is in the air, no one can be truthful with each other, all looking at what the others have got and wondering why it can’t be theirs. There are big fissures in Jo and Dave‘s marriage wants to be the one to bring it up.

The weekend is taut with stress and tension, the only person who is having a good time their dad Alan.

It is a wonderful emotional snapshot of life in these middle years things that tie you together and the issues that push you apart.

Deceptively lovely. An insightful, deeply authentic portrait of a couple trying to hold it together after those agonising years of failed IVF rounds come to an end and they're facing: what next? Set on a disastrous family holiday which adds levity and realism, every moment is drawn in painstaking detail - from awkward, funny encounters with other holidaymakers, to the infuriating inter-family dynamics that many will recognise. All In nicely balances the reflective and sombre side of Dave & Jo's tale with the funny, raw and real. I breezed through it and enjoyed its nuanced but ultimately hopeful conclusion. A fab holiday read - highly recommended. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

I loved this book. It’s such a believable portrayal of a long term relationship, family dynamics and friendships. I’ll certainly look for more books by this author.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“A marriage on the rocks. A family in disarray. A weekend in the sun at a luxury, all-inclusive hotel. What could possibly go wrong?”

All In is a wonderfully written exploration of apathy in relationships, and the quiet fractures that fester when love is left unattended.

It’s a sharp, honest, and painfully relatable look at how comparison is the thief of joy, and the uncomfortable truth that if everyone you knew threw their problems into the middle of a room, you’d almost certainly take your own back.

Claire Powell’s writing is stark, frank, and brutally observant. There’s a constant hum of tension beneath the surface. Obfuscations, omissions, and the sense that something is about to spill over before the weekend is through.

This was my first Claire Powell book, and I’ve already bought her debut. I can’t wait for everyone I know to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

All In by Claire Powell

A family trip to an all-inclusive luxury hotel in the sun. Wealthy Teddy who lives in Dubai brings his beautiful young girlfriend Kayla and pays for his widowed dad Alan, and his brother Dave and wife Jo to come too. But there's trouble in paradise... Jo is reeling from years of failed attempts at IVF and not sure whether her and Dave have a future together, Dave has a big secret and it's getting more difficult to hide it from Jo, and Alan would rather be on a historical tour somewhere...

Oh I loved this book so much! The writing is so SO good - beautiful and poignant and funny - just brilliant. And the story is so relatable - the stress of travelling, group holidays, suitcases going missing, family dynamics... fabulous! Very VERY highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed Claire Powell's first novel, 'At the Table,' and this was no different - it will be an ideal holiday read for anyone who wants something to get their teeth into on top of the escapism. Jo, Dave, Dave's brother Terry, his girlfriend Kayla and the boys' grumpy widower Dad, Alan, head off on a holiday to an unspecified destination (likely Spanish or Balearic), all paid for by Teddy, who lives in Dubai and, as the characters frequently remark, 'doesn't have to pay tax.' As the brothers and their girlfriends spend time together, the fictions of their lives begin to unravel, with Dave hiding a big secret from Jo and Jo's nerves frayed by their inability to conceive a child after years of IVF, including a second round after the lockdowns which almost did for their relationship. Beautifully written and hard to put down, I felt like I really knew these characters. The only thing that would have made this better was (SPOILER)

I felt like Jo and Dave could have been happy without their biggest problem being resolved, and many couples do - it feels a bit mean of me, but I would have preferred that as it had the ring of truth more than the actual ending.

What a joy this book is. I couldn't stop flipping the pages. And so funny. Jo and Dave, scratchy with each other after ruinously expensive failed IVF treatments are whisked off, all expenses paid, on a mini-break with Dave's rich brother Teddy, his fiancee Kayla and their grumpy dad Alan. When they land Jo and Dave's luggage has gone missing, natch. The hotel is great though and the couple decide to make a fist of it. But tensions and resentments mount, which play out in a series of funny and beautifully observed vignettes. Dave and Jo each privately flirt with the idea of ending their marriage but as time goes on they begin to realise that maybe things aren't that bad between them after all. Espeically when you see what's going down with Teddy and Kayla. Tender, hilarious and wonderfully perceptive, this will be the summer read of the season. I wish I could start it all over again. Bravo!

At the risk of sounding corny… I am ‘all in’ on being Claire Powell’s number one fan! I have been checking NetGalley for more of her work ever since I read (inhaled) At the Table, and I was delighted to get the chance to review All In. Powell writes relationships and the dialogue within and about them so, so well - I guess ‘relatable’ is the word, but that doesn’t do justice to the depth of life experience shared here. I recognised so much of myself in Jo, and so much of my parter in Dave. These aren’t characters - they are living, breathing people. And that’s what keeps me singing Claire’s praises - I can never understand how more people haven’t heard of her! She is my top literary fiction stylist writing today.