The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise is a book that as a book has a great premise but I never connected with.

Colleen Oakley has vivid characters and a good framework for a story but I never connected to Tanner or Louise and I hate that because the book is funny and Oakley is a great world builder. I always hate when characters are hard to connect with and overall I liked the book but would have loved it and I wish they were more relatable.

I hope to read another book from Oakley because of her strengths but Tanner & Louise didn’t hit for me.

Octogenarians are definitely having a moment in literature!

Some have taken road trips to attain something, while others have taken one because they needed an escape!

A few have been amateur detectives or retired assassins…and now, we have Mrs. Wilt-who just might be the “never caught” renowned jewel thief of the famous Kinsey diamond.

Ever since 21 year old, Tanner Quimby got injured and lost her Soccer scholarship, she has been in a rut. She sits around in sweat pants, playing “Horizon Zero Dawn” for hours, because now that Soccer is off the table-she isn’t sure what to do with her life.

Louise Wilt, needs a caretaker of sorts. Mostly, she needs a driver, because since falling, she is unable to operate a motor vehicle on her own. Tanner agrees to take the “job” hoping to make some money so she can return for her senior year at Northwestern.

But when Tanner sees a “breaking news” story about one of the greatest unsolved jewel heists in American History, she cannot help but notice that the age progressed “suspect” looks alarmingly like “Mrs. Wilt”.

So when Tanner is woken up by the sound of sirens, and Mrs. Wilt appears in her room with a packed pack at 1 AM insisting that they leave town immediately-she finds herself becoming the “getaway driver” for an 84 year old woman “on the lam”, while Mrs. Wilt’s daughter has to report both women as MISSING.

Yes, Tanner and Louise are on a “Thelma and Louise” road trip to California, inspired in part by the author’s own grandmother, a fierce woman who never missed her 5 PM cocktail and “didn’t suffer fools”!

Mrs. Wilt is always ONE STEP ahead of everyone, including the FBI, and Tanner just may learn something along the way that helps her to move forward in her own life.

This humorous adventure will be available on March 28, 2023!

Thank You to Berkley for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!

I haven't had this much fun reading a book in a long time. I requested this book because the idea of an eighty-year-old woman going on the run for her past crimes tickles me pink. What I expected and what I got exceeded all expectations.

Tanner, the twenty-something whose sports dreams were cut short due to an injury. Depressed and desperate for money and a place to stay, she accepts the position of driving around an elderly woman recovering from her own accident. But her days of playing video games and lazing around are cut short when she realizes Louise may not be who she says she is.

I love the Thelma and Louise angle with sassy Louise pulling the strings and Tanner learning a bit or two about friendship and, well, guns. The two could not any more different. Louise is about living her best life while Tanner is very...reserved.

The road trip (I LOVE ROAD TRIPS!) forces eir proximity, but they both seem to lean into each other along the way. Their banter is hilarious and heartfelt as their friendship grows, despite the mystery of what crimes Louise has committed looming over them.

This is my first book by this author, but it won't be my last. This book gets all the stars and all the hopes that it becomes a movie.

I love a feel good story and that is what this is. Tanner is a miserable ex college student who has lost her athletic scholarship due to injury. She gets a job caring for Louise, an irascible elderly woman who also is living incognito and is wanted by the FBI. So starts a marvelous journey of friendship as they race to get to Louise’s friend George before the mob does. Touching, funny, page turner- Colleen Oakley has done it again!

Review of The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise

Fun, well-written, and studded with surprises, The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise will tickle you, encourage you, and keep you turning the pages.

Twenty-one-year-old Tanner is in a funk after an injury derails her soccer career.
Eighty-four-year-old Louise is on a mission to correct a past mistake.

Never have two such different women needed each other so much. But exactly why they need each other creates a book chockful of rich themes.

The most obvious theme is friendship, especially friendship that can transcend a significant generation gap. Here’s where the book sparkles. Tanner and Louise make assumptions about each other from the get-go. Though the idea of a generation gap is nothing new, this “Mostly True Story” examines why we make snap judgments and how that inhibits good relationships. The women’s cross-country car journey serves as a structure that delivers them from postulations to understanding.

Mistakes—or perceived mistakes—is another important theme. As readers, we have the objectivity to see clearly, and this causes us to root for the characters who are muddling more through mistaken beliefs than true failures. It's relatable because who of us hasn’t done the same? Who hasn’t lost sleep over worries about how we could have done something differently? How Tanner and Louise handle and think about their regrets is food for thought about how we, the readers, handle our own.

