I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

This was really funny and I found myself rooting for Anna all the way through. Lots of laugh out loud moments. A nice, easy read.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

It took a while to get into this book but it was an easy and light read once I did. It had a Bridget jones feel to it but more modern.
Would be interested in more from this author!

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

I loved this book and would encourage everyone to read it. It was funny, gripping, a true reflection on social media and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I had a hard time getting into this book, and then found the remainder of it a bit rushed. There were funny parts, to be sure, and a slowly simmering romance, but overall it was, as the title claims, “fine.” I was disappointed in some of the main character’s actions and definitely those of her boyfriend, and didn’t connect to anyone in the story enough to feel sad that this one ended too abruptly.

While this book is now available, I was thankful to read an ARC, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

I requested this book in error when I was sending a widget to one of the reviewers and accidentally clicked on the link. I have already read and reviewed this book.

This book was fantastic! Funny and heartfelt, Everything is Fine is like a Bridget Jones for the social media age, with a main character, Jessica, who is trying her best but doesn't always get it right - oftentimes in ways that make you laugh out loud! Anyone (especially parents) who has ever sugar-coated a social media post in the hopes of seeming like they have it all together will relate to Jessica. Except she has actually unintentionally created an entire online persona that doesn't quite match reality. And when it starts affecting her relationships - including her daughter - she realizes something needs to change. This was such a wonderful book, and I feel very lucky to have been able to read an early copy!

A picture-perfect life. Life reduced to hashtags. Who really knows what’s lurking behind all our pictures? That’s something Gillian Harvey explores with aplomb in this hilarious book. Just when blogger Jessica Bradley thinks her life might be back on track, her boyfriend (Dave with the fabulous abs, the one who actually increased her following on social media) breaks up with her (via a note propped in the kitchen!) and Jessica—like many people today—tries to keep up appearances. But Jessica—a single mom and businesswoman—has a lot on her plate, and eventually, things catch up with her. While the story is funny, it’s also thoughtful and one that makes you step back and reassess what you’re doing in your own life with your own social media. Looking forward to reading more from Gillian Harvey.

Once I started reading I couldn’t put it down as I wanted to find out what happened to the characters (I felt like I know people like most of them!), I was cringing and laughing along the way at the scrapes that Jessica found herself in. I found the social media side of the story really refreshing and food for thought. I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end, a real laugh out loud read .

3.5

I was super excited to read this book, as I thought the premise sounded hilarious. There were indeed parts that were funny and sometimes relatable, The social media aspect is on point, it has taken over our lives and some of us project this persona that is not the real us. What happens when it all catches up with you?

When you tell lie after lie, it's gets to be quite hard to keep up with it all. And why do we do this? For likes, for follows? Jessica feels it all catching up with her and Everything is Fine is exactly what we say, even when things are not.

This book is reminder that what we see on social media is nothing but everyone's highlight reel. Not the real story. A humorous and at times relatable book, Everything is Fine is better than fine. It's pretty damn good.

I received a gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

P,S Dave is a douche.

Oh goodness, this was fun. I read this in a weekend and can't wait for Gillian Harvey to bring out something new now!

Everything is Fine follows the story of Jessica, who I really didn’t like at first as she came across shallow, self-centered, and all about her image. The need for 'likes' and 'views' felt like they hit a little close to home, which wasn't a bad thing as I could evaluate my own self-appreciation and need for validation! Jessica's growth was real and raw and relatable.

Thanks to Orion and to NetGalley for the chance to read and review Everything is Fine.

If you want a book to cheer you up during these hard times then this is one to read. It´s funny, down to earth and very topical with regards to social media pressure these days. Thoroughly enjoyable!

My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read and review honestly.

I absolutely adored this book. I could connect with the characters. Jessica seems to be unlucky in love. Her husband Grahame, father of their daughter Anna, leaves and marries someone else. Along comes Dave who is a keep fit fanatic and looks good in his gym wear. Jessica has her own PR business and a healthy eating blog and everything seems rosy until she comes downstairs one day to a post-it note saying he had left her. As the story progresses, I become to detest Dave. Does he love Jessica for the real Jessica or the Jessica that she has been portraying in her blog? Jessica was not being true to herself and her life was becoming a lie. There were some very funny parts in this and some very good visual images in my mind’s eye. Jess certainly seems to land herself in trouble. She was lovable and full of life. This book made me think of just how many of us are true to ourselves? Is it easier to write or say what we think other people want to hear about us, as we can make it more interesting? I then wondered just how many bloggers are true to themselves or does everyone make embellishments. It’s not something I have ever thought about, however I certainly got my little grey matter working overtime. This was a very believable book, which was extremely well written and highlighted how life today is all about social media, followers and likes. I recommend if you want a wonderful cosy sit down with a laugh out loud humour then this is the book to get. This is Gillian Harvey’s debut novel. There will hopefully be many more to follow. Congratulations and thank you for such a memorable read.

I don't even remember the last time I related this strongly to a book or a main character. Everything is Fine is, on the surface, a light fun book - and it is - but at the same time, it's got some very insightful commentary into the way we as woman put pressure on ourselves, especially as mothers, and especially in the internet age. The desire to pretend that everything is perfect, the inherent need to only put our best face forward, is something I deal with every single day. I didn't just understand Jessica's struggle, I felt it with every fiber of my being. (I also firmly believe that it's impossible to be unhappy while swinging, so the book spoke to me on that level, too). Well done. Highly recommended.

A superb debut. A relatable story about the pitfalls of social media, and only showing the perfect highlights. So focused on followers, perfection, we miss what's going on around us. Being happy with our lives might need a different approach. Looking forward to more.

