Cover Image: The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project

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Member Reviews

This is one of those books that explores how we make sense of our world when we lose someone we love. I like stories that are about friendships, especially when they don't seem to compliment each other but actually they work really well. I found the mother in law part of it really good as it can be a very difficult relationship to manoeuvre!

Thank you for the advance copy.

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<i>A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC to review. My sincerest apologies it took me so long.</i>

3,5/5

I truly don't remember why I thought this would be the book for me. I must have gone solely off the cover and the 'One Day in December' mention; which, this book is nothing like At All.

Having said that, I didn't hate it. It was an easy and quick read, but just not for me. I hope the eventual book got rid of the several inconsistencies later on in the book (character goes from cooking to suddenly having take out; a light is turned on and then turned on again; 3 runners left, two drop out, and there are still 3 left) as they really took me out of it.

I also loved the ending! Frankie was by far my favorite character and the end proved that, even if calling your resolutions achieved in April feels like a recipe for everything going to shit after, haha!

So yeah, if this is the kinda book you're into, you'll probably love it!

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Hugely emotional and entertaining tale of moving beyond grief, finding strength and joy in the hardest of times and the importance of strong female relationships. Perfect for a lazy Sunday, laughs and tears. Highly recommend.

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The story of three friends, who have the happiness project as a new years resolution, and the struggles they have as they face different challenges in the year. I hadn't read the first book, so felt like I was missing quite a bit of the back story.

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The Happiness Project by Pippa James explores the lives of three friends. They decide together for the new year they want to make changes to their lives that will spark happiness. This includes securing a new job, improving health and wellness, and facing motherhood with a new outlook. Happy reading!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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A free copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Allison, Kate and Frankie are three friends who met at the school gates and decide to come up with some new year resolutions to help make their lives better. In particular, Allison takes up exercise and signs up for a mud run.
I really enjoyed the positivity in this book, although some of the scenarios were a bit cliched. I especially enjoyed reading about Allison's efforts to become fitter by running and how it didn't always go to plan at the start. I found it much more believable and sympathetic to have her struggle with her goals to start off with and then achieve what she wanted. In that respect, I found that the relationship between the three women was the strong point of the novel. I couldn't really engage with their outside relationships or problems with their partner's exes. Instead, I just really loved the moments where the three were sat around having a chat. I also really loved the ending where Frankie steps up to support Allison when she needed it. It really made me smile.
A great holiday read that put a smile on my face. 3.5 stars.

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I'm not a fan of mother-in-law stories. It was okay. A project that didn't leave me happy reading it, but not terribly disappointed.

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Not bad...but I can't shake the feeling that I am missing something!

**OMG! I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done! I am so sorry they are so late!!!**

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Excellent book with a clear cut depiction of characters. The storyline is fluid and constant, and my concentration never waived. Highly recommended.

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A group of friends make a Happiness project pact for the New Year. Each woman embarks on a quest to find what it takes for her to be happy. From work, to relaxation, to stepping outside of your comfort zone each struggles but in spite of set backs with the help of their friends they find their happiness.

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Alison is a very organized, put together person. Her son Xander and her husband are the loves of her life. For years she has also had the love and deep friendship of her beloved mother-in-law Maggie, but when Maggie passes away, Alison has a difficult time of things. Kate has two children and a surprise one on the the way. She is lucky enough to have a very supportive husband and manages to get through things with her common sense and natural mothering ability. Frankie is a single mom who has just moved out of her mother's house and is finding it tricky to manage everything for herself and her son on their own. She also has Ben in her life, who is another single parent, recently divorced from a bitter woman, Jo.

Kate, Frankie and Alison form a friendship of sorts and make a pact to work through their difficulties with what they name "The Happiness Project". They each have a goal to meet and this easy, happy read takes you through all their travails and triumphs. Nothing and no one is perfect, but these three women do their best all the same.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author Pippa James, and the publisher Bookouture for the ARC I was lucky enough to get to read in exchange for my honest review.

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My thoughts

Narrative and plot

The Happiness Project is told from the perspective of three mothers who are dealing with life on a day to day basis. The three voices had distinct personalities which made the narrative active and fun in it's own way.

This was definitely a feel-good book and particularly reassuring if you're lagging on your New Year's resolution. ( that is, if you still remember what it was ;) ) The story line isn't exactly focused on Alison and her mother-in-law as you get from the description but it was the center from where it all began, The Happiness Project.




Characters and Conflict




With three mums - a single mother, a pregnant parent and a grief stricken mother- there is enough depth in each of the characters. In a usual romantic comedy you have your leads torn into pieces and find themselves by the end of the book. But here, they all start as well put together ladies. Only deep into the story you realise that things are not as good as it looks.

While the conflicts are not earth shattering ones,it is very real and something you could easily relate to. There were moments  when you wished things didn't get resolved so quickly. Nonetheless, every aspect of the story has come around a full circle.

However, the male characters felt too side-lined. The book mentions some aspects regarding the tension between the couples. It was kept subtle and in a good way too . Ben and Sam got their moments, but Matthew was left behind it seemed and so did Kate for some reason. The only thing I wish the book had was more life. There was not enough to cement the friendship between the three women. Also, Maggie who is actually the root to all of this is not given enough space so that reader could actually start caring about her loss. Still, it was not a dull story at all.

