Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Amazing Grace Adams

Rounding up to a four. The books starts out in a way I’m thinking or going to be cute. It’s anything but. It’s arduous, and I was annoyed for a big part of it because it seemed like everything was being dragged out too slowly between the three timelines. But when evicting was finally revealed, I realized it needed to take ask this time.

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camchorse's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

2.5

Fran Littlewood's debut book uses a triple timeline format to chronicle what has led Grace Adams to the place of desperation she now finds herself in. Her daughter's 16th birthday has given her a reason to prove that she is still amazing and worthy of love. Unfortunately, despite Grace's best intentions, her journey to help her daughter celebrate her birthday is riddled with a series of unfortunate events.

The timeline jumps back and forth between 2002, four months before now and now. The previous time periods explain how Grace has ended up in her current predicament. I found the frequent jumping back and forth to be a little confusing. I could not always keep the details straight and the some of the situations Grace found herself in seemed to be far fetched.

Readers who enjoyed Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine will likely enjoy this one too. I found myself feeling impatient with the chaos surrounding Grace whether it was warranted or not.

Be sure to check the trigger warnings before reading this one.

Thanks to the Macmillan Audio Influencer Program for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

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readwithsabs's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Sadly this one was not for me. It was a slow long drawn out read. I had committed to 50% read before I knew I was not going to love it. I think the main reason it didn't work for me is because the author simply tried to tackle far too many sensitive themes ans in my opinion not in any great detail, therefore did not do any of them well. It was incredibly melodramatic with an unlikeable protagonist in Grace Adams and her teenage daughter Lotte. Told in present day with flashbacks to storytell how the events of Grace's past have effected her and bringing it around to her current situation.

I guess the author was trying to explore the importance of womanhood and all the nuances around being a strong woman.

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what_heather_loves's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Grace realizes she can't trust her own emotions anymore. She can't trust herself. It's impossible to tell where the perimenopause stops and she begins, and she's asking herself who she would be if it wasn't for these chemical enemies raging through her body, hijacking her mind, who she would he if her self had not come apart from her. She imagines she'd be nailing life, sailing through it serenely. Coping at least."

This book spoke to me, not initially admittedly, because it took me a while to invest in Grace, her husband Ben and teenage daughter Lotte, but invest I did. Told from perimenopausal and vulnerable, Grace's perspective over one day, she is determined to take a birthday cake to Lotte's party at Ben's house; it's a dramatic journey, walking across London in a heatwave to avoid a traffic jam, interspersed with Grace's reflections on her relationships with Ben and Lotte. I had questions, including: Who is Lotte's boyfriend? Why did Grace and Ben break up? Why is Grace struggling so?

All is answered and there are some major trigger warnings. You may cry when you learn all she has to deal with, which I particularly related to, being a similar age to Grace and having been dealt some challenging blows during my life. Grace, like me, carries on for herself and for those she loves. Grace is resilient, kind and absolutely 'amazing', I would want her as my friend. Astute, focused and affectionate, this is a poignant tale of a woman on the edge, a debut novel about family drama, loss and hope.

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