Every mother over the age of 40 should read this book. Powerful description of the complexity of the mother-daughter relationship and the indignities and difficulties that often come with middle age. I cried for Grace several times as I pulled for her to get her daughter back.

Grace Adams is stuck in traffic on a hot summer day, and she has reached the end of her rope. Grace abandons her car in the middle of a busy road and sets off on a very eventful journey back to her family, back to her life. She’s determined to reach her daughter’s 16th birthday, uninvited, to deliver a special cake she’s hoping will say everything that’s been left unsaid for the past 8 years. And she will do anything to make it in time.

At its core, Amazing Grace Adams is an emotional story of clawing your way out from rock bottom. It’s a story of resilience, of the everyday struggles women face. It is the story of how emotional trauma can pull at one string and quickly unravel your life at the seams.

In the beginning it was quite confusing jumping between so many time frames. However, as you continue reading you will see that Littlewood weaves in each intricate detail to tell how Grace made it to where she is today, to the woman that she has become, and to remind you exactly just how amazing she is. I promise, if you can stick with the jumpy timelines, it’s worth it!

I loved the way that motherhood was portrayed here. As a mother, you make all of your decisions the best you can. You are loving and endearing, strong and fiercely protective. But there’s always a place in the back of your mind where the guilt slowly creeps in, where you wonder if you’re doing it right, or if you’re doing enough. You can be ALL of the good things that your child needs while, inside, still feeling like chaos. Littlewood portrays this SO perfectly.

It has been a long while since I’ve reached the end of a book and really had to sit with my thoughts on it. More often than not I am reading to escape reality, to live in a fantasy world for a short time. I think I was almost the perfect target audience for this book, having been divorced and raising a teenager in this modern technology crazed day and age. So many things resonated with me and hit hard, really close to home.

Amazing Grace Adams was funny at times, a bit chaotic, sad and ultimately very moving.

I'm having a bit of a hard time rating and reviewing this one. I think it is very well-written, realistic, and the three timelines were cohesive and flowed well. It held my interest, and I was invested in finding out what happened. On the other hand, it also just made me sad. I felt like Grace had zero support and was really failed by her husband. I kept waiting for her to confront him unapologetically and truly express her needs, and I just never felt like she got to do that, all the way up to the end. That's probably what makes it realistic, because I do see it playing out that way for many women, but it also really bummed me out.

I thought Littlewood did a great job exploring how hard it is keeping up with your teenager's needs. It's really tough to walk the line between snooping and staying involved, between keeping them safe and breaking their trust. Grace's struggles with this was well-done, although I was a little uncomfortable with how often the 15-year-old daughter's looks/attractiveness was described.

Overall, I think this was a well-written book that takes a close look at the way society lets women down as they age, and it definitely made me want to check on all the forty-something women in my life.

CW - child death, sexual assault

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. Will recommend it to everyone.

What a moving story.
Lots of drama that moves at a frenetic pace, but I liked it and I think most mothers will relate.. The story is of about a middle aged woman in the midst of divorce and her trials and tribulations with her teenager.
I'll admit it was hard to connect to the characters but still a fun read and a poignant message.
Thanks to netgalley and ther publisher for the ARC in exchange for my reivew.

Amazing Grace Adams was a chaotic but interesting look at the main character's life when it all falls apart. I liked the reflection on motherhood and femininity, as well as the looks back in time throughout Grace's life.

A wonderful read that is perfect for every woman out there who has forgotten who she was before marriage and motherhood. Truly a journey of self discovery and validation!

I really wanted to like this one but I got halfway through and had to stop in just didn’t feel connected to any of the characters, even Lotte, who Was the most sympathetic. Also, with the three timelines, it was too disorienting.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Grace Adams has had enough. Her future once felt bright — a job on a game show where she got to showcase her talent for languages, a beautiful daughter, and an enviable marriage. But, now, everything feels like it is falling apart. Her husband is divorcing her, her daughter is living with her father and no longer speaking with her, and she is barely holding on to her jobs. Near her breaking point, she is determined to pick up a cake for her daughter’s 16th birthday and bring it to her daughter’s party (which, by the way, she has been expressly told not to attend). When she gets stuck in traffic, she abandons her car and begins walking — to the cake, to her daughter, and, hopefully, to a brighter future. The story tracks her unlikely and difficult journey to pick up the cake and get it to her daughter, interspersed with flash backs to how she got to this point.

This is a perceptive and impactful story about family, motherhood, and overcoming the hurts of the past. This one will have you thinking long after you finish the last page.

Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “Amazing Grace Adams” in exchange for an honest review. Congratulations to the author on getting published and bringing Grace Adams to life. Unfortunately, this book was not the book for me. This was in the same vein of books like Eleanor Oliphant is Complete Fine, Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties, or The Cactus. Unlike those books, the conflict, drama, and chaos was the only thing this book had. In all of the frenetic energy, drama, and conflict, there was no opportunity to connect with the characters. It was all small moments that led to plot development, but no development of character. It was so depressing, and not in the good way that makes you want to read sad books. It tackled difficult subjects (grief, sexual assault, class, infidelity, career woes, etc.) with little to no nuance or complexity. Three hundred pages of a 45-year-old woman being failed, neglected, abused, and mistreated—serving as a punching bag—for every facet of society. I’m really glad others are enjoying it. It just was not the book for me.

