Thank you NetGalley for this ALC. A stunning novel about a woman struggling with societal pressures to be a mom when she just doesn’t want to. Through the book, we follow a group of friends that each has a very different experience with being a mother. I loved how the author looped in the main character’s career as part of the story - she did research and wrote articles about the topic of not wanting children. There were some very sweet quotes and some laugh out loud one-liners too. Being a woman is hard, and quite often we are faced with societal pressure to do something because “that’s what everyone else does”. It was refreshing to hear a perspective that was different, and empowering. It takes some educating, but the friends come around.

Firstly, I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for letting me listen to the audiobook.
Olive is in her early thirties, has a job that she loves and three best friends. Her life seems to be great, almost perfect, until she realises that everything around her is making her feel like she is “different”. She, unlike her friends, doesn’t want a big house filled with toddlers. She likes her city life, in the chaotic London, going out at night and getting home drunk.
Olive portrays a type of girl that is very often brought into question.
I really appreciate the story, it has been a surprising read, though sometimes a bit sad.
I am 22 years old so I do not feel this pressure right now, but I hope to create my own family one day. It is always very interesting to find out other point of views, as we all have different opinions about this topic. Probably in the future I’ll find myself wondering if I shall have kids or not… who knows!

Also, when I saw that the narrator was Sian Clifford (Claire in “Fleabag”), I couldn’t lose the opportunity to listen to it. She is perfect! How she makes you feel all her emotions, make you understand her thoughts. I am wondering if she identifies in Olive, in some ways.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for honest review.
I was really excited to read this book after reading the blurb. When I actually started going through the story, it felt like reading someone's personl diary. Olive a thirty something woman who's child free by choice kept on rambling throughout the book.
The good thing was that the narrator's voice was soothing.
The book just didn’t tickle my fancy.

Whilst I don’t think I was the target audience for this book, I did enjoy the listen and story told. The narrator is very authentic, and I felt like I was listening to a friend gossip at some points. The topics covered throughout aren’t seen very commonly, and I felt Gannon covered them very well. There are a few trigger warnings, and there was one minor storyline that I have personally experienced and don’t think it was discussed fairly, but it didn’t tarnish my opinion of the book.
I look forward to see what Emma Gannon releases next.

What a lovely book. I really enjoyed listening to Olive's story. As a young woman, it is incredibly relatable- especially in terms of relationships and growing up. I recommend for those who love realistic stories!

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Brief synopsis: Olive and her three best mates have always been there for each other, but these days Olive feels like an odd one out. As Bee, Cess, and Isla have all been focused on starting families, Olive is wrestling with whether she even wants to have children. Throughout the book we follow Olive as she tries to sort out who she is, and what she wants. There were so many things I loved about this book, but a few really stand out:

The Friendships: I love reading about a tight-knit group of friends, and these four did not disappoint. The women in the book all take different approaches to life, relationships, and motherhood, and each is going through a critical period in their lives. The stress of the decisions that weigh heavily on them, and the changes that seems to be happening constantly, put stress on their friendship and they have fights. But, and this is the crazy thing, those fights ARE NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. At the end of the day, their relationship is more important, bigger than one bad moment, and I loved that. It was so refreