Thursday, 7 March 2019

Absolutely Smashing it by Kathryn Wallace


I am so excited to bring you my review of this hilarious debut novel from Kathryn Wallace.
thank you to Kirsteen Astor and to Sphere Publishing for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. 

Book Description
"SAM! AVA! Get downstairs, NOW. Have you done your TEETH? HAIR? SHOES? Come on, come on, come on, we're going to be bastarding late again. No, I haven't seen Lego Optimus Prime, and nor do I give a shit about his whereabouts. Sam, will you stop winding your sister up and take this model of the Shard that I painstakingly sat up and created for you last night so that I wouldn't be in trouble with your teacher. I mean, so that you wouldn't be in trouble with your teacher. No, it doesn't smell of 'dirty wine'. Well, maybe it does a little bit. Look, Sam, I haven't got time to argue. Just hold your nose and get in the car, okay? AVA! TEETH! HAIR! SHOES!" 
Gemma is only just holding it together - she's a single parent, she's turning 40 and her seven-year-old daughter has drawn a cruelly accurate picture which locates Gemma's boobs somewhere around her knees. So when her new next-door neighbour, Becky, suggests that Gemma should start dating again, it takes a lot of self-control not to laugh in her face. 
But Becky is very persuasive and before long Gemma finds herself juggling a full-time job, the increasingly insane demands of the school mums' Facebook group and the tricky etiquette of a new dating world. Not only that, but Gemma has to manage her attraction to her daughter's teacher, Tom, who has swapped his life in the City for teaching thirty six to seven year olds spelling, grammar, basic fractions - and why it's not ok to call your classmate a stinky poo-bum...
It's going to be a long year - and one in which Gemma and Becky will learn a really crucial lesson: that in the end, being a good parent is just about being good enough.

This book is published by Sphere and is released on 7th March 2019


My Review
This is a brilliant and laugh out loud read that will have you hooked from the first to the last. It is perfect for any parents who are facing the daily struggles with children and all that entails. 
In the book you Meet Gemma who is a single parent to two children, Ava and Sam. She also has a full time job and will be the first to admit she doesn't always get things done on time. 
Gemma has new neighbours that move in next door, Becky and Jon and they have two children too. It is at a school meeting the two first meet. They strike up a conversation about some of the mums at the meeting and are soon in fits of giggles. They decide to head out together after the meeting for drinks and soon a firm friendship forms between the two. They come up with a plan to help each other. Becky is going to help Gemma find a new man and Gemma is going to help Becky get a job. What could possibly go wrong? 
What follows is a hilarious account of both of the women try and help each other often with disastrous but very funny consequences as they both follow the plans set out for each other and try to absolutely smash it before the year is out. 
I absolutely loved this book. Anybody that is a parent and does the school run will understand the references to the clique groups of women and just how hard it can be to look like you have got your life together and are winning at parenting. 
I really like both of the main characters they are both well written and they both have good strong back stories to help with he running of the story. 
This is the debut novel from Kathryn and I'm really excited to see what she writes next.


You can find Kathryn Wallace on Twitter - www.twitter.com/IKINTST


Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today. I hope you enjoyed my review. 


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