I thoroughly enjoyed Sussman's newest novel. She handles the deep topic of grief with care while wrapping it in a wonderful love story. I fell in love with the characters and didn't want this one to end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elissa Sussman, and Random House - Ballantine for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

So far, I have loved all of the books by this author and this one is no exception!
Totally and Completely Fine was a very heartfelt, moving story about grief and love. I love the way Elissa writes and builds these characters. I found myself wishing the "Now" relationship had more depth to it earlier than it did, but overall I truly enjoyed this one. This book was definitely emotional, but not in a way that felt heavy handed.

I liked so much about this book. The brief flashback chapters, how it handles grief, sexuality, and family. But what surprised me was, n my opinion, a lack of connection between the MCs. Yes, they had chemistry out the wazoo, and it was hot. But I struggled to find their deeper relationship. But that nitpick aside, I loved everything else and flew through this book in a few short hours. Thanks to Dell for the ARC.

Don't worry- everything is 𝐓𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐄 (Pub 07.08) Based on the cover (yes- I know better), I was expecting a lightish rom-com. What I got was a poignant look at grief and starting over while finding the courage to love again. It's a "romance with heft" and I loved it.

MORE: Small town Montana
13 yr old daughter
Her: Widow
Him: Actor
Then & Now structure
Emotional & captivating
Sizzling chemistry/Open Door
Companion novel to 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘈𝘴𝘬 (I read FYSA but had book amnesia and still enjoyed T&CFine)
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This book is filled with heavy themes of grief and identity. It felt a lot more about the characters than the plot, like crawling into their lives and sitting with them for awhile. I can see this book being very poignant for someone processing grief themselves. I don’t think it carries the same feel as Funny You Should Ask, however. 3.5 stars overall.

Okay so I didn’t fully read the blurb to this book, I just saw Elissa Sussman and requested immediately! (I also have it pre-ordered) I didn’t realize it was a spin off of Funny You Should Ask 🥹 i loved that book so much, so I ate this book up as well, and got my Gabe/Chani cameos for dessert.

This novel invoked a lot of emotions, it was cute, funny, sad, so sad, small town vibes, with a taste of Hollywood! I enjoyed the format with the duel timelines as well.

I wasn't a big fan of how the ending played out, I feel like we could have reached the same ending a bit differently, but overall I loved it!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Dell for the eARC!

I am a sucker for an Elissa Sussman book and Totally and Completely Fine did not disappoint. While Lauren and her family made me a little nutso because of their inability to talk about how they feel about almost anything, I was rooting for them all to get their shit together and figure some stuff out. These completely likable people were making me crazy because I wanted them to be okay (or more okay) and to quit repressing everything. I wanted them to not just survive, but thrive. Enter Ben. The perfect disrupter. He charmed his way into the hearts and lives of all of them and you couldn't help but hope that somehow, someway he'd manage to make them (and him) all okay. He wasn't the savior, but he was a source of conflict and action and the only thing that would've made him better in this novel, is if I'd had a look into what was going on in his mind.

I enjoyed the cross over between Gabe and Lauren. I enjoyed the flashbacks mixed in with the current day story. I enjoyed the secondary characters and all they brought to the novel....essentially I enjoyed it all. I'll definitely read anything Elissa Sussman writes, so here's to hoping she has something new out soon.

This book was powerfully written. I thought the story-telling aspect was incredible and the development of characters was well-done. Personally, I thought the Christian mother-in-law stereotype was a bit heavy handed. It was as if we couldn’t get away from the blatant Christian hate via ragging on the antagonist role the MIL played. The consistent disdain took away from the power of the plot. I have loved all of Elissa’s books so far, this one was a little less enjoyable.

This book was a heartfelt look at family, grief, mental health and support systems. I enjoyed the THEN chapters a lot and thought the author did a nice job dealing with moving forward and living again after an immense loss. I did not read the first book and struggled with knowing and getting attached to the characters at first so would recommend reading it, even though this is a standalone.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

My favorite Elissa Sussman book yet (and I've loved them all!) This book is sexy and moving and full of heart and also funny and all the things the best rom coms should be. It tackles grief in multiple forms in such a nuanced way that doesn't ever take away from the romance. It was so so great. Thank you so much to Dell and NetGalley for my early copy. I can't wait to tell everyone I know they need to read this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman (out July 8, 2025) is an emotional, captivating, and deeply moving story about grief, love, and second chances. It’s about finding healing and happiness when you least expect it.

Lauren is in her 40s, a single mom still grieving the loss of her high school sweetheart and husband, Spencer. When she visits her famous actor brother, Gabe, on set, she has a one-night stand with charming actor Ben Walsh—who happens to be nine years younger. What starts as flirty texts turns into something deeper when Ben comes to Montana to work on a local play.

This book gave me all the feels. Lauren is bold, unapologetic, and strong, even when people try to tear her down. Her relationship with her daughter, Lena, is so real and raw, and the way Ben shows up for them melted my heart. Seeing them navigate grief, love, and self-discovery made me laugh, cry, and cheer them on the whole way.

