Clover Hendry's Day Off-a standalone

By Beth Morrey- new author for me

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐ ½

📄Page Count: 336

Setting: UK

Publication 1/30/24, Read 1/27/24

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC💚 ! I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

🤷🏾‍♀️What to Expect:
✔️ women's/adult fic
✔️ Ferris Bueller's Day Off inspired
✔️ post pandemic
✔️family/work drama

⚠️ mental health issues, drug use, sexual harassment/sexual a*sault

Summary: Clover is a married mother of teenage twins and has a career as a TV executive producer creating shows. Clover has finally had it. She activates her "day off" where she'll say and do whatever she wants-without hesitation, fear, or embarrassment.

The characters:

♀️MFC Clover Hendry-46, going through midlife crisis/perimenopausal and burnt out. Usually she's a people pleaser, a "yes" person who does everything for everyone and puts herself last.

Robbie-Clover's husband. He's a lawyer who rides a bike

Hazel and Ethan- 16, Clover's twins

Susie- Clover's BFF

Rose-Clover's mother is very judgmental and dismissive.

Marigold/Maz-Clover's younger sister, in therapy for anxiety due to her relationship w/ her mother. Admits she got married to a Scot name Calum Fraser w/o telling anyone.

Vincent-Clover's boss

Bigwig- A rabbit Clover finds and gifts to her mother.


🤔 My Thoughts: I wish to do this for myself one day. Having the freedom to do and say whatever you want is the dream. Clover has other motives for her "day off," but I thought she just needed therapy and a vacation. I hate to say it but she came off as mean and disrespectful, especially with her colleagues who helped her tell her truth. I thought the revenge p*rn video was over the top, but Clover needed to have her say, even if it was twenty years later. I'm torn because was this all just license for revenge, or was it a needed release of pinned up regrets?

This was a cute story at the beginning, I totally relate as a mom and someone who runs the household to wanting a day off. I didn’t agree with everything the MC did throughout the book as part of her day off and the ending fell a little flat to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s sons for my advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

Read if you like:
😡 Fed Up Women
🐇 Bunnies
🚘 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
😂 LOL moments

I don't know how many times I watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" when I was a kid with my older siblings but this book definitely took me back vibes wise!

Here comes Clover Henry, representing every middle-aged woman dealing with numerous struggles, constantly putting others' needs before her own until she reaches her breaking point.

She never says no to anyone, even though she feels utterly miserable, slowly crumbling from within. But finally, she decides to give zero sh*ts and flips a bird to the universe, taking a day off! What has changed? What pushed her limits so far that she changed her mind?

This novel is an absolutly so funny as it explores womanhood, motherhood, and finding one's place in the world.

I highly recommend this lighthearted, highly entertaining, and incredibly engaging novel! Thank you so much to the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my review!

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book and found Clover a unique character that you wanted to root for in all that she was doing. There was something liberating about how she was taking charge and just doing what she wanted for once, but as the book continued on, I became bored and disconnected. It seemed like it just kept getting progressively more out there and then I was completely thrown off by the incident at the party. Unfortunately, the book just didn't strike the right chords overall for me personally. I can certainly see where others would enjoy the book and would not have the same opinion that I did, since I initially really enjoyed the unique character and storyline.

Clover Hendry’s Day Off by Beth Morley #sixthbookof2024 #arc

CW: discussion of past sexual assault

From NetGalley:
A hilarious and empowering perimenopausal Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, about Clover Hendry, 46, and the day she decides to stop keeping the plates spinning, say F@#! it all, and finally get hers.

Clover is a 46 year old working mother who has an accident one morning, and decides, the hell with it, I’m taking the day off. The next 24 hours are filled with amusing vignettes in which Clover does what she wants, says what she wants, and doesn’t take any shit from anyone. It was nice to see her stand up for herself and take back some power. These funny chapters are partnered with more serious, introspective chapters talking about family, responsibility, unpaid labor, and other things every woman deals with. This was a quick entertaining read (with some past trauma discussion) and I hope to take a lesson from Clover and apply it to my own life.

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for the advance copy. (Pub date 1/30/24)

#cloverhendry #cloverhendrysdayoff

I so needed to read this book this week (this year, this century). Before she even leaves for work, she has to deal with an improperly loaded dishwasher and an annoying work email. Trying to get rid of her headache, she makes an unusual pharmaceutical decision and gets on the train. Maybe it's the medication, maybe it's the hit to her head as she exits the train, maybe it's something else, but Clover goes completely off-script. As her day unfolds, she puts away an unconscionable amount of alcohol, rescues a dog who turns out to be a rabbit, tells off her mother (and at least a half-dozen others), before revealing what really put her in this mood.

