This book covered the topic of women who choose not to have children, which is something that is rarely spoken about, even in 2021. However, this book just didn’t massively hit the spot for me, I didn’t feel like I connected with the characters. Unsure if I went in with too high an expectation due to the hype around this book?

It's the first time that I read a book with such a topic, the perspective of a women who doesn't want kids sorrounded by friends with children, it made me think about my self, I really enjoyed the book, Olive is amazing

I love a well written book with women as the varied, complex people that we are. I am one of those women that chose to have children, as deliberate thought out choice that I went into slowly while resenting expectations that it must be choice, even though it was in fact my choice, I hated the imposition, the assumption that we must all want the same for our lives, or that our happiness is hinged on one common goal, purple or function in society. This book is about that choice and the women that know motherhood is not what they want or choose. For me, the fact that women can a should have this decision for themselves somehow makes my choice also more valid, rather than some default role that had to be fulfilled. Great concept.

I really enjoyed OLIVE. As a woman who is childfree by choice, it was especially refreshing and gratifying to see a contemporary novelist handle this hot-button topic with sensitivity, humor, and honesty. And it wasn't limited to Olive's perspective--each of the four main characters, of different minds and experience with fertility and parenting, were well-drawn and compelling. This book felt very "real," for lack of a better word, and I think it will speak to a lot of women!

I know I’m not the target market for this book about a woman’s right to not have children but I still thought it was very good. It is very well written and I enjoyed the narration a lot. The narrator had a good voice and it was a pleasure to listen to. However I did not enjoy the portrayal of the different friendships in the book.. I did not think they were good friends or supportive friends and that got to me by the end. The friends prejudices and Olive’s own feelings started to really bug me and affected my enjoyment of the novel. I liked the authors writing style and I will certainly read more books from her in the future.

This wasn't available for me to download from the day I was accepted for this. I'm gutted as I really wanted to read this. Therefore I'm giving it full stars as I haven't been able to read it

Thank you NetGalley for the e-book advanced edition of Olive in exchange for my honest review.

This was a long book that seemed to drag on. Motherhood is always on of those topics where everyone has an opinion and advise but it comes down to a personal choice and often for personal reasons. I found Olive to be self centered, I wanted to like her and kept reading in hope that she would become a more considerate friend and person. Sorry, that does not happen in this one, she never made it clear as to why she did not want children but by the time I was finished I was glad she didn't have any.
There was far to many morally selfish action that I wanted the book to just end but held onto the glimmer of hope.
I do not let one lesser book turn me off to an author and will certain pick up another one written by her

Once I picked this book, I could not put it aside. It was real, intense and captivating. The emotions and the situations felt true and actual, just as life is. Life is clearly not easy, with its ups and downs, and so are friendships and the road to find one's self - the books show it all.

This book was an interesting read to say. It was refreshing to see a woman be unapologetically herself. The relationship Olive shared with people was intriguing to read.

It was really good to see a woman not being defined by the societal norms. The last thing olive wanted was to be a mother but at the end of the book she is given the role of a stepmother which was a little disheartening to read. But overall this was a fun read!

I don’t think that I was the target for this novel. It dealt a lot with not wanting to have children which isn’t something I’ve even thought about. The writing was well done and I’m sure someone else will enjoy this novel

Excellent and affirming. A refreshingly different take on the typical 30-something motherhood trope. A recommended first purchase for collections where WF is popular.

Thanks to NetGalley for offering this title on their Read Now list. The reason I only gave it 3 stars is because I found it to be too similar to other books I have read about the same types of friendships. Olive, the main character, is best friends with Bea, Cecily and Isla since high school. They are now in their early 30s, each pursuing different life and successful career paths, and still meeting up for drinks and dinner on a regular basis.

Olive is adamant that she is, and will forever remain, CFBC (child-free by choice). The other 3 women are in different stages of creating families with children. One has three, one is pregnant, and one is repeatedly trying IVF to get pregnant. All four navigate their journeys with and without the support of their best friends, depending on what is going on in the others' lives.

I found the character development to be pretty realistic. Although the story is set in London, England and I live in Toronto, Canada, there are definitely parallels to strong female friendships on both sides of the pond.

Great book.
I still have some mixed pink feelings about this book.
I think it was a great story overall.
The author touches on subjects like friendship, women fertility, marriage, relationships, careers and society´s overall pressure on women throughout the book in a way that just made me feel all the feels.
I was just happy to pick up a book so light and easy to read

It was a book that I identified with quite a bit, in many ways.
I think it was a story that touched me quite a bit.

This book unfortunately didn't grab my interest because of the pages of inner dialogue of the main character that sounded more like a magazine article about why someone would not want to have children.

i thought this was a fun and sweet read! i will definitely read more emma gannon books in the future! thank you so much for this arc. i will post my full review once the publication comes out.

Olive by @emmagannonuk

What an amazing book! I was lucky enough to be given access to the audio book from @netgalley and I just adored it! The narrator was excellent which is a big thing for me as I often find myself getting bored with audio books due to monotone narration and slow reading etc.

The story follows Olive Stone, a young woman who is set on living a child free lifestyle. The book follows Olive and her three friends who are all on different journeys and in different stages of life and the impacts that this has on their friendships and relationships.

The story was an excellent read and I loved the different time jumps giving alternate perspectives on certain aspects of the story. This was a heartwarming story of friendship and love and the acceptance of peoples choices in life and how we can all embrace the way that we choose to go forward in our personal journeys.

