I just finished Claire Casey's Had Enough by Liz Alterman and here are my musings.

Claire Casey has hit her limit! Spending the night outside because her husband didn’t pick her up from the airport and he was asleep when the uber arrived at the house. She is done. This was the last straw. Kicking his ass out of the house, Claire tries to reclaim the life she lost and the former flame who happens to be single and interested in her…

I haven’t laughed this hard in ages. I loved the wit and wonder of Claire. I totally get it. You put 100% in all the time and you feel like you get nothing in return.

Watching her navigate her life during separation was a riot! The audiobook was absolutely perfect but I did order a hardcover too. Claire is me. She is extra and a half! Her in your face, here I am and F you attitude is so me. She is definitely having buyers remorse on her marriage but kids and married life, makes you complacent and you forget to communicate, so watching all the revelations and mishaps just had me revelling in how relatable Claire is. She was pretty unhinged but that’s what happens to us mothers when we don’t feel supported haha.

It’s funny because it’s kind of a second second chance romance read and that made for some interesting dynamics. It will peak your anxiety watching Claire make mistakes and muddling her way through the insanity that is her life. It had a great tone and pace and I couldn’t get enough!

I haven’t been this entertained and seen in years!

5 stars

Thank you to @dreamscapemedia and @netgalley for my ALC!!!

Thank you to Netgalley, Liz Alterman, and Dreamscape Media for the ALC of the audiobook!

"If you go, you'll know. If you don't, you'll always wonder."

Hehe, I actually quite loved this. Claire Casey is the epitome of woman-of-a-certain age. Husband isn't enough, kids are draining her, and life just isn't life-ing as it should. When she attends her college reunion, she toys with the idea of an affair with her former flame and sets herself on a journey of what turns out to be self-actualization. I really like what Liz Alterman did here, and I just know that a lot of people could find themselves in Claire Casey's character. You don't have to be a mom (like me), or married with a questionable husband (like me) but you can feel a little lost or stuck in your life as it is and want better.

"She didn't need him to stand under her window holding a boombox and declaring his love in front of the neighbors, but she expected something. Anything. He did nothing. Well, actually, he texted. And that made things worse."

(And I quote myself here what I said at the beginning: "Ugh, if this is love, I DO NOT want it.")

I would absolutely recommend this to everyone.

"I think of us kind of like a story, too. We're in the middle, the conflict, the toughest part. It'll get better. At least, I like to think it will. Who knows, maybe it'll actually get worse for a while. Have you met our kids? We'll have three teenagers in the blink of an eye. And already... they can be a lot."

Stephanie Rose delivered an impeccable performance as the narrator. She communicated Alterman's written-word humor so well that she had me giggling so bad.
Example: Claire bit her lip to avoid screaming "Cool it, pal! You have lice, not leprosy!" is such a funny bit that it almost surpasses her whole family continuously calling her estranged husband "Coupon" due to his overdone frugality.

Also? RIP Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Review of Claire Casey’s Had Enough by Liz Alterman

Claire Casey’s Had Enough is a sharp, laugh‑out‑loud “mom‑com” that smartly captures the chaotic crackle of midlife as its heroine, Claire—a 46‑year‑old mother of three—finally reaches her breaking point.

This book was very underwhelming to me. I thoght it would resonate much more as a wife and mother because goodness knows I have felt so many times, damn I just need a break already. But at the end of the day, I am a happily married woman and cannot condone some of her choices.
Maybe, that it is on me and not that author or the story.

The title of this one is a synopsis in and of itself. Claire Casey is DONE. A job she hates, a husband that feels like a fourth child, and three boys. She is the only one keeping it altogether and she is tired. When her husband forgets to pick her up from the airport, she ubers home only to be locked out all night. That was the last straw- she kicks her husband out. Soon after, she connects with an old college boyfriend and they begin emailing. Is she really done with her husband? Does she want a relationship with her old flame?

This book is very relatable. And I really enjoyed the beginning. But Claire got to be too annoying and self centered. I was ready for the big day (that takes up at least half of the book) to be over with. She was SOOOO annoying. I understand the purpose of the story arc, but it didn't make it less annoying. I was wanting the day to end so badly.

Stephanie Rose narrates the audiobook.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version.
I was really excited about reading this book. I was drawn to the cover and the cover compared it to Sophie Kinsella. So first off I will say no, this author does not write like Sophie Kinsella. So I think that was very misleading and wrong. I enjoyed the book about half way and after that I was just finding the main female character annoying. The husband was to me extremely unrealistic behavior and it just went on and on. I dont know I was jusr very disappointed in this book.

