Right, I struggled with this book a little bit at the start. The topic is a bit heavy and therefore at times I had issues listening to the book.
The topic of whether or not one wants children is a big topic and something I feel like people always judge others by. I couldn’t really empathize with Olive about her not wanting children since I’ve always wanted them but the book still the book intrigued me. The other topics in the book like friendships and how we as human change over the years. I also feel like this book fits fully into today’s society as women are fighting harder than ever to have control over their own bodies without judgement.
I had a hard time liking Olive at first. I didn’t much like any of her friends either. I feel like they all only thought about themselves and how they are feeling. But I guess that is the point of it. For Olive to fully embrace her wants and feelings without having to thing about how other people see her and also for her friends to come to terms with their own problems and then support their friends in their lives no matter their choices.
The audiobook was pleasant to listen to. I feel like the narrator fully embraces Olive’s persona and brings her to life. I also think that I would have probably DNF this book had I not been listening to it

Olive was light and pleasant to listen to. It was not a book that will stay with me for any amount of time. It was filled with a little too many cliches for em, especially around women and babies. It was fine to listen to while on a treadmill but I don't think I'd want to curl up with it on a couch and get lost. The narrator did the characters justice and made the listening more entertaining for me.

This is an interesting book, touching several important subjects such as women's fertility, marriages, relationships, careers, and friendships.
It's the story of olive, a 33 years old woman who has decided to be child-free, although her decision affects her relationship with Jacob.
After losing her boyfriend, olive starts to realize that her relationship with her friends, Bea, Isla, and Cecily, has changed. With her friends having children of their own and focused on their own lives, olive feels alone with no one to talk to. She doesn't realize that they have problems of their own, so she starts acting differently around them.
I was not a huge fan of the main character (olive). In my opinion, she was too self-centered, acting as a teenager and not realizing that with more responsibilities and important things to do her friends can't act the same way they used to when they were in school.
What I like the most was the fact that the author discussed an important issue. Talking about the pressure society have on women, expecting them to reproduce when they have the freedom to decide whether or not they want children.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of olive in exchange for an honest review.

5 ⭐️
I loved this book. For a 30 something single woman like me, the book spoke to me. I could relate to the main character Olive on so many levels. The way she was so focused on her career, breaking up with her boyfriend of 10 years when all her friends were married and with kids, her choice to be childless, trying to figure out her future and trying to adjust to societal expectations of her.
Her experiences were realistic and didn’t feel fictitious because there were many I too faced, her struggles with relationships and friends, doubting the future and feeling so alone. Made me realize people are not really what they seem on the outside. The best thing about the book was that it didn’t give me false and unrealistic expectations of how my life should turn out.

I read the Audiobook version narrated by Sian Clifford and I loved it. I could hear the emotions and expressions Olive felt in the book.
Thank you #NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing the advance audiobook copy.
#NetGalley #bookstagrammer #Olive #audiobook

I'll be honest that I jumped into this book without really knowing what it was about -- but I like Women's Literature and often enjoy a strong or empowering female lead. This book is about Olive, a 30-something Londoner (by the way, I loved the narrator's accent and the British vernacular, "plasters" and "kerb") that has hit a major cross-roads in her life, most of her closest friends have children, are having children, or want children and she is pretty certain she does not. What ensues is her journey to figure out how to live with this decision and how not to destroy her closest female relationships.

I am sure that as a 40-something working mother of a teenager, I was not Gannon's idea of "target audience" as I have obviously chosen differently than Olive. However, I think it is very important for women to take on each other's viewpoints about intimate topics such as child-rearing. I have many girlfriends my age and older that have made the decision to not have children (or their own children) and are living healthy and productive lives. I know better than to pester them with questions about this lifestyle choice and I know not all of them have "decidedly made the choice" and some have just not had the opportunity to make it work out. However, I am so thankful that they have loved me through my child-rearing (corning the end of her really being a child) and I love them through their Singleton lives. This title reminded me that we must not impose our opinions about such intimate life choices on others.

I went back and forth between the Kindle Version and the Audio Version of this book -- but really enjoyed the narrator in the audio version more!

Thank you Netgalley & Harper Collins for this ARC copy of both the digital and audio of Olive by Emma Gannon.

Happy #PubDay to Olive by @emmagannonuk! 🎉

Huge thank you to the author and to @netgalley for reaching out with a free audio-ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

If you've been keeping up with me for a while, you may remember I read Gannon's non-fiction "Sabotage" back in November and felt kind of meh about it. Not good. But not really bad either. So I'll fully admit that I was a little hesitant to try Olive, but as a debut fiction read, I thought I should try it out. And I'm glad I did.

The story revolves around Olive, who is of prime baby-raising age but who does not want kids. To some, thats a controversial choice and for a lot of people with children it can seem strange. Olive has been strong in her conviction, even letting her last relationship end due to the topic. However, her friends are the same age so of course babies everywhere!

This book had at least a little bit of everything, when it comes to babies/motherhood: Child Free, pregnancy/newborn, older children, married parents, single parents, surrogacy, IVF, etc. While it was fully relatable because of the different viewpoints, I would possibly warn those who may be struggling with infertility.

Overall, I'm glad I gave this author another chance. Olive was light, easy to read, and about an important topic of adulthood.

3.5/5

#books #bookstagram #bookblogger #bookworm #booknerd #bibliophile #bibliophilebesties #caffeineandkindles #ireadpastmybedtime #cantcontrolmyshelf #imallbooked #WhatImReading #NetGalleyReviewer #ARC #audiobook #Olive

Review in English.

Olive, by Emma Gannon.

"OLIVE is many things, and it’s ok that she’s still figuring it all out, navigating her world without a compass. But life comes with expectations; there are choices to be made, boxes to tick and – sometimes – stereotypes to fulfil. And when her best friends’ lives start to branch away towards marriage and motherhood, leaving the path they’ve always followed together, Olive starts to question her choices – because life according to Olive looks a little bit different."

So this story is quite a good one. We are presented with this character, Olive, 30thsome years old journalist that faces an important question that will change her life forever. Does she want to have kids?

This easy passed book; with clear ideas, that touches important topics such as maternity, pregnancy, fertility issues is a Bildungsroman in its best. We get this character that is troubled with a major decision and we see how they overcome it- or not- . I found that the way Olive was portrayed was very realistic, her reactions seen possible, her thoughts seen real. As someone who’s always been in doubt about the idea of becoming a mother I believe that Olive's hesitations were the thing that i like the most, that I understood the most. She struggles with her final decision and we see and get to understand the reasoning behind it.

I’ve read it in audiobook format. It’s the first full audiobook that i get to finish so that’s a good sign. I found the narration captivating, I found myself as if i was hearing Olive’s thoughts and i think that for this novel was amazing, it added a sense of realism that I may not get on the paper format.

My main criticism on the audiobook is that there are some sections where we are presented, it was like comments? Opinions? (I’m still not very sure) of people about her situation that wasn’t achieved on the best way in the audio format.

Another thing I’ll criticise is that, even though i loved the whole idea of it, i still felt it a little empty. There’s something that’s missing. Maybe was the fact that the characters were, overall, plain; not very likeable and in some way divided in want children/ don’t want children. Also i was not stunned by the ending. It was a good ending, but still felt incomplete, like I missed half of the book.

With that being said i found myself entertained by this book (and that is what i look for when I’m reading), i was able to enjoy it and learn something from it.
It’s an interesting story about finding yourself, understanding and listening to one owns desires. It gives an opportunity to star the talk on Maternity .What is maternity? Why it seems like society only appropriate roll for a woman is to be a mom? Does every woman want a child? Is a woman less just because of her decision of being child- free?

Maria Lourdes.
3,5/5 ✨
.............
Reseña en español

Olive, de Emma Gannon.