I was drawn to this novel because I identify with Grace's age (mid-forties) and sometimes have the urge to walk away in the middle of a traffic jam, though I haven't actually done it (yet). Weaving between decades, the stories of Grace, her husband Ben, and her daughter Lotte gradually emerge. I had some difficulty keeping up with the jumps in time, but it all came together toward the end. I even felt a bit emotional in parts, and overall ended up liking the book.

Readers expecting a chirpy upbeat women's fiction story may be disappointed, but I really enjoyed this one. Grace Adams is relatable and Littlewood's writing is very strong. You really feel for Grace and all that she's given up and been through. Her quest to reunite with her estranged daughter is immediately compelling.

As a woman around Grace's age, I sympathized with her plight, and I imagine other readers will too.

I particularly enjoyed how the story moves throughout time, taking us back to how Grace arrived at this present moment. At times Grace comes across as annoying, but this didn't bother me. As we learn more about her, we like her more. (And I'm not a reader who feels that a protagonist has to be 100% likable.)

Ultimately this is a charming, bittersweet story that recognizes life isn't always tied up with a neat bow.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company for the ARC; all opinions are my own.

Grace Adams is on her way to pick up a birthday cake for her daughter, when all of a sudden, she just loses it. She leaves her car in traffic, and just walks away. She embarks on a journey to attempt to win back Grace and her estranged husband, Ben. What follows as we continue to read the story is a novel that weaves together Grace’s life over the past number of years, and what has precipitated this crisis and abandonment of her vehicle. We are privy to her strengths, her weaknesses, the difficulties that she has encountered as a wife and mother, and most importantly, what has led up to this day. This storyline will be relatable to most women, as we struggle with all of the different roles that we must embody on a daily basis. I enjoyed reading this novel. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Not sure what I expected, but while I did enjoy the story enough to see how it ends, I did find the jumping around to tell the history a bit slow at times. Start, stop, start, stop. Sadly made me want to skim a bit to see what happens with Grace. Would still recommend though, as a good twist on how someone close to 50 deals with all life changes.

This book was not what I expected. I was expecting a humorous story in where Grace Adams snaps under the weight of menopause. Instead, it was a sad story about a woman who was on track to “having it all” slowly and pitifully has a breakdown. A totally warranted breakdown with lots of stressors in her life and no support system to help her move on, she just couldn’t take it anymore. The book was set in three timelines: the present, the past and a time that explained the last four months leading up to NOW. It meandered back and forth slowly between the time frames, causing me to almost give up on the book a few times. I did not enjoy this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co Publishing. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really tried to like this book. Unfortunately, I was mot crazy about it. It fell flat for me and was a little boring.

Sweltering heat, trapped in standstill traffic, the AC not working, there’s a jerk honking his horn behind you like you could magically fly over the other 25 cars in front of you, your phone is incessantly ringing and it’s someone that you can’t bear to talk to, you’re sweating, you’re overdressed, you’re in the process of being fired from both of your jobs, your teenage daughter hates you (and it’s her birthday and you plan to bribe her with a fabulous cake), and there’s a fly in the car attacking your head. Could it get worse? (Well, yes, if you needed to find a restroom desperately), Grace has had it. She locks up her car, smirks at the jerk, and walks away.

Once Grace was amazing. She’s a polyglot and can learn Romanian in an hour. But now she’s 45, the unhappiest age you can be (actually 45.2) according to some official study.

The story proceeds to tell the story of Grace in terms of then (starting 20 years earlier), recently (starting at 4 months ago) and now. We learn how Grace met Ben, and what happened when Lotte (an unexpected surprise) was born, and how Grace gave up her big career chances. There’s more between Ben and Grace and it might be a chasm too deep to repair. We also learn about the stress of the recent impending divorce and Lotte’s mysterious teenage problems which might not be the innocent normal ones. And in the present, there’s Grace trying to deliver a disappointing cake in time for Lotte’s party and ruminating on all the bad things that happened today, not too long ago and many years ago.

I wasn’t sure how much I liked Grace, but I definitely felt more and more sympathy for her as all the facts of her life were revealed. Her past life is tragic; but she’s trying to find a spark in the present. For her, her age seems to be an apparent factor — the author also deftly discusses the effects of perimenopause and how it sadly affects middle-aged women like Grace. This is a bittersweet tale, beautifully written and emotionally layered. 4 stars.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Company and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES One of Grace’s students, Maisie, has green eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Grace does deadhead her roses, so that a plus just to know that roses do need deadheading.

"Amazing Grace Adams" is an enjoyable and feel-good read with a character who leaves her car, stuck in traffic, and walks away. It is a great breakdown sort of story, and Grace is a likable protagonist that women in their forties will relate to. Recommended for fans of Ann Tyler and Elizabeth Berg. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

"Amazing "Grace Adams follows Grace as she sets out in the world with a University degree and the ability to speak 5 languages, but not sure what she is going to do with her skills. She enters a contest that will test her skills and she meets Ben, who will become her person as she works her way through life. Readers will see themselves as she raises a teenage daughter , who is certain she knows everything and tries to protect her from the frightening world we live in. Meanwhile her body starts to betray her as she hits that "change of life" .

Thanks to NetGalley, Fran Littlewood ,and Henry Holt and Company for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.