If you’ve been following my stories at all the past week it will be no surprise that I thought this debut by Monica Helsey was a breath of hilarious fresh air since I’ve repeatedly been posting quotes from it.
Feeling like something that nestles between #Fleabag and #BridgetJonesDiary Helsey’s Maggie is a young Toronto based woman whose life has suddenly hit the skids when she and her husband decide to divorce. Initially this seems like a positive, but an amicable separation becomes questionable as Maggie finds that it isn’t as easy to let go as she thought even if her ex husband has. Maggie is both completely sympathetic and also maddeningly frustrating as she desperately tries to claw her way back to a manageable equilibrium before isolating everyone in her life, including a sit-com ready group of friends, two of which are named Lauren. “One who cried at everything and another who maintained she had only cried once in her entire life when McDonald’s stop doing pizza.For simplicity’s sake, we called the former ‘Emotional Lauren.’ “

But to make this work, what could run maudlin and frankly depressing, you have to have a relatable protagonist you’ll ultimately root for, and you absolutely do in this instance. You want her to get over her ex, you want her to find someone new, or more importantly to find herself. Who knew that there could be so many laughs in a breakup? Thanks to @harpercollins and @netgalley for the advance copy. #ReallyGoodActually comes out 1/17

I really enjoyed this book. When I read that Heisey previously wrote for Schitt’s Creek, I wasn’t at all surprised because her writing is insanely funny while also being heartwarming. Every few minutes while reading I’d have to pause to re-read a line because I loved it so much.

She also somehow managed to bundle all the neuroses and anxieties of being in your late 20s into one character, highlighting them in a way that is not relatable but eye opening. In doing so, she pokes fun at the absolutely bonkers time period we live in while pointing out all that is amazing about it and embracing it.

I just found this to be a very fun book that anyone who struggled at all in their 20s/30s can connect with. If you’re looking for a strict “plot” for lack of a better word, this isn’t for you. It’s more about the journey for the MC. But if you like character-driven novels, this one is quite delightful.

4.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the ARC

Whew, I am glad I am done with this one. I went into this novel thinking the humor was going to be similar to Schitt's Creek since Monica Heisey has written for the show. This book was marketed to be humorous, but it did not make me laugh as much as it made me feel depressed.

The really good/bad thing about this novel is the author takes you into the mindset of someone struggling with mental health. The emotional, tumultuous journey that follows really affected me mentally (enough that I had to stop and put it down for a few days, multiple times!)

This was not a book for me personally but was interesting to read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5/5
this was overall a pretty interesting read! i give Monica props for taking a subject like divorce and giving us something different from other divorce/big break up stories.

while i found maggie to be a *really* frustrating character, i think that ended up being part of her charm in the end. she is a complex yet intriguing, messy human going through a huge life change that she never planned for. there were definite eye roll moments throughout the book where i was like giiiiirl just NO but overall, i enjoyed her journey to figuring herself out on her own for the first time. she’s an absolutely hot mess but a relatable one.

beyond all that, i enjoyed Maggie’s friends a lot and the humor in this book was excellent, I actually laughed out loud a few times!

would i recommend this to everyone? no. but i do think it landed on the favorable side for me. so for the right reader, it’ll be an interesting, if not fun, read.

thank you netgalley for the arc!

I really enjoyed this. It feels incredibly heartfelt and raw, while still being laugh out loud funny. The lists and various tidbits at the beginnings of the chapters were some of my favorite parts, and I wound up highlighting entire sections of them. I think it will be a big hit with late 80's and early 90's millennials for sure, it was honestly painful to see myself reflected in some of Maggie's bullshit. I think Monica Heisey hits on our very specific tone and sense of humor with this. Definitely recommend!

Thank you William Morris & NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel by Monica Heisey was really enjoyable. i needed a palate cleanser from all the thrillers I had bee, and it was a perfect read for a laugh. I truly felt like this was a relatable read about a woman who marries and divorces her first love young.

The main character, Maggie, is darkly funny. The type of humor I tend to gravitate towards. Selfdeprication at it's finest. This book was also written SO uniquely. There were chapters fully dedicated to 'Google searches' made by Maggie, and it brought me write back to my OWN (EEEEK) Google searches. We all have them. I also deeply loved her honest and real relationships with her friends. Those moments alone made this book hysterical. Maggie is messy and relatable while she navigates friendships, dating & relationships. MY ONLY downside was that it could have been a bit shorter.