This is definitely a five star recommendation from me for all readers - but I would especially recommend this one to female readers and/or lovers of women’s fiction!

#Olive #netgalley

Yes! Yes! Yes! Bravo to Olive and all her amazing friends, her life and her quirks. Olive, like Eleanor Oliphant,, will remain in our hearts forever. I can’t wait to own a physical copy of this book to reread it many times over. I highly recommend it.

I started this as an ebook and wasn't sure I'd like it. Somehow I just couldn't find the right voice for the MC. Then it popped up on Netgalley as an audio book and I quickly downloaded it and started.

The narrator does a fabulous job. Honestly, for me, it saved the story. She has the perfect breezy tone of Olive but also the frustration when needed. She gave voice to the friends and their own struggles but also the apologies and tip-toeing they do at times with each other. This is the story of 4 women and their friendship - how it changes as they become adults and hit milestones (or don't) at different times. Female friendships can be tough, especially when society and friends have ideas of who we are and what we <i>should</i> be doing. It was great to read Olive's perspective in a story and I found it refreshing to give voice to people who just want to choose their life and how to live it.

I loved this story and I'm really glad I gave it a try.

Every chapter of this book was a delight. Clever, insightful and intimate, Olive tackles a taboo "issue" - the choice to have or not to have children.

I think what made this book so enjoyable for me was the main character, Olive. At 33, she is living a generally happy life, but is made to question her decision not to have children when everyone around her seems to venture towards parenthood. While I'm in my mid-twenties, I found Olive truly relatable, as though she could be my best friend. She is still figuring things out, which is almost universal at this age, but the society makes her feel inadequate because of where she's at and where she's not in her own journey. I could definitely relate to her feelings and frustrations.

But it is also an important discussion of friendship and fertility, which I found very thought-provoking, especially because I feel like (in)fertility isn't discussed in literature and public discourse nearly enough for how prevalent it is.

Finally, I especially enjoyed reading this novel with my new favorite mode of reading - an ebook and an audiobook simultaneously. As far as the latter is concerned, I thought the narration was superbly done with just enough emotion to make it an experience for me. Highly recommended.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who has straddled the fence regarding motherhood, I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. After much discussion, my husband and I decided the child-free life was for us. We don’t hate children, but we don’t want any of our own. I’ve since joined childfree forums and have read stories about people questioning the decision to be childfree, to the point of being rude. I’ve personally been told “you’ll change your mind, you’re young” more times than I care to count. There’s always this attitude that you don’t actually not want children, you’ll change your mind eventually, it’s just a phase, etc.

So how did Olive do with this subject? Well, it’s not so much a book about a woman’s choice to be childfree as it is what effect that decision has on her life and relationships. **spoilers** By deciding to be childfree she loses her long-term partner because he wants children. I think the portrayal of their breakup was very realistic and loving. They are two people who desperately love one another and know that they have to break up because of this one issue. Neither of them can compromise without risking a life of bitterness and regret. So they choose to break up, heartbreakingly. There’s the “are you sure you won’t change your mind” back and forth a bit, which I feel is also realistic. I wasn’t too excited about him going on to have another baby so soon after their breakup, it feels a bit rushed to me. You’d think that having such a spotlight on that life decision (parenthood), he would’ve been a bit more careful about it. But that’s a negligible complaint.

The other biggest part of the book is her relationship with her friends. They’re a group of four who have been friends forever, who have been through childhood, high school, and college together. One becomes a mother early and becomes a stay-at-home mother of 3 children, but her husband starts cheating. The other focuses on career first and then has a baby but struggles with postpartum depression, and her husband is nowhere to be seen when needed. The third is obsessed with having a baby and undergoing IVF treatments. Then there’s our protagonist, who has decided to buck the trend and go childfree. It’s easy to see how this decision could strain her relationships with her friends.

**end spoilers**

I think her friend group could’ve done with better communication. It seems they all got wrapped up in their own struggles, which are all very valid and important. But these are supposed to be lifelong best friends and they just start shutting each other out. But that’s the thing isn’t it? It’s so easy to just curl up within ourselves and pull away from those we love because we don’t want to bother them.

There were some things I didn’t like, actions the characters took. Like one friend says she’s sorry for not being there more, but then just leaves. Olive invites her friend over to stay but then never sees her. The two mothers sort of gang up on the other two. Truly, how Cec thought it was okay to ask Isla to come decorate for a baby shower is beyond me.

I’m also not fond of the ending, honestly. (spoilers again, sorry!). The whole thing for Olive is that she doesn’t want to be a mother. Not ever. Not to anyone, not a stepmother, doesn’t want to adopt. No kids. Yet the first guy she meets and has a connection with has kids. So what does she do? Well, become a stepmother, obviously. Which seems like such a cop-out of an ending. So you’re telling me, the whole time she’s trying to convince everyone that she won’t change her mind and then she does just that? It kind of felt like a slap in the face to childfree people. Like see, you *will* change your mind, you just need to find the right man. I thought for a minute Olive wouldn’t take on the stepmom kind of role, but would just be an aloof presence in the children’s lives. But no, she becomes a best friend, a confidante, and has a great moment of clarity when she realizes how much she loves the girls. It disappointed me, truly.

TL;DR: a decent book regarding the decision to be childfree and how it can affect your relationships with others as they navigate motherhood, though the ending doesn’t seem to quite fit with the rest of the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book and give my feedback. Thanks for this opportunity!