"OLIVE es muchas cosas, y está bien que todavía lo esté averiguando todo, navegando por su mundo sin una brújula. Pero la vida viene con expectativas; hay elecciones que tomar, casillas que marcar y, a veces, estereotipos que cumplir. Y cuando la vida de sus mejores amigas comienza a ramificarse hacia el matrimonio y la maternidad, dejando el camino que siempre han seguido juntas, Olive comienza a cuestionar sus elecciones, porque la vida según Olive se ve un poco diferente ".

Entonces, esta es historia esta bastante buena. Se nos presenta un personaje, Olive, una periodista de unos 30 años que se enfrenta a una importante cuestión que cambiará su vida para siempre. ¿Quiere tener hijos?

Este libro fácil de leer; con ideas claras, que toca temas importantes como la maternidad, el embarazo, los problemas de fertilidad, es un Bildungsroman (novela de aprendizaje) en su máxima expresión. Tenemos este personaje que se ve obligado a tomar decisión importante y vemos cómo la superan -o no-. Descubrí que la forma en que se retrataba a Olive era muy realista, sus reacciones se veían posibles, sus pensamientos se veían reales. Como alguien que siempre ha tenido dudas sobre la idea de ser madre, creo que las dudas de Olive fueron lo que más me gustó, lo que más entendí. Ella lucha con su decisión final y nosotros vemos y llegamos a entender el razonamiento detrás de ella.

Lo lei en formato de audiolibro. Es el primer audiolibro completo que puedo terminar, así que es una buena señal. Encontré la narración cautivadora, me encontré como si estuviera escuchando los pensamientos de Olive y creo que para esta novela fue increíble, agregó una sensación de realismo que tal vez no consiga en el formato de papel.

Mi principal crítica al audiolibro es que hay algunas secciones donde se nos presenta ¿comentarios? ¿Opiniones? (Todavía no estoy muy segura) de personas sobre la situacion y un articulo que escribe Olive que no se lograron de la mejor manera en el formato de audio.

Otra cosa que criticaré es que, aunque me encantó la idea, todavía la sentía un poco vacía. Hay algo que falta. Quizás fue el hecho de que los personajes eran, en general, sencillos; no es muy agradable y de alguna manera está dividido en querer hijos / no querer hijos. Además, no me sorprendió el final. Fue un buen final, pero aún así me sentí incompleto, como si me hubiera perdido la mitad del libro.

Dicho esto, este libro me entretuvo (y eso es lo que busco cuando estoy leyendo), pude disfrutarlo y me aprender algo de el.

Es una historia interesante sobre cómo encontrarse a sí mismo, comprender y escuchar los propios deseos. Da la oportunidad de empezar la charla sobre Maternidad. ¿Qué es la maternidad? ¿Por qué parece que en la sociedad el único rol apropiado para una mujer es ser mamá? ¿Toda mujer quiere un hijo? ¿Es una mujer menos simplemente por su decisión de no tener hijos?

Maria Lourdes.
3,5 / 5 ✨

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Olive is sort of a coming of age story about 30-something Olive feeling like she doesn’t move in the direction society wants her. All her friends are “growing up” and thinking about starting a family, thinking about children. But Olive has no urge for that life. She’s completely happy with her work at a feminist magazine and her long–term boyfriend, until he brings up the idea of having kids of their own.

I want to start of saying that I was not the targeted age group for this book. Not even being 20 myself children is way ahead of me and the only thoughts I have on them are that they are cute. I do however see how this book can have a massive impact on someone going through not only the emotions experienced by Olive, but also the ones of her friends, and I respect that. The fact that it just didn’t resonate with me at this time in my life remains though. I thought the writing was kind of meh, but expect from that I don’t really have anything bad to say about this book. It was a solid book and I would recommend it for people older than me.