I was totally and completely un-fine after reading this one. 😭💛 Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the advanced galley in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Random House—Ballantine and Netgalley for an ARC of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I went into TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FINE without any knowledge about it other than it was a companion novel to FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK, which I loved. But having read quite a few of Elissa Sussman’s books, I was excited to jump in. Though I would suggest re-reading FYSA before starting TACF (especially if it’s been a few years and a couple hundred books in between readings!), the story of Lauren, Gabe from FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK’s big sister, and Ben, a big-time TV and movie star, was just as bingeable and heartwrenching as its predecessor. The books are almost interconnected, the timelines weaving through one another in a way that allowed me to revisit characters and circumstances.

TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY FINE deals with grief and moving forward rather than moving on in such a beautiful way, while also exploring Lauren’s loves and losses and her struggle to come to terms with those experiences. There were so many relatable topics, such as alcoholism and sexuality and, again, the death of loved ones that a lot of people will be able to see themselves in these characters, some we’ve already met and fell in love with.

The only complaint I have is that I would have loved TACF to have been longer, to get to spend even more time in Cooper with Lauren, Ben, Lena, Gabe, and Chani!

This is one of those books that is so beautiful and enjoyable that you find yourself sad when it’s over. Totally & Completely Fine is reminiscent of Elissa Sussman’s other books in the way that it is smart, funny, entertaining, and leaves you relating to the main characters more than you expected.

Lauren Parker was one of my favorite narrators that I’ve seen from Sussman. Her journey with grief and guilt while also learning how to live her life and raise a thirteen year old was harrowing and inspiring to read.

Ben Walsh was loving and adorable, but at the end of the day showed how Sussman really knows how to write human characters. These are not perfect characters with perfect endings, but people who we see change and grow throughout a book and inevitably, fall in love with. Plus, him being Irish - huge bonus for me.

This is one of my favorite books by Sussman so far and I can’t wait for the world to fall in love with the Parkers and Cooper, Montana like I did.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced copy of this novel and for letting me read it early!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I am not totally and completely fine after reading this book. I am, however, really much better off for it. Sussman includes some really great subplots about grief, human sexuality, and identity in general through her narration of past and present. It's a trend in her novels, to show the change in a person through years, experiences, and completely human events. There's always an element of incredulity with the Hollywood stuff, but at the core, her characters are very real.
I really appreciated how Lauren's character continued to subvert some of the typical expectations of the romance genre with her unabashed honesty and pride in who she was, young and old. Her daughter, Ben, Ollie and everyone's sexualities played an important and meaningful role in the novel, not just for the plot. Stories that invite discussion and bring into context social issues in the world right now will always be valuable in turning a story about fictional characters into a story about real people.
The grief component was what tied together the Then and Now of it all, making the love story undeniably more complicated but also so much richer. Sussman shows us how grief is everlasting, but also shifts into love and fondness as time heals. Her writing is powerful in taking us through these important themes and leaving us with so much positivity. I truly enjoyed getting to see Lauren's story from childhood to adulthood and all that came with it.

I really didn’t like this… I was a big fan of Sussman’s other works but this one I couldn’t get into. First it was very confusing that suddenly we were back with the same characters from book 1 and it was confusing to figure out the timeline of this book and book 1. I also just didn’t feel like there was that much chemistry with Ben and Lauren? And the whole thing is that they have this spark and sexual chemistry and yet it all falls flat? There’s also just a lot going on with Lauren and Lena grieving their husband/dad, Lena’s relationship, Gabe’s relationship, and Ben’s problems. It just didn’t feel like we truly got to see Lauren and Ben fall in love. Bummed because I was excited for this but ultimately it just fell flat and I couldn’t root for/relate to/understand the characters

Thank you Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

LOVED! This was prob my fave book of hers so far. I loved the relationship. Celeb normal is my favorite trope, and this didn't disappoint.

I loved this book and was so excited to reacquaint myself with old characters from the previous book. I am a big fan of Elissa Sussman and how she writes charming characters with witty dialogue. I look forward to reading more of her in the future.

This book was a roller-coaster! I cried, I laughed, It really had everything you would want in a romance. I will say, a lot of the plot felt surface level to me and I would have loved to see more depth. I feel maybe there were too many plot points going on at once. overall still a great read and something I think a lot of people will relate to!

Elissa Sussman has a real talent for writing characters that you deeply empathize with. Her main character here is Gabe’s sister from Funny You Should Ask, Lauren. She is dealing with the loss of her husband and trying to raise her daughter and in walks Ben. I teared up at many, many parts of this book and thought it was her most raw novel yet. It does wrap up quickly; I felt the ending was a teensy bit rushed. But this was a lovely read about grief and falling again.

I did not expect to like this as much as I did. I enjoyed the other books in this series but this one is my favorite by far!! I love how grief was depicted in this and how it just sneaks up on you from random conversation or situations. I liked the romance, but more so towards the end of the book. It was fun, but I was honestly more interested in the family/personal discovery plot of the story. There’s so much more to this book besides the romance. Such a solid book and I really enjoyed it!