Absolutely charming. An excellent read-alike for Beth O'Leary's The Switch. A recommended purchase for collections where WF is popular.

I was so excited when I was sent this title, especially at the description. My parents are Irish (I'm a dual Irish-American citizen) so I was curious to see how well this novel would portray this family and country, especially since it looks like the author is from New Jersey according to Google 

Overall, I give this a 3.5 out of 5. I would have given it a solid 4 out of 5 stars, except sometimes the Irish slang was a little too much, as if the author was REALLY trying to convince us that these characters were Irish. The scene where Millie describes a post-present living room on Christmas "like the IRA's been and gone" was at best weird and at worst offensive.

Other odd thoughts:
- why was Sylvia in Ireland in the first place? What made her jump from Florida to Dublin then back again so quickly? How does Sean not think it's weird they're moving to Ireland without a visa?
- if Millie and Aideen left Ireland in the afternoon/evening Irish, they arrive in Florida in the afternoon/evening American time and are at Clearwater (two hours away) by late evening American time (so early morning Irish time). At that point when she calls Kevin from the motel pool, Aideen would have been missing for 15+ hours; how is Kevin not worried? Why does it seem like it's the same afternoon when Grace gets home?
- I don't understand what the soft little bag was that Aideen gave Millie at the end of the novel?
- I would not bill this is as the Irish "Schitt's Creek" (this is nothing like Schitt's Creek and makes it sound like you're using their recent Emmy fame to sell the book). If I had to, I would call it the Irish "Where'd You Go Bernadette?"
- really curious about the author's background. She really nailed the cadence of the Irish way of talking (I could hear my family's voices at some points), but then felt the need to over explain the Celtic Tiger, Irish history and culture that made me feel like she's one of those Hibernophile Americans the Gogartys talk about.

TLDR; pretty good! I am definitely more judgmental because of my personal background, but I would rec this to American friends, but probably not my Irish family.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions are my own.

In general, I adore Irish fiction (think Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, and Cathy Kelly), so I was excited to get an ARC of this from NetGalley.
To say that this book was a disappointment is quite the understatement.
This is a book with terrible people putting themselves in terrible situations, and still trying to get the reader on their side.

**minor spoilers ahead**
In the first two chapters, you're led to believe that Kevin is an aw-shucks, down-on-his-luck dad. Then 100 pages later he's suddenly a lothario? It made zero sense.
Millie is not daft at all. She knows exactly what she's doing throughout the book. And she is a THIEF! How was she never really called out on anything she did? Again, it made zero sense.
How did Aideen get the ring? Did she go back to America to see Sean? Did Sean mail it to her? I have so many questions.
I really did not understand the title of the book. There was no content related to eggs. Was it satire?

Overall, I did not enjoy this book and would not recommend it to others.

I received this book and immediately put it to the top of my “to be read” stack because of the comparison to Schitt’s Creek (love that for me!!)

This book did not disappoint. It was very charming and relatable and had me laughing out loud.

The story follows along a dysfunctional family. We have Kevin, who is suffering from a mid-life crisis. We have Grace, who works a little too much and puts her family on the back burner. We have Aideen, who struggles to find herself in comparison with her twin sister and is the family trouble maker. Finally, we have Millie. Millie is the elderly grandmother who struggles with aging. She is mischievous by nature and is always plotting a new way to thwart her son Kevin and his plans to put her in a nursing home.

Millie’s latest and greatest scheme lands herself and her granddaughter, Aideen in a bit of hot water. Millie and Aideen are actually a lot alike and watching those 2 navigate a new adventure overseas is downright hilarious although horrifying to Kevin and Grace. Turns out this kooky plan concocted by Millie might just be the thing that brings the family back together again.

I really loved this debut novel and look forward to reading more from this author!

In present-day Dublin, Kevin, a father of four, is between jobs and becoming desperate. His elderly mother, Millie, and his teenaged daughter, Aideen, are both breaking bad at the same time. Kevin's wife, Grace, has vanished into her work. Clashing with all three, and suffering a midlife crisis, Kevin must find his feet for the sake of the whole large, dysfunctional Gogarty clan.

Millie goes to extraordinary lengths to maintain her independence despite being unable to take care of herself and unable to curb her shoplifting habit. Aideen snoops on Kevin's computer and finds out that he's been shopping for a boarding school for her. She is envious of her pretty twin sister Nuala and is as lost, confused, and enraged as a teenage girl can be.

Kevin's answers to both the Millie Problem and the Aideen Problem backfire spectacularly and Grandmother Millie joins forces with granddaughter Aileen to take matters into their own hands. When it comes to sticking it to the Man (Kevin, in this case) two heads are better than one, even (especially) if the heads are several decades apart in age.

"Good Eggs" is a spry and hilarious novel. Hardiman's writing is clever and inventive. Except for Millie, the characters are not terribly engaging, but the reader can't help but hope that the mad but devoted Gogartys will come right side up at the end.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was lucky enough to have the publisher reach out to invite me to read and review Good Eggs. Overall, this was cute but I was thinking it would be funnier with it's comparison to Schitt's Creek.

