Beth is in prison for doing something terrible, something so bad she cannot bring herself to think about it, let alone talk about it. When her counsellor suggests she start writing lists of all the good things that have happened in her life, Beth discovers tiny spots of joy that she had forgotten about. From her first foster father and learning to love running, to taking delight in helping someone in need, slowly she begins to realise that ‘the terrible thing’ may have put her where she is, but it does not define her.

This is an exceptional story, thanks to the exquisite and in depth characterisation of Beth. As she delves back into her earliest happy memories we see how a troubled, intelligent and isolated girl developed into the angry, scared 21 year old now incarcerated for committing a heinous crime. Beth’s voice shines off the page, allowing the reader to feel her pain, experience her happiness and truly start to care what happens to her. This story is at once heart-breaking and hopeful, written with a compassion and understanding that is remarkable for a debut novel.

I was expecting something different when I decided to get a copy of All the Good Things by Clare Fisher. Needless to say, this ended up being quite a surprise. I am not saying that it was bad; it was just different from what I would normally go for.

This is the story of Bethany who is currently incarcerated. However, this isn’t a story about life in prison. Instead, Beth has a counselor who challenged her to write down the story of her life and the god things that happened before the bad thing that got her arrested.

Beth tells different stories from her time in school to her first job and then motherhood. She has a lot of struggles that became clear from the first story. I can’t talk much about this without spoiling the book. However, her stories made me smile although most were really sad. Others were quite relatable like her first job at Odeon. This reminded me of my first job at a clothing store next to the 20th Century cinema in Nairobi.

This is a quiet book. There are no shocking revelations, twists or drama. However, the writing and the pacing fits the story. Nevertheless, there was a little tension as I was curious about the bad thing that Beth did. I wanted to know why she was in prison and I was also tempted to just skip to the end and find out. I didn’t do that. Instead, I walked the journey with Beth and found out why she did what she did. This made it easy to sympathize with her and understand her character.

The story is narrated through Beth’s PoV. Each chapter has a title. For example, ‘Flirting on Orange Wednesday’, ‘falling asleep with your legs tangled up with someone else’s…’ The titles make sense when you read the chapter. In addition, the chapters begin with Beth’s current life and then go back to an event in her past. I think that the structure worked out perfectly for the book.

Beth’s story is about self-discovery. It allows readers to also get to know her. I don’t think that I would have felt the way I did about her given the nature of her crime. However, understanding her made it easier to sympathize with her. This book is thought-provoking. Beth’s journey made me think about my own life. It also made me think about people serving time and how easy it is to judge them without knowing their story. In the end, this was a deeply, moving story that I enjoyed reading.

This book was absolutely spellbinding! it's a long time since I was so captivated by a book from the beginning.
The characters are perfect and most importantly, it challenged my preconceptions and made me really think...long after I had finished reading.

All The Good Things by Clare Fisher is a highly emotional and thought provoking read.

Twenty-one year old Beth Mitchell has done a very, very bad thing. Consumed by guilt in prison, she is asked by her counsellor to write a list of all the good things in her life. At first, Beth thinks this is ridiculous – how can she deserve to ever feel good again after what she has done? However, as she begins to recollect her life from the happy memories of her first foster family leading up to the birth of her child, she realises that there have been some good parts alongside the bad. When she must eventually confront her terrible actions leading to her arrest, she has to decide whether or not she is ‘100% bad’ as she initially believes, or if she might deserve a second chance.

This was a gripping and emotional story that builds slowly and masterfully up to a heart-breaking climax. Written from Beth’s POV, the reader learns about her lonely and difficult life as she recollects it in segments divided into ‘good things’, which include ‘friends you can be weird with’ and ‘smelling a baby’s head right into your heart’. As you learn more about the events leading up to the bad thing, you discover more about Beth as a person and the terrible circumstances in which she has found herself for her entire life, including a mentally ill mother, multiple foster homes and a lack of stable and supportive relationships. In the end, when the ‘bad thing’ is revealed, the reader is forced to confront their preconceptions about accountability and the moral dilemma of just how ‘bad’ Beth stays with me long after I finished reading.

