This was as delightful as I'd hoped it would be. I found myself totally hooked. on this show. Not. Dead Yet and freaked out when I learned. it was based on a novel! The book is a bit of a clunker and I will admit it did take me a bit to get. into, but once I did, I was hooked.

I don't know if this book will. necessarily hit everyone's jam. it definitely captures what it's like to be a certain age and in a certain situation and I can see certain things not landing for some readers how they may hope, but I think at the end of the day this is a really fun read. I really enjoyed the writing and once the pacing picked up, I was really immersed in the story.

How fun to read a book set in London….in London! Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k was such a fun read. I liked so many things about the writing, the characters, and the faced paced storyline. There’s so many relatable feelings that many women will relate to the main character Penelope. Here’s a few of my favorite parts:
Penelope moves back to London after a painful breakup and finds herself sharing a flat with her new landlord. Edward is grumpy, cheap, but somehow so lovable.
Penelope takes on a side job writing obituaries and meets Cricket when she goes to question her about her husbands passing. The two hit it off straight away and become fast friends. I loved Cricket.
I found myself smiling a lot reading this book which is always a good thing. Tells me the author’s personality is coming through her characters. Such a fun read.
Ok time to explore London IRL!

This had so much promise but didn’t quite deliver. I wanted to laugh with Nell but none of it was particularly funny, or insightful; it ended up being a little dull and very self-deprecating but not in a good way. I was hoping for more of a story rather than a monologue. I ended up giving up on this book as it’s nothing but uninteresting journal entries.

WOW! Some of this relates too closely to my life! I could not put this down once I started reading. I felt so much compassion and empathy for Nell and her story. I was so exchanged with Nell's journey from start to finish; this girl really foes through a lot and learns so much....

I loved the author's writing style and I would definitely read more upcoming novels in the future if it is as good as this one. Definitely recommended. I am getting a copy to own and re-read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Alexandra Potter, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Already available

A modern Bridget Jones-esque story for the middle-aged woman. Nell is a 40-something recently dumped woman whose life hasn't gone according to plan. Returning to live at home with her parents again and starting over as an obituary writer she befriends an octogenarian, starts a podcast and finds a new reason to appreciate life. Funny and full of heart and good on audio too. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5


I did myself the grave injustice of looking at some of the bad reviews of this book before starting the book, and it made me weary of reading this book, but I was so pleasantly surprised!

As someone who is turning 30 in less than 4 months, & feeling somewhat of a fuck-up myself— no husband, no kids, no house, and just recently let go from my job.. I felt like I could relate! (I know it’s only 30 but I’m having an existential crisis myself)

“Feeling like a fuck-up isn’t about being a failure, it’s about being made to feel like one. It’s the pressure and the panic to tick all the boxes, and reach all the goals..”

I definitely related to the notion of needing to have checked all the boxes by a certain age.

I loved her friendship with Cricket— for some reason I thought she was going to die at the end though & leave her house or something to Nell 😅

I loved how everything worked out in the end, and that she ended up loving her life :’) I loved all the references to books & little free libraries. I loved that she found her tribe. I loved that she found love in the end but that it wasn’t the focal point of the story.

Also I’m glad there WASN’T a third-act pregnancy… I was going to be PISSED 😡

The beginning was kinda whiny and slow, but by the time I was 60% through the book, I was HOOKED. Ending up really enjoying the book & highly recommend!

oh my goodness! this was adorable and fun and sweet and cool and hilarious! i loved this book so very much and i hope that you'll pick it up! thank you so much to netgalley!!!!

I think this book would be perfect for someone who’s in the figuring it out stage of life. That is not me. I found the main character ridiculous, sad and annoying.. I had a very hard time finishing it but forced myself to.

As someone who is in forty-something and considers herself a bit of a fork-up, the title of this one literally jumped off the screen at me when I spotted it in the romance section on Netgalley. I accepted an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alexandra Potter is a new-to-me author and, since this is a re-release, I probably should have read some reviews before I requested the ARC for one big, big reason. This is not a romance. This is Women's Fiction and it isn't even Women's Fiction with romantic elements since the main relationships in the book are between Nell and her friends.

That being said, even approaching it from Women's Fiction, I still did not enjoy the story as much as I had hoped. I found Nell to be self-indulgent, immature, and petty with her hurts and slights. Does she have some big issues that are valid and worthy of taking up with time on the page - YES. But when I have to read about arguments over the thermostat and the dishwasher or jealousy over her friends having friends other than her, let alone feeling her parents prefer her brother, I start skimming pages.

One last thing that really bugged me. Maybe it's my own experience, but as someone in their forties, my friends don't have babies or young children. Friends with kids in elementary school are even rare, and they're the youngest kids in a sibling/child group. The friends I have in my forties are supportive, collaborative, and we try our best not to take each other - including our childless friends - for granted.

All that to say, I found Nell exhausting. No one's life turns out the way they expected it would. You suck it up and deal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the chance to read this book.