This novel is about a dysfunctional Irish family with the grandmother, Millie at the center. She is so looking forward to a getaway to America, but her plans are foiled when she is caught shoplifting and now she needs a caretaker to help make sure she stays safe (and out of trouble). Her son, Kevin, is a bit of a man-child, who has recently been fired. And her grandchild has been shipped off to boarding school. There is a lot happening within the pages of this book, lending itself to a frenetic quality. I wish it had been a more focused and nuanced in order to connect more with any of the characters. There is some great humor and it’s a quick read that will likely resonate with other readers.

I always enjoy Irish humor. Good Eggs, about a zany and somewhat dysfunctional Irish family, delivered. The dialogue was laugh-out-loud funny at times and the characters were emotional and convincing. It's always interesting, too, to learn how others around the world see America and Americans. Good Eggs was a quick read that readers who like to read about family strife will enjoy.

I was grateful to be gifted access to this book by the publisher, but was not able to finish it. I thought it would be a small town laugh out loud read, but it just did not read in a compelling or memorable way unfortunately. I found the characters to be a bit flat and this book was just not my cup of tea.

Just your average Irish family in all of it's messiness and love.

Grandmother Millie Grogarty is a little bit lonely and a lot of eccentric. Son Kevin has been laid off and now spends his time caring for his four children while his wife travels for work. Add in a teenage daughter who is a bit of a rebel and you have all the makings of a wonderful novel. When Millie starts a fire at home and ends up in a nursing home at the same time as Aideen the rebel is sent to boarding school, the wheels are set in motion for a whole lot of shenanigans. An almost affair, some theft, and a road trip to America involve the whole family. By turns poignant and hilarious, a wonderful novel of family.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Good Eggs.

From the blurb alone, it sounded like a straightforward, albeit typical novel about a feisty older lady who triumphs over being elderly and overlooked with the help of her aide, Sylvia (perhaps) so I was pleased when my request was approved.

Sadly, the blurb is misleading.

Yes, Millie is an octogenarian with sticky fingers, driving mishaps and a tendency to do as she wishes. But she's 83! Cut the woman some slack.

Her long suffering only child, the insufferable and dopey Kevin, is tried of dealing with his mother's woes and sneakily enlists the aid of an aide named Sylvia, a women he barely knows, when Millie is busted for shoplifting.

At the same time, one of Kevin's twin daughters, Aideen, 16 years old and in the throes of angst, hormones and puberty is having a difficult time at home, so he decides to ship her off to boarding school. How kind.

After spending just a few weeks with Sylvia, Millie is delighted with this American woman and eagerly welcomes her into her home and life.

When Millie discovers Sylvia has committed a felonious act, she and Aideen, who has absconded from boarding school, set off for the US to right the wrongs and get their lives back.

I liked Millie; she's your (typical) feisty elderly lady so commonly found in books; she speaks her mind, rambling at times and makes no excuses for the things she does.

But, the narrative is bogged down with too much filler; Kevin's silly, spastic personality and behavior. He's a buffoon who crosses the line into adultery because he's in lust with his daughter's head mistress. What an idiot.

I have no idea why his wife married him, nor did I feel any kind of chemistry or rapport between Kevin and his wife, a woman barely developed or discussed throughout the novel.

There's too much exposition on everything; Aideen's boarding school and her frenemies, her bond with Sylvia's nephew, Kevin's job search, stuff the reader wouldn't care about and none of these details added to the plot.

Sylvia as a character barely factored in because Good Eggs was really about the minutiae of Millie, Kevin and Aideen's day to day activities and the slog of their lives.

The writing was good, but the narrative dragged.

Some readers might enjoy Good Eggs, but it wasn't for me.

While there is a good deal of humor in this book, there was too much family discord and angst for my taste. Kevin is the center of the story and he is dealing with: a wife who works too much and ignores him and the children, all teenagers; a mother who has been caught shoplifting one too many times in the local grocery; a teenage daughter who is woefully misunderstood by her siblings and her parents; a possible affair with the secretary at his daughter's school; and the lack of a job or even the prospect of a job. Too many problems make this a little confusing. In addition, I found all of the characters to be likable and unlikable in almost equal measure. Sylvia would be the exception to this as she starts out as quite perfect and ends up a true villain.

Loved it! I love a good saucy elder woman and family drama. This has plenty of both. Interesting story, not as schmaltzy as I thought in reading the description so that is great! Enjoyed it, couldn't put it down. Read this early on netgalley!

A story of one family and the similar and yet distinct difficulties of growing up and growing older. The characters were memorable and the story fast paced.

The zany grandma and "bad" teenager characters were just okay to me. I couldn't get invested in the story. I can see it appealing to others but it just wasn't my thing.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.