This has been on my TBR for several years now, and I can’t seem to make myself finish it. I’m sorry! I’m sure someone will love it, but it just isn’t for me.

I admit that this wasn't the book I thought it would be when I requested it from Netgalley, so I've held onto it a long time before reading it. I finally got around to it, though, and was pleasantly surprised but not enthusiastically enthralled.

I don't usually summarize books in reviews (plenty of others do that!), so I'll say this was much less of a book about the experiences of the road trip than I hoped. It wasn't really even about the evolutions of the relationship of the main characters during the road trip - their relationship was good to start with. It was more about the absolutely self-destructive and non-existent self esteem of Eve, and Boop's attempt to help her see that she merited to see herself more positively.

Of course that's what happened, and the book had a fine feel-good quality to it by the end: I didn't not enjoy reading it, I just found it frustrating that Eve's self-deprecation was so angry and so complete. I admit I've never been clinically depressed (that I know of), though, so I respect that it might really get this bad for many people.

The book manages to stay moderately light-hearted through its entirety, which is probably why I finished reading it. As I said I didn't not enjoy it, I'm just not sure I'd recommend it to everyone as worth the time - perhaps to people who vacuum up books and would read it in a couple of days and move on. Everyone has skeletons in the closet, this story is old, but somehow the revelation of Boop's son being "disabled" (Downs syndrome? I had to assume..., but it could have been a physical disability too, it was NOT clear) with no further description and then Eve's best friend in the same generically described situation made me feel like that was a bit of a cop-out on the author's part.

I really adored this book! As someone who works with older adults, I love how Boop was written. There are so many coming of age stories and battles for authority with mother/daughter relationships it was refreshing to have a story about three generations of women. Plus, a road trip always makes for an interesting story. Thank you for NetGalley and the published for the galley!

I absolutely loved this book. It covered so many different topics, from depression to relationships with your parents, grandparents, and significant other, Its about following your dreams and the push back we get if it doesn't fit into someone else's agenda/view. I loved reading about the relationship between Boop and Eve. I enjoyed this book very much and would highly recommend it to readers.

Eve Prince is at the end of her rope and is on the verge of depression. College isn't what she thought it would be, she hasn't made any real friends and her mother is controlling every piece of her life. When she reaches out to her cousin for help she finds Ally less than helpful as she is in crisis mode herself. Eve discovers that Ally has disappeared leaving only Eve hidden clues on how to find her. When her grandmother, Boop, suggests a road trip home Eve decides it's the perfect way to get to Ally. As the two set off on their adventure each have their own agenda - Eve is ready to confess her real passion in life and Boop is hopeful she can help Eve find her footing. Both women have secrets they are harboring, one that isn't hers to share and the other could cause her to lose everything and those she loves. Boop and Eve will have to come clean before they reach their destination for their own sanity and to possibly save someone they both love. At first glance you would think that this book was a light-hearted, madcap adventure story shared between two women but it is much heavier and deeper than that. The story deals with mental health, disability, depression with a lot of southern slang mixed in for good measure. For the right reader "Boop and Eve" might be a perfect fit but for me it was just ok not quite getting the connection to the characters. I also found certain parts of the story difficult to read and relate to. Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m happy that I finally got around to reading this eCopy. I consider it a generational love story, with the love being between three generations of women-grandmother, mother and daughter. There is a lot to be learned when we take the time to get to know our family members, and this story does a terrific job reminding us of that. Solid characters and a beautiful theme of family and love make this book extra enjoyable.

This book was just not for me. I didn't find the characters or story super engaging. DNF at 20%. Thanks for the digital copy!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during that 2nd attempt, I have only managed to make it halfway through so I'd rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this book. It wasn't what I was expecting. I was thinking light hearted and fun it was those but it did get deep in places.

I received the ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Uplit comes in many forms. When a road trip is mentioned, it definitely snags my attention. There is so much fodder available in the context of a long journey with just a single individual for company. However, the majority of this story dealt with severe issues and complicated family ties that went beyond the scope of the road trip itself. This meant that chapters with actual road trip tangles felt far and few in-between ( that doesn't mean there weren't any, just not as many as I was expecting). We have a grandmother and her granddaughter who set out together with different agendas. Each is holding on to grief and is unwilling to confide.
I cannot talk about the interpersonal relationships without actually revealing something, so I will refrain from going into the details. Suffice to say, it is a happy book at the end, but the route to it is fraught with tears and tensions.
I liked most of the people and the overall book but had trouble with how the story was laid out. Sometimes when I wanted to linger, the tale swept along, and at other times it slowed down when I was not overly invested in the ongoing discussion. This meant it took longer for me to read this book than it will take many others (and those less nitpicky then I will take away a lot more from this I did). I recommend picking this up if the blurb sounds even remotely interesting because, on the whole, it is a good book.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Boop is concerned about her granddaughter. Eve seems perpetually unhappy, especially when her mother Justine brings up going to medical school. Boop wishes Eve could learn some gumption, and to stand up for herself. When Eve gets a cryptic message from her cousin and best friend Ally, grandmother and granddaughter decide to embark on an epic road trip to find out what is going on with Ally, and give them some time to figure out what to do with their own lives.

I love intergenerational stories, and I was excited to find out more about the amazingly named Boop and her granddaughter. But both women suffered from an inability to speak up--Boop about her past and Eve about what she wants in the future. It seems author Mary Helen Sheriff was unsure whether she wanted to write a lighthearted road trip romp or delve into the pain of depression and unresolved family trauma, so we are left somewhere in the murky middle.

Boop and Eve's Road Trip
By Mary Helen Sheriff
She Writes Press October 2020
268 pages
Read via Netgalley

With all traveling plans canceled this year, this book was exactly what I needed! I love a good road trip story and the author did such a great job with this one. The characters are well developed and the story easy to follow, it grabbed my attention right away and I coulnd't stop reading it. While I probably won't be traveling for a long time, this book and this story allowed me to travel even without moving from my sofa.

