I wish I could say that I enjoyed this book more than I actually did. The jumping timelines made it really hard to follow the flow of the story, which may have been the author's intent - to help the reader get into some of what is going on in Grace's scattered mind - but by the middle of the book I was just over it.

The book had a great premise, but just didn't live up to itself. I think a strong edit to keep a more consistent flow would help it tremendously, because I have a lot of sympathy for Grace, and I'd like to see her win this battle of middle aging. But I lost track of how many different time lines there actually were, and the last 100 pages I really just read to check off the "done" column.

Thank you to Net Galley who provided me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I picked this book up after listening to the author at a virtual netgalley event. I was looking for a fast paced fun read and it met some of that criteria. It is fast paced. I enjoyed the fast and short back and forth between time zones although there were moments it felt like I was jogging to keep up with it! At times it is funny but there is a serious and sad side to the read. I’m always intrigued by the decisions an author makes on what interesting side stories or details to include. In this case it is the fact that the main character is a linguist. It definitely added positively to my reading experience. This read is a social commentary and may make you break out in hives if you are currently raising a teenage daughter!

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an early release in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I was drawn to this because it was compared to Eleanor Oliphant. I acknowledge the attempt at matching the quirkiness of Eleanor was earnest, but the author didn't quite pull it off. Too many jumping timeliness that were confusing to follow, and Grace herself was not a character I cared much about. It seemed to me she created most of her own problems and accepted no responsibility for them at all.
I will say the author has a knack for snappy, razor-sharp dialog; that alone makes me want to give her one more try.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Amazing Grace has been compared to "Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove..." and I disagree with that comparison. It sets the wrong expectation for this book. Yes, there is a sort of meet cute in the beginning, but this isn't really a humorous book with cranky, but funny characters. It stands on it's own without the comparisons. It is a look at a woman who changed her course in life, then life hit back hard. Very hard. Unequipped to handle the pain and guilt, Grace checks out of her family's and her own life until one day she just snaps. When Grace abandons her car mid-traffic to reach her daughter's 16th birthday party of which she wasn't invited, her mind starts to unspool over her losses and what she wants going forward. It seems like way too much time and trauma have occurred to repair the damage, but I was rooting for all the members of this damaged family.

I really wanted to like this book more but there is a lot going on and it’s not always easy to know “when” in the storyline you’re reading about. It also seems to just keep going when you already know how hard or sad or depressing or difficult a situation is just so emphasize the main character’s current state of mind. It is a story about a strong woman who is approaching menopause and is coming to terms with several different events in her life and deciding how to deal with these events, over the course of one day, her daughter’s 16th birthday.
I rate it 2 1/2 stars. Thank you Netgalley for the eARC.

Two people who speak several languages each somehow fail to find the words to keep their marriage together. We learn about prize-winning polyglot Grace Adams and how her life has fallen apart. She’s on the verge of divorce and her teenage daughter won’t speak to her.

The story is told through multiple timelines, and we get pieces of the puzzle and finally see the whole picture at the end. In this case, I wish it would have been told chronologically. I felt like I was missing the details of Grace’s story to understand her character better.

On the day of Lotte’s 16th birthday, a myriad of disasters befalls Grace, starting with a giant traffic jam. She decides to walk away from her car, determined to pick up a birthday cake.

This is a story of motherhood, love, menopause, and fighting back from adversity. Grace was an interesting character and I think now that I’ve had a chance to reflect back on the book, she is getting more sympathy from me.

“Where’d You Go, (amazing) Grace?

This is what the Publisher’s blurb promised:
“Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove… meet Amazing Grace Adams, the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.”

Whenever I read that I am about to meet the next Eleanor or Ove-I am all in!

But, Grace is nothing like those characters.

However, the story is reminiscent of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” (Maria Semple) so at least that comparison is accurate.

In 2002, Grace Adams was an AMAZING woman-a polyglot who spoke 5 languages and was also beautiful, competitive and impulsive. She had her whole life mapped out and was confident about what she wanted.

“Four months prior” to the “NOW” chapters is when Grace lost her husband Ben’s love and her daughter Lotte’s trust.

And, “”NOW” today, on Lotte’s 16th birthday, she has reached her own breaking point.

Stuck in standstill traffic, she exits her car and abandons it. She cannot let Lotte down again, and she is determined that she will pick up her daughter’s birthday cake and deliver it to her party on time- despite the fact that she wasn’t invited and EVEN if she has to walk the rest of the way to her ex husband’s new flat, carrying the cake the rest of the way there!

How can a woman fall so far from grace?

This is her story.

Round and round and round we go-alternating between the THREE timelines, throughout the entire book.

It was not at all confusing -BUT, I think if the story had been told chronologically with just flashbacks to 2002, the story would have worked better.

Often manic, and rarely funny, this one didn’t quite work for me, but it also has many 5 star reviews, so it just might resonate with you.

You can find out if it does on September 5, 2023.

Thank You to Henry Holt and Co. for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review.

