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This was my first read by Julia London, and while the writing was solid, the story didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The book alternates between present day and earlier chapters in our main character Lorna’s life, which offered some nice perspective, but overall the heavy family drama felt a little overwhelming—and maybe just wasn’t what I was in the mood for at the time.

I found myself starting to lose interest around the 40% mark. I struggled to connect with Lorna, and the plot didn’t feel particularly gripping. That said, I did appreciate the evolving relationship between Lorna and Bean. The theme of facing your past to move forward was a meaningful thread throughout, and those moments carried weight.

Content warnings for cancer and substance abuse are worth noting for sensitive readers. Also, while I enjoyed the narrator overall, the child voice was a bit shrill—it gave off definite Muppet vibes.

Thanks to Harper Muse Audiobooks and NetGalley for the ALC. While this one wasn’t quite for me, I’d be open to trying something else by the author in the future.

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I requested the audiobook ARC of Everything Is Probably Fine because the description sounded like it would be a fun story about a woman trying to find her way, and while that’s true, this book surprised me in the best ways. I laughed, I cried, and I wasn’t expecting how much heart this one had.

The story follows Lorna, who’s on sabbatical from work and trying to sort out her life. But it goes much deeper as she’s forced to confront the trauma of growing up with a sibling who struggled with addiction. The book handles these tough topics with so much care and honesty. (TW for addiction.)

One of the best parts? Bean, Lorna’s sweet and hilarious neighbor. He becomes her unexpected sidekick and honestly stole the show for me. His loyalty, innocence, and humor were exactly what she needed on her journey to make peace with her past and fulfill the strange terms of her mother’s trust.

This book was way more emotional and powerful than I thought it would be, and I loved that it blended humor and heart so well. Definitely one I’d recommend if you like character-driven stories with depth, healing, and a few good laughs along the way.

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This quiet, heartfelt novel completely surprised me—in the best way. It’s not packed with twists or big reveals, but instead focuses on the everyday ups and downs of life, and that’s exactly what made it so powerful.

I was really moved by Lorna’s journey—from angry and reactive to self-aware and intentional. Her struggle with the emotional fallout of her sister’s addiction felt painfully real, and watching her slowly grow and heal was inspiring. She was so easy to root for!

Bean completely stole my heart. He was such a sweet, wise character, and I loved seeing the world through his innocent perspective. His simple, honest take on life was often the most insightful part of the story.

This book is filled with touching, funny, and honest moments that make you reflect on how our past shapes us—and how we still have the power to change our future. It’s a beautiful reminder that healing doesn’t always happen in big dramatic moments, but in the quiet, everyday choices we make surrounded by the people that support us! Thank you to Harper Muse Audio Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

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It's not the book it's me...maybe I don't know but I just couldn't relate or like the MFC. I started it and was excited to see her growth but more than 50% in and it was the same thing over and over. I just didn't get it.

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Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Everything is Probably Fine by Julia London.

Lorna has just been sent on a wellness retreat after she sent out an email to coworkers ABOUT them, but not FOR them. She feels embarrassed and hopeless, like she has been getting it wrong her whole life.

After encouragement from her wellness mentor, she decides to go on an apology tour to those that she feels she has hurt throughout her life. Accompanied by her new eight year old buddy Bean, and his attractive dad, she sets out to make amends and turn her life around.

The first half of this book, I rolled my eyes a bit thinking, ugh, I've read this before. A misunderstood unlikable female protagonist with a super sympathetic backstory. And I'll be honest, that's exactly what this is. But by the second half, I was hooked! It's written well, it's full of heart, and it's got a ton of surprises and humor.