The characters in ‘All the Good Things’ were all vivid and engaging, but the protagonist stood out as a wonderfully-crafted complex and flawed young woman. The author has created a very real and sympathetic character in Beth, and following her story – both through her mostly chronological recollections of the past and her present-day thoughts in prison – was extremely compelling and moving. Beth is completely dysfunctional but also intelligent and chatty, with the same hopes and dreams as many women of her age – as a result, this story instilled a strong feeling of empathy in me, as you realise how any number of people could end up like Beth if the world had shown them similar hardships. This story touched on many difficult issues faced by vulnerable members of society, such as poverty and mental illness, and the author obviously has a high awareness and a deep understanding of these problems. Beth’s cripplingly low self-esteem and the difficulty she has finding anything good about herself or her life was extremely touching and even though I was able to guess what the ‘bad thing’ was before it was revealed, it still packed a strong emotional punch. This is a novel that challenges preconceptions about women like Beth and manages to masterfully instil compassion in the reader.

‘All the Good Things’ is extremely difficult to fault and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story that will impact on them emotionally and address their pre-conceived notions. Despite its difficult topics and dark moments, it managed to be uplifting and hopeful and made me think a lot about judging people when you haven’t stepped into their shoes. I sincerely hope that the author continues writing, as this was an exceptional debut that stayed with me a long time after I put it down.

Daenerys

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

This book covers a whole range of family problems from extra marital affairs to manic depression to childbirth
I as a mum can relate to it and sympathise with the writer although the twist I didn't see coming
Good book

A very compulsive read with real insights into mental health issues and the effects of deprivation in childhood. It was a frustrating read in many ways as Beth, an immensely bright and talented girl, lurches from one crisis to another bad decision to a melt-down but very engaging. We know that Beth has done a very bad thing as she is writing from some kind of prison but we only find out what at the end. There is real humour as well as despair and there is hope at the end despite everything. I enjoyed it more than I expected as Beth has real guts and character and it is so well written. Its a book that unflinchingly portrays a life of never having enough - food, money, love, security - and what that can do to someone.

This is Claire Fishers debut novel and what a fantastic job she's done. This book hooks you in from the start, the story is based on the main character Beth and the chapters are the list of all the good things she has in her life and through this list you find out about her life.
This books main character Beth is someone by the end of the book you can't help feel sorry for, the things that happen to her could happen very easily to any of us. The book highlights how the 'system' has basically failed her. Beth comes from a mother who had mental health problems and this is really where the system started to fail them as Beth was moved from foster home to foster home her mum was left behind with her own problems and contact lapsed. Beth was a problem child and once old enough was moved into her own flat and here the real problems start with poverty, money issues and the boyfriend being the main and then right at the end you get to know why she is in prison but when you do you can almost sympathise with her not hate her.
This was a thought provoking read and makes you think not everything's as black and white as it appears.
I would like to thank netgalley and Viking, penguin random house for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the writing style in this book. 21 year old Beth is in prison for doing a bad thing. She believes there hasn't been anything good in her life, and that she doesn't deserve any happiness because of the 'bad thing'. Her therapist asks Beth to make a list of all the good things in her life, however small. The book then keeps moving between the past and present day as we find out more about Beth's difficult upbringing and what ultimately led to the 'bad thing'.

Despite her flaws, I found myself caring about vulnerable Beth and was always keen to know more about her life. My only slight disappointment was that it felt like the book ended quite abruptly, and I would like to have read about the interaction that was to follow, but maybe that's just a sign of a gripping story!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but I really enjoyed it. You know from the start of the book that Bethany has done something 'bad' but you don't find out what until the end of the book.
The whole book is written in the first person and goes from the present to the past. Bethany is having therapy in the present and is being asked to consider her past. She writes about herself in quite a negative way but you can't help but like her.
By the end of the book when you discover the something 'bad' that she has done you have a different reaction to if you had found out what it was at the beginning.
An original way to write and would definately recommend this book.

