Hilarious novel that explores the layers of feelings that surround a divorce. Reading like. Nonfiction account, Really Good, Actually follows Maggie’s attempt to survive as a young divorcée while finding herself.
Funny and messy.. Recommended.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and HarperCollins Canada in exchange for my honest review

I LOVE this book! If you read one book in 2023, please let it be this one. Friends x HIMYM x Fleabag = masterpiece.
If you’ve ever had a crushing breakup of any kind you’ll know the feeling Maggie deals with - but she does it in such a hilarious way the memory of yourself doing the same isn’t painful but funny.
This is the first book to make me genuinely laugh out loud in a long time and I loved the references to places in Toronto I knew.

Really Good, Actually is a modern telling of an age-old rite of passage: a break-up. It follows the story of our hero, Maggie and her tailspin into questioning everything – about herself, about her relationships, about marriage in general – after she made an off the cuff suggestion of divorce to her husband of less than two years and he didn’t disagree.

Heisey walks Maggie and her readers through all stages of post-break-up living including, but not limited to: disbelief that takes the form of incessant attempts to contact the ex, exploration of sexuality through hook-ups that vary in meaning (and an excellent peek into the world of dating on the apps), and testing the bonds of friendship through insisting on obsessively analyzing again and again (and again and again and again) everything that went wrong.

As readers, we’re off the hook of wondering whether Maggie and Jon will get back together because the story that we’re treated to is so much more than that. Maggie’s exploration of her sexuality, her tendency to mail it in at work, her compulsion to tweet too much and too critically and her very real challenge of keeping her head above water while living alone in Toronto are all sides that show us who she is and why we’re rooting for her. The true reward of this book is the exploration and restoration of Maggie and the relationships that she has a funny way of nurturing after her marriage is dissolved.

When I say Really Good, Actually is laugh out loud, I mean it, but I will also warn you that there are parts of this book you might read with your hands over your face because they are just so mortifying … and recognizable.

An absolutely phenomenal read. I am adoring the books becoming popular/coming out lately that center on being lost and finding yourself later in life- after you’ve hit the supposed “happily ever after” especially.

After getting married, getting into her graduate degree, and seemingly having her life together on paper- it seems to fall apart as she goes through a divorce and her thesis is going nowhere. This hilarious read is bound to make you feel all the emotions, and make you feel less alone in all of yours.

I highly recommend this to adults who feel like they’re going nowhere, are a bit lost, and think they’re not living up to their own expectations. It shows you’re not alone and have so much more life to go!

I've never been married, hence I've never been divorced. No one in my immediate family or friend circle has been, either, yet the Maggie divorce experience in Really Good, Actually feels accurate to me.

Maggie's marriage ends in the way that scares me--no big thing, just a bunch of little things that add up and you don't fully realize until it's too late. I think this book does a good job in taking the reader along for the ride as Maggie deals with it. There are chapters that ramble on and on, there are lists of Google searches that are all over the place but fully relatable, there are moments of chaos and there are moments of pure cringe. There is a cat.

Really Good, Actually is actually funny, too. (Heisey has written for shows like Schitt's Creek so no stranger to comedy). I fully appreciated the funny bits because there were some chapters where I was getting annoyed with Maggie. (As were her best friends, though, so I feel okay admitting it).

I think what I liked most about this book is how Heisey wasn't afraid to write a messy character. I wish we all had a Helen.

This Canadian debut was one of my most anticipated reads of January and while it wasn't bad by any means, I don't think it was quite what I was expecting. Touted as an 'anti-romantic comedy' this book does a great job exploring the challenges of modern relationships, especially life after divorce and the pitfalls of online dating. Told with humor, this book had great mental health and therapy rep and is sure to resonate with a lot of Millennials! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Libro.fm for an ALC!

This book had me captivated right from the start. I empathize with Maggie’s heartache and subsequent breakdown. It was equal parts funny and moving look at turning thirty after a large traumatic life change.

Well this was one funny book. I totally enjoyed this hook.a definite recommend for anyine looking for comesic relief. I recommend completely..

Thanks netgalley and publisher

All thoughts and opinions are my own.