I received this book In exchange for an honest review from netgalley.

This book is strange and relatable all at the same time. From a big picture standpoint, Judy’s life is pretty stereotypical - she is middle aged, dealing with financial and marital issues while coping with the loss of her parents and her growing son. These aspects of the story made her relatable and likable even as the kooky aspects kicked in. The obvious oddity is that she wears her dog in a sling, and that it becomes a central part of the story line. Add in a retreat, a weird school, and puppets, and it’s pretty comical.

I enjoyed this book - it’s not deep, but it’s sweet.

Thank you Ecco Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Judy is 50 year old wife and mother, who feels like she is loosing stability in both her personal and professional life. She used to be a successful children’s book author, and her marriage is quickly falling apart. She doesn’t have the money to afford divorcing her husband, and she feels like her relationship with her 13 year old son is getting distant and forced. And to top it off, her best friend is terminally ill. While cleaning up, Judy finds a baby sling, and decides to start wearing her dog. The dog quickly becomes a coping mechanism for Judy. What could go wrong?

I really enjoyed this book so much. I felt like it was a light hearted and realistic read, of what it’s like to go go through living with anxiety. I felt like Judy was such a realistic character and easily relatable. This book had me chuckling multiple times throughout reading it. It is a little slow in the beginning, but it does pick up as you go on. If you haven’t read it yet, I would recommend it.

This book really was like nothing I've read (in the best way possible). Super quirky, super hilarious, and yet also an insightful look into how it looks and feels when a relationship falls apart. I loved it a lot more than I thought I would.

I thought I would enjoy this book but it was a struggle to get into it for me. I am sure others will like it, though.

This story explores the highs and lows of marriage, family, and human connection. Every relationship contains multitudes, ranging from despair, to boredom, to elation, to peace, to anger, and every other emotion. Everyone in this book is trying to take their weird and make it fit into a world that has little space for it. Recommended for reader of Eleanor Oliophant Is Completely Fine.

I loved the absurdity of this story. Blazed through the book in a few days. It was so funny and so realistic at the same time.

I tried really hard to like this book. I just could not connect with the characters at all.. this was one of my most highly anticipated reads this year and I was so let down.
This book May have not been for me, but maybe it’s a book someone else would enjoy!

Totally felt autobiographical at times. The struggle in this book is real. I could feel in come through the pages in almost every character, yet the book also felt light and was humorous at times. You could absolutely see how the characters got to these really deep and in most cases, sad places in their lives. Yet, they had so much to live for and so much support, they just needed to set outside themselves to see it. I wanted the book to be a bit lighter than it was, just because of how gloomy everything is right now in the world. But, I did enjoy this read and possible glimpse into Ms. Zigman's life.

Separation Anxiety is a book about Judy, a wife and mother who is trying to get her life together. She is a former author suffering from writer's block, her best friend is dying, her son is struggling at school, and her and her husband are separated, but cannot afford to live apart or get a divorce. If it sounds depressing, it's because it is. Judy starts wearing her dog in a baby carrier and taking her everywhere with her. Let's be real, I definitely was drawn to the book because of the cute cover with Judy and her dog.

While this book is very well-written and the characters are well-developed, I really struggled with it. I really wanted to like it, but just found it too depressing. It might be because I didn't find myself relating to the main character (fortunately!) or because I really needed something lighter and fluffier to read right now with all that is going on in the world (COVID-19). This is probably a story better suited for someone who relates more to Judy and is maybe in a more similar life stage! Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers for an advanced copy to review via NetGalley!

2.5 stars. This book was very average and had a lot of gaps that were never filled. The premise of the book is a couple that is separated, but due to financial issues, they still live under the same roof. I never got invested in their marriage or why they were separated. Was the author trying to comment on mental health? Obviously both have anxiety. The main character wears a dog in a sling and the author tells you several times that the husband has anxiety issues, but you never really see them. Is she just supposed to be quirky? She’s an artist (writer) and I love the moments where she says there’s a bird on her head when she’s done something outlandish. But it just never comes together for me. It could have been more if the gaps were filled in. The puppet people? That was weird and a bad choice for the story. And the poop storyline was also weird and didn’t make sense to the story. The best part was the real ness of the relationship with her best friend and her grief. Overall this felt incomplete. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Dog in a Sling and Other Fixes for Mid-Life

Probably best known for her hit debut novel 1989′s Animal Husbandry (which was made into the only rom-com I’ve never seen, the 2001 Someone Like You starring Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman), Laura Zigman is finally back after close to 15 years since her last book (2004′s Piece of Work) with a I-think-it’s-fair-to-say autobiographical protagonist in Separation Anxiety. Character and author are years since a successful book after a career working in publishing, married with a son, and sadly recently deceased parents and a cancer diagnosis. Separation Anxiety is a satisfying read with a good story that’s sad, funny, and tender. Welcome back, Zigman, you’ve been missed.

Wendy Ward
http://wendyrward.tumblr.com/

Oh boy, am I seem so normal when compared to Judy Vogel the narrator in this story. Her husband was an aspiring musician way back when he opened for Aerospace. She had a children’s book leap into the best seller lists and then made into an animated movie. But now, she’s just barely coping with life. Her son is now in a 7th grade Montessori school, she’s writing spiffy little positive pieces for an online wellness website. She’s taken to carrying their family dog in a baby sling wherever she goes. She and her husband are separated, but can’t afford separate living arrangements, so he sleeps and smokes his medicinal marijuana in the snoring room in the basement. She’s forced into hosting the people puppets stay performing at her son’s school and she can’t figure out where she belongs. Eventually she discovers an extended family that includes the people puppets and even her middle school crush and she’s happy. May it continue to be a happy life for her.

This book is fused with humor, loss, and grief. The inside flap says a “Hilarious novel...” but it’s a bit more than that funny when it needs to be but articulate. What comes through is the compassion and journey of a women navigating her way through all of this, with her dog Charolette in a sling along for the ride .

A just-okay read. Nice level of wittiness, but in the end, I did not find the characters to be relatable at all, which is very important to me when reading. I'd recommend this as a beach read or a quick distraction.

Sometimes you don't mesh with a book, its story, and its characters. This was such a book for me. Judy and Gary are stagnant in their lives and marriage. The story is presented in what is supposed to be a humorous manner, but this falls flat for me. Overall I found the book depressing and most of the situations and characters felt unrealistic or like caricatures.

A fun read. Witty and Funny. Some twists and turns, not the ending I was expecting! This book reminds you that marriage, life and family don't always turn out the way you expect but they always turn out the way they are supposed to. You get attached to the characters even some you were expecting to dislike.

I enjoyed the wit and humor but did not connect to the story. The characters felt too over-the-top and the plot felt forced.

There are moments where I think this book really hit the mark and others where it seemed to miss it completely. None of the characters were compelling enough to make me really care what happened to them one way or another.

Super endearing. I enjoyed the topics this covered and liked the characters. Some scenes seemed over the top or unrealistic. But overall, this was a fun yet serious at times story.

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The premise of this book sounded really good! I expected it to be laugh out loud funny like Class Mom but unfortunately, I don't think I smiled even once. Yes it is quirky but to me it's just a sad story. There are a lot of mentions on mental illness but I think the execution missed the mark. I also didn't connect with any of the characters and found myself skimming to finish. It's an easy read but the book just wasn't for me.