I love a good road trip story, and with all this COVID-19-being-stuck-at-home stuff going on...a road trip sounded especially appealing. This particular literary road trip features Boop and Eve, a grandmother and granddaughter. Eve is attending college in Florida where she is studying biology (at her mother's urging) even though she dreams of being a fashion designer. She is lonely and depressed, unhappy with the direction of her life, yet not wanting to disappoint her mother.

When her cousin/best friend Ally goes off the grid, Eve decides to journey from Florida to her family's beach house in Virginia. Her 80 year old grandmother, Boop, decides to tag along in order to see her sister (ally's grandmother). Along the way, the two women work through their emotions and secrets (both current and decades old). Boop dealt with depression in her past and hopes to pull Eve out of hers. Both Boop and Eve also have a difficult relationship with Justine (Eve's mom and Boop's daughter).

This was a sad and charming, yet ultimately uplifting story. I enjoyed my journey with these two women and they were both likable and relatable. The story touches a bit on how society has viewed a mothers role through different generations. The big takeaway though is the impact of keeping secrets from those that you love. I recommend this one for fans of Southern women's fiction.

What to listen to while you read this one...
Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver
when the party's over by Billie Eilish
I'm in Here (Piano/Vocal version) by Sia
Automobile by KALEO
Fountain of Youth by Local Natives
Forever Young by Alphaville
Savannah by Relient K
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
In My Secret Life by Leonard Cohen

Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Sheriff, and her publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book! The characters were all so well developed and 3-dimensional and the story had so much love and hope weaved throughout it. While the novel does touch on some tough issues, I felt that Sheriff tackled them with grace and compassion.

I truly enjoyed watching the relationships develop throughout this novel, as well as seeing Eve, Boop, and Justine, all learn, grow and open themselves up to life.

I loved this story, focused on family relationships and truth. Boop and her granddaughter, Eve, take a road trip to find Eve’s cousin and best friend, Ally. The road trip comes at a time in Eve’s life when her self doubt leads to depression. Boop reveals her long road to healing after suffering a major loss, resulting in severe depression. Justine, Eve’s mother, has been pressuring Eve to attend college and enter medicine, which Eve has no interest on at all. The way the relationship between the three women develops is at the heart of the book, as the discussion of mental illness is also essential to the story. Thanks to NetGalley for this wonderful book, which I highly recommend.

This is a wonderful love story between grandmother and granddaughter. The story unfolds questions about life, love and decisions taken and is wonderfully written. The message of not living your life through someone else comes through loud and strong. Eve and Boop are great, strong characters, who together are proof that sharing and talking are often the way to solve many problems. A lovely read.

This was such a fun read. I love a sassy older woman and a college girl trying to find her joy. The characters all felt fully realized and had something to do, which I can't say for a lot of books I've read lately. It had a great structure and the dialogue felt real and made me smile. It made me want to call my grandma!

While I did enjoy this book generally , it wasn’t really what I was expecting, I think I wanted more whimsy and wild road stories, Thelma and Louise wise, while I did enjoy this, it just felt a bit disconnected to me, I wasn’t keen on some of the language used by the characters, it didn’t feel appropriate or even acceptable in today’s world where feminism has progressed more for a female author to be using some of these terms towards her own, I just don’t like, reinforces attitudes we are fighting against. On the whole an ok read, but not for me

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I had high hopes for this book but there were just too many “Gosh, dang, thang, this here, that there, butter my butt and call me a biscuit” cliches. Then there was all the negative energy, feelings and emotions with no one cutting anyone a break.

Boop is convinced of her failure as a parent, Justine’s goal in life is to reinforce Boop’s feeling of failure while always taking the time to be the most controlling Momster, and her daughter Eve is an absolute misery with all her self-doubts. Yeeks and yuck, three generations of so much negativity in too many pages. I read on and on and on thinking there would be a reprieve and I would discover that warm glow of Grandmother, daughter and granddaughter coming together, arms around one another. By the time it almost happened I just didn’t care.

I am definitely in the minority and readily admit that this was just not the book for me. Thank you NetGalley and She Writes Press for a copy.

Boop and her granddaughter Eve are reaching a crossroads. One in which they are prepared to give up trying.
Boop has struggled for years with the guilt of what she did to her family years prior.
Eve has a major confidence issue. After years of being critiqued on every detail by her mother, Justine, including dismissing her passion for design, she has given up the will to fight back, or even put in an effort.
And I'll be honest, I didn't particularly care for either woman initially. While I'm sympathetic to the issues both women faced over time, I didn't care for their hopelessness. I wanted them to fight back and speak up, rather than cower in fear of rejection.

So when Eve's friend, Anna, appears to send out a call for help, Eve decides it is the perfect chance for an escape. This escape, once Boop becomes aware of it, turns into a road trip. While the idea behind this road trip may have been to escape their own personal problems, it may also be a chance for them to fix those problems along the way.

Going into this book, I thought it would be filled with zany adventures, as most road trip books tend to be. And while there were some places the two enjoyed along the way, the trip is more about coming clean to one another and finding a way to get the other past their own insecurities. With time, and patience on Boop's part, this does happen.

I didn't feel the story needed the added narration from the detective looking for Anna, which felt out of place with the rest of the story. However, Anna's disappearance does provide a link between the road trip and each character's recovery.

"You gotta stop giving away credit for the good stuff and taking on the blame for the bad stuff."

While it was a very bumpy ride, this journey is about forgiveness and understanding it is ok to have imperfections. It is about finding happiness for oneself, not for others. And I loved that positive message.