i was really interested in this book because of the topic - the author explores what it means for a woman to choose to be child free. i think it’s a topic that no one ever discusses and as a person in that category, i felt very seen. however, much of the book is dedicated to how Olive’s choice to be child free plays out amongst her friend group, who all want to or do have children. there’s some back and forth between the history and the present that just seems irrelevant or maybe superficial to me? i don’t know. such a deep topic that was not explored in a deep or meaningful way. i feel it was mostly spent exploring how this impacts female friendships and skips over everything else

Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the main character Olive and her friends as they move through their late 20s and into their thirties. We watch as they try to maintain their friendships while all being at very different stages in their lives. While all of her friends are at various stages of trying to conceive or being pregnant, Olive becomes more and more convinced she doesn't want children.

This is the first book I've read where a woman is child-free by choice. I found it made for a very interesting read. Throughout the novel, Gannon is constantly highlighting problematic conditioning in society that assumes (cis) women all want to be mothers. There are a few scenes in there that I think went over the top. But overall, I think it does a good job at highlighting the difference in treatment (cis) women who are child-free by choice may encounter, especially by people they are very close to.

Initially, I couldn't stand Olive. She seemed so immature and self-centred but as she developed she grew on me. And this is why I ended up being disappointed. The conclusion of her story felt like a cop-out. I don't want to ruin anything so I'll leave it at that. If you've read this one let me know what you thought about the end of her story.

Despite my issues with the ending, I still really enjoyed this book for the type of story and perspective it told.

I really enjoyed this book and this is a plot that I had never come across before. I think this book does justice to feminism. This book covered all kinds of women: the ones having 1 baby, the ones having 6 babies, the ones having a baby with a cheating partner, the one who can’t have any and ofcourse our lead character- the one who wants to be child-free.
It was a quick and fun read and tbh there were some parts that triggered me a little bit but hey, that’s ok because women actually face some of those. I loved how friendship was made so important in this book and it also gave a message of making amendments and standing for your own self and not depending on others. Being stubborn was very normal in this book which I felt was pretty good but somewhat I felt that the main character, Olive, was given a much more importance than she deserved. Overall I really enjoyed reading and listening to the book.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Firstly i was drawn to this book bc my grandmothers name was olive lmao and though im younger than olive, this was a really great book as im childfree as well and i really liked how this book was kinda centered around that and others choices

Thanks so much to @netgalley and @andrewsmcmeel for the opportunity to read this #advancedreaderscopy. @emmagannonuk has captured what many women deal with as friendships age—some get married, some stay single, and the question of whether or not to have a child hangs over everyone. #olive deals with both sides of the children question and the strain it puts on female relationships due to jealousy and the change in importance of what brings happiness. Being single I related with Olive, although thankfully have not had as much drama with my friends who are parents now. This ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ novel is perfect for all age ranges of women: 20s to see what could happen in the next 10 years with their friend group, 30s because many might be going through similar situations, 40s to reflect on how they navigated friendships that have matured, and all ages beyond! A heartwarming novel to add to your #summerreadinglist when the book comes out in June. 📚📚📚 #bookstagram #bookreview #bookrecommendations #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreview P.S. This will be the last book I attempt to read on the @netgalley shelf app because it is not user friendly. The pages jump too often, you can’t easily get to other sections of the book, and the font is too large.

An interesting enough book... But I think I personally read it at the wrong time and that is why I did not engage much. I did not relate with the character at all although I did understand what she believed and where she was coming from.
Overall, a lackluster read for me.

I LOVED THIS BOOK.

As someone who sits firmly in the Child-Free-By-Choice camp, it was refreshing to read a book with a main character who is honest about her decision not to have children. The conflict she feels within herself and has her friendship group changes with age are experiences that I am all too familiar with and I found the writing of these occurrences so believable and heart-wrenching.

That being said, this book isn't just about motherhood and those decisions. It's about all of the life decisions we encounter, in love lives, career, friendship groups, family. The range of characters in this book are all people we have in our lives or have encountered in some way.

The story is also punctuated with quotes about having children, or not having children that I found particularly powerful. Olive was spending her time researching whether millennials were picking pets over babies and the use of these quotes felt like scrolling through a phone or watching tv and hearing these opinions being voiced, the thoughts of other looming over you in that pressured way you feel when you get to a certain age and everyone starts asking the baby question.

I will be highly recommending this book to all of my girlfriends!

Olive was one of the most unique books I've read. It's so true that we as a society talk so little about the hoice not to have children. OLIVE explores the relationships between the titular character Olive, and her friends as they navigate their early 30s. This group of friends has been together almost their whole lives, even living together during university, but now are in wildly different places.

Olive is the last of her friends to settle down and have or try to have kids. Emma Gannon does such a good job of fleshing out Olive's inner thoughts, and I felt deeply sympathetic for her and the isolation she's experiencing.

Another one of my favorite features of the book is the flashbacks to these characters in their twenties, so that we as readers can really see how they got to where they are today. Overall, Olive is a great read and I would definitely recommend.

I really loved 'Olive' by Emma Gannon. Her writing was light and easy to ready but packed a punch when it came to subject matter. Recommended for anyone but specifically felt relatable for women in their late 20s/early 30s. This centered on Olive and her decision to not have children but included heartfelt experiences via Olive's best friends of the paths we take and the things that could go wrong or right. Moral of the story - do what makes you happy and stya strong in your convictions.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Olive is a regular 30 something woman, living in London, working as a journalist. Her best friends are all starting to settle down and have children – but not Olive. She has just come out of a relationship with her partner of 9 years after revealing she does not want to have children. Throughout the novel, Olive questions her decision, which she knows for her to be the right one, and tries to find like minded people to connect with.