First it’s important to mention that the quality of this audiobook is terrible. I’m not sure if it’s the app or the audiobook itself but it’s overwhelmingly echoey, it stops after every part so you have to press play a lot, and the sound is muffled. The narrator’s voice though is fine, just the presentation is bad.

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this story. Being able to relate to the main character and their lack of interest in having kids I thought I would be interested in reading this one, however, despite being told from Olive’s perspective it felt more focused on her thoughts and feelings on her friends’ choices rather than her own and I felt that Olive was a bit flat. I found I wasn’t gripped by her character or where the story was going.

I’m so glad I decided to listen to this book! I always enjoy Emma Gannon’s perspective and research. Olive is an honest and emotional look at the decisions women wrestle with as adults. The characters aren’t as lovable as they are relatable. I guarantee you’ll see a part of yourself in at least one of the four friends. Olive gives a voice to a group of women who are often overlooked— those who are child-free by choice.

This book is for you if you’re:
- Feeling like you’re the only one and having trouble trusting you own life’s timing
- Struggling to come to terms with drifting friendships and navigating being in a different chapter of your life from your friend group
- Dealing with pressures surrounding motherhood
- Into character-driven novels where the focus of the plot is the main character’s flaws or alternating timelines with single narrator

What I didn’t like:
- Parts of the story felt a bit repetitive and unnecessary. There were a few chapters I could have skipped entirely.
- Lack of diversity. This book felt very white and middle class.

Content warnings for mentions of infertility, abortion, miscarriage, death, alcoholism, infidelity, divorce, toxic relationships, eating disorder, and therapy.

I listened to this story, rather than reading it and I really liked the narrator. It is the story of Olive, age 33, who does not want kids and the effect that has on her relationship and her friendships. Listening to the story was at times a little confusing as it is not told chronologically but jumping back and forth, showing more clearly how Olive's friendships have evolved. The story finishes with closure, so I don't expect any kind of sequel.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to listen to this story in return for an honest review.

Olive by Emma Gannon

I liked this book. A relevant female issue novel. Being a CFBC myself.... constantly fielding questions from family, defending my personal decision, and finding myself plagued by self doubt at times. I identified with the character and appreciated the perspective.

Thank you Net Galley for an early audio copy!!

This book was honestly the book I never knew I needed. As someone who doesn't know where she will be in 10 years or whether children will be apart of that, it was honestly a breath of fresh air. 'Olive' shows how people who choose to not have children are treated, but also shows in smaller aspects the struggle of being a parent as well as being someone who struggles with infertility.

I honestly connected with two of the characters, and it was honestly was empowering to read this on International Women's Day. I will definitely pick up another one of Emma Gannon's books ASAP because her writing it absolute perfection!!

Though some people won't agree with this review, because maybe they aren't the targeted audience or won't understand the struggles in this book, I definitely recommend it.

I really wanted to love this book, but I thought it was just okay. It starts off very slow and it wasn't that I really got into it until it was near the ending. The book follows Olive as someone who doesn't want children and her 3 other friends. One who has fertility issues, the other two with children. I know the point of the book is the child free choice aspect, but I almost think it would have been more interesting to read about it from each girls perspective. I love that the book brings to light the choice of having children or not and that not having children is a completely normal choice! I just wish the book was a bit more interesting. Rather than Olive did this and had this experience and it brought up child free feelings here and there and here and there. 2.5 rounded up to a 3.

Although way older than Olive, I identified with her independence, her anxiety, her friendships, and her feeling of being adrift as her friends after college graduation have new families and babies. She is single and has a rising career in an online beauty magazine. She’s right in her observations that society looks down on career women who are self-centered. Listening to the audio version I was at times confused at the back and forth in time and getting lost in when the chapter was taking place. And do friends really quarrel that much?

