Agatha, oh Agatha. A middle-aged woman who is an author and leads a somewhat normal life. She has a husband, two sons, and the weirdest fears. Life is working for her.
Until she goes crazy and destroys the shed in the backyard the day she discovers her husband getting busy with the local dogwalker in the shed.
I loved the descriptions of this book, though I found sometimes they could have been shortened, I understood. Being part of a mom group on FB myself, I wanted to applaud Agatha for calling out some of those women. I loved her brutal honesty and I think I could be friends with her. Agatha had me cringing as some points, the extremes she went to, then had me laughing at other times.
Listening to Agatha face her fears (and tackle them head-on) and learn to stand on her own was inspiring. My heart broke for her and rejoiced in watching her character develop into a strong, single woman.
This is a book I will be recommending. Thank you #NetGalley for sending me a copy of #AgathaArchIsAfraidofEverything

Agatha Arch really is afraid of everything. Not only that, the book opens with her walking in on her husband and a lover. Agatha embarks on a sometimes-funny, frequently wince-worthy, and very nearly self-destructive odyssey of self-discovery. She's horrible to everyone, from the homeless woman who comes to town to the moms on her Facebook group. You'd hate her if she weren't so often so endearing in the midst of it all.

Fortunately, she has the help of one Facebook mom ("The Kumbaya Queen"), who is determined to bring out the best in her--even if it takes 3/4 of the book--and of her counselor, known to readers as "Shrinky Dink." From those two monikers you can get a sense of Agatha's funny, snarky voice.

Readers should know this is a book with a *lot* of profanity in it, and a *lot* of extremely earthy humor.

Agatha's life shatters when she finds her husband having an affair with the dog walker. She stumbles upon them in the middle of the afternoon, in her backyard, in her shed, steps away from her house where her children are having lunch. Agatha's reaction is of course what any of us would do - she takes a hatchet to the shed and destroys it down to a pile of wood.

"Men don't want women to know the shed is the thing that scares them most, women rising up, women grabbing a hatchet and hollering nu uh, no more, ain't doing it"

What if all women raised up and did what Agatha did how many sheds would be ruined?"

This was quite an opening scene and from the first few pages I knew I was in for quite a ride. Agatha is then found alone, faced with everything that scares her. From the title of this book I thought Agatha might be a bit more of a recluse, a shy and timid woman. Boy was I wrong, while her list of fears is long, she is anything but timid and really has a unique personality. When Agatha is faced with a fear she often reacts by lashing out and being impulsive which inevitably gets her into some hot water.

Agatha uses many tactics to avoid letting anyone in and risk getting hurt again. She gets up to many wild things (most of which are boarder line crazy) in this quest to protecting her heart and her boys. Agatha turns into a full on spy, trying to purchase things to protect her from the world instead of facing her fears, for example her spy pants and car window smasher. The instances where she is clinging to these items for a sense of security really had me rooting for Agatha to overcome her fears and at times had me laughing, like when she decides these spy pants are the best and orders more, not one but ten more pairs then ends up getting herself entangled in the fishing line she keeps in a pocket of these spy pants and has to cut herself out, with the pocket knife she also keeps handy at all times. Oh Agatha.

The biggest question I had when reading was if Agatha would ever open up and face those fears head on, or get to a breaking point where her crazy was too much and most importantly, will Agatha stop being so creepy?

It's a special thing when a book comes into your life at the exact moment you're in the mood for a story like this and you connect so well with the main character. I can't say I have a lot in common with Agatha and I can see to someone else she may not be quite so loveable but I just adored Agatha. I found her absolutely hilarious and her honest and harsh look at life was a refreshing new perspective for a main character. I enjoyed being with her on this journey of self discovery.

There are several chapters where she is talking to her shrink with this brutally harsh judgement of herself and her short comings. Her shrink is wonderful and helps guide Agatha in this journey. In fact I liked all of the supporting characters in this book. Some of which can be found in the neighbourhood moms Facebook group (with the one token dad) where it feels like the whole world is watching (and sometimes judging) Agatha and everyone else. If you've ever been in a neighbourhood fb group you will find a lot of this quite relatable and in my opinion rather hilarious.