Read if you like
- messy and complicated MCs
- hysterical banter and inner dialogue
- uniquely written chapters
- Canadian settings
- to laugh out loud

FINAL THOUGHTS: A debut novel that brings you all the laughter. From the inner monologue, banter between friends (and her therapist) this book make you giggle and feel for the messy main character that is Maggie. Monica Heisey writes a relatable story about a girl who marries the love of her life young and divorces before she's 30. Pre-order this book now. Available 1/17/23.

It seems like people either love or hate this book, but I definitely enjoyed it. It has very millennial, self-deprecating humor - so if you like that dry sense of humor, you may enjoy this. I also found it very relatable as someone in my 20s, especially for the topics of relationships, wellness, and online behavior. It is slightly a bummer all around and some parts are hard to read because it is a true rock-bottom situation, but there is hope toward the end that makes you feel satisfied. We have all been messy at one point or another, and it feels good to read about someone coming out the other end of it. I would only recommend it to readers who are okay with an unlikeable character and intense dry humor, especially since some readers have been noting that as a negative, but it is a good read!

I made it to 31% before giving up on the grounds that it was too depressing for me to continue. The word “hilarious” is in this book’s description about four times and so far all it has made me feel is sad and anxious. Especially whenever the subject of the main character’s cat comes up. (The cat is not dead but we don’t know if Maggie is ever going to see her again, and I cannot handle this at all.)
I will also note that 90% of this book (at least, of the third of it that I got through) is inner monologue, even when stuff is happening. It makes it kind of hard for me to get into.
I’m not entirely sure why this isn’t clicking with me, because there are similar books I’ve really enjoyed (Fleishman Is in Trouble, Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth), so maybe it’s just my current mood, but for whatever reason, this is not touching my heart or tickling my funny bone.

I am going to skip ahead and find out what happens with the cat though.

I hadn't expected this novel to be a stream of consciousness type of narration, with the narrator spewing so many details clumped together that it lost my interest. It also seemed to be going nowhere fast enough.

I will be withholding my review until Harper gives their Harper Collins union workers a fair contract. Thank you again for the copy.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this and it was indeed really good, actually! I related so much to Maggie (even when there were times that she was behaving in a way that made her hard to like) - not the divorce part but definitely the aspects of navigating life as you're about to turn 30 and everyone around you seems to be in such a different place.

This book made me laugh and made me tear up too, and I'd recommend it to everyone, but especially someone trying to survive their 20s!

I really liked parts of this book and parts were so cringe I would put the book down and read something else. I liked Maggie's character but at some points her actions after her divorce were so over the top that I would lose interest in the book.

Overall, I liked this book and liked how the author wrapped the story up.

A 29-year-old woman in Toronto, married less than 2 years, is going through a divorce. Her life is a mess as she navigates her new world. Although at times funny, ultimately this book was a bit much for me - almost in stream of consciousness way. I'm sure if I was in my late 20s or early 30s I might have appreciated it more.

Maybe Really Good, Actually is supposed to convince me otherwise, but I'd be Monica Heisey's friend in a heartbeat. Her Maggie is a loveable mess, and I laughed the whole way through this book.

I would hand this to any millennial that's "going through it." However, I think the audience is very narrowly specific to millennials (or Gen-Z if we're stretching it). It's funny and sarcastic with a great depiction of modern friendships. It could either be super relatable or a little bit depressing depending on the reader's personal experience.

#ReallyGoodActually #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out! Really solid read.

Though this book took me a long time to read (it turns out, being depressed yourself is a hindrance when it comes to the subject matter of divorce and lost love!), it felt like a small revelation. It was exactly what it needed to be.

Really Good, Actually
by Monica Heisey
Pub Date: January 17, 2023
William Morrow
Thanks to the author, Publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
I found this book to be horribly depressing and I will not be recommending it to anyone. Although the quoted reviews say it is.....
Laugh-out-loud funny and filled with sharp observations, Really Good, Actually is a tender and bittersweet comedy that lays bare the uncertainties of modern love, friendship, and our search for that thing we like to call “happiness”. This is a remarkable debut from an unforgettable new voice in fiction.

Not the book for me. I'm going back to my Christmas Novels.
2 stars

Really Good, Actually details the year following Maggie's separation from her husband. I found this hard to read at times. I found Maggie very unlikeable.

A funny, sharp, and very clever novel about moving on after a break-up and re-learning what it is to be yourself.