I absolutely loved this book! I could not put it down. Every mother needs to read this book.

Amazing Grace Adams is a brilliant book about marriage, motherhood, grief, and the universal guilt all mothers at one time or another feels when raising children. That they have failed their kids and are not the parent they think they should be.

I found myself rooting for Grace to see what an amazing mom she is.

Thank you #NetGally, #MacMiillian and especially #FranLittlewood for the ARC.

I'm not a mother so maybe that's why I struggled to connect with this book and at parts I really connected with Grace however overall it felt disjointed and as if we were trudging through the character development. I liked the concept of the three timeless of before, during, and after although I grappled with the execution. I really enjoy flawed imperfect characters and this book does that well.

An enjoyable read that is heartbreaking at times and heartwarming at other times. Grace Adams is quirky, carefree, unpredictable, and amazing. An entertaining read from start to finish.

I really liked the first half of the book, but then it just kept getting weirder. There’s too much going on, too many storylines, and the Now parts were just bizarre.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh Grace Adams, I fell in love with you in the first chapter! Grace is a mess as a perimenopausal, 45 year old mother, just trying to get a birthday cake to her 16 year old daughter's birthday party and nearly everything that can go wrong does. Fran Littlewood does an amazing job telling the story of Grace, Ben and Lottie through three different timelines in this novel. The balance of heartache, humor, and relatability of the mess we call life in this book is skillfully done in a way that left me continuously thinking about this family. There are passages in this book that had me laughing out loud at the absurdity of the situation, but yet in the next chapter my heart would go out to Grace as she tries to navigate life with a teenager finding her own way. I absolutely loved this book and the will look forward to reading more from Fran Littlewood in the future. Thank you to Net Galley, and Henry Holt & Company for the advanced copy of this book that I'm certain will become a favorite of many other, imperfect mothers like myself just trying to get through this crazy life, all opinions are my own.

I don't know what I was expecting - something a bit more lighthearted and feel good, I suppose. This was, however, rather dark and dismal and tough to read. That's not to say it wasn't good, because I thought it was. Grace Adams really had everything thrown at her - if there's a triggering plot line, she faces it here. Yeah, that's probably a bit over the top and farfetched. I would have preferred to focus on maybe one or two catastrophes, but...life!! As mentioned, it was tough to watch Grace fall to pieces as things pile on and she sinks further and further into dark territory, but I found myself unable to look away. I see you, Grace!!

Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood is the story of a woman on the verge told via three timelines: 2002/2003, 4 months ago, and Now. I saw in the Acknowledgements at the end that the author was inspired to write this in part by the film Falling Down, which made the book (and my reaction to it) make a lot more sense.

I am a mother in my (almost) 40s and I enjoyed how frank the book is about the difficulty in raising a teen daughter. And I thought Grace's path to motherhood was an honest look at the choices many women make, and how motherhood profoundly transforms ones life, for better or worse.

That said, I found the three timelines disorienting, and in the present day timeline, I went from feeling sympathy for Grace to deep frustration. I think the idea of the book was more satisfying than the book itself, for me at least, which was a bummer.

Parents, especially parents of teens, would probably take a lot away from this book. It wasn't for me as my anxiety was high throughout, but I think some readers may really connect to Grace's journey.

What an absolute ride of a novel this was! I adored Grace as she struggles with her soon to be ex, Ben and her daughter Lotte. It is hard to write a review without giving too much away. However, it was so refreshing to have a middle aged powerful and struggling woman as a main character. What a wonderful read. This was definitely a five star read!

I really expected to love this book based on other reviews, but it just didn’t work for me. I did find her struggles with her teen daughter to be accurate and relatable, but the vast majority of the time I felt like the book drug in and on. This book tackles a lot of tough topics, handled through flashbacks and current timeline. I think things might could have flowed better had the author chosen two timelines, but this flashes to 2002, 4 months ago, and Now. (Give or take a few months in there). I just felt like the story was too much in many way. I didn’t like the characters, so that made it hard to keep reading till the end to see how it all unfolded. I really hate giving negative reviews because I do think anytime someone is courageous enough to write a story and get it published it should be applauded. But based on reviews, it seems most people love this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to read this book thanks to the publisher and Netgalley. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I couldn't put it down. I was intrigued to know how Grace went from having a very promising future to having her whole life fall apart. The book jumped around to different periods in Grace's life, and suspense built about how Grace's problems evolved. As much as I enjoyed it, it was sometimes a little confusing to follow which events in her life caused some of her actions. The confusion almost seemed to reflect the chaos in Grace's life, so it wasn't as bothersome to me as it otherwise might have been. Although there is plenty of humor and romance in the story, there are also serious topics which are very realistic and relatable. I highly recommend this book, and I think it would be a great choice for book discussion groups.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy from Net Galley. The story is set in London and follows the life of Grace, an award winning linguist who specializes in 5 languages. It begins describing Grace’s meltdown as she abandons her car in the middle of traffic and proceeds to walk across London in an effort to deliver a cake to her estranged 16 year old daughter and win her love back. The format of the book is confusing at times because it flashes back to 3 different times (early on in her marriage, 6 months ago and the present). The telling of 3 storylines makes it difficult to follow. This is a story of the complexities of being a woman, wife and mother while reconciling all the unpredictable challenges life has to offer.

DID NOT FINISH.

(no rating)

I really liked the concept and idea of the story, especially with the three different timelines. I felt that certain timelines were more engaging than others.

That being said. I did not like the internal monologues of the character's thoughts. I felt the mother's thoughts on the daughter were quite weird and made me feel uncomfortable. Also, Ben's thoughts, "He wants to open her up, to gain access to her," were just so dehumanizing? I just could not get behind it. She isn't a computer you need to open up. The writing just was not for me.