This book was going well... until it wasn’t. I genuinely enjoyed it for the most part—the writing was solid, the story engaging, and the audiobook narrator did a fantastic job. I’d honestly recommend the audio version if the story had landed the ending. But it didn’t.

The ending completely changed how I felt about the entire book. It made everything that came before feel pointless, like none of the character’s choices mattered. I was invested in her journey, in her growth, and then... that ending just erased all of it.

Spoiler ahead—don’t read further if you haven’t finished the book!
So, she left her husband because she was tired of his behavior—and good for her. I thought we were on a journey of rediscovery, of healing, maybe even a second-chance romance with herself or someone new. But no. She goes right back to the same man, who hasn’t changed at all. No growth. No redemption. Just... back to square one. I’m sorry, but WTF?

Thank you net galley for the ARC read.
3.5 stars

there is truly so much that happens in this book it's like one thing on top of the other. Which just gets you hooked in order to find out what happens.
I thought it was an interesting book I was rooting for Paul. Yet secretly hoping for a second chance romance with Alex. I was good to see Clarie reclaiming herself and realizing the person she used to be was still there and present

I probably should not have chosen this book... I normally do not read stories about stressed out mothers. I thought this was going to be a funny read, but it really was aggravating, and oftentimes boring, because I could not connect with the characters. I think mothers will get a lot more out of this book than I did.

Rounding up, Ok first off I am not gonna lie. Claire is a lot and might give you anxiety. With that said I could see how a mother in the middle of a crisis like hers could freak out a bit. I did have fun listening to the audio. Provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This was more real life horror than humor 🤣. Probably a good birth control and staying single book read. I did need to read other books while reading this and so I am not sure if that helped me get through this unhinged chaos or if it hurt to not to get through it all at once. This poor woman needs to get laid, go on vacation, and needs a dark silent room away from the world. The thinking about cheating when you’re not officially divorced was my biggest issue. I do think the Narrator did such a great job of reading the story how it’s meant to be heard and read. Definitely gives Desperate Housewives. That ending was so good.

Expertly said in the blurb... "A hilarious, heartwarming mom-com. As a 40+ mom of 2 boys, 3 if you count the Hubs, I found myself shaking my head a lot, throughout the whole thing. Very powerful and though-provoking, in a hilarious, "you have to laugh or cry", kind of way.

💙Have you hit that 7-year itch?
🔈Does your work-life balance suck? 👪Are your kids everything to you? ⏳️Do you still feel like you're missing something, even though you have much more than you can handle already?

Claire Casey has had enough. The timeline is 1 day. Work, home, your past, your children, arguments, dinners, young loves, current loves, other options. And much more. Every thought that goes through your brain in a single day is thrown at you in this short, but oh so REAL piece of fiction. Or should we call it a reimagined piece of non-fiction. I know that I have lived every moment that Claire Casey has. And I know, that I am not the only one.

This day in the life of s suburban mom is equal parts funny, fascinating, and enlightening. You never know when everything is just going to catch up with you and you’ve had enough. We’ve all, at one point or another, felt unappreciated and that the weight of the world is on our shoulders. The way Claire snaps and creates the space she needs in the world is hilarious and heartwarming at the same time. I love her explorations into finding who she is now as compared to the college girl with big dreams and how she manages to capture that same optimism in her adult life. Highly recommended for a laugh-out-loud yet touching look at a woman learning how to say no.

As a woman in my late 40's, this book was totally relatable with tons of humor thrown in!
Claire has had enough between her husband, 3 kids, aging parents and a dead-end job. After she asks her husband to move out, she runs into an old boyfriend at a college reunion and starts to rekindle a relationship with him. We follow Claire through the events leading up to Back to School Night with plenty of flashbacks thrown in. Claire navigates parenting, being a working parent, separation and dating with hilarity as her life comes into focus on what she really wants. The narration on the audio conveyed all of Claire emotions.

If you’re in your 40’s, married, have kids, have a job outside the home, and have no idea what happened to your life while you muddle through daily chaos, this book is for you! Bonus points for being set in my home state.

Claire is a struggling 40-something Mother of 3 and wife to Paul. She tells us things used to be great. She recently started writing for a mother’s website and went out to an Ohio expo with the intention of writing about it for her next column. Her plane is late getting back. Despite many, many phone calls to her husband, he never answers the phone even though he promised to pick her up. She gets home, bangs on the doors and can see her husband asleep on the sofa. No one can hear her and the doorbell is broken - one of the many broken things in their home Paul says he will fix, but never does. She spends the rest of the night outside in the rain.