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Lorna, an uptight, controlling, alienating, awkward sales manager at an Austin software company, is forced to take a 1 month leave as the result of accidentally attaching to a team-wide email an offensive letter mocking her co-workers when she’d thought she’d sent it privately to her sister. Now, instead of pushing her team to close more sales for the next 30 days, thereby ensuring her promotion and earning an increased commission that will go towards buying back her family home, Lorna finds herself forced to take a sabbatical and attend a month-long wellness retreat to deal with her repressed anger issues. In addition to this outrage, a single dad moves in across the hall and his young son becomes inexplicably attached to Lorna, who does not like children at all. Along the way, Lorna begins to learn that things may not always have happened as she remembers them and that it is ok to forgive not only others, but yourself.

Things Lorna has repressed (ie, trigger warnings):
Her big sister Kristin’s addiction;
Her parent’s divorce; 
Her father’s remarriage and subsequent abandonment for his new family;
Her emotional “bomb shelter;”
The stipulations of her recently deceased mother’s will.

Everything Is Probably Fine was a delightful read, though utterly emotional at times. The narration of the audiobook was spot on and easy to listen to. I will definitely be reading more by Julia London!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse Audiobooks for the advanced audio of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

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The narration of this already excellent story made it all the more enjoyable. The story is extremely well-crafted and engages you from word one.

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This was such a fun rom com, I absolutely loved the FMC, as well as the supporting cast. The little boy she starts taking care of is so cute and sweet, not to mention his dad. The novel explores heavy themes of drug addiction and its impact on friends and family of the addict, but it does so with a deft gentle hand. The FMC is the sister of an addict and her personality and outlook in life have been heavily influenced by the way she always had to play second fiddle to her sister, because her problems would act a black hole, absorbing all the families energies and money. With the help of a quirky therapist, after an especially tricky episode at work, Lorna has to go through certain steps and try to make amends. Revisiting past episodes and people with whom she thought her sister's addiction had burned her bridges, she realises that not all is lost.


While this is a love story, so the HEA is guaranteed, the characters feel so flawed and so real and the journey they take to get to the end is so satisfying, that you can't help rooting for them.

Given this is my second book by Julia London, I can only say, keep the books coming!

Thank you Julia London and Netgalley for this ALC.

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Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

Ill be honest, in the first half, i was a little weary about if i was going to like this or not. I am so glad that i kept going. As someone who has had a loved one and friends that have fallen into addiction, the anger and guilt really resonated with me. Its a little more dramatic for Lorna, but after getting to know her more, it makes sense.

I really love the light shined on mental health, but also that ripple effect of addiction for the people in your life. I think being able to see how that anxiety can spiral was really well written.

This is a great book to give perspective for others who may not understand.

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After forty-two years of quite a rocky life, Lorna Lott is ready to learn where she's going with that life--even if it means revisiting all the places she wishes she hadn't been. It'll be fine. Probably. Maybe.

Talk about a rollercoaster of a book. This was beautifully written and performed by the narrator but to be honest, Lorna is not that likeable of a character. Marni Penning did an amazing job capturing Lorna's anxiety and the other characters. Yet as I listened I felt myself getting so frustrated with Lorna and what she was thinking or what she was doing or saying. But this frustration was definitely because she's so realistic. So many of us are probably Lorna's in some or many ways and it is still an eye opener.

Is this a super transformative book? Absolutely! Beautifully done and well-written? 100%! Was this one of my favorites? Not quite, but in the end I still enjoyed it. While it may be my 3 star that doesn't mean it isn't someone else's 5.

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4.5 stars from me!

This was a real, raw, emotional, wonderful read! I liked Lorna from the start, though she was rough around the edges, and I was rooting for her to succeed through the entire story.

This had great mental health representation and covers difficult topics in a way that’s easy to digest. I loved Lorna’s character development and how the author balanced the ongoing story with her wellness journey. It wasn’t all about her wellness retreat, but we were able to see obvious growth as time went on. The pacing was well done and I felt that this story moved exactly as it should’ve.

Dual timeline is sometimes hit or miss for me but it worked incredibly well in this story. I loved how as Lorna opened her “bomb shelter” we got more pieces of her past. It was so clever and kept me on the edge of my seat!

This was a beautiful representation of how hard and how long you have to work to forgive and grieve others in your life. As Lorna moved through her list, I was struck by how much her healing journey and her apology tour meant to her and meant to me as a reader.