Thank you, NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Just wanted to love this book after reading the description but sadly I didn’t connect with it. It was chaos and not grabbing me in. I do appreciate NetGalley for the ARC for the purpose of this review. Three stars.

3.25/5 stars! This was a really interesting story; one focused on healing family ruptures and finding your best self despite the pressures of the world. I don't think I was the ideal audience for this story but found myself charmed by the first 40% of the story. It felt unrealistic at times and Grace had some amazing qualities, but she was far from amazing overall. Sometimes she was frustrating and selfish and that made it hard to root for her. But overall, an enjoyable contemporary fiction novel.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Thank you to Net Galley and Henry Holt and Company for this gifted Ebook..

Grace Adams is having a heck of a day. She is a likable middle-aged mother of a teenager. That alone makes me want to root for her. And she's having one of those days where despite your absolute best efforts, everything goes to sh*t. The book follows three timelines: present day, just a few months prior, and when she met her husband and the years following that.

What I liked:
I enjoyed Grace and Adam's romance turned marriage and the description of the small family they had made. Fran Littlewood does an amazing job at describing the challenges and emotions that come along with parenting a 16 year old. These parts of the book were spot on! At times, the book brought tears to my eyes as I identified with Grace and her parenting struggles. Events that shaped Grace's state of mind throughout the book were heartbreaking to read and for me validated much of her behavior.

What I didn't enjoy:
I could have happily read about Grace, Ben, and their daughter for hundreds of pages as they are a very relatable modern-day family. There are twists and turns that were distracting and as such made it a bit of a rollercoaster. I went quickly from sympathizing with Grace and crying along with her to what in the heck is going on?! Why did that just happen?! Had the book focused more on the family dynamics it would have been 4+ stars. It was just a bit all over the place in certain areas.

Grace attends a language convention and finishes first in translation. Her prize is a stay at a resort and since she has no one to take with her, she invites Ben who finished second. In present day, Grace is in her forties, dealing with the loss of her career, troubles with her adolescent daughter, a divorce, death, and health problems. The book goes back and forth between months, and years which made it hard to wrestle with all of Grace’s problems. All of the problems seemed real, it was just that there were too many unresolved issues. The switching of time frames got a bit confusing. I do like the idea of the main character being in her forties. I really liked Ben but wish he had been more helpful. Nice to highlight middle age and its struggles. Just too many and not enough support for Grace.

Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood is hard for me to review because I liked many aspects of the book but also disliked several others. The story line is told to us mainly by Grace and a few other characters. One story line is set on a single day with other timelines mixing in that try to get you to understand how Grace got to the present day. The story lines went back and forth so fast that it took quite sometime to feel comfortable with all that was going on.
The story is one many people can relate to, A middle aged woman going through peri-menopause, plus a separation/divorce and Grace works several different jobs, has a teenager and a spouse to deal with. She has a lot going on and you have to try and keep up with all that is thrown into the book. I understood the need Grace had for many of her motives and I liked her to a point as a character but it felt like I the reader was in a middle of a tornado in her head. Perhaps the author wanted us to feel that way because the character felt like that, but it was too much for me. I also wanted to know more about Ben the father and soon to be X. He seemed like a very caring and sweet dad but just didn't know where he fit into everything.
The one thing I really enjoyed and had no idea was coming along in the story was a" big surprise." However, I thought the surprise should of come sooner so you could understand more of the family dynamics. Too much was thrown in near the end to completely enjoy.
I know most of the reviews gave this book a three or higher and I am in the minority with a 2.5 star rating. I just felt this could of been a three or four for me but my head hurt at times reading and I could not wait to get to the end. I almost did not finish because I just could not deal with anymore craziness. I want to thank Net Galley for sending me an ARC of the book for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fran Littlewood for providing me with an eARC of this amazing, funny, honest book full of motherhood and marriage and everything in between. 🫶🏻

This Book definitely gave me Finlay Donovan is Killing it Vibes. Grace Adams is a spunky, premenopausal, funny woman who is reflecting back at how her life has changed and who she is becoming. I was blown away by how the truths about motherhood and depression were intertwined in this book. If you are a mom you will understand SO many things in this book. This was one of my favorite quotes from the book:

“It was because of the guilt. The same guilt Grace feels. The universal mothering guilt that is surely implanted in the delivery room along with that Pitocin shot. One out, one in. This crazed truth that no matter how hard they try, mothers feel they have failed their kids, that they are not good enough, not quite up to the job.”

I greatly enjoyed this book. I loved the little mystery going on. I loved the practicality of the characters. I loved how the author wrote about some hard subjects. I highly recommend this book if you are a mom who is just trying to get it together (like all of us🤪).

I loved this book from the beginning scene Grace a middle aged women with her life swirling around her is stuck in traffic.She finally has has had enough she gets out of her leaves it and walks away.A book women will relate to as she deals with her problems with her daughter and other issues.Will be recommending #netgalley#henryholtbooks

Amazing Grace Adam’s by Fran Littlewood starts off strong and brought into the story quickly of the life and loves of Grace Adams.
The storyline moved slowly for me and when Grace was having a mental breakdown on her daughter’s 16th birthday, it bewildered me with the complexity of all that was going on in her mind. I quickly got bored and found myself skimming pages until I was interested again.
While the ending explained the mental frailty and brought the story to a heartwarming conclusion, I felt vindicated to have skimmed over the mental break.
That might have been my own personal reaction of avoiding pain that I did not understand.