Clover is a delightful relatable character (except for the twin thing; I never had twins and cannot even imagine) with a loyal best friend who goes along with it, not knowing what "it" is, and a thoroughly self-absorbed mother who turns out to be slightly sympathetic. As the blurb says, this is Ferris Bueller's Day Off for women who are fed up with doing it all and pretending they like it. #CloverHendrysDayOff #NetGalley

Clover Hendry has always been the “good girl.” Don’t make a fuss, always make the right comments, make everyone happy, do the right things….. until today.

Today starts off in a jumble, too many things to do, too many things to think about. And on top of it all, in some confusion on the subway, she falls and hits her head. After taking medication for her headache (did she take too much?), she feels better -- but very different.

“Good girl-Clover” has taken the day off, and she does what she wants to do, says what she wants to say, and goes where she wants to go -- very un-Clover-like, and as expected drama, excitement, and hilarity ensue.

Clover’s story is full of fun as she does and says things that she never dreamed she would have the courage for. It is a quick-paced story that keeps the reader wondering what will happen next.

This one was a lot of fun and made me smile!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Beth Morrey, and Penguin Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Thank you to @netgalley and @putnambooks for an advanced readers copy of "Clover Hendry's Day Off" in exchange for an honest review.

I love Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I might not have been born in the 80s but my parents brought me up on 80s films and music. This...was not it. Though, I appreciated Clover FINALLY standing up for herself after living on this earth for nearly 5 decades, the book took a sudden, dark turn that I was not expecting. I thought it would be light-hearted and stay that way. The turn would have been fine if that was suggested in any way in the description but it wasn't so I was taken aback. This needs a trigger warning!! Furthermore, the scenario that Clover remembered was described but not named. Name it! If you're going to go there, then go there. It's as if the author was afraid of truly having Clover tackle her trauma.

Another thing, there is a big difference between standing up for yourself and committing crimes. You can certainly do one without doing the other and the latter was not resolved at the end. What does stealing have to do with standing up for yourself? She wasn't even taking back what was hers! It doesn't make sense to me. I was supportive of Clover speaking up and out but not when she took it to this nonsensical level. It made her appear less assertive and more insane, which negates the entire point of her journey.

She may blame the upside-down forks in the dishwasher, but after years and years of endless capitulations, Clover decides to take a day off.

Though there is an obvious nod to our friends Ferris in the title, I felt Clovers story fell somewhere between that famous day off and Dirty Harry. No, Clover didn't come out with literal guns blazing, but she did have a similar sort of mental break. Clover had been the good daughter, the good wife, the good mother, the good worker, but what did she have to show for it?

Years of compromising her own wants and needs led to this rather chaotic day. There were many hilarious and laugh out loud over-the-top moments as Clover leaned into saying "no" and putting herself first. There were also quite a few missteps and many learning moments as Clover reflected on her past and acted in the present.

In the end, this was an eye-opening day. Not just for Clover, but also for those close to her. She tapped into a part of herself that had been dormant for a long time, and in the process, she found her voice and empowered herself. This story took on some weightier issues under a light-hearted guise, but I still connected with all the appropriate emotions. I felt the pain, joy, disappointment, satisfaction, and rage right along with Clover as she took this unconventional personal journey.

Though I thought Clover went a bit too far at times, I still rooted for her and was proud that she took a stand for herself. It was a great reminder that it's never too late to right the course, to put ourselves first, and mend relationships.

In all honesty, I had a really tough time getting into this story. At around 27% I was ready to call it a day but I really do not like to DNF a book so I kept at it. Maybe skimming it for a bit. Around 75% though, it started to come together for me and I enjoyed the last 1/4 of the book a lot. A nod to Ferris Bueller for sure. In my mind, I'm thinking, after the first "mishap", I would have called it a day and gone back to bed. I'm not sure I could have persevered as Clover did. I think many of us have gotten to our breaking point and lashed out. I think this day in particular was truly cathartic for Clover (and honestly, some parts were for me as well). It was refreshing to see that her husband (and her closest friends) were behind her and that her actions didn't mean she lost everything. There were some out loud chuckles happening but despite the hijinks, the story was about way more serious issues than just a woman losing her ever loving mind for a single day. 3.5 stars

Married mother of two Clover is an executive producer at a television production company.
She is a people-pleaser so when she takes some strong pills for a headache and walks out of her work meeting, it is rather out of character.
Wanting a day to herself, Clover is fast learning to say no and stand up for herself as she makes a splash at a club, has a run-in with some yoga ladies, and deals with an angry artist.
This is like a Ferris Bueller escapade mashed up with Michael Douglas’ serious meltdown in Falling Down.
There’s plenty of funny moments as Clover seizes the day, but some of her antics veered into downright destructive mode which made the Ferrari crashing out of the window in the 1986 film look like small fry.
The flashbacks into Clover’s life fitted in nicely but unlike Ferris, I wasn’t really rooting for her to get off scot-free.