This was one of the most intense reads I've had in quite a while. The story is about one day in the life of Grace Adams, mother of Lotte and wife of Ben. Grace and Ben met in 2002 at a conference/competition of polyglots. They discovered an instant and intense connection. The story gives the background of how Grace Adams comes to the day of Lotte's sixteenth birthday and why she is in crisis mode.

She and Ben have more than sixteen years of history as a couple and have reached a breaking point. Grace feels old and worn out at age 42 with symptoms of perimenopause. Her career is stalling due to an inability to focus and get things done, including showing up on time for work.

I loved the initial discovery of their fierce attraction, both physical and intellectual. Grace and Ben had fun with everything they did until real life came to call. They dealt with parents, jobs, and pregnancy the best they could, together and united. Ben's loyalty to Grace was stunning.

I loved this deep, thoughtful book of love and life and loss. However, things are all falling apart as Grace desperately tries to get a spectacular birthday cake for Lotte for her sixteenth birthday party. I felt like I had traveled this arduous journey with them.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

I just reviewed Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood. #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co for my ARC in exchange for me honest review. This book will be published September 5, 2023.

In my opinion Grace Adams is NOT amazing. She’s a mess. Living with unresolved grief and guilt, she snaps on her daughter’s 16th birthday while trying to get a fancy cake for a party she wasn’t invited to. She abandons her car in traffic, steals a golf club, bashes another car and lies to the police.

But wait. There’s more joy! She loses her job, her husband has an affair and her daughter is in an inappropriate relationship with her teacher! There is so much going on in this book and it’s all depressing.

Told in 3 different time periods, this book was a mess. Could have been 1 star but gave it 2 since Grace Adams finally grew up. But too little too late.

Grace is having the worst day. It is her daughter’s sixteenth birthday and her daughter refuses to see her. She is estranged from her husband. Menopause is overwhelming. The heat wave is just too much to bear. Grace leaves her car in the middle of the road and starts walking to pick up the beautiful birthday cake she has made for her daughter. If she can only take it to her, everything will be ok.
The author did a wonderful job of making the reader feel all the jumbled overwhelming feelings, both emotional and physical that Grace feels. The story is told in flashbacks that slowly unravel the story of how Grace and her family got to this day. There is a surprise towards the end of the book. And I really liked the ending. I am very much a mood reader and spending so much time in Graces jumbled thoughts was not easy. Overall, I am glad I read it. I read it as a slow but steady. In the right mood, I probably would have read it much more quickly.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC I am glad to have read this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This cleverly crafted book presented in three timelines, with a minimal cast of characters, was both a joy and a shock to my system.
What began as a lighthearted story twisted into a survival manual for the main character. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant and Bernadette should find Amazing Grace Adams right up their reading alley.

Thank you to Net Galley and Henry Holt for the advanced copy.

Grace is having one of those horrible, no-good, very bad days, and when stuck in complete gridlock London traffic while trying to pick up a birthday cake for her estranged 16-year-old daughter has a bit of a breakdown. She abandons her car in the middle of the road and heads off on foot in a bit of a misguided quest to win back her daughter's affections, with quite the physical and emotional roller-coastering along the way. The story is actually told in chapters that alternate among 3 timelines: Grace's current very bad day; 4 months ago when Grace's difficulties with her surly began, her divorce papers arrived, and the horrible hormones of early menopause kicked in; and about 16 years earlier (and beyond), when Grace felt like the "amazing Grace" that her TV producers dubbed her, when she first met her husband, got pregnant, but then put her career on hold to be a mother, etc. I thought this was an excellent way to structure the book - while Grace's current bad day is the "point" of the story, it would have been exhausting to read many chapters in a row of this, as everything feels so bleak at times, but also veers a bit into the zany with some of the ill-advised decisions she makes. But slowly building an understanding of how she got to that point made it pretty propulsive reading (for what I would say is a bit more character-driven of a book) and also very real in terms of her emotions and her struggles with being a mother and a woman and a wife along the way. It actually reminded me a tad of Lessons in Chemistry, with the brilliant woman (this one in linguistics, rather than chemistry) who has an unexpected TV gig and pregnancy/single parent-hood, faces sexism in her roles, and doesn't always have a lot of ease in getting along with others. I also got vibes of Maria Semple (Where'd You Go Bernadette and Today Will Be Different) with the tone/foibles and the emphasis on motherhood and the character having a bit of a breakdown in dealing with all of the demands of being a woman. I will add a trigger warning for traumatic parental grief - it got deeper and more emotional than I expected, but it was so well done. I grew to really love Grace and I appreciated so much what this book had to say about womanhood, redemption, and - yes - grace.

Grace Adams has finally had it! She's tired of giving, giving, giving to others, only to end up in her mid-forties about to be divorced, and estranged from her daughter who is turning sweet-16 today. She's tired of being put on the back burner in life and being seen less and less as the years pass. She's just had enough of it all. This day will be different, you can bet on that! She will be seen and heard and noticed.

