adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What a fun romp of geriatric senior citizens on a mission to save their community center, and on the way, find friends and form a sort of family. From the kleptomania to the Knitczar activist, these septuagenarians keep the plot and laughs moving. less mystery than Osman’s Thursday Murder club (but still a bad ass female protagonist), and more functional than Swnan’s “ Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp”.  
Daphne “Daffy” is GOAL level for Aging DISGRACEFULLY 💜 quite enjoyable - highly recommended read 📕 

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

While this was a fun read, it didn't engage me the way I hoped. Don't feel the story was fully flushed or with the appropriate detail level. Second book read from this author and I am not hooked. I know her books are well loved, just not by me.

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Finished reading: June 26th 2025


"You don’t get to our age with a completely unblemished record. Not unless you’ve not lived. The trick is just to try to ensure the balance falls on the side of the good."

It's no secret that I have a weak spot for stories focusing on older main characters, so I guess that it comes as no surprise either that I wanted to read How To Age Disgracefully as soon as I first heard about it. Then the positive reviews started coming in, and I was even more excited to pick it up... It took me longer than expected to actually do so, but in a way I'm glad as this book came at the exact right time for me. How To Age Disgracefully was everything I hoped it would be and more, and I loved every single minute I spent with this book. This was my first time with Clare Pooley's writing, but I will definitely be back for more as I loved both her writing style, character development and humor incorporated into the plot. The prologue alone gave you a good sense of what is about to come, and I very much enjoyed discovering what happened in the months leading up to that scene. How To Age Disgracefully uses a multiple POV structure, following an eclectic group of people that all connect through the community center. Each character has their own quirks and flaws, and it was SO easy to warm up to all of them. My favorites are Daphne and Art of course, but the whole cast was brilliant... And then we have our dog Maggie Thatcher (or M, or Margaret, depending on who you talk to); I just loved how big of a role the dog played in the plot and how she helped bring everyone together! Some of the antics of the group were absolutely hilarious, but there was also time for more serious topics... And I could appreciate how everything was balanced in the end. Like I said before, I absolutely loved every single minute I spent with this story, and I already know that it will appear on my list of 2025 favorites. 

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Had very mixed opinions all the way through. On the one hand Daphne seemed like a bit of a rude character and all the way through there were parts where she did irritate me. However, as I got through the book and I learnt more about her I realised how quick we all are to judge and how much history she really has behind her fighting attitude. A few themes hit home within the book, which proves how deep and amazing Clare Pooley's writing is. Overall, a lighthearted read with some thoughtful themes woven in which I truly enjoyed. 

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A really fun read! The cast of characters and shenanigans were very entertaining, I especially loved Daphne. 

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A heartwarming, comforting, rollicking good time! Cheesy in the best way. This was my other impulse grab off the communal bookshelf at a resort in Mexico, and what a successful match for me!

Loved seeing characters old and young developing meaningful connections, and throw sass at each other. I was frequently laughing, and it even had me tearing up at the end, which I had not expected! I did feel the resolution Art's personal story was very quick and underdeveloped at the end compared to how much time we spend with the relationships of the other characters through the whole book.

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emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Personally, I think seniors at the forefront of the story is a nice change of pace. I like that their age influenced their characters, but didn’t define them. 

3 stars because I don’t think that I’ll ever pick this up to reread, but I don’t feel worse having read it. It’s a great book to pick up if you have 8 hours to kill and want to dive into a story about a chaotic and lovable group of characters. It’ll definitely keep you engaged long enough to finish it. 

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

just a fun silly time which was exactly what i wanted from it! i don't usually love books that include more than 2 or 3 povs, but the characters in this one are so interwoven that it works. some genuinely hilarious moments and some surprisingly emotional ones too. really can never go wrong mixing old people, toddlers, and dogs. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Initially I wasn’t a big fan and likened the style of writing to that of a highschool creative writing class- however, I really found it charming and endearing. A fun light read. 

(Reminder to myself to add a further detail)


Sidenote:
Lowkey thought Art and William were old gay men and that intrigued me a little but it was my fault to immediately typecast the dazzling effeminate retired actor as a gay man but it was fun to think about for the first few chapters!

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