This started off very fun but then edged its way to absurd. While I absolutely related to and felt for Clover, it went a bit off the rails toward the end. But it was brave! And definitely a quick read since it takes place over one day. Will be curious to see what everyone thinks of this but if you love Ferris Bueller, give this a try!

Clover Hendry's Day Off comes out next week on January 30, 2024 and you can purchase HERE.

Seems lately I react to everything one way or another. Bloated after carbs, queasy after meat, gassy after vegetables. Can't even drink a sip of water without peeing every five minutes. Sometimes I drink wine in the evenings just to dehydrate myself, so I won't be up every hour in the night, heading to the bathroom, quaking in the dark at the sighs and grinds of our creaky old house. But wine gives me a headache. In my twenties, I could sink a bottle and come up smiling the next morning; nowadays I can feel my brow tighten just looking at the glass. An anticipation of undoing. The older you get, the more things stop being fun and just become a chore. Music festivals, flights abroad, wrap parties— someone always has to prepare for eventualities, deal with the mess.

Going into this I know i didn’t read the first book but I was hoping that wouldn’t impact this story, overall this is great but I felt I missed out on the storyline a bit because I didn’t have the background.

Loved the character, the challenges it really was well written.

This was fun with lots of laugh out loud moments. While I’m not quite the intended audience, I still could appreciate the insight and humor.

Personal goal for 2024: Have a Clove Henry-style day off. This book was almost as cathartic as it was funny.

Clover Hendry's Day Off has broad appeal but I think it's really going to speak to the 40-somethings whose anxiety- inducing, all consuming, unpaid labor makes their world go round.

Did I love Clover Hendry's Day Off? No. Did I hate it? Also, no! I think it delivered in its claim that it's similar to Ferris Bueller's Day Off - I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Clover embrace a no-craps-to-give attitude. The way it delivered this attitude is the problem. It felt like Clover oscillated between two extremes in personality and sometimes it just unbelievable, and other times, incredibly entitled. As a person... she wasn't likable a lot of the times. I wish I'd loved this more, but it was a good time for the most part!

Thank you NetGalley and G. P. Putnam’s Sons for the opportunity to review an advance copy of this novel

DNF @ 18%. I was excited about this book -- I appreciate female protagonists in their 40s (and 50s and 60s!), and the premise seemed so fun -- but from the get-go, Clover was annoying at best and rude and destructive at worst. At the end of the first chapter, she takes two of her husband's Vicodin pills from a previous surgery, which is illegal and reckless and dangerous and just plain bad. From there, when she's on her "I don't give a rat's ass" tour, she's just rude and disrespectful, and it seemed like it was going to be a lot of that for the rest of the book.

I enjoyed this book and liked following along to see how Clover finds her voice and learns how to stand up for herself. I also enjoyed how she went from being self centered to opening herself to other people’s feelings.

Oh Clover! Something- but what-is the final straw for Clover, a woman with a busy career in tv production, a (good) husband, and 16 old twins. She's always done what's expected but this one day she says no and sets off from the office for a day out, a day that sees her steal a rabbit, change her hair, get thrown out of her club, finally deal with her mother, and most of all, well, no spoilers because I was surprised. She's lucky to have great friends who help her out along the way. Yes this goes a bit over the top in spots (wait til the yoga women) but it's a hoot (as is Robbie). Morrey has a way of writing relatable characters dealing with serious problems but still finding the light. And. she's a great storyteller. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I enjoyed this very much.

I took a chance on this book, it seemed like a good cover and a fun and relatable story to read. I received this book as an ARC from @Netgalley for an honest review. I really felt the character is relatable to a lot of women, especially ones that are overwhelmed, working moms and wives. The story made me laugh, made me a little mad and at times I didn't really know where it was going or why we went there. Overall, the book was good and I wasn't bored throughout any of it. It wasn't the kind of book that kept me up at night wanting to read another chapter until I physically couldn't close my eyes - but I was looking forward to picking it up the next day. It also reminded me that as a working mom and wife, it's ok to make sure we don't lose ourselves by consistently being everything to everyone else. It's ok to carve out time to make sure we are at our best - because if we aren't at our best - we can't give our best to others. Find your identity - it's not who you are to people, it's not what you do, you'll know it when you find it. Kudos to Beth Morrey for reminding us to find ourselves, set boundaries while still showing love to those around us.

#CloverHendrysDayOff #NetGalley #BethMorrey #arc