I listened to this book and found the narrator did a great job and I easily got lost in the story but I did find there was a lot of texting, emjois and facebook comments and the way those are read in print are different from hearing them aloud and it was a touch annoying. Also while I loved the character development, the plot was a 3/5 for me, not a lot happened and we didn't really get anywhere fast but I still enjoyed the story and would happily read more about Agatha's life.

This book really look me on quite the journey and I loved watching Agatha grow. I will certainly be recommending it to many of my friends and may even pick up a print copy to compare to the audio.

What you have here is an adorably written beach read with a 'moral to the story' which is so subtle you hardly notice it. When Agatha's husband leaves her for the neighborhood dog walker, all niceties seem to be forgotten and Agatha has 'disaster' written all over her. Agatha is a funny, quirky character you can't help but like. What is also fun about this story is the comical remarks of the local face book mom's group. Being a member of my local face book mom's group, I had to laugh at the similarities and the comedy of it all. As an audio book, the narrator seems to have had a lot of fun reading this one and her listeners will enjoy it as well. Even though it's a mindless beach read, I did learn that while goats can eat up all your poison ivy, they could die from eating azaleas and rhododendrons.

Mesmerizing and hilarious. The narrator did such a famous job telling the hilarious tale of frightened of everything Agatha Arch. Ive never laughed out loud so much while listening to a novel. Agatha leads a life of mixed up adventures while stalking her husband's lover, trying to make friends in a digital age, and looking for love. Fabulous!

I think I’m the wrong audience for this book.

I went into it expecting a “light read”—the cover and title suggested a cutesy, light-hearted novel about a fearful person who eventually comes out of her shell, or some such thing. I expected at least a light tone to compliment the silly antics Agatha gets up to. Instead, the whole thing starts out depressingly abysmal and maintains that feeling for far too long. It isn’t until the very end of the story that she begins to remind me of a cranky Bridget Jones, and by then it feels like too little, too late.

Agatha comes across as an unsympathetic, unrelatable caricature of a NIMBY-ist “Karen”. She feels entitled, has no friends, alienates anyone who tries to get close to her, and her online moms group barely tolerates her. She even has a difficult relationship with the teddy bear in which she confides (no joke). She is a WASP who actively trolls the other WASPs in her world. She refers to most people in her life by debasing nicknames she created, such as The Interloper and Shrinky-dink, rather than their actual names—evidence of yet another way that she deliberately keeps people at a distance.

At times, the text suggests that she is so vengeful and vindictive because her husband cheated on her with (and left her for) the dog-walker—a send-up of the “jilted ex” trope, no doubt—but at other moments it is very clear that she has long been cynical, abrasive, and hostile to everyone around her. The only people she does not seem to alienate are her own kids, and there are moments when even this is no longer a certainty. All of this, in addition to her single-minded self-absorption, makes it hard for the reader (well, for ME, at least) to feel invested in her character.

I’m not trying to say the book is objectively bad, as there is certainly the right audience for it out there. Perhaps the book is supposed to feel like a vicarious revenge fantasy for jilted spouses. I mean, all of this caricaturing has to be deliberate and self-aware, right? Perhaps we’re supposed to wonder whether Agatha is the way she is as a defense mechanism resulting from her multiple irrational fears. Perhaps Agatha is drawn this way to deliberately evoke zero sympathy, although I can’t imagine why this would be the desired effect. I've tried to keep an open mind, but I almost stopped listening altogether when the tired, racist trope of bored-housewife-seduces-“exotic”-black-handyman was introduced.

Finally, I’m sooooo not into the way much of this book’s interactions take place in an electronic/online environment. I’m technically a millennial so I probably shouldn’t mind this, but I find that style so jarring and not at all engaging.

I suppose I should say some nice things, too. I finished the book, so I guess that’s something. Also, I’m amused by Agatha's made-up cuss words. As a character, Agatha started to become interesting to me when I noticed how dissonant her intense fear of so many ordinary, everyday things seemed in contrast to the nonsensical, dangerous, and illegal things she was so driven to do. I was so busy hating her that it took me a while to pick up on this. I also appreciated the few moments when she became almost-vulnerable by tentatively showing legitimate interest in others, thereby approaching the making of real human connections. There, that was 4 nice things.

