3.25/5. Read this back in 2018 and did not review it back then. I don't remember enough about it to give it proper feedback.

I will be honest; I didn’t read this book. The title intrigued me initially when I requested it years ago, but looking back at it, post COVID, it doesn’t interest me but I wish the author well

A fun YA crossover featuring a character whose age isn’t often featured in books. In Smothered, Lou has just graduated from college, and she ends up moving back in with her parents in LA. The problem? Her helicopter mom is a but, well… smothering. The characters are fun and larger than life. The writing is perfect for fans of Meg Cabot and Sophie Kinsella, and I loved the journal entry format. It’s a hilarious coming of age story with fun mother/daughter dynamics.

This is a funny read that is relatable to anyone who has to move back home and navigate home life with a parent who wants to smother them. Enjoyable and not to heavy, this would be a great read for young adults coming out of college and struggling to find their place in life.

SMOTHERED - Autumn Chiklis

GREAT FORMAT! - 5 stars

Plot - 5 stars - After graduating from college, Lou has returned home to live with her parents while searching for a job. Her parents are overbearing and full of personality, so it's entertaining to watch her try to navigate.

Writing - 5 stars - This is funny without being over-the-top. No, wait, it IS over the top, but in the best way. The scenario is set up for built-in humor, and it's pretty relatable since so many college graduates are turning to their parents for help in today's expensive society. The format of including text conversations and emails within the bulk of the story added plenty of interest and relevance since that's pretty much how we all communicate these days. I liked that it allowed the story to move forward quickly while keeping me totally engaged.

Characters - 5 stars - Lou is a great main character. She is clearly very intelligent, but she allows herself to get into the craziest situations with the ultimately hilarious results. She is self-deprecatingly funny, and her outlook on life made me alternately roll my eyes and laugh out loud. Supporting characters of her mother (smothering), father (stern but lovable), and sister (the queen of social media) are hilarious and add another level of fun. Theo is the ideal boyfriend. He's sweet and loving and really cares about Lou, in a dorky kind of way. They make a great couple, and I was really hoping for their success. Megan made me laugh as the typical mean girl, Natasha is the typical stoner, and Alyssa is legally blonde.

Title - 5 stars - Lou is feeling smothered by her situation, but it's all too common in this day and age. And I loved the fact that her father pointed out that her smothering mom's job is to be smothering--it's part of the word, after all.

Cover - 4 stars - The cartoony characters on the cover are not my favorite, but the bright color definitely catches the eye.

Overall - 5 stars - Lou, feeling trapped by her situation and especially by her mother's hovering, is totally intimidated and overwhelmed by her life. After exceeding during college, she's now unable to settle down or find her direction. Which means she then does the absolute minimum, suddenly realizing that her life is passing her by. Her good intentions and plans are like everyone's, but somehow (like many people), she gets waylaid by unimportant tasks or bogged down in the details. I thought I'd be frustrated by her inaction, but instead I found myself laughing out loud many times at the ridiculousness of her situation. I could also relate to her continued inaction, thinking to myself that I agree with her that there's always another day. I had expected to find the author trying too hard to be funny, creating such over-the-top scenarios. But, instead, I found the whole story to be light-hearted and hilarious. I will definitely look for more from this author.

I have a hard time reading books written like this it honestly takes a bit of the hype away for me. I find it to be harder to use my imagination on it. I am very happy the genre was changed from YA to New Adult. I love how absolutely outrageous all of the characters are. Lou and Theo's relationship was a bit odd to me. If you are with someone don't hide them and if you are the one being hidden just leave. People don't change that much.

I'm clearing out books that I requested ages ago and have been on sale for years! I really enjoyed this title.

This was thenfirst book I have read by Autumn Chiklis but it won't be my last. Chiklis manages to craft characters that are flawed and endearing. Furthermore, I found myself laughing out loud frequently while reading this book. I adore Mama Shell and the rest of the Hanson family. Such a fun read!

I loved this. I related to the main character since I moved back into my parents house during the pandemic. I moved back into my parents house when this all hit, I was able to relate to the main character. I really enjoyed this one! It was a fast and fun read!

This novel was pretty darn fun and it made my really grateful that my mom isn’t nearly as crazy as Shelly. The main character was witty and cute but she became a little annoying after a while. I kind of wanted her to quit complaining and get her life together, but I think she was supposed to come across that way. All in all it was an entertaining read but I don’t think it’s one that will stick with me. Thank you to Netgalley for sending this novel in exchange for and honest review.

The premise of this book is fun: recent college graduate tries her best to move on with life and establish a career. Her mother tries to keep her at home. Add a Southern California setting with fashionable, wealthy friends, and things get crazy pretty quickly. Lou's story unfolds in journal entries, tweets, text messages and emails.

This is perfect summer read. I would especially recommend it to new adults.

I laughed a lot reading this. How many times have "adults" at the age of 18, "ran away" from home to live an independent life only to be smacked in the face by reality and end up back home? I enjoyed the diary style writing of Smothered. It makes me feel like I am up close and personal with the characters. I know it's fiction but it doesn't seem realistic in that the family is rich. I am not sure that Lou wants a job for herself, or wants a job to throw in her families face.

This was a fun read! I couldn't relate to it a ton because of my own relationship with my mom but I did enjoy the writing style a ton

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

This is a quick, fun, beach-y type read. I’m not the target demographic, being closer in age to the main character’s mother, but nevertheless found it to be a decent story. It kind of reminded me of a Sophie Kinsella, if Becky Bloomwood was an American who graduated from Columbia and had a Real Housewife for a mom. If you’re lookin for something lighthearted and not too involved I would definitely recommend.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Lou Hanson has just graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University and doesn't know what to do next. She hasn't had any job offers, so she moves back home with her family in L.A. Lou has set short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals to get out of her parents' house and start her life. Her mom, on the other hand, is ecstatic to have Lou back and takes far too much control of Lou's life, as far as Lou is concerned.

I think this book was supposed to be funny, but I just found the characters annoying. Maybe it was supposed to be more of a satire of how shallow and selfish people can be. I did like the format of the book, told through journal entries, texts, bills,o and the like. This book was not for me. Maybe if you are closer to Lou's age, you could relate more to it? Lou was making her life a lot harder than it needed to be with her lying.

Life for recent grad Eloise isn't quite what she expected, and moving back in to not only her childhood bedroom but with the helicopter mom of all helicopter moms is going to be a new challenge. Cute story and characters and everyone will relate to Eloise or her mom and sometimes both.

Thank you for providing a copy of this book for review however I was unable to open the file for this document unfortunately! Apologies.

Smothered just was not for me. The book was very cringe-worthy and the shallow, racist characters just completely turned me off. Someone compared this to The Princess Diaries and I can't see the similarities. This was just a story of an entitled rich girl whining about how her life after college isn't automatically amazing and successful.

This book was a little to cheesy and shallow for me - not in a "Quick fun read" way but a hard to get through slow read. I may not be the right demographic for this book but it wasn't terrible!