This was a slow burn and so carefully and kindly written. Lorna Lott had one of the best character developments I’ve ever read. I could have read more about her and her relationships but I think it was wrapped up perfectly and it’s refreshing to finish a book wanting more.

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

If you loved “Blue Sisters”, “The Wedding People” or “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine”
I’m know “Everything is Probably Fine” by Julia London will tug your heartstrings.. I just want to hug Lorna and tell her it’s all going to be okay.

Lorna Lott’s life is hanging by a thread. Her past won’t allow her to move forward freely. She makes a mistake at work that a “sorry” won’t fix and is required to take time off.
She starts off with an apology tour through a self-help program that requires more than just forgiveness. It also requires Lorna to seek family she hasn’t spoken to, revisit her traumatic childhood, remember her sister’s substance abuse and how some memories are remembered differently.
But she isn’t doing this alone, she has the enthusiastic help from her neighbors 8-year old. Which Lorna can see a bit of herself in.


Thank you so much for allowing me to read this in advance.

Goodreads- (Brenda (jadore_2read))

Thank you to @netgalley and @harpermusebooks for this advanced copy of Everything is Probably Fine by @julia_f_london I hate that this doesn’t come out until August because I want everyone to enjoy it right away! This story of Lorna really grabbed me and had me holding on hoping she could find happiness. Lorna hates herself and has decades of trauma from her sister’s addiction that she is forced to face or she risks losing her job. She is put on sabbatical to go to a wellness center each day to help her deal with her anger and overall displeasing disposition. All Lorna wants to do is buy her grandmother’s home which has been turned into a four plex. She is sure this will put her life back together. But to do that she has to go on an “apology tour.” She is helped along this journey by the sweetest boy, Bean who lives across the hall. This book has humor and despite Lorna being “King Kong” I really loved her and felt so much sympathy for her. Her life has truly been so sad and so messy. I think the author did a great job of depicting how much a toxic home life or life with someone with a serious addiction can be. This really showed how exhausting and heartbreaking life can be when there is a family member that requires so much focus and takes up so much space. But it was done in a way that didn’t beat you down or keep you mired in sadness. Well done.

As long as Lorna could recall, she always felt ostracized and stood out in such a way physically and emotionally, that she couldn't relate to others. She felt unloved by her family and although extremely successful, she put so much pressure on her team that they called her King Kong behind her back and didn't want to be around her. She had a difficult childhood due to the ups and downs with Kristen and as a result, felt unloved and alone. Therefore, it is not surprising that she defined herself ad a person of which her confidence was so low that the only way she believed she would be happy is through work. She only exacerbated her loneliness by putting so pressure on her team. The saving grace is when Deb made her take a mental break and attend a wellness center. She fought furiously at the beginning but she started learning to relax and coupled with the apology tour, made amends with others while bettering herself. She started opening up.to her neighbors who she finally realized that they liked her just as she was. Seth and Bean became her support system and confidants. She soon realized that home is what you make of it and not Nana's house. She no longer hated herself as she realized it was okay to make mistakes and express emotions. Lorna had arrived and finally realized what a great person she was.

An emotional journey of forgiveness and found family

This was such a sweet but sometimes sad story of Lorna, a 43 yr old woman whose life has been dominated by her sister’s addiction and her toxic family dynamics. Lorna is full of rage and takes a mandatory sabbatical from work to seek help.

The family elements of this book were so well done and quite triggering for anyone who had to live in a house with a sibling with addiction and behavioural problems. The excuse making by the parents and the need to grow up and fend for yourself as an ignored child were palpable. I felt for Lorna, and was frustrated with Lorna for much of the book.

But when she started to let herself feel and opened herself up to trusting new people it was so sweet. She is befriended by her eight year old neighbour Bean who wants to help her because he can get a scout bad for helping old people. He was such a ray of sunshine in this. Dealing with his own loss of his mother and neglect from his busy father, these two were an unlikely pair, but they took care of each other. It was very heartwarming.