This book was so beautiful and real and heartbreaking. It was so raw and honest, I had a lump in my throat a lot of the time whilst I was reading. It's very rare for me to relate to a character so strongly that they feel real, and that I wish that I could reach out and tell them that it will be okay. It challenges the black and white way in which we can look at society. It shows how easily people can slip through the cracks. I don't want to say much more about the story without giving away too much of the plot, but I will say that reading it will make you feel profoundly different afterwards.

Thank you Clare Fisher for a wonderful read.

I was kindly sent a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is a brilliant debut from Clare Fisher...

The story focuses on 21 year old Beth who is jail - we know its something terrible but the reader only finds out the full facts at the end. No spoilers here!

Beth starts to see a therapist in jail who encourages her to write a list of the good things in her life - through this list the reader is taken on a heartbreaking journey from a young girl right up to the crime itself.

The character development in this book is genius.... the reader really feels that they are with Beth through every second of the awful life which leads her to where she is. Even before we know Beths crime we know it is something terrible but somehow Fisher makes the reader feel deep sympathy for Beth.

I have to admit I was shocked by her crime and didnt see it coming.

This book will stay with me for a long while - I found it deeply moving... its easy to judge someone but this book makes you really think about how events can impact and effect a person for a lifetime.

All the Good Things is a compelling, emotional contemporary with just a hint of mystery. The story of Beth - her life and how she ended up in prison, is told slowly over time. Details are revealed bit by bit, in a way that kept me engaged and invested in her as a character. She's had her fair share of challenges and I don't think anyone could help feeling for her.

The story is told through her prison counselling sessions, as a mix of flashbacks to her past and reflecting on her current situation. This unusual format and jumping through time is fairly easy to follow, but did make me wish I'd slowed down a bit to fully process it. I found myself hooked and sped through it!

Recommended for contemporary fans looking for a realistic, emotional novel.

Right from the start, I quickly became engrossed in Beth’s riveting story. I was gripped by the gruelling events in her life, saddened by how she was so often at the mercy of those who used her unscrupulously, and made tearful by the painful predicament she was in.

We encounter Beth in prison, physically and mentally, seeking a way to fully comprehend what led to her incarceration and how to come to terms with it all. She is guided in this process by her kind therapist, Erika, who suggests Beth keeps a written record of all the good things in her life. As she delves below the surface, sharing her innermost thoughts, Beth directs her words to her baby in the form of a love letter, family history and explanation rolled into one.

An unravelling and healing of sorts takes place as memories surface. More of her background story is revealed, causing greater depth of insight to be gained. The narrative is laced with light and dark episodes, wry humour and pathos. It’s also an indictment of situations in society which can destroy a person’s self-esteem, mental health and ability to cope with life. It’s a hard read in places but a well written and captivating novel, worth pursuing to the final, heartbreaking denouement.

There is nothing better than a book that makes you fall in love with it from the very first pages. When the sentences flow so well together that you are instantly teleported to this new world. When the characters become so dear to your heart that you laugh, cry with them and for them until the very end of the book. When your heart is filled to the brim that after finishing the book you need some off time to nurse this feeling for a little longer.

That is exactly how this book made me feel and I might make it my mission to force people around me to experience it for themselves.

We first meet Beth while she is serving her time in women’s prison. The story, told from her perspective, unravels more and more as she writes a list of good things by request of Erika, prisoners’ counsellor. We don’t know what happened to her before the prison and why is she even there, but that mystery and Beth herself are what keep you flipping the pages as if there is no tomorrow.

We listen to the story of her life, the good and the bad, as Beth slowly fills in the list of good things. Bethany believes that she is a “100% bad person” and the constant question “do I deserve the good things?” is floating in the air.