Bean was such a great counterpart for Lorna and I loved how much fun he brought to the story. His encouragement to see things in a more simple and loving way meant just as much to Lorna’s character growth as her wellness retreat.

I listened as an audiobook and loved the narrator. I would honestly highly recommend as an audiobook. The narrator’s different tones and character voices brought Lorna to life and made it so much easier to connect with the story.

This is a seriously solid read you don’t want to miss, especially if you love audiobooks!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse Audiobooks for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

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Lorna is a mess—on paper, she’s excelling at her job, but in reality, things are falling apart. Her coworkers can’t stand her, her boss finds her rude, and she’s completely isolated. She has no friends, she’s estranged from her sister who’s battling addiction, and she now lives alone in an apartment carved out of her childhood home—a place she avoids sharing with her neighbors. Her only companion is her dog, who seems to prefer the little boy next door, Bean, to Lorna herself.

When her boss “suggests” a 30-day wellness program, Lorna has no choice but to confront the chaos she’s been ignoring for years. What follows is her reluctant “Apology Tour”—a journey that’s both painful and healing. Through reconnecting with her past and owning her mistakes, Lorna begins to unpack her emotional baggage, face difficult family dynamics, and challenge long-held misconceptions.

Julia London crafts a story that’s both heart-wrenching and hopeful. As Lorna starts to let people in, including some unexpected friendships with her neighbors, she slowly begins to forgive herself. Everything is Probably Fine is a deeply human story about growth, redemption, and the messy, beautiful process of finding a “found family” when your own feels lost.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

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After an issue at work forces her into a wellness program and a lot of free time, Lorna slowly starts to realize that facing her past, making amends and finding forgiveness is the only way to move forward.

This was so different from what I expected, and I mean that in the best way possible. It's such an emotional journey of forgiveness, self acceptance, and healing. The more I got to know Lorna, the more I grew to like her; it was definitely a slow, but steady, process, and there's such clear growth from the beginning to the end of the story, and it's so beautiful to see and be a part of. There was such a hopefulness running through this whole book that made for an incredibly wholesome read, and I absolutely loved it.

I truly enjoyed the found family aspect slowly building through as the story progressed. While I will admit most of the supporting characters felt a little flat and not fully developed, I didn't really mind it, as I think they played their part well, and I was honestly so focused on Lorna's journey, it was barely a concern. Bean was such a fun character to pair Lorna with, their relationship was so sweet, and he brought out a side of her she didn't even know was there, which was so sweet to witness.

I listened to the audiobook for this one, and I absolutely adored it. The narrator did an incredible job bringing this characters to life in such a distinctive, unique way. It definitely added a lot of emotion to the story, and made it so much easier to connect with it and fully immerse myself in it.

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Everything Is Probably Fine by Julia London is a thoughtful, character-driven story about family baggage, healing, and learning to let go. Lorna has spent years weighed down by her sister’s addiction and her own guilt—but things start to shift when she strikes up an unlikely friendship with Bean, her wise-beyond-her-years eight-year-old neighbor. Together, they nudge each other toward growth in the most unexpected ways. The audiobook really brings these characters to life, especially Lorna’s gradual transformation. Julia London handles tough topics like grief and codependency with a light but respectful touch, making this a surprisingly uplifting read about second chances and the power of connection.

Thank you to NetGallye and Harper Muse for an early listen to the audio. Thoughts are my own

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I don't know where to start honestly, I am aware that you are not supposed to like the fmc at the beginning because she hates herself and actively works on herself to be better, but it was so hard because Lorna holds resentment like no other person you've ever met.
And let me tell you, she literally HATES everyone and is rude, claiming it's a joke. No "joke" however is funny, even close to it.

The book in general somehow was super predictable and her healing journey was like checking things off her to-do list because she has not, not because she wants to. None of the apologies or character growth felt genuine..

