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portybelle's review
4.0
In a very cold January, this was just the book to brighten up my weekend. The birthday in question is Sally's 40th. While online choosing her own present from her husband Simon (tells you a lot about the husband already!) she gets an email from him telling her he's leaving her. It soon emerges that he has a 19 year old Latvian lapdancer on the side - only a few years older than their daughter. Reeling from the shock, she books a holiday and takes her children, Lucy and Ollie, off to Turkey. There she meets up with and is included in a group of people who meet up at the resort every year. In this group, is single father and very handsome Dubliner James. Sparks of attraction fly between them but are either actually ready for a relationship or will this be a holiday romance?
I have to say much though all the holiday makers sounded like lovely people and great fun I would hate to be holidaying with them. They were so drunk and loud all the time! However, this did lead to lots of very funny situations with the karaoke evenings springing to mind. Debbie Johnson has created lots of very memorable characters and situations in her book not least of which is Miss McTavish with her rather forthright questions! I was horrified and entertained in equal measure by Sally's Goth daughter, Lucy, who was so incredibly rude to her mother and to everyone in general really. I was getting a bit fed up with how often Sally's ample bosom was referred to and ogled over by every man in the place but to be fair, this was balanced out by frequent references to the attractiveness of James' behind both in and out of his jeans!
The Birthday That Changed Everything has a lot of really funny moments which will have you giggling away but there are also a few shocks and surprises and a lot of emotional moments too. The romance between Sally and James was great to read about with all its ups and downs. I felt this was probably very realistic for people in their position, living in different countries and with children and ex-partners and all that comes with that to consider. This is a perfect book for when you want a funny, entertaining read with a healthy dose of romance thrown in.
(I was given my copy from the publishers via Netgalley)
I have to say much though all the holiday makers sounded like lovely people and great fun I would hate to be holidaying with them. They were so drunk and loud all the time! However, this did lead to lots of very funny situations with the karaoke evenings springing to mind. Debbie Johnson has created lots of very memorable characters and situations in her book not least of which is Miss McTavish with her rather forthright questions! I was horrified and entertained in equal measure by Sally's Goth daughter, Lucy, who was so incredibly rude to her mother and to everyone in general really. I was getting a bit fed up with how often Sally's ample bosom was referred to and ogled over by every man in the place but to be fair, this was balanced out by frequent references to the attractiveness of James' behind both in and out of his jeans!
The Birthday That Changed Everything has a lot of really funny moments which will have you giggling away but there are also a few shocks and surprises and a lot of emotional moments too. The romance between Sally and James was great to read about with all its ups and downs. I felt this was probably very realistic for people in their position, living in different countries and with children and ex-partners and all that comes with that to consider. This is a perfect book for when you want a funny, entertaining read with a healthy dose of romance thrown in.
(I was given my copy from the publishers via Netgalley)
bananatricky's review
4.0
Another great novel by Debbie Johnson.
Sally is 39 years old, buying her own birthday present from her husband, when she gets an email from him saying he needs some space, it's not her it's him, oh and can she iron five work shirts for him? Of course, it's the age old story of middle-aged husband 'falling in love' with a girl half his age!
As revenge/ comfort Sally takes her two teenage children, Lucy the foul-mouthed Goth and Ollie the six foot nerd to Turkey for a two week holiday. I couldn't work out whether I would love or hate to stay in the hotel with Sally and what turn out to be her new friends: Marcia and Rick, James and Jake, Allie, Mike and Max, Ian and Jenny and the scary Miss McTavish. There's booze-fuelled nights, karaoke, boat trips and teenage angst.
Set over four holidays in the same resort watch as love blossoms, tragedy hits and Sally and her children find out what it means to have the sort of friends that would help you bury a body!
As I sit here on a rainy Monday morning in London part of me is still sitting on a sunbed next to Sally, slathering on the factor 25 and slugging back cocktails watching as Rick leers over the young Turkish waiters and Mike opens his next can of beer.
Hey ho, it's off to work I go ... Highly recommended reading, funny and sad and endearing all in one.
Sally is 39 years old, buying her own birthday present from her husband, when she gets an email from him saying he needs some space, it's not her it's him, oh and can she iron five work shirts for him? Of course, it's the age old story of middle-aged husband 'falling in love' with a girl half his age!
As revenge/ comfort Sally takes her two teenage children, Lucy the foul-mouthed Goth and Ollie the six foot nerd to Turkey for a two week holiday. I couldn't work out whether I would love or hate to stay in the hotel with Sally and what turn out to be her new friends: Marcia and Rick, James and Jake, Allie, Mike and Max, Ian and Jenny and the scary Miss McTavish. There's booze-fuelled nights, karaoke, boat trips and teenage angst.
Set over four holidays in the same resort watch as love blossoms, tragedy hits and Sally and her children find out what it means to have the sort of friends that would help you bury a body!