This is our setup. The rest of the book is following Claire as she struggles through separation from her husband, her job, reconnecting with an old college boyfriend and honestly making you laugh the whole time. Claire is charmingly chaotic and I loved every second of it!

This is a double second chance romance, which is interesting. Claire is smart and good at her job even though it’s ridiculous (I once wrote for a mom blog so I can relate). Her kids are wildly different from one another, and the youngest seems to be the most challenging. She has friends who aren’t real friends, parents (one of which just developed a concerning medical condition), in laws, Bee (or B or Bea - I was given the audiobook, so I am not good with spelling) who is also thinking of a prior love interest. The college boyfriend is Alex. Claire reconnects with him online and reads all his posts. She sees this great guy who’s got everything together. The flashbacks show a different kind of guy, even through her rose colored glasses, I didn’t like him one bit.

It all ends well, but Claire goes through a lot of chaotic situations and is riddled with anxiety on the way to that ending.

If you like the writing of Janet Evanovich, this is similar in tone and pace, just not subject matter.

The narrator is fantastic! Everyone has a unique voice and you can really feel the tension and chaos of Claire’s life through her performance.

I would like to thank Dreamscape Media for their generosity and trusting me with another one of their audiobooks through NetGalley. I received an Advanced Listener Copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

This relatable story about a stressed out mom of three who is at the crossroads of her life trying to decide if she should move on from her 16 year marriage or consider rekindling the flame of an old college boyfriend. There’s lots of flashbacks to when she first met both her current husband and her former flame. There’s lots of mentions about the struggles of everyday life. There’s an enormous amount of time rehashing the fact that she doesn’t want to tell anyone about her separation and there’s almost no interaction with her spouse. Her frantic life started to feel too out of control (which I’m sure the author intended) but on audio it started to frazzle the nerves. Probably better book in print.

This story had some sweet and funny moments, but overall this was just not for me. I just couldn't get into it. I thought there were some charming moments with the kids toward the end of the novel, but I couldn't bring myself to care much for the main character, her love interests, her coworkers, or her friends.

This started off so strong and I was really feeling it. I did not like all of Claire's thinking that she was the problem. Yes, marriage requires communication, but it really irritated me that Clair spent so much time thinking maybe she was the problem. A grown man shouldn't need to be told how to do basic household tasks. The part where she wonders if she's the problem because she didn't want to spend time explaining a task, so she just did it herself and that makes it a her problem is BS.

Then she keeps calling what she is doing, or about to do, adultery. I was under the impression she kicked him out and they broke up. Nothing at all indicated that they were working on their marriage. He hasn't given her any indication that he was changing to acknowledge his part in the breakdown of their marriage. He strung up some lights...okay. It's like she is gas lighting herself into just thinking this is how marriage goes. Just because someone was involved and caring in the beginning does NOT excuse becoming useless.

Now we slip in a comment about how social media and cell phones are tearing apart families. Blaming conversing with an ex-boyfriend social media's fault and wrong even though she and her husband are separated?

Seriously with the parking attending? Stupid.

Blah

Claire realises after her husband doesn't pick her up from the airport and ends up sleeping outside that she's had enough and wants to leave. She thought it'd be short term until she bumps into an ex at a reunion.

If you've been married to a subpar man a lot of this will feel relatable, maybe even triggering!
The audiobook was well read however the actual story was too hard to finish. It just felt like a lot of complaining and reminiscing. Honestly I couldn't finish the book.

funny, sweet and completely relatable "mom-com" 😊
Perfect read for a summer afternoon. As a mom who is currently trying to reclaim some of her old self, this book hit too close to home sometimes, but oddly in a good way?? I loved that it presents such a realistic picture of "a day in the life" of a working mom. It had just the right amount of chaos to make it both funny and relatable. The narrator did a great job in expressing Claire's inner-monologue!

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for giving me an ARC for my honest review.

4.5 Stars

"I'm done." We've all thought it, said it and acted on the impulse. Claire is no different. She's "done" with her husband, "done" doing, what feels like everything, and "done" with her job and where she's at in life. Her being "done" leads her to do and say things that she never thought she would and to discovering who she is and that sometimes, you don't know what you've got until you don't have it anymore.

This book was super relatable and was a fun, quick and easy read. The audio narration was excellent too. If you're looking for something that'll make you laugh, and appreciate what you've got - even if sometimes you feel "done", then this mom-com is perfect.