Usually, I am not a fan of character driven novels as I find them slow and boring, but not this one. At no point of the book I felt bored or the need for something more. There was already so much in Bethany, so much to her story that anything extra would ruin the whole experience. The flow of the sentences. It was like each sentence was a separate wave but together they merged beautifully in this deep sea of feelings and emotions. And I still can’t get over the feeling of true happiness or profound sadness that the book made me feel.

From now on I will be on a hunt for more Clare Fisher books and I’ve already added «All the Good Things» to my favourite shelf on GoodReads!

“there isn’t a human in the world who doesn’t want love”
What is good in your life? As a population we frequently focus on the negative or bad things in our lives, that person at work who irritates just by turning up, the cold calls about PPI or the accident you never had. I am just as guilty; we don’t always look for the good things. That unexpected “thank you” from the boss, when someone tells you their good news and you’re one of the first to know, having a coffee and a gossip with a friend – they’re not big things but they’re good things, the things that make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Bethany is tasked with listing the good things in her life which she views as being a total right off – all part of her therapy and rehabilitation.

Each chapter begins with the title being the good thing and there are many I can identify with – “Friends you can be weird with”, “Reading out loud to people who listen” but then again there are two about running – I don’t do running for fun, but I get what the author is aiming at. The little pleasures in life.

The book did make me think, not just about the good things in my life but also the age old argument of nature vs nurture. Is Bethany and her “badness”, her rebellion as she went from foster home to foster home and beyond a result of her genetic make up or because of her childhood experience. I personally think that we are all a mixture of our genes and our experiences but as we get older, we become more affected by the world around us than when we were children.
I really liked the author’s writing. Despite the story jumping around between Bethany’s present and past, I was there with our protagonist every step of the way. I was there in the classroom with Bethany alongside her when she challenged Cal, there when she went for her first job at the cinema.

This is a milder book than I’d normally read but there are elements of crime in there and the underlying premise of the book is Bethany’s experience in prison and her counsellor’s urge to help Bethany see that there is good in her life despite what she’s done. And what has she done to feel so down on life – well that would spoil the story and no one likes a spoiler!
This is a cracking debut from Clare Fisher and a refreshing change to see an insight into what happens to rehabilitate prisoners.

Many thanks to Penguin Books (UK), Viking and Netgalley for my advanced copy of All The Good Things.

Couldn't get into it. Might pick it back up at a later date!

This book was very different from books I normally read. It jumped about a bit going back and forward which was a bit confusing. Beth is in prison and she keeps saying that she's there because she's done a very bad thing but it's not until the end that you find out what she's done. She had a terrible childhood going from foster parent to foster parent without anyone taking the time to really find out what her problem was. It was only when she was in prison and a social worker there, Erika took the time and patience to really help her.

I've just finished this book and I'm really unsure of what to think of it. Having come through the foster system, Beth is in prison after committing a terrible crime. The book starts with her in therapy and told to write down all the good things that have happened to her. Then with a series of flashbacks we go back in time to see exactly what happened.

The book is well written and I read it in a couple of days but I found it just left me empty with no real thoughts about it one way or the other.

Sometimes we can't help but think of the bad. The overwhelming sense of what has gone wrong and what we could have done better. It overtakes our life. Sometimes we cannot see right for doing wrong. Sometimes we can't look past the bad to find the good. This is what All the Good Things is about.

Sometimes we just have to start small to find the good - like making a list of all the good things. It can be surprising sometimes how such a small thing can play such a big part in your life. Little things are often the biggest things in life. This is a highly emotional read that will pull on our heart.

While in prison Beth is asked by her councillor to make a list of the good things in life. Through this list we get a sense of Beth's life and what has led to this moment. Beth talks about her past in a simple and pragmatic way. Through her telling you get a sense that she never saw anything about her life as not normal.

I loved the portrayal of Beth, of her life. She writes expressively and vividly and allows us into her life bit by little bit. Despite everything there is a sense of hope, the promise of a better life.

This is a stunning debut about social exclusion, the vulnerable and the ones who never get a decent chance. And finally and perhaps most importantly it is a bout finding light even in the darkest of times