As I sit here on a rainy Monday morning in London part of me is still sitting on a sunbed next to Sally, slathering on the factor 25 and slugging back cocktails watching as Rick leers over the young Turkish waiters and Mike opens his next can of beer.
Hey ho, it's off to work I go ... Highly recommended reading, funny and sad and endearing all in one.
ljbentley27's review
5.0
Some authors just do it for me. They write stories that I just fall completely in love with. Debbie Johnson is one of those authors.
In her latest novel The Birthday that Changed Everything we meet Sally. She’s about to turn forty. Her daughter, Lucy, makes it obvious that she has no respect for Sally – she eff’s and jeff’s with vim; her son, bless him tries to steady the rocky relationship but even his patience is wearing thing; and she has a husband who has up sticks and left her for lap dancer. Things aren’t looking good for Sally but in a fit of defiance against her crumbling life she books a family holiday that changes her life.
What I loved about The Birthday that Changed Everything is that Johnson breaks down a lot of societal walls. She has a woman who knows that her life isn’t perfect. She knows her relationship is obviously not perfect and she does not have the perfect family (i.e. muck mouth of a daughter). Yes, what Debbie Johnson has so accurately captured in her novel is that people aren’t always perfect and can’t be pigeon-holed. Sally makes you feel ok about yourself. She makes you see that life is messy and you are not always going to be the prettiest, youngest or slimmest person but…and this is the important bit…you can still nab the hunkiest man around. Yes, I used the word “hunkiest” and I am not ashamed of it.
In all seriousness, Debbie Johnson’s The Birthday that Changed Everything is a story with a big heart. It will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, covered my face in agony and shame, screamed in frustration and felt the truly full happy feeling that you get when you turn the final page of a great story. Sally was the perfect protagonist; Bridget Jones, eat your heart out. There is a new hot mess in town!
The Birthday that Changed Everything by Debbie Johnson is available from 28th January 2016.
Follow Debbie Johnson (@debbiemjohnson) on Twitter.
In her latest novel The Birthday that Changed Everything we meet Sally. She’s about to turn forty. Her daughter, Lucy, makes it obvious that she has no respect for Sally – she eff’s and jeff’s with vim; her son, bless him tries to steady the rocky relationship but even his patience is wearing thing; and she has a husband who has up sticks and left her for lap dancer. Things aren’t looking good for Sally but in a fit of defiance against her crumbling life she books a family holiday that changes her life.
What I loved about The Birthday that Changed Everything is that Johnson breaks down a lot of societal walls. She has a woman who knows that her life isn’t perfect. She knows her relationship is obviously not perfect and she does not have the perfect family (i.e. muck mouth of a daughter). Yes, what Debbie Johnson has so accurately captured in her novel is that people aren’t always perfect and can’t be pigeon-holed. Sally makes you feel ok about yourself. She makes you see that life is messy and you are not always going to be the prettiest, youngest or slimmest person but…and this is the important bit…you can still nab the hunkiest man around. Yes, I used the word “hunkiest” and I am not ashamed of it.
In all seriousness, Debbie Johnson’s The Birthday that Changed Everything is a story with a big heart. It will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions. I laughed, covered my face in agony and shame, screamed in frustration and felt the truly full happy feeling that you get when you turn the final page of a great story. Sally was the perfect protagonist; Bridget Jones, eat your heart out. There is a new hot mess in town!
The Birthday that Changed Everything by Debbie Johnson is available from 28th January 2016.
Follow Debbie Johnson (@debbiemjohnson) on Twitter.
laural27's review
Decided to DNF this book as I don't think I'm going to enjoy the rest of it. Sadly this just wasn't for me. I found the sex references too gratuitous and did nothing to forward the narrative and, in my opinion, weren't funny and instead just crass.
The characters were just a bunch of over-exaggerated stereotypes: the 40 something woman who's been cheated on who then goes and re-invents herself, the hormonal young daughter, the handsome man who falls head over heels etc.
I hated the character of the daughter - her language and behaviour was abhorrent and unrealistic and I would have expected her to have been punished and kept in line rather than just called names by her own mother.
Also, jokes about her listening to 'suicide songs for beginners' are offensive. I struggle to see why authors and editors continue to allow jokes about mental health to be published.
This book just wasn't for me but I see from other reviews that I am completely in the minority. I have enjoyed Debbie's other books but sadly this one just didn't hit the spot.
The characters were just a bunch of over-exaggerated stereotypes: the 40 something woman who's been cheated on who then goes and re-invents herself, the hormonal young daughter, the handsome man who falls head over heels etc.
I hated the character of the daughter - her language and behaviour was abhorrent and unrealistic and I would have expected her to have been punished and kept in line rather than just called names by her own mother.
Also, jokes about her listening to 'suicide songs for beginners' are offensive. I struggle to see why authors and editors continue to allow jokes about mental health to be published.
This book just wasn't for me but I see from other reviews that I am completely in the minority. I have enjoyed Debbie's other books but sadly this one just didn't hit the spot.
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