So yeah, I am the wrong audience for this book.

Agatha Arch is afraid of a lot of things. Not everything. She is annoyed by everything. She is judgmental of everything. And everyone. Compared to those, her fears are actually a pretty short list.

Agatha Arch should be someone I was pulling for. She should have been someone I related to. She starts off losing it for a pretty good reason. Yes, her reaction was beyond what most would have been, but it made sense. I think it was the only time she made sense. She had snotty nicknames for everyone she met. Who calls their therapist Shrinky Dink? Or some poor homeless woman The Interloper? Agatha Arch is just a horrible person. We are supposed to believe that this is because of her fears and her mental issues. You can't blame it all on that.

I couldn't like her and I kept hoping she would face real consequences for what she did to people. No one did, though. Her husband is caught having sex with a dog walker. Not THE dog walker because they don't even have a dog. His kids are a few yards away, he's in a shed, and he's caught by his wife. Yet, no one seemed to see him as much of a bad guy.

It all boils down to whether I would want to read about these people. I'd hate to live in this town and I never want to visit it again. It's too bad, because the author had an interesting voice and a good sense of humor at times.

Thanks to #netgalley for allowing me an advanced copy of this book even though I finished it late.

I was hoping this book would have the same vibes as “Where’d You Go Bernadette?” And I was right. I love characters that are deeply flawed. Agatha is the neighborhood pot stirrer on her Facebook group and all of the drama she creates is just what her upscale New England neighborhood needs. This book is full of quirky situations that are often laugh out loud funny. I loved this book and hope you do too.

Oh, Agatha. I love you. You are a breath of fresh air. Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything by Kristin Bair O’Keeffe was just the audiobook I needed this past week. I’ve been a nervous wreck lately for multiple reasons, so Agatha and all of her quirkiness eased some tension, and brought a huge smile to my face. I admired her dry sense of humor, and would totally befriend her in real life. Here’s a few things you need to know about Agatha:
1. She loves to cuss.
2. She’s a little crude.
3. She’s fricken hilarious.
4. She owns a pair of spy pants.
5. She’s a #boymom.
6. She caught her husband cheating.
7. She’s not for everyone.
8. She’s afraid of everything.
Agatha is an extremely relatable character that you just can’t help but root for. The way she pokes fun at the local moms group on Facebook had me howling! She really knows how to press the buttons of the neighborhood moms, and says exactly what’s on her mind. No filter whatsoever! If you’re a fan of Laurie Gelman or Abbi Waxman, then Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything is definitely for you. 4/5 stars for this fother mucking book! Ha!

This is a review of the audiobook of this novel.

Agatha Arch is afraid of a lot of things, there are too many to list. The most ridiculous one is “beans”. She is afraid of beans because she had once watched a movie where the serial killer ate beans after he kills his victims, usually in very gruesome ways. But we all have our inner fears so I went with it.

The beginning starts with Agatha catching her husband having sex with the neighborhood dog walker in the shed in their backyard. It was so unexpected and unbelievable that Agatha completely loses it. She chases the dog walker away with only a tarp to cover her naked body. She finds a hatchet and goes to work destroying the shed while she cries and screams expletives. The neighbors are left aghast at the destruction of the shed and the mess that she continues to leave her yard in.

Most of the book is taken up with the ways in which Agatha finds to spy on her husband and Willow, the dog walker. Turns out that she lives quite close to her, so easy for her to creep around the yard and more. She invests in a great pair of binoculars and even goes so far as to climb a tree in the yard across from the house so that she can see what is going on.

Agatha is a writer with quite a good following. She had decided that she wanted to write a thriller next because they are so popular. She thinks since people love thrillers, perhaps they will love her more? However since her husband Dex’s desertion she hasn’t been able to work.

There is an online mom’s group which she chats with constantly. Some of the moms are at first supportive but when Agatha’s actions start going towards the “crazy” they begin to turn on her. She doesn’t really care, she just wants someplace to sound out her fury.

