DNF @ 56%

Olive is a 30-something woman who does not want children. For all intents and purposes this should be a book that I love, because let’s face it, women choosing to not become mothers should be a non issue. While the conversation surrounding Olive is interesting, Olive herself is incredibly boring. She has no personality, other than not wanting children. Concept for the book was great, execution poor.

Very happy to have gotten an advanced copy of this book. Devoured the book in a day - loved it! Will be recommending to book club, coworkers and friends.

Emma Gannon captures so many emotions in this book. I truly felt that she had lived some of my experiences in life, when reading this book. She captures the exact feelings I have felt. There is sadness and humor in the story line all mixed together with such delightful characters, and a few not so delightful. I really loved Olive's relationship with her sister, it reminded me a lot of me and my sis. ♥️

I enjoy stories about friendship and this one hits that mark, it also deals with issues many women face...namely to have children. I have two wonderful sons and neither have any desire to have kids. One is married and his wife is happy being able to focus on a career and traveling. As much as I would love a grandchild I didn't have kids for that reason and as long as they are happy and fulfilled I am happy. I only asked them once and when I got an answer I left it at that.

Poor Olive doesn't have that and it makes her feel angry, sad and left out. I loved how this book made me feel those things as well but I also found myself laughing out loud. What supported this beautiful and emotionally charged story is no doubt the strong writing. Literally each word sank in on me without any resistance, and it flows impeccably and smoothly, driving me further into the story without losing momentum. If this is an indication of what I can expect from this author, I’m all game to read more from her, this was a great debut novel.

I requested this book because I've previously read, devoured and loved every non-fiction book I've read by Emma Gannon. I love her podcast and online content and I was pleasantly surprised to finally read a fiction book from her.

The core of this novel is what instantly drew me in. I don't think we often see such realistic depictions of adult friendships and the challenges that those entails, usually in books we read a lot about love with friends as side characters and not at the centre of the story. So I particularly appreciated that Gannon chose this route.

I also particularly loved that she covered the topics of child-free by choice. It is definitely something that we rarely see in books, when we usually get a child-free character it's always a character that resents that state and does everything to find a partner and settle down with children. So it was definitely refreshing to see a character that willingly doesn't have children and doesn't resent her situation.

I love Gannon's writing style and I definitely can't wait to read more of her novels in the future.

To be honest - I picked this book for it's beautiful cover. It sparked my curiosity about the story within.

"Olive" is a story of four childhood friends who are now in their 30s. Olive is the protagonist and the narrator of her story. She goes over their lives from her perspective.

"Olive" is aimed at readers between 20-40. This book takes you through the journey of someone who has made an active decision to live a childfree life - how they are perceived in the society, their struggles and their relationships.

Emma Gannon's writing is simple and though-provoking. There are good observations about the little things that makes the characters very real. It will also educate you along the way. These four women could be anyone around us or within us and the life they live could very well be ours.

The only con is, this is a very lengthy book with repetitive ideas. They could have easily done without some 50 odd pages of same unsubstantial arguments made by Olive. Also, it is meant for a specific group of readers.

Overall, Olive is an engaging read. In my opinion, it will connect well with you if you are in the late 20s+ age group. Pick this book up if you are looking for - a serious read / educative read on issues women face / beautiful women friendships.

DNF @ 17%

I guess I couldn't relate but in reality I just couldn't connect with the characters whatsoever.

Olive, the title character of Emma Gannon's debut, and her three best friends are diverging from the closeness of their childhood and early 20s as their lives take different paths a decade out of school. The timeline bounces around throughout the novel, from the girls' days at university to graduation, ten years later, and everything in between. Olive and her boyfriend of nine years break up because she doesn't want to have children, just as her best friends are having babies or struggling to have their own. Olive feels adrift, more lonely, and isolated than ever. I found her to be a somewhat unreliable narrator, selfish, and often out of touch with what is happening with her best friends in the world. Olive isn't always likable, she certainly doesn't always make the right decision, but the questions and issues that she grapples with are relatable and important.

It was refreshing to read a book that deals with important and often unacknowledged issues women face when it comes to pregnancy, fertility, and the decision to have kids. They need to be talked about more. Emotionally gripping, Olive asks questions I have spent so much of my adult life struggling with.

I'm glad to have read this book. Thank you so much to Andrews McNeel Publishing for sharing this important book with me.

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

I loved this book! It was heartwarming and strong. It was exactly what I needed with everything going on in the world! A happy little escape!

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.