Author Colleen Oakley also explores what constitutes real intimacy in relationships—whether it’s a friendship or a love interest. Though the main characters of Tanner and Louise are very different, they are the same in many ways, primarily in how they reveal themselves to others. Both are reticent to share too much. Both would prefer to keep their true identities safely concealed. Both want others to accept them for face value instead of revealing vulnerabilities.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise is about understanding and accepting yourself and others and moving on in life. And, as the title reflects, this witty novel will keep you guessing till its satisfying conclusion.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a chance to review this early.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise has been aptly compared to Thelma and Louise and Midnight Run. It tells the story of an unlikely duo--21-year-old Tanner and 84-year-old Louise on the run from Florida to California. As the trip unfolds, we learn more about what brought the two protagonists to where they are today. I thought the author did a great job of doling out information about the women's pasts in a way that made me re-evaluate my initial impressions of them and showed the women to be complex, fully-realized characters. The book was a light read but also explored some deep issues, such as domestic violence. Would definitely recommend!

A wild crazy adventure with a modern retake on classic tropes. Tanner and Louise are a kooky team with just the right amount of sass and heart to make this story work.

3 stars. Too long and too much background info. Tool 25% to get to the good part. Slimmed pretty heavily bit overall sweet story with a great ending.

There is so much to love here in this heartwarming and funny look of the adventures of Tanner and Louise. It's like Thelma & Louise and Driving Miss Daisy had a love child. I absolutely loved the dynamic between angsty Tanner and grumpy Louise and how their story played out and the secrets were revealed. This was in one simple word, delightful!!

A warm story about women who are there for each other - as friends, mothers, and even strangers - that puts those relationships, rather than romance, at center stage. Just as it took Tanner and Louise time to warm to one another, it took several chapters for this book to really hook me, but I ultimately found myself staying up late to race through the second half of the book, and smiling at the reveals through the end. I haven’t seen Thelma and Louise, and wonder whether I missed some “Easter eggs” because of that, but it wasn’t enough to keep me from enjoying this book.

Tanner is funny in her panic and her horror at old people and Louise is stereotypically crusty and that makes them an unlikely and enjoyable pair as they go "on the lam" and try to reach Louise's old friend George. Little breadcrumbs are dropped along the way to clue in the reader (and Tanner) to the real story. The episode at the St. Louis Arch is funny and Tanner is such a likable character. Louise doesn't feel like a complete character or the parts of her personality don't quite cohere but the story is enjoyable enough to overlook. It's a nice vacation from today's reality.

Add this one to my "favorites books of 2022" list!

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise is superb. I am a sucker for a novel about an unlikely friendship between an elderly person and a young adult. Louise, an 84 year-old grandmother, is a gem. She is badass, sarcastic, and stubborn. Tanner is a 21 year old college dropout who moves in with Louise to be her driver and help her after hip surgery. The two are complete opposites and do not get along. They go on a spontaneous, crazy cross-country adventure where they end up forming an alliance and respect for one another. They are both going through heavy transitions in life and end up helping one another through.

This book is an absolute delight. Colleen Oakley did an amazing job of weaving humor, heartbreak and hope together to create a fun, heartwarming story. It comes out March 28th and I promise you will love it!!

Many, many thanks to #netgalley and Berkley for the early copy!

Just a fun caper novel. Loved escaping with Tanner and Louise. The mystery of what Louise had done unraveled as their adventures went on. I enjoyed their relationship developing along with meeting their friends along the way.

This is a sweet book. It’s also pretty predictable, but enjoyable nonetheless. Great beach read or when you just want a feel good, easy read.

Louise Wilt is a feisty 84-year-old who could use the help of a caregiver, although she stubbornly disagrees with that. Still, she finds herself saddled with Tanner Quimby, a moody, unmotivated 21-year-old who, until recently, lived in her parents’ basement playing video games. Tanner would rather do anything except look after this cranky old lady. But now that Tanner has worn out her welcome at home, being Louise’s live-in caregiver will have to do. Boring. Little does she know, she’s about to embark on the hair-raising adventure of a lifetime. It seems Louise’s sketchy past has finally caught up with her, and Tanner becomes an unwitting accomplice. She’s about to learn some valuable lessons about life and being on the lam. Superb writing. Great characters. Rarely is a lead character in her middle 80’s, but Louise Wilt is my hero! Loaded with humor. Plenty of surprises and drama. There isn’t anything I don’t love about this one. What a treat. It’s definitely going into my read-again column.