Inside however Agatha is despondent, hurt and doesn’t know what to do next. Her husband tells her that he is in love with Willow and that he wants to share custody of their two boys, spending a few days at Willow’s house and the rest with Agatha. She misses her boys desperately.

She has a therapist, whom she calls “shrinky dink”, who seems to know her quite well. She is a bundle of nerves and has no idea how to proceed into this next phase of her life. Her husband has made it clear that he is not coming back.

I did laugh at some of her attempts at spying, they were pretty over the top. However by the halfway point I was getting bored. Since it was an audiobook I just let it play on and the last quarter of the book redeemed itself.

Agatha finally begins to see that she does have the strength to cope with this disaster and starts to do things that make her feel good. She has a quick tryst, she redecorates the boys rooms and her bedroom. She then goes on to recreate her writing space, getting rid of any remnants of Dex including the desk that he handmade for her. She is beginning to see a way to move forward. The ending of the novel was great because it showed that she was growing and learning, how to make more friends, how to rearrange her life with her boys, maybe even joining her friend and taking yoga for relaxation!

If you are looking for a quick, entertaining listen then this would be a good choice. The narrator I think did a good job with this title.

I received this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley.
The novel in all of it’s formats is set to publish on November 10, 20

Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything stars Agatha a woman who just had her world turned upside down when she learns her husband is leaving her for the neighborhood dog walker. She is funny and sarcastic and I saw a lot of growth in her the book. However, she was hard for me to like at first. This book reminds me a lot of Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine and This One is Mine by Maria Semple. The audiobook was engaging and not too long, though having social media posts read could be a bit monotonous.

I was excited when I received the advanced copie of Agatha Arch Is Afraid Of Everything on audiobook. I was looking at this book just a few days ago while perusing the month’s releases. But oh boy! did this book test my patience.

Agatha Arch is a happily married woman or so she thought before one day while retrieving her boys ball from the backyard before Susan Sontag, the neighborhood skunk, gets to it she sees her husband Dax and the local dog walker having sex in the shed. In a state of shock and incomprehension, Agatha destroys the shed with the two of them still inside with a a hachet. Don’t worry no cheating party was hurt during this process.

Her life did a 360 in that moment and Agatha is now forced to face it alone. But Agatha has fears and lots of them. She will have to take them head on and alone. Besides the help of her shrink, Agatha is now alone. No one comes to comfort or help Agatha get through this. This was probably the saddest part for me. This woman is going through so much but has no one to be by her side cheering and helping her on. Even the local mom Facebook group where Agatha has pretty much ostrisized herself by egging people on is no help.

Let’s go back to the afraid of everything part cause that was not a title leading us on. No, Agatha is afraid of everything. Some of the fears were a bit ridiculous like fava beans because she watched the Silence of the Lamb and the killer would eat them so surely they are evil. Agatha was a complicated character for me. At times I found her out endearing and other times I found her maddening. Let’s just say she didn’t leave me indifferent. As she starts to spy on her husband and his girlfriend I started to question Agatha’s morals. But people do weird things when they are hurting.

Agatha Arch Is Afraid Of Everything gave us a small window into the life of a woman which’s marriage as ended without her having a say in it. I still enjoyed the book even though at times I did think Agatha was a bit too much. Her quirkiness did win me over by the end.

Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything - from driving on the highway to beans. Yes, beans. Especially Willow Bean, the woman she finds her husband sleeping with and eventually leaves her for.
This book is laugh-out-loud funny, relatable, and inspiring all at once and manages to be both fun and thought-provoking.
The narration by Soneela Nankani was fun and made the reading of the lists and responses to the mom's forum especially fun. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one.

Many thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This novel was well written and well-read by the narrator. A unique and accessible story, I really enjoyed it. I also very much want to read the book the main character will hopefully write now that her fears are bit more in check and her life is hers to live.

I must admit that I did not like the story at the beginning of this audio; however, I continued listening. This corky but hilarious book did win me over by the end. It tells a story of how we act when bad things happen but sometimes, in the end, it the best thing that could have happened. Great life lesson.

I am so thankful for the books that reference anxiety and other mental health issues. I add them to a Goodreads shelf I call “Banish the Stigma.”