Olive by Emma Gannon tells the story of Olive as she navigates her decision to be child free by choice while her close friends begin to move on toward marriage and motherhood. I really appreciated the representation in this book for a character who chooses to be childless as this is not something frequently represented in literature. I enjoyed following along as Olive questioned her choices. I also enjoyed that each of Olive's friends had a different struggle represented in the book. A friend who has children but is losing her marriage, a friend who wants children but is having difficulty conceiving, a friend who isn't completely thrilled with her motherhood experience. This book highlights the differences in female experiences. This story is told exclusively through Olive's perspective and inner monologue, and I would have loved to have multiple perspectives to highlight and experience the differences in the struggles of the more central characters.

The audio narration was done by Sian Clifford and was excellent. The emotional content of the story was conveyed in the narration and I am glad that I listened to this one as I feel like it helped me to connect with Olive.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ALC. This did not affect the contents of my review, and all opinions are honest, voluntary, and my own.

In her early thirties, Olive, has a successful career writing for .dot magazine while living in London with her long-term boyfriend, Jacob. Their relationship ends abruptly after a casual conversation turns serious and Olive advises Jacob that she doesn’t want to have children and she doesn’t think she’ll change her mind.

She and her three best friends from university are moving in different directions. Olive doesn’t want children; Bea married her university boyfriend and has had her three children early; Cecily, a lawyer, is about to give birth to her first child, and Isla, who has suffered from Endometriosis all her life, is undergoing IVF to become pregnant. One of the ideas Gannon explores in her novel relates to the challenges relationships face when friends stop having so many things in common.

By shining a light on the sometimes uncomfortable realities of being “child-free by choice” (CFBC), motherhood and infertility, Gannon exposes them and gives us the opportunity to discuss them with each other. There is no right or wrong way and there are many ways to live a fulfilled life.

With wit and insight, heart and humour, “Olive” will reassure young and older women who are child-free by choice that they are not alone. As Marion Keyes writes: “It’ll give a voice to countless women”. “Olive” is a beautifully written and brave book.

Actress Sian Clifford, the audiobook’s narrator, reads perfectly, her voice matching the voice one might expect Olive to have. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook version.

A huge thank you to @NetGalley and @AndrewsMcMeel for an audiobook review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Opting to be 'child free by choice' (CFBC in the book) is a big, bold topic to tackle. Gannon tries to cover all bases by using four friends, each of whom has a different angle on the subject. Unfortunately, I felt that none of these characters were particularly relatable or even likeable, especially the titular Olive. They were all whiny, privileged and rich. Olive also has the easiest job in journalism and somehow ends up promoted despite spending months working on only one story and spending most of her time at the office nursing a hangover.

The audio book was well narrated but there were times when the dialogue jarred with clichés, passive sexism and ridiculous nicknames. The worst part was *spoiler alert* when Olive ended up with a guy who... has kids. Is that the best we can all hope for, shoehorning in a bit of 'maternal instinct' at the end. Cringeworthy stuff.

I have never given a bad review before but I have to be honest, this is probably the most disappointing book I've read/listened to in a long time.

I received a free ARC audio book from NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.

Enjoyed the general conversation about women that choose not to have children. It’s sadly still looked down upon, so books that talk about it in this way are always going to be appreciated by me.

I found Olive to be a bit frustrating and annoying at times. I suppose she was written quite realistically with a bunch of flaws, but also a lot of good qualities. Plus she grew to be a better person throughout the book.

I would have liked for there to be a bit more of a definite plot, but it wasn’t a huge problem for me. I was just left thinking, where’s this going? quite a few times.

I can imagine that a lot of people will love this book

This book fell flat for me to the point that I did not finish it. While the main character felt realistic, her focus on her own issues seemed to make her oblivious to the needs of others around her even as she proclaimed they were her dearest friends. I'm not sure if I would have preferred reading this over listening, but I found the narrator's different voices hard to distinguish contributing to the feeling that everyone outside of Olive was underdeveloped.

Honestly, maybe if I had pushed through to the end I would have seen more development and it would have grown on me. After attempting to pick back up with listening multiple times only to become frustrated and abandon this book, I decided that perhaps it's just not the book for me right now.