If you take a look as a whole of her healing journey it feels insanely rushed, unbelievable given the timeline and therefore heavily incomplete.

Bean, however was the literal reason why I continued. He was so sweet and adorable.

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I received this arc from NetGalley as an audiobook. I really enjoyed it. The narrator was very good.

This book is about addiction but it’s the point of view from a family member. There are so many emotions in this book. There are some lighthearted moments, mostly from a child named bean. There is anger and heartbreak but there is a huge amount of growth and healing. You get to see a woman heal some emotional trauma and find new family along the way. I really enjoyed this book and was cheering the main character on throughout the whole story.

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Thank you to Harper Muse Audiobooks and NetGalley for my copy.

I have to start out by saying at first I thought this was going to be maybe a three or even a three and a half star read, but what changed my mind and makes it a five star is the fact that I was left still thinking about it after I finished it.

Honestly, I found Lorna, the main character kind of annoying. However, I could still relate to her journey and understood a lot of the emotion she felt, especially towards her sister and her mom. Having had to deal with some of that myself I know it's not easy to overcome and make peace with so I have to give her a bit of a break.

The character that I absolutely LOVED in this story is Bean. If you don't fall in love with Bean, I think there might be something wrong with you. Out of the mouths of babes as they say. I love the friendship they develop and that he is right there with her along her journey. With Bean comes his dad and the other neighbors and they all become the family that Lorna and all of us need.

Overall, it's a heart warming story that provides some great insight into forgiveness and finding peace with people and events in our past that may have lingered and changed us into people we don't want to be and that is what makes this a five star read for me.

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4.5 rounded up.

The narrator did an excellent job bringing this story to life. Her voiced matched how I would have imagined the main character and for the most part she voiced the side characters well.

Our main character, Lorna, is put on sabbatical after she accidentally sends a harsh email about her coworkers to them instead of emailing it to her sister. Her boss enrolls her in a wellness program that Lorna must complete in order to keep her job.

It is important to note that a central character in Lorna's life is dealing with a drug addiction and throughout the story readers get a glimpse of what that is like for our main character as well as everyone around her. I don't have personal experience, but I understand this is a heavy topic and may be triggering for some. I do believe the author handled the storyline with care showing readers the full effect of addiction.

Readers get flashbacks of Lorna at different ages and the transition between past and present is easy to distinguish. The flashbacks start from her sister's addiction and go through the present situation. Readers get a bigger picture on how her sister's addiction affected her life in every aspect.

Lorna begins to open herself up and build friendships, especially with the neighbor kid. I adored Bean's character and the way he helped her. The other side characters were wonderful, each helping Lorna in some way.

This story does deal with a heavy topic, but there is hope and lightheartedness in the story as well. I like the way the author wrote the storyline and the characters. This story also made me reflect on the relationships and what I am holding onto in my life and how I can start to let it go.

I highly recommend this audiobook when it releases in August.

Thank you Harper Muse Audiobooks and NetGalley for the ALC.

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3.5⭐️
Heartwarming book about forgiving and learning to find yourself after years of hate and anger build up.

The narration was great the narrator did a fantastic job and made the book more enjoyable.

Big reminder that something you may think is a big deal and messes everything up. It wasn't a big deal for the other person. And they have moved on .


** Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ALC **

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Everything is Probably Fine is an incredibly moving story about forgiveness, healing, and finding peace with your past.

The story follows Lorna as she navigates a deeply personal journey to confront decades of pain, much of it tied to her sister’s struggle with addiction and the lasting impact of family trauma. Lorna’s emotions—especially her anger, grief, and guilt—are portrayed with such honesty that I found myself truly feeling for her every step of the way.

Julia London has crafted a powerful and raw narrative that not only explores Lorna’s growth but also invites the reader to reflect on their own unresolved hurts. It made me pause and think about what I may still be holding onto, and what it would mean to finally let go.

I listened to the audiobook and thought it was beautifully done—the narration added even more depth to an already emotional story.

This is a heartfelt and introspective read that stays with you long after the last page.

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