The only issues I have with this book were some of the set ups were trite, like she had to go forgive a list of people to fulfill part of her mother’s will, this could have been done differently and not in such a cliched way. Perhaps her mother merely left her a list or a letter asking her to move on from some things in her past rather than tying it to an illegal codicil. It made it seem too hallmarky for my liking.
The second thing is sometimes when I read these women’s fictions about white women healing themselves its always in relation to gimmicky versions of south East Asian or East Asian spirituality done by white men with man buns. More authenticity would be nice here. I know lots of middle class white women do this and get all granola and new age and trust me, they drive me crazy in real life too, but it could have been done better with more research into the meaning of the therapies.

But the found family, the personal journey and the open ended ending were hopeful and engaging and overall I enjoyed this.


Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy, these are my honest thoughts.

Everything is definitely not fine.

As a sales team leader, Lorna runs a tight ship. Very tight ship. While working over night to secure the deal that will help her get the promotion, and bonus she needs to purchase her grandmother home, Lorna accidentally attaches a letter that's addressed to her sister in a work email. The letter needless to say is full of badmouthing her coworkers. HR ends up sending her to a wellness program to address her anger issues or she can say goodbye to that promotion and her grandmother's home.

At first I didn't like Lorna. But then we get to know why she's that way, and I felt for her. She has unresolved childhood trauma, that made her lock her self up in her 'bomb shelter'. We go with her while she tries to navigate through all the anger and guilt she has, and tries to live life to the fullest.

I enjoyed Lorna's journey and how optimistic the ending was. I loved the side characters, especially Bean and Agnes, they have my heart. The flashback helped give us a fuller picture on Lorna's childhood and the things she went through.

If you love healing journeys and well written characters then this book is for you.

Received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are completely mine.

Everything is Probably Fine is the story of Lorna Lott. As a character, she truly grew on me. The story begins with Lorna being put on leave at work to attend a 30-day wellness program. Initially hesitant, she gradually opens up and makes progress in the program. I loved how complex Lorna is, and her journey was enjoyable to follow. It seems that Lorna has always been a side player in her own life and the story really focuses on Lorna's current situation and how the past has shaped her into who she is now. Lorna has built up a wall, which she refers to as her internal bomb shelter.

Lorna starts out gruff and awkward, but with the influence of Bean, a capricious 8-year-old who lives in her building, we see her begin to deal with her trauma and open up her life. In addition to Lorna and Bean, there's Angie the dog, who was a delightful addition and made the early interactions between Lorna and Bean even more heartwarming. There are several specific past moments that she become determined to set right and I liked seeing her view these events from a new and more mature lens.

The story is a beautifully written story that delves into the complexities of family dynamics, personal growth, and finding happiness. Lorna's journey is was made better by the supporting characters. Each hurdle she she passes felt important and added charm to the story.

Thank you Harper Muse and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This was a really lovely book. It was much heavier than I expected and in truth, heart wrenching. The story follows Lorna Lott, a software saleswoman, who makes a mistake at work and is required to attend a wellness retreat. Lorna has had a significant amount of trauma throughout much of her life that she is forced to face. This is a story of resilience and healing with a lot of emotional turmoil and poignant life observations scattered throughout. The characters were so well-developed in this book--I loved all of the them and was emotionally invested in both the main and supporting characters by the end of the book. A beautiful read that I would recommend to my friends and loved ones.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book hurt my feelings but it was very worth it. Such a raw, honest, and real story that felt expansive and hopeful. Some of the quotes in this book made me physically have to stop and reflect (in a good way) about how true and applicable they were to everyday people just trying to get by, myself included. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Lorna is in her 40's and works as a manager in a business that to develops software solutions for businesses. She's being forced to take a month long absence where she is forced to go to a place to work on her anger. She's not happy about that.

Lorna had a tough childhood; her parents yelled constantly until they divorced and then she, her sister and her mother moved in with her grandma. Her sister developed a substance abuse problem at an early age and her grandmother was an alcoholic.

She currently lives in her grandma's old house as it's been converted into apartments and everything will be ok after she can buy it back to restore it. It's just her and her dog, Auggie, but he's constantly playing with the 8 year old boy, bean, who lives next door.

She starts hanging out with Bean and things start looking up for her. This is a heart-warming read!