The characters were interesting enough that you keep on going. Unlike some stories, where the characters you start with, become completely different people by the end of the book, here, the change is realistic and believable.

Conclusion

Overall I enjoyed the book as one-time read. If you're a parent, I bet there are several moments you could identify with. Even through the difficult situations, the book had a bit of a light tone which kept things pleasant. The underlying message is inspiring. There are moments of self-doubt in everyone's life but there comes a point when you just have to deal with it.

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I really enjoyed this charming, sweet and ultimately uplifting novel. I feel like a happiness project is something we should all strive for. Charming story.

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I went into this book thinking it would be a poignant and uplifting story of a women who wants to turn his life around and start living a truly happy life, and I was right! I think we can all relate to Alison a little bit, in that we strive to create the life we think we've always wanted (the perfect house, the perfect family, etc.), When someone close to Alison dies, she realizes that she needs to push herself farther outside the bounds of what she thought made her happy. There is so much to learn from this book, and it was very humorous too, which is important when a book takes on such a big topic like happiness.

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Awww….this book, it was so lovely. I think everyone needs their own ‘happiness project.’

Everyone knows at least one of the main characters. Initially Alison irritated me as a character but as the story went on I found I not only warmed to her but was willing her to achieve her goal. I connected with each of the main characters and found myself feeling like they were my friends. I didn’t like those that were against them and wanted to help them and those they loved.

If you want a feel good book this is one to definitely read. It addresses the differences in people's lives and the friendships they have with each other and how they overcome their own personal challenges. I loved everything about this book. There is always one of each of the 3 women in a friendship group and they are instantly like able.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story and thought it was a beautiful poignant tale of friendship, challenges and second chances of friendship and love.

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Firstly I would like to thank NetGalley for proving me with an eARC copy of this book; all the views and opinions discussed below are my own.

I want to start by saying that this isn’t really my normal genre; I do read some contemporary books, but it’s not my go-to genre here. So this may affect how I viewed this book; I requested this book because I thought it looked quite nice and lighthearted, and honestly that is what the book was. It was a nice easy read overall; it wasn’t particularly gripping and I wasn’t overly invested in any of the characters, however I didn’t hate the book. I don’t really have any overall strong feelings to this book, but it wasn’t terrible.

One of the main issues I have is that I am still confused at how these characters became friends? I feel like this might be something i’ve missed but I also don’t think it was very clearly explained at any point but we’re suddenly meant to believe that they’re best friends? I think this is something that I really struggled with because none of the main three characters really seem to connect to one another and we actually very rarely see them together; we swap between their POV’s and most of this time they are just focused on themselves and sometimes they might think about one of the other characters, but that was about it. I honestly just didn’t get the impression that they were best friends. Also the partners for each characters were a bit bland, I honestly can’t even remember what all their names are now, but they all just seem to blend into one characters. They were all quite typical husbands/partners, and nothing about them really stood out to me.

The plot of this book is about these women finding happiness, but I honestly don’t think they really did find happiness. The women always seemed to internalise their issues, and never really pushed back or confronted what was going on. Alison never speaks to her husband about how she is feeling, Kate doesn’t push back against her friend about her comments on her as a mother, and honestly all Frankie does is push back but she just seems so angry and just flies off at the drop of a hat. The “tension” we’re meant to view between Frankie and Alison was done poorly in my view; I never felt any tension between them and just felt it came out of nowhere and was just another plot point for them to hurdle over. That said I did enjoy the mud run scene, but there was so much time spent on that when it could have been used to really develop the characters further.

The writing itself wasn’t bad, but I just never really understood the overall motivations of the characters and so found it hard to connect to them. This was an okay read, but it won’t be a book that i’ll be purchasing a copy of.

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An easy read, nothing new or ground-breaking, but likeable, realistic characters.
Thanks for advance copy

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A lovely continuation of the story of 'I will survive' which can also be read as a standalone. We meet Allison, Kate and Frankie again as they make their New Year Resolutions in order to improve their lives and push themselves out of their comfort zone. Allison would like to focus on making healthier meals for her family and getting more fit. Frankie needs to find and keep a good job to prove to her mother that she can function as a responsible adult. Kate would like to enjoy her third pregnancy and be more relaxed and ‘Zen’.

It is easy to relate to the subject of friends and trying to change your life (although 90% of us do give up in the first month), but the thing that makes this novel stand out is Pippa James’ writing style. Witty, realistic, entertaining, with a great pace and seamless transitions between different points of view.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

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This book was a very easy read from start to finish. I liked the friendship between the 3 women and I particularly liked the fact that it wasn’t perfect; the book highlighted that even good friends have disagreements. Even though it was an enjoyable read I didn’t feel that the storyline was particularly strong and it just seemed to plot along however I would recommend it for someone wanting a light hearted read.

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Three friends spend New Year's Eve together and make some resolutions. 40 year old Allison is going to be healthier. Better food for the family and exercise. She's going to be more like her recently deceased mother-in-law Maggie. A better friend and wife. Kate wants to be happier and have a good pregnancy. Frankie wants to find a good job and keep it. Over the course of the year the three friends help each other and make excuses for them if they falter. This is the first book I've read by Pippa James and it's a good one. I enjoyed the way the three women supported each other and offered a helping hand when needed. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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