The novel is all from Olive’s POV but does switch between 2019 and a few years previous. We follow her story, but also the trials and tribulations of her friends. What I really enjoyed about this novel is the theme of motherhood – it is one that I find myself increasingly drawn to as I consider whether or not I would like to start a family in the future. For me, the characters were all really likeable, despite their flaws, and they all had aspects which I could relate to.

There was plenty of emotion in this book, as well as some comedic moments. It reminded me a bit of Ghosts by Dolly Alderton. I would recommend it for fans of contemporary fiction.

Olive is the examination of female friendship through the ages. Emma Gannon writes an honest and heartwarming portrayal so getting older.

Reading Olive felt like glimpsing a future me, I can definitely see my own life reflected in Olive's life, we've shared many similar memories and experiences so far. I connected with Olive, the main character, she felt very much like me, in the bad and good ways! After reading Olive, I feel a bit more prepared for the years I have ahead of me, my social media is already swamped with baby photos and 'firsts' which I love but I'm at a completely different stage in my life and it's nice to be reminded that that is ok. That my life is valid, no matter where I'm up to or what I'm doing with it.

What a great book! Having spent a large portion of my life CFBC (child free by choice), I could really relate to Olive. So much pressure everywhere to fall into the rhythm of wanting to be a mom once you reach a certain age. Olive is a very like able well developed character who does at times fall into the same trap she blames others for— not being accepting of the choices they have made. A strong book on a topi rarely covered, I recommend this one for your TBR list.

Those of us who've felt left behind by our friends in the past will find so much to love about this book. The relatable Olive faces what many 20-somethings do every day, and the writing here is solid and relatable. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Olive could be you. Olive could be me.

The story of Olive spans many years, from her perspective, and weaves back and forth from the past to the present.

Olive's girlfriends are living their lives, while Olive is feeling a bit of an outsider. Each friend has their own outlook on life when it comes to love, marriage, and children and the ups and downs that all occur.

I liked this book enough, and it was a pretty quick read; however, it left a little to be desired at the end.

So many books are written about the joys or heartbreaks that come with having children, but this is written from a really different viewpoint of a woman who has chosen not to have children. I really enjoyed reading all the very varied experiences of Olive’s friends, and how their relationships change as a result of their very different opinions and lifestyle choices. I would say that every 30-something woman with a group of girlfriends can relate to at least some of the stories in the book!

I did lose track of the timeline in places, and I felt there weren’t enough rites of passage to be able to pinpoint a particular chapter to a particular year. But I found this a really powerful book and would highly recommend!

With thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book very interesting. It is the first time I have read about someone who really didn't want to have children and why they didn't want to have children. I liked the main character Olive and her friends and I enjoyed finding out about their lives and how their friendship changed over the years. The story opened my eyes and mind to a new way of thinking that I had never explored before.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an important book that explores what it is to not want a child in a world that expects women to all become mothers at some point in their lives. The author presents us with multiple different perspectives on women and motherhood while never being judgemental. I believe this book could start very important conversations that need to be had in society about free choice and the pressure that women feel to become mothers. Women are allowed to make their own choices in life without feeling like they will be criticized. A really great, poignant fiction book by Emma Gannon.

Olive is in her early 30s, living in London, and doing well in her career as an editor at .dot magazine. Olive is still close with Cecily, Bea, and Isla, her friends since school, and is finding that their paths are diverging more as they get older. As Olive begins to realize and come to terms with the fact that she wants to live her life child-free, it begins to create conflict in her existing relationships.

I’ve very infrequently come across books featuring a child-free protagonist, or a protagonist who has made any kind of intentional choice not to have children. This seems like it fills a gap in the narrative related to that experience. Similarly, Olive explores enduring and lasting relationships in a group of four best friends. These kinds of adult friendships are sorely lacking in women’s fiction.

Overall, though I’m a woman in my 30s without children, this book wasn’t for me. I want to claim my biases here: I don’t personally identify with the child-free movement, have never felt particularly pressured to make a decision about parenting, and know that the perspectives I encounter in the US are different to those my friends in the UK encounter.

Olive read as a kind of coming-of-age novel, and I think that the novel ran into snags that any novel on this topic would. Though we saw Olive grow and change in ways, it’s so hard to frame a coming-of- age narrative around a choice that is essentially inaction.

For me, the situations the characters experienced felt contrived and a little too convenient, and it often made it feel as though Olive was written with a list of pros related to making the choice to be child-free, and cons related to parenting to tick off throughout the narrative. If I had a moment where I asked “what about this perspective?” it was often covered in the next few pages. This made it a lot harder to see Olive, or those around her, as fully dimensional characters, rather than as rhetorical devices to explore an issue/perspective. As a result, the novel felt defensive rather than exploratory at times. I wish we had seen fewer perspectives, and been able to experience Olive’s relationships with those she cares about in more depth.

I think this book will most appeal to women who identify or are exploring their choice to be child-free, especially those faced with external pressure to parent.

I both read and listened to the audiobook of Olive. In the audiobook version, Sian Clifford was a phenomenal narrator and really brought the story to life. This book does have a non-linear narrative structure that was at times harder to follow in the audiobook.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advance copy of this book and audiobook for review.