I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. Real life scenarios mixed with some fiction and some really good self help advice in here too. Overall I enjoyed the read as it isn’t my usual genre. Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This was my first time reading a book by Julia London and I really enjoyed it.
I enjoy stories told from the female point of view and if the character is a bit quirky, all the better. This story had all of the elements I enjoy. Our female protagonist, Lorna is holding on to deep trauma from her childhood that I think many people can relate too. Her family dynamic is completely centered around her troubled addicted sister and her father is missing in action.
Lorna makes a mistake at work and is forced to face her anger issues head on in a one month wellness retreat. There are parts that are slightly implausible but it is fiction so you have to suspend your disbelief. From here we go on Lorna’s spiritual journey confronting her relationships from her past while making new friends in the present. Many of these people are delightful characters and I enjoyed their interactions with Lorna. There is alot of foreshadowing that her sister’s fate will be an unhappy one. There also might be some predictability of where things are going with one of Lorna’s new found friends, her neighbor and his kid. But despite this, I still enjoyed being along for Lorna’s journey.

This is one of those interesting books that serve as a reminder to slow down and learn to work through things. Lorna's growth through this book made this a fantastic read!

Wow. Absolutely wow. When I first received a copy of this book, I didn't know what to expect. But as I click off on the last page of the book, all I can still say is "Wow". Not only did I enjoy going on this journey with Lorna, but I couldn't believe how much I could relate to Lorna. I related to her in the beginning, in the middle, and aspired for a life of growth and love and healing in the end. Although we have lived two completely different lives, I couldn't help reflecting on the same feelings and the same instances of my life as Lorna healed from hers. Its always hard to look at ourselves and see all our flaws and immediately think, yes let me try fixing myself. It's a whole lot easier to either dismiss them or push it to another time in our lives, but like Lorna, sometimes the opportunity literally falls onto us and the only way to go is through. I loved Lorna, absoluuuuutely adored Bean and Seth, felt such warmth from Peggy and Liz, and am wishing the best for those who can relate to Candy, Mrs. Tracy, and even Lorna. I'm so grateful to have received this complimentary copy, it truly changed my perspective.

if you're looking for a story about someone working through their stuff and finding a little bit of happiness along the way, this could be a good one.

I wasn’t sure of Lorna was going to become someone I liked but I so quickly came to understand her. I loved watching her growth and realizations. The book seemed to move a little quickly but maybe that was also me not wanting to put it down!

A reminder that sometimes you need to be forced to slow down and examine what life is all about. I liked London's writing style and how she crafted this story around a flawed main character. It wound up being a hopeful tale that I liked. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Whoa! This is a deep book with really heavy topics (addiction, neglect). It’s weird, but at first, I was thinking this was a modern, realistic, reimagining of the movie Up. You had the grumpy neighbor (Lorna), the ranger scout earning badges (Bean), dog (Aggie) and housing issues. I still think there are parallels, but this story really is driving into Lorna’s grief in multiple areas of her life. She was a side-character in her life with her addict sister stealing the show. Their dad bailed and started a new life. He was a frustrating character. Their mom was team Kristen (the sister), often neglecting Lorna. After an incident at work, Lorna is mandated to go to some new age therapy center where she reluctantly faces her past. This book just made me so sad for Lorna and I appreciated it offering me a different life pov that I haven’t experienced. While I couldn’t relate to these experiences, I was deeply engrossed in the story. Check this one out if you have the frame of mind for it.

Thank you Harper Muse for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Everything Is Probably Fine by Julia London is a delightful contemporary romance that effortlessly blends humor, heart, and charm. The characters are well-developed, making their journeys relatable and engaging. London's witty writing style adds a refreshing touch, making the story both entertaining and emotionally resonant. The plot moves at a steady pace, keeping readers hooked from start to finish. Overall, it's a perfect feel-good read that leaves you smiling and believing in the magic of love and everyday miracles. Highly recommended for anyone in need of a heartwarming escape.

Everything is Probably Fine reminds me of a mix of A Man Called Ove and Eleanor Oliphant is CompletelY Fine. After an unfortunate email incident at work, Lorna is put on “sabbatical” and forced to attend a wellness retreat for 30 days. This prompts her “forgiveness tour” where she learns not only to forgive others, but herself. I particularly loved Bean!

It was hard for me to get into the story because Lorna was incredibly unlikable for the majority of the book. I was debating not finishing until about 40% of the way through the book. Ultimately, I’m glad I finished the story and would recommend that others feeling hesitant push through as well.