After reading a few heavy thrillers and crime books recently, I was looking for something a little more lighthearted to read during lockdown, and Everything is Fine was just the ticket.

Everything is Fine (a title I can’t read without hearing the voice of Ross Geller from Friends) tells the story of 30 something Mum Jessica, a PR business owner and online influencer, who started a blog sharing her online fitness journey. When she met Dave, the six packed, clean eating fitness fanatic; it did wonders for her social following and on the surface at least, through those squares on the grid and her blog posts online: her life is pretty perfect.

But is insta perfection all it’s cracked up to be? Quickly the lines between social media and reality star to blur, what’s real anymore? Keeping the blog successful is really crucial - but at what cost? Who is the real Jessica and is she happy?

As a blogger myself I could relate to so much of this; from the ridiculous comments on blog posts and the setting up of perfectly posed photographs. If I ignored the reference to freebies (nothing is free if you have to work for it!!) and her blatent misrpresentation on reviews (something I wouldn’t do!) then I was able to really relate to some of the challenges of being an online influencer; and the impact it has on relationships and reality,

With lots of funny, cringe worthy and laugh out loud moments, Jessica felt like a cross between Bridget jones and Becky Bloomwood, I loved her relationship with her brother and best mate, and her interfering but loveable mum who always jumped to conclusions.

The clients were fun and humorous, from a cow semen facial to ‘Little Secrets’ the nappy sized incontinence pads and if Robert’s book was real - hell I’d read that too. Who doesn’t want to embrace their inner child?

My only negative? The ending felt really sudden and a little rushed, so I felt like I’d been robbed of a full conclusion. Whilst the ending I wanted would have been pretty predictable; it felt like it hadn’t fully finalised the story - leaving open for a sequel perhaps?

The queen of metaphors; any book that uses the word discombobulated gets my vote. A fun lighthearted and humorous take on social media in 2020 and the constant need to keep up pretences.

Very much enjoyed this book. The story of an internet influencer who gets carried away with trying to maintain the perfect image, it's fresh and funny, with well-drawn characters - a clever jab at the cult of Instagrammable perfection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion for this ARC.

I really enjoyed the commentary on how it feels to live in a social media age and the constant pressure to be perfect. It was a nice reminder that social media shows the best of people and what they want you to see, and life is not always perfect from behind the scenes.

I loved following Jessica's story and thought it was really funny and heartwarming. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters and the dynamics of different types of family units and I really liked Bea and her story. I loved how the book demonstrated that friendships aren't always perfect.

I wish there was a "6 months on" so we could see how Jessica's story ended with her change in lifestyle as I felt the ending was rather sudden.

I really enjoyed this book and finished it in just over a day, would definitely recommend.

Relatable take on the absurdity of fake social media life and it’s hilarious consequences. Heartwarming and easy going, a lovely light read during lockdown.

At first my thoughts about this book was that it felt a bit cringe as them kind of people in real get on my nerves! Also the font and text colour when reading Jessica's blog posts kept changing from paragraph to paragraph.

Now onto my positive thoughts of the book. I enjoyed reading about the family relationships between Jessica and her mum as you could tell even though her mum seems to be picky and annoying, she's just doing what she thinks is best! The relationship between Jessica and her daughter Anna was a bit more on the safer side as Jessica plans to hear her daughters troubles but something always seems to pop up - boyfriend, work or just her blog. Will Anna want to become like her mum or will something happen that could wake up both her mum and dads perfect life?

I also found myself laughing at Jessica's clients, from an artist in the news for all the wrong kinds of reasons, a up and coming author on how to re-find happiness (also, I wish this was a real book) and the reality star not actually using the products!

The main reason I gave this book 3 stars was that I was always waiting for a certain bit to happen (slight hints were given) but never did, I realised when i was 93% into the book, it was defiantly past the good parts and felt the end chapter was a bit of a let down.

The best thing to be said about this book is that I got through it really quickly. I read half of it before going to sleep last night and the other half when I woke up this morning. I wanted to know what happened which is quite rare for me. However, the second half of this book was not as good as the first. It was slightly disappointing. I liked the subject - a single mom trying to get by and also trying to make her life look brilliant online. In the second half of the book I felt it lost it's way, the character was endearing but I think more could have been done. Having finished the book it doesn't stand out as one of the better one's in it's genre.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into crime/thriller books and even psychological thrillers too so I am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

I enjoyed this very much. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Unfortunately I have been unable to finish this book, I have found the first 35% extremely slow and not engaging.

I will not be writing a negative review as I feel this is unfair on the author.

Everything is Fine is a chick-lit novel that focuses on Jessica, a woman in her 30’s with her own PR company, a fitness blog and a 12 year old daughter called Anna. But like many of us, Jessica’s blog and social media doesn’t really show the real her and now with her boyfriend just having left her and her work starting to make things more difficult, her lies are starting to catch up with her.

I had incredibly mixed feelings about this book. It wasn’t like it was a bad book but it wasn’t exactly what I’d describe as good either. The first half of the book was very slow and with the plot being set up and the reader seeing how Jess’s lies are getting bigger and bigger. It’s one thing to be lying about going to the gym and eating healthy, that’s fine, but not telling your daughter that your boyfriend has left? Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.

But around 50% things start to break down more and more and I actually got through the last part pretty quickly. I found it more enjoyable and it had amusing moments but I still didn’t laugh out loud. Not really. But I wasn’t rolling my eyes either. You see my problem? Even my reactions were mixed!

What I did enjoy this book was the family relationships. I do love a good sibling relationship and even if she complained about her parents you could see they really did care for her. I might have had some issues with her own parenting of Anna but at least she got along with her ex and she did try to be there for her. She just got a little bit too self-involved for a bit. I also enjoyed the career side for similar reasons. It was fun seeing all her different clients and how much effort she did put in with them.

I also wish there had been a little more romance. No it’s not necessary in chick-lit but it could have made it a bit more fun.

All I can really say about this book is suggest that you do check it out yourself to form your own opinion. I waited until the next day to write this review after my GoodReads review and I still don’t have a better idea of what I really though.