This book is full of humour, romance, difficult decision, misunderstandings, cute with some infuriating characters.

I enjoyed this book and most of the characters, I didn't like Dave at all but that's only because of the brilliant writing.

I think this book hits on something lots of people struggle with and that's social media. Instagram posts and twitter its so easy to get carried away. I love that in the book there are lots of things like meals that Jessica lost that are purely for the photo and she doesnt really eat them.

Jessica has a bit of a roller-coaster of a life so it's nice to see her life start to slot into the way she deserves.

My favourite relationship In this book is Jessica and her brother, it's really similar to mine with my brother. She trusts him, with things that she's worried about, to help her figure it out.

Great book!!! At first I had trouble getting into the book and thought I would not enjoy it. However, I was very wrong. This was a laid back enjoyable read that I was able to read fast. At first I was could not get into the book because I did not like Jessica's character because she seemed all about herself. However, I changed my mind about her character and realized I was wrong. She did care about others but just got herself so involved with her job, blog and boyfriend. I did feel bad for her daughter cause I felt that she was lacking attention. The writer did an awesome job bring the book together and making me feel like I was in the book myself. I feel that this book teaches us a lesson on how we can get carried away with life at times. Loved the ending but it was kind of fast. I would love to see a second book to go with this one

Astory about an influencer was the perfect concept in this day and age where your online presence doesn’t always reflect your reality. Jessica is in her early 30s and is a blogger with her Fit at 30 site. She also utilizes Instagram and Twitter to complete her online persona and also help promote her PR company, Star PR. On the surface, she seems to have it all with a healthy eating regime and a constant gym presence while balancing a hot relationship with Dave, a fellow gym junkie who goes to the gym almost daily. She has an early teens daughter, Anna, that splits her time between staying with Jessica and her ex-husband Grahame, who is married to Tabitha and together they have two boys.

As Jessica finds the daily struggle of projecting a certain self and living it, she finds that maybe it might be too much pressure to put on herself. She meets Robert, her new writer client, that wrote about embracing your inner child. While reading his book, Jessica is able to give letting go a try – you’d have to read the book to see if she decides to embrace the concept or if gives it up.

The novel itself is a fantastic story where you giggle along to the embarrassing events that happen to our main character. It has many hilarious moments and some heart-warming ones, too. The social media side of the story gave an amazing incite to something that you wouldn’t think about normally. You could visit a blog to gain motivation and not realize the writer doesn’t practice what they preach or you could look at a photo online with someone who is all smiles, but is secretly sad. It shows that everything online might not always be what it seems. Of course, it doesn’t mean that everything you read and see if false, but it just means to take everything with a grain of salt.

The characters are all well-written and serve their purposes in the story. The ones that need more backstory are granted some tales from their past and those that are there to serve as side characters have just enough mentioned so you can imagine the novel playing out in your mind. It’s a job well-done by the author!

There are two major issues that I had with this novel – Jessica’s weight and WhatsApp. Jessica is described as being a UK size 8/10 (~US size 6/8) when she’s at her fit self, but then she’s almost written like she’s a whale when she becomes a size 14 (~US size 11/12). She is very self-conscious of her weight, but I don’t understand how it can be such constant negativity when it’s not even into the plus-size category yet. (She’d still be considered thin by today’s standards whether in the UK or the US as she’s still smaller than a lot of the population). I realize that to some people a gained pound can seem like 100, but I feel it’s not a good message for Jessica not to have some realization that no matter who tells her that she’s now fat, that she doesn’t think about it for a few seconds and see that she may be bigger than she was, but she hasn’t become fat yet. I’m sure others will disagree and won’t think anything of it, but as a person that’s bigger than Jessica, I can’t relate. (I’ve ranged in size from US6 to above US18 my whole life and no matter my size, I never thought like her). My other issue came from WhatsApp. It is a constant crux mentioned throughout the entire novel between Jessica and Anna. I’m not sure if it’s the author not understanding fully the app’s main purpose or if it’s a conscious decision as Jessica claims to be a “dinosaur with technology,” but it just didn’t add up. Anna is banned from downloading and using WhatsApp to use to message her friends, but she is allowed to use Instagram and to create a blog. Try as I might, I couldn’t wrap my brain around this as Instagram can have a far greater negative mental impact on a child than WhatsApp so I couldn’t understand even in the slightest why a mother would say okay to one and not the other (I had to ask my own mother about this and some other mothers too and no one was able to figure it out). I use both Instagram and Whatsapp and I couldn’t comprehend the difference for why you would ban one over the other.

I loved the beginning and middle of this story, but ended fairly abruptly for me. I realized I was about 99% reading in my Kindle yet I felt there should have been more space dedicated to the wrap up. I didn’t expect a full explanation about every single detail for how it all turned out, but it just would’ve been nice to have more. It’s an indication that I enjoyed the book as I didn’t want it to end!

Overall, I thought the concept of the book was fantastic. The central theme of influencer culture was well-written and very enjoyable to not only read, but learn more about. I thought Jessica was a very relatable protagonist as she was a normal person just struggling to keep up with everything life threw at her. She tried to balance her online presence, her company (the workplace itself and its clients), her romantic life, motherhood, and just generally trying to get by. It was an impressive debut novel by the author! Although I had a few things that I didn’t agree with in the book, they never took away from the overall story. It was a pleasure to read this novel and I will definitely check out any of the future works by this author.

**Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Feel free to check out more of my reviews at: https://chonkybooksreview.com/