This is, I believe, the first book I’ve ever read where the main character copes with phobias. This is especially important to me because I too cope with them and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character battle them before, in a book I’ve read.

I found the portrayal of them fairly authentic and non-judgmentally spoken of. This is a great Book Club read - there’s so much to discuss and so much in the way of character development, even with some of the more background characters.

I think it’s important too, to normalize therapy. It can be a game changer.

When I first started listening to the audiobook of Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything, I was worried that I’d find it too heavy on the satire for me to enjoy it. Confession: Sometimes satire just wings right over my head or I don’t realize it’s satirical and take it at face value. I don’t recommend it. ;)

Fortunately, Agatha definitely had satirical moments but was really well done and not isolating or too specific. I.e. I’m not a mom, but I don’t need to be one to understand and smirk at the shenanigans happening in the moms facebook group!

The book is humorous, ridiculous, heartwarming, emotional and fun. Bonus points for making me feel seen. I can’t weigh that heavily enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for both an electronic copy to read and one to listen to.

I switched back and forth between the two copies depending on the time that I was reading. The audiobook is awesome - the narrator reads the books just like I would - excellent expression, particularly with Agatha and Edward. I switched to the text copy anytime there was any mention on a social media conversation - emojis just don't transfer well to audio (although the narrator did a good job of including them). If you are looking for a funny book in the vein of 'Where'd You Go Burnadette" pick up this one. You will not be disappointed with Agatha Arch.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Alcove Press for my copy of the Audiobook of Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything in exchange for an honest review.

Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything was more than I was expecting, in the best way! Agatha Arch is totally neurotic and bitter, and I could not help being drawn in by her own brand of crazy. She is a constant nervous wreck that is a few more disasters away from a total nervous breakdown. It took me a little bit to warm up to her, but she won me over with her dark sense of humor, perseverance, and the good heart that she has buried down in her. I felt that her transformation in the book was just beautiful! Her mantra was 'Fear sharpens us' and she turned herself around and let it "propel' her too.

What I loved most about Agatha and her crazy self was that she as always able to manage to rein herself back in from going just a little too far by thinking of her boys. She is flawed and complicated and so sharp. Her obsessions are ridiculous and she lets them overwhelm her at times. Her conversations with her therapist and her love/hate relations ship with the 'The Moms' group on Facebook provided a lot of laughs. And her nicknames for everyone cracked me up. She loves to stir up the drama and watch it unfold. Her masterful use of emojis in GIFs was also impressive.

Soneela Nankani did a wonderful job with the narration of the book. She totally captured Agatha's saltiness, despair, and dark side. I have listened to other books that she has done, and she is definitely a narrator that enjoy.

Agatha Arch is Afraid of Everything is a fun listen with an enjoyable narrator. For the first hour or so, I thought the audiobook narrator was annoying, but I soon realized that it was Agatha, who was a little grating (and that, I realize, may be intentional). Before I started the book, I made the mistake of reading some of the summary material, which compares Agatha to Eleanor Oliphant--I love Eleanor, so that's a tough standard to present right off the bat. Overall, this book is a light read that I think suburban moms in particular will enjoy.

What would you do if you happened upon your husband fooling around in your toolshed with the local dog walker? Agatha Arch completely lost it. so much so, that she chased them out and with a hatchet, tore apart the shed.

Before Agatha has a chance to blink, Dax, her husband, moves into G dog's (the dog walker's) house, and her boys, are spending a few days a week there, as well.

How is Agatha supposed to cope? She's afraid of EVERYTHING, but has managed to get by thanks to Dax. Now Dax is gone and is not coming back. Will she find a way? Between her local mom's Facebook group and, Shrinky Dink, her therapist, maybe she can dig deep and face her fears.

"Fears sharpen us."

"There are so many maybes in this world. How does one live with them all?"

"Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision." - Winston Churchill

"For in the end, freedom is a personal and lonely battle, and one faces down fears of today, so that those of tomorrow might be engaged." - Alice Waters.

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of #agathaarchisafraidofeverything. It's funny but at the same time there is a lesson to be learned from Agatha - don't be afraid to face your fears! The narrator did a great job! Thank you #netgalley and alcove press for the e-audiobook in return for my honest review. #5stars