Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was a fun, fast read that had me fully invested in the plot and the main character.

Excellent book! Very jealous of the title! So glad to have another in the same quadrant as Jennifer Belle to be obsessed with!

This was a sharp, introspective, and unexpectedly funny contemporary story that captures a very specific moment in time while also digging into grief, ambition, and isolation 😷💔✨. Set around the early days of 2020, the novel follows Layla Moody, a struggling television writer trying to claw her way into success in Hollywood.

We first meet Layla in full chaotic mode at Sundance, chasing connections, opportunities, and anything that might finally launch her stalled career 🎬🍸. When she lands a promising opportunity, it seems like her life is finally moving forward—until the pandemic shuts everything down and forces her into isolation in her late father’s apartment in New York.

Alone with her thoughts, Layla is forced to confront unresolved grief, a complicated past relationship, and the uncomfortable possibility that she may have played a role in her own emotional stagnation 😬🏙️. Eventually, she escapes to a Fire Island share house filled with familiar faces and messy histories, where old dynamics resurface and new forms of connection begin to form.

What I liked 💕 was how grounded and emotionally honest the story felt. Layla is messy, self-aware in flashes, and deeply human, and her internal struggle with grief and self-sabotage is handled with a lot of nuance. I also liked the time-period setting—it adds a layer of collective uncertainty that mirrors her personal unraveling. The Fire Island house brings a great ensemble dynamic and some much-needed humor and warmth.

Overall, this is a reflective, character-driven novel about grief, reinvention, and learning how to rebuild a life when everything suddenly stops 📚🌊💭. If you enjoy emotionally layered fiction with strong voice, pandemic-era realism, and messy but relatable characters, What You Should Worry About is a thoughtful and engaging read 🌿✨.

This is such a great reflection of a very unusual time and how it impacted people in ways beyond just restrictions and fears. It explores how the pandemic made people reflect and often even completely reconsider their choices and plans. Yes, it’s a funny book, but it is also an important thought triggerer, I think it will stand in good stead over time as people look back on the Covid 19 crisis and what it did to people’s psyches.