Nell Stevens had it all. After moving to America to take an editing job, she fell in love. She moved to California, opened a bookstore/café with her boyfriend, and then he asked her to marry him. While most of her friends from school were still back in London, she was making new friends in L.A. and loving her life.

Until she wasn’t.

It only took about six months to go from happy to alone, unemployed, and living in a rented room back in London. When the business failed, the relationship fell apart, and Nell headed back to England to be with her friends and her parents, and to try to figure out what to do next.

But it turns out that going home isn’t so easy. Nell’s parents have turned her bedroom into a short-term rental. Her friends are all married, with kids and big houses and jobs and new friends and intense lives. Just finding a time for them all to meet up for Nell’s birthday takes dozens of texts, and even then they have to go to an Italian restaurant that has a play area for the kids. She’s renting a bedroom from Edward, a man who spends his weekends with his wife and kids at their place in the country, and who is charging an exceptionally good rate on the rent in exchange for help feeding and walking his dog Arthur. And the only job she can find is to freelance writing obituaries.

Nell is lonely, broke, single, and feels like a first-rate screwup. But she’s tired of all the motivational quotes coming across her social media feeds, and all the influencers making green juice in their perfect kitchens, and she just wants to be real. So she starts a podcast. She tells it like it is, reveals how she’s really feeling, in her Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up.

As she builds her new life with her single room, the love of Arthur, arguments with her landlord over the types of plastic that can be recycled and added to the bin, being a godparent and last-minute babysitter, and flirting with the hot guy who posed naked in the art class she took, Nell starts to find her way past her pain and learn to live again. She makes friends with Cricket, the widow of the playwright she wrote about in her first obituary. She tries online dating. She decides to be happy for her brother when he announces his engagement and that they’re having a baby. And she leans into her gratitude journal.

And when the podcast starts to pick up steam (14 downloads!), and when her first date with the hot guy from art class turns into a second and a third, and when she encourages Cricket to start a little free library in her community, Nell feels some hope for her future after all. But the truth is, life rarely turns out how you plan, and sometimes all you can do it be in the moment, be grateful for the little things, and laugh about everything you can.

Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up is as honest a portrayal of life as I’ve read in quite some time. It is encouraging and revealing, hilarious and embarrassing, honest and moving, and while it will tear you apart in places, it will put you back together too. The basis for ABC’s popular Not Dead Yet, this novel by Alexandra Potter is an absolute delight in ever way.

I will admit I have not watched the television show, but I am now on the Alexandra Potter bandwagon and will be reading everything of hers I can find. As a writer, she is generous and warm and funny and smart, and I want more. I loved every page of Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up, and I think anyone who picks up the book and reads a short excerpt will also get hooked. This is one not to miss!

Egalleys for Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up were provided by Harper Perennial through NetGalley, with many thanks.

I actually enjoyed this book, although I can probably relate more to the main character's friends than her. I am under forty, stay-at-home mom to 3 kids, a house in the suburbs... that being said I found the other perspective a breath of fresh air. Not everyone wants what I have... and there is NOTHING wrong with that. Some people have what I have and hate it. Some want what I have and don't have. At the end of the day, it is all normal. There were funny parts, heartbreaking parts, heartwarming parts, cringey parts... I felt it reflected life.. no matter what life you are living. We all have our f**ked up parts and this book did a great job of showing just that. The main character decides to focus on the positive and the parts of life she is thankful for, making it easier to be proud of herself and her life.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copies.

If possible, I would give this book zero stars. It is so poorly written it’s almost laughable. Save your money!

“Because on some level, in every aspect of your life, it’s so easy to feel like you’re failing when everyone around you appears to be succeeding.”

I hadn’t realized at the time of requesting it that Gina Rodriguez’s latest show, Not Dead Yet, is loosely based off this book! I love her and the show is quirky, heartwarming, and relatable! The book is different than the show (to be assumed when it comes to adaptions) and without spoiling too much, the book does not have the same subplot as the show. The overall premise is the same, though flipped from the show (book is set in the UK vs the show in the US), and we follow Nell as she grapples with being newly single as a 40-something and having to start all over after returning to her home country and having a roommate who has particular rules while trying to reintegrate into her married friend’s lives.

As a single 30-something who’s life has not turned out at all how I expected or planned or hoped or worked towards, I sympathized with Nell’s frustration and grief. The questions and thoughts of “am I failure? What do I have to show for myself?” and ultimately playing the toxic comparison game. In that regard, I appreciated the honesty in this book and jotted down many quotes that I resonated with and were encouraging. I may be 10 years younger than Nell but I certainly could relate and I appreciated that there’s quite a bit of character development for her. At times the story felt dragged out but the main downside to this book is the language. Content includes quite a lot of profanity (the title is a dead giveaway, it’s loaded with F bombs), references to male body parts (a nude model scenario), completely closed door sexual encounters, miscarriage, and mentions of cheating, divorce, homosexual relationships, a traumatic car accident.

