In this book she is still grieving her husband but, much like the rest of us, she is trying to grow and live. However, this is quite a long book and there were plenty of parts within the story were a little predictable. I also really liked that one character, who I definitely thought was going to play a more significant role just because that’s what always seems to happen in books like this, actually didn’t. I found the relationship very sweet, and I liked how the author handled the depiction of Cricket’s grief after the death of her husband, which made me really like her character.

It was just as funny and relatable as the first one and was great to catch up with how nell and her life was progressing since the first instalment and was like having a catch up with an old friend. With grateful thanks to NetGalley, Pan MacMillan and Alexandra Potter for my advance ebook in exchange for an honest review.Nell lands up writing obituaries, she meets Cricket an 80 year old widow and they soon make friends and become close. But when it became about women everywhere (we are all f*ck ups, we’re all in this together), I felt disappointed.

It made me incredibly angry and I thought, presumptuously, that other women in my position must be hating it - that the author totally missed her target audience.Much of the first half of the novel follows Nell as she tries to fall back into her old life in London, catching up with old friends who have moved on, gotten married and had children, leaving her behind.

I had not heard of this author, and it was a 'stumble across' as I browsed an interstate catalogue (the perks of working in a library, and knowing where to look for the location of a book, Australia wide).Nell’s life seems to be going as planned for once, she survived the Covid lockdowns, she’s getting married, she’s still busy writing obituaries, her friends are ok and her frenemy Annabel isn’t giving her such a hard time lately… That is until everything seems to fall apart again. I absolutely felt every word on a deep level being that I too am as the title eloquently states a 40 somthing fkUp , but now I realize I am not alone and it's never too late to be what you might've been . Nell feels left behind and drastic measures see her taking up residence in a small flat in a shared house arrangement.

Whilst sharing the flat with not only Edward and their dog, but also his two teenage sons, a surprise pregnancy test throws Nells World into a spin. This is what we all want and this is what I try to do when my mum friends talk to me about their problems.

Facing a downward spiral all too quickly, Nell Stevens must deal with the demise of business, her impending marriage and the loss of her life in sunny California. I think we all feel like we're supposed to have everything together and life figured out and it's so easy to look at other people and think they have it all figured out when in reality we're all just ducks - smooth going on top and paddling furiously underneath! I am not sure if my words are doing justice to how much I loved this book but I loved this book and everything about it. Nell spends a great deal of time in the first half of the book bemoaning her failure to have a social media–worthy life and assuming that everyone else she knows is enjoying total success because they are married and have kids.