The story takes place over the course of one day in London, with two other timelines also in play: 2003 through 2018 covering Grace meeting Ben, and the ups and downs of their life together, and four-months to two-months prior to meltdown covering her eroding relationship with her daughter.

This book will resonate with many women/wives/mothers who understand what it's like to do your best and have it deemed not be good enough. Who valiantly struggle with juggling all the "must do's" only to have them come crashing down around you. It's a wonderful story about maintaining your sense of self in the intimacy of marriage, and the complexities of motherhood. It's poignant, it's funny, it's sad, it's heartbreaking, and uplifting all at the same time.

It's very hard to believe this is a debut novel; I definitely want to read more by Fran Littlewood!

My thanks to Henry Holt & Company for allowing me to access a DRC via NetGalley. This novel is scheduled for publication on 9/5/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

While I currently have small children, I can imagine the stress of teenagers being much like the chaos of this novel. I'm a sucker for perimenopausal characters. The time hops were sometimes a little disorienting, but otherwise it's an enjoyable and relatable read.

Not sure why this new trend in writing books has authors jumping from one year ago to four months before then back to the present. This is so confusing and makes reading the book more of a chore. What has happened to the linear method of telling a story? As to Amazing Grace Adams, it was entertaining (even with the jumping around) and nearly every mother can identify with the trials of having a teen daughter, but the ending deteriorated into totally unbelievable events. I don't think it was necessary to make Grace a law breaker to show she cared about her daughter.

Thanks NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advanced reader's copy. The following is my own thoughts about the book.

While cute story several parts are predictable. It does have a twist but its hard to follow and comes out of nowhere. This is a quick read and I did enjoy it. I do not consider this book over the top.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the E-Arc copy of this novel. I really enjoyed this novel. It is realistic, funny, and frankly true to heart.

- You know when a plot twist is earned? That was not this book. The dead child, Bea, was a poorly written plot device. It is a great example of the dreaded plot twist mistake that will annoy the reader instead of exciting/engaging them. Revealed way too late in the story when it was important to the dynamics.
-It would have been MUCH better, a more poignant story, if the author would’ve examined how the death of one child led to the parents, and their marriage, unraveling. And how only focusing on themselves and drowning in their own demons led to neglecting their surviving daughter’s needs and grief, which led to her being groomed by her teacher. That they believe they're good, average parents on the surface, but failed to give Lotte the emotional support she needed because they were lost in themselves.
-The three timelines were VERY confusing. Should've had two timelines, at most. One where the parents meet and their story, Second in present time where they’re lost in their own worlds and ignoring their daughter’s needs (especially since they don’t think they’re doing so, they can’t see it. Can't see their own shortcomings. No parent can until its usually too late). The first timeline would've
The author didn't bring out the depths and complexity this story needed.


Not a strong enough start. The beginning needs to be catchy in this day and age, and I just felt bored and uncomfortable reading about her hot, sweat-inducing car ride. I want to be grabbed from the first page. Not the best prose, either. The ending of the first chapter made me cringe: 'she smiles at him. With her mouth, not her eyes. "Deal with it," she whispers. She just sounds off and inconsiderate to me because despite everything Grace goes though, I never feel any empathy for her. The author has to foster that. A bit of backstory was given in terms of the call she avoided with her sister, but not in an intriguing (empathy-inducing) way.
So, already not off to a good start. But I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.

The book was ambitious, but not as tightly woven together as it needed to be. It reads like a debut.
People may complain that this book may have tried to do too much (too many themes), but that's not the problem. The problem is that it didn't do it well with the depth it deserved. Many classic, epic novels deal with a myriad of themes, but the difference here is that they are able to weave all those themes so effortlessly. The plot and writing was a bit cluttered. The three timelines were messy.
However, I have hopes for this author's coming works.
Also
- messy; hard to follow
- too much telling; not enough showing
-cringey sentences and dialogue at times

I began enjoying this book. The writing was easy to read, and the plot was going in a good direction! Some of the foreign words made it difficult at points to read, but after learning what they were I was okay. It then got kind of messy with too many things to focus on. I’m not a huge fan of third person narration either. Unfortunately, I think with too many themes, it made it confusing and hard to follow with not enough depth. I would definitely try another book by Littlewood!

Every character kept telling us how amazing Grace is but the author forgot to show us! Grace is in the midst of perimenopause, dealing with a marriage break-up and a teenager who seems to have gone off the rails. And Grace has checked out of life.
This is a multi timeline story that never gives us a glimpse of Grace when she isn’t out of control of her emotions. Her present day is so full of trepidation and chaos, it became painful to read.
I would have loved the author to have used the past moments to show us Grace in lighter moments. When Ben first meets her we get a glimpse of Super Grace but not enough. The rest of Grace is obsessive, shaky, self-centered and hard to route for. There is a constant shadow throughout this book that I felt needed a contrast. Lottie was written brilliantly and is very remarkable when you realize the poor girl had basically brought herself up. Grace may try to tell us she has been there for Lottie but all her actions suggest otherwise. Lottie is a very sweet girl under that teenage grump!
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.