I loved this book! Some reviews compared it to "Thelma & Louise", and it is a road trip featuring 2 women, but that's about the only comparison I would make. Louise is an elderly woman recovering from a hip replacement. Tanner is a young woman whose dream of playing college/professional soccer has just disappeared, and she is now rudderless. Tanner takes a job as a caretaker for Louise and gets WAY more than she bargained for. Louise has secrets, lots of secrets. They take off on a trip to California to find a friend of Louise's.

I wasn't expecting much from this book. I was afraid it was just going to descend into a predictable story about how the older, wiser woman influences the younger, untethered woman, friendship ensues, and they all live happily ever after. WOW! The story is filled with humor, emotion, secrets, lies, and lots of surprises. I could not put it down. There's a bit of that women/friend/mentor stuff, but everything else is fun and a great ride. Read this book!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this fun and fabulous story.
Tanner is a 21-year-old college student and athlete. She suffers a terrible accident which ends her soccer career and causes her to lose her scholarship. Tanner now resides in her parent's basement playing video games in sweats and sulking.

Louise is an 84-year-old mother and grandmother who is recovering from hip surgery. Her children are convinced she needs a live in caregiver and Tanner is hired for the job.

Neither is thrilled to be together. Tanner continues her video games and Louise drinks her vodka precisely at 5pm and does her crossword puzzles. Louise gets a mysterious phone call from her past and needs to get to the west coast in a hurry. What follows is a humorous road trip across the country in a vintage jaguar. The two women work to get to know each other as they unravel mysteries from Louise's past.

This is a delightful story with loveable female characters. Enjoy the ride!!

4.5 stars

Move over May/December romances - give me all the May/December friendships! I am a sucker for books of unlikely friendships, and The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise definitely fits the bill. It gives vibes of Thelma and Louise and Driving Miss Daisy.

We meet curmudgeonly Louise Wilt and unanchored Tanner Quimby. Tanner needs a place to stay and a job after her dreams of finishing her collegiate soccer career are shattered, and Louise Wilt needs a caretaker to get her daughter to leave her alone.

This unlikely pair finds more than they expected in each other when they take to the road in a cross-country journey racing against time. People tend to underestimate the young and the old, and Tanner and Louise come to find out they have more in common than they expected against the backdrop of a very hilarious and satisfying caper.

Many thanks to the author, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley for sharing this gem with me. All thoughts are my own.

Think of swirling Driving Miss Daisy together with Thelma and Louise, and you have The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise!

Tanner is a brooding, directionless young woman spiraling from losing a college soccer scholarship and seemingly existing on the periphery. Louise is a quick-witted grandmother in need of an in-home assistant who hides several surprises. The two women mix as well as oil and water initially, since Louise is only patronizing her daughter in allowing Tanner to move in to help her.

One day Tanner happens to catch a news story on tv about a long-sought after criminal whose description is Louise to a tee. She barely has time to question the validity of her suspicions before she becomes embroiled in the adventure of a lifetime.

This story made me laugh out loud in public, while waiting in a doctor's office, and even brought tears to my eyes. The characters were very relatable and appealing, and the story was plausible and well-developed. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a satisfying read, or who knows of that odd older gentleman or lady who seems like there is just something about them lurking with mystery!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for for providing me with an advance digital copy.

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise is the buddy outlaw comedy that I never knew I needed. Funny, intriguing, unpredictable, and delightful from start to finish, I absolutely loved this!

Louise Wilt and Tanner Quimby are polar opposites thrown together through circumstance. Louise is post hip surgery and needs an aide/driver. Tanner, also struggling with an injury, has been kicked out of her parents' home and becomes Louise's aide/roommate. Yet, despite their different personalities, they find solace in each other and grow to become allies and friends on a hilarious run-from-the-law drive across the country.

I promise you, no matter where you think this story is going, you're wrong. The story is woven brilliantly through transcripts of phone calls, FBI interviews, multiple perspectives and it keeps you guessing the entire time.

The dynamic between Louise and Tanner is hilarious and the heart of this story -- the way they challenge each other, support each other, and grow is beautiful to read. The generation gap between the two is solid comedy but also lends itself well to the commentary that runs throughout the whole story of what it is to live as a woman in this world.

I will be on the lookout for more from Colleen Oakley! This book is a beautiful blend of comedy, mystery, female empowerment and friendship. What a fantastic read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.