Book Review: Confessions of a Forty Something F**k Up by Alexandra Potter

Confessions of a Forty Something F**k Up is a women’s fiction novel about having to start over in your forties and feeling like you aren’t where you are supposed to be.

Nell is in her 40’s, fresh off a break up and back in London after living in Los Angeles with her ex-fiancée. Her friends have moved on, married and are raising children while she faces the possibility of perimenopause, internet dating and renting a room from a stranger. Over the next year Nell will make friends (hurrah for octogenarian Cricket) and find new outlets and opportunities for her writing and personal experiences.

Unlike the television show based off this book (Not Dead Yet) there aren’t any ghost characters and I kept waiting for them to show up. But even without the ghosts it’s a fun and relatable novel about starting over after a setback, friendship, family, grief and finding joy in ordinary moments. I look forward to reading more from the “Nell Stevens” series.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ever feel like your life isn’t what you envisioned? Nell too. After her bakery (and relationship with her business partner/fiancé) falls apart in California, she moves home to London to assess the damage.

Forty-something with no kids? Check.

Watching her friends with their beautiful families and picket fences? Check.

Forced to choose between live with her parents or renting a room in a stranger’s house? Check.

Seeing her best friend status get supplanted by a willowy, seemingly perfect human? Check.

Nell takes a job writing obituaries and starts a podcast with no real expectations, just a desire to share her frustrations with the world. What she finds is connections she didn’t expect and that maybe, underneath the shiny exterior, everyone feels like they’re running 20 steps behind.

This book was relatable in many respects, and it was easy to root for Nell. But I couldn’t help but feel I was watching the plot of “Bridesmaids” with fewer laughs. Down to the shower scene and failed bakery, the similarities were hard to dismiss.

Still, you’ll find reasons to cheer for Nell. I know I did. 3.5 stars.

3 Stars! Funny at times and very relatable. It was a bit long and the first part was a bit whiney and turned predictable and a tad boring at times that had me skimming through but still an entertaining book with funny stories. Everyone feels like an F up at times and this book helped me feel not so alone in my F’d upness.
*I received this book at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

Who hasn't thought at some time that life just didn't turn out the way you imagined? I think we all do. This book looks at that very situation with a good deal of humor and some insight into finding happiness.

Description:
Meet Nell. Her life is a mess.

When her business goes bust and her fiancé with it, Nell's happy ever after in California falls apart and she moves back to London to start over. But a lot has changed since she’s been gone. All her single friends are now married with children, a sky-high real estate market forces her to rent a room in a stranger’s house, and everyone has seemingly perfect Instagram-ready lives. Starting from scratch she feels like a f**k up . . . a forty-something f**k up.

Landing a job writing obituaries, Nell meets the fabulous Cricket, an 80-something widow with challenges of her own. Together they begin to help each other heal their aching hearts, cope with the loss of the lives they had planned, and push each other into new adventures and joy. With Cricket’s help, Nell is determined to turn her life around. First, though, she has a confession . . .

Laugh-out-loud funny and painfully relatable, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up is a celebration of friendship and a reminder that while life doesn’t always go according to plan, it doesn’t mean you can’t find happiness.

My Thoughts:

I picked the book up because, of course, the title caught my attention. Then when I read the blurb I just had to read it. I found Nell to be relatable and likeable. The friendship with 80+ Cricket was heart-warming and upbeat (I liked Cricket immediately). The story kept me engaged and it certainly wasn't boring. I loved the humor. The characters were well written and so was the plot. The book helps with viewing life as never perfect, but there is still happiness to be found.

Thanks to Harper Paperbacks through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on September 5, 2023.

DNF at 30%

This book seemed interesting from the outset but I can't help but feel that Nell has too many hardships in one book. I couldn't see a practical way to resolve everything for her to get to where she felt better about herself.

The last straw for me was her horrible friends and her brother. Just one of those things would have been enough conflict but both? Too much.

Had promise but ultimately not for me.

This book was an interesting read because of the format. It is like a podcast, so reading it was a little different, but I enjoyed it. There were many funny moments, but as a thirty something with no child, I can see how this book may not sit so well with certain audience. Overall though, I think this is still a good read because it talks and eals with things like not have the perfect marriage or kids when you're at the age to have kids. Nell, the main character, shows how her friendships and other relationships outside of a romantic one can help with these things. Also, most people look down on those who still share a living space at Nell's age, but I thought it was hilarious reading how she deals with her flatmate. If you need a good belly laugh, this is definitely it. We all have a friend like Nell or want/need a friend like Nell to bring some laughs into our lives.

I really enjoyed this one. I'm a fan of diary-style books, so this one worked well for me. A positive for me was that the main relationship focus wasn't romantic relationships but friendships. I loved the strong friendship that developed between Nell and Cricket. The whole premise of this book, of feeling like you're not where you should be in life compared to your friends/others, is so relatable.

This book was the inspiration for "Not Dead Yet" and I really enjoy that show, so I was pleasantly surprised. I can't wait to read the next book!

Thank you, Harper Perennial!