This book is about Dee, who has been struggling with her life since leaving an inpatient mental health hospital. She keeps in touch with two people who were there with her, Misa and Matt who are engaged to be married. Dee harbors feelings for Matt and brings her sister Tilly as her plus one to the wedding. What follows is a frank look at mental illness and what toll it can take on the person, and who they surround themselves with.

I felt that this book was a deeper look into mental illness and how we respond to our own traumas and the trauma of others. The author did a good job of navigating a still shockingly taboo topic with confidence, grace, and vulnerability. It’s a good read for sure, but I would also check trigger warnings.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was fine. Interesting read. Thank you to the publisher and the author for the review copy, all opinions stated are my own.

Oh my goodness, this was such a cutesy, sweet, and hilarious romance book and I absolutely adored it!

Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson was a sweet, funny and engaging novel.
This was a new author for me . I never read anything from this author before but for the most part I really liked this book. I thought the whole story was amazing. I honestly didn’t want this book to end. And that’s how I know when I’ve read a fabulous story.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I read this book in a solid 3 hours, it was an amazing story that was written incredibly. I Loved each character especially Dee. The first few pages had hooked me, her getting invited to her friends wedding convinced she should be with him. I enjoyed how they had all met at a psychiatric ward, giving the characters great background, making the book more enjoyable. One of my favorite books i have read this summer honestly! 10/10

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read the advanced digital copy of debut novel Never Been Better by Leanne Toshiko Simpson.This review is being written and shared to let future readers know my thoughts.

This novel is very unique and well written. The character development is very strong and you feel like you are growing along the the 3 main characters as they live their lives after treatment in a mental facility,

The additional characters in the book also grow in unexpected ways and learn more about their family members and themselves.

As others have said a sequel would be wonderful to look forward to and I did make a playlist of the songs listed in each chapter title.

Highly recommend reading this book because we can all learn from others and grow stronger in our relationships.

I LOVED Never Been Better - usually it takes me a while to get through e-books or physical copies of books, but I found myself reaching for my kindle instead of turning on an audiobook because I was so drawn to this book. We follow Dee, who is in love with her best friend Matt - cute right? Except Matt is engaged to Misa, and the three of them are like the three musketeers of the psychiatric ward and Dee isn’t sure what to do about her feelings.

With a premise like that, I don’t see how people aren’t automatically convinced to read this. I was so intrigued when I first saw this on Netgalley, because it’s SO messy - like how are we gonna get out of this?!? But I was SO happy with how the story developed, especially the platonic relationships/friendships. Not only is this an important, very telling story about mental health and recovery, but it’s funny and lighthearted in moments too - the balance makes this book easy to read, even though the topic can feel heavy.

There are little flashbacks from Dee’s time in the psych ward intermittently sprinkled into the narrative, and I thought it added so much value to our understanding of Dee/Matt/Misa’s present day timeline. I loved how we start off getting to know Dee and her current feelings, and we slowly as readers begin to understand that Dee is actually an unreliable narrator, and things aren’t necessarily as they seem between the three friends. Never Been Better was such a raw, honest, vulnerable depiction of humane nature and our innate desire to be loved/wanted/understood. I especially appreciated the female friendships and queer representation we saw blossom in this story. It’s not just about Kai or Dee or Misa, but the little moments of love that happen between Misa and Elinor, and Dee and Obachan. You can tell the author put great care into developing Misa’s family history and embedding her appreciation of Japanese culture into the story - I really loved those parts!

The shining character of this story was Tilley - LITERALLY her dialogue had me laughing out loud. The comedic timing was not only perfect but very welcomed, as it broke up sentimental dialogue and tense moments hilariously, without dismissing the weight of the characters’ discussion of mental health. I loved the sisterly dynamic between Tilley and Dee, and even though she’s considered a side character outside of the three main people, Tilley’s character development stood out to me particularly and I love that we got to see a lot of her in this book.

There is so much love and vulnerability found within the pages of this book. I’m so glad Leanne wrote this and that I got to read it in a time that I really feel like I needed to. There’s so many important sentiments about friendship, self compassion and understanding, setting boundaries and respecting them, mental health, and cultural appreciation - I can tell I’ll be thinking about this one for a while! The fact that this is the author’s debut novel just means I’ll definitely be looking forward to whatever Leanne releases next. Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins, and Leanne Toshiko Simpson for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Never been better by leanne toshiko simpson read by yours truly for an honest netgalley review. Due to be published march 2024.

I so badly wanted to love this book and it just fell short on me. Marketed as a romance, this novel felt more like how the midnight library gave off self help vibes.

The main character had some major character development towards the end of the story and became more lovable, in my opinion, whereas other characters were flat and made me want to push them in the ocean at times.

There was one saving grace in this book, and that was Vik. If we could’ve gotten more of him and seen something happen that I’ll leave for future readers to discover to avoid spoilers.

I think this book could be successful for the right audience, but I was looking for a cute romance with not a lot of thought needing to take place and this book just wasn’t that.

A cute story about friends dealing with mental health issues.
3 friends all from the same suicide hospital ward who grew close and 2 decide to get married
the twists at this wedding vacation type resort turns into a bit of a mess as these 3 learn about life and how to be honest and get through life to only find each ones happiness without leaning to heavily on one another so that the other falls by the wayside.
Suicidal thoughts and actions, bipolar, sensory, anxiety and deep depression is the basis of the book, very informative.

3.5 ⭐️
This was tagged as romance, but I didn’t get that vibe. It was more of a self discovery/mental health book.

“The psych ward scooby doo gang is back together again!.” Tilley the FMCS sister was my favorite character. Her one liners were the best

This book revolves around Dee, and her two friends, Misa & Matt, who she met in a mental hospital. And those two are engaged but she wants Matt. I’m not much of a fan of the pining over a guy all the way til his wedding.
The most chaotic week long wedding festivities.

This book focuses a lot on mental health issues, which means I can’t fault the characters too much. While I love a good romance, I can also see this book to be good for its genre/area/niche.

"Never Been Better" was an enjoyable read. The author's writing style is very engaging and the storyline kept me turning pages. I read it start to finish in one session.

All of the main characters in this book are battling something within themselves and I thought the author handled the topics with sensitivity.

The blurb describes this as My Best Friend's Wedding meets The Silver Linings Playbook and honestly I don't think I could come up with a better comparison if I tried.

I would recommend giving this book a read!

Thank you Leanne Toshiko Simpson , Net Galley and Penguin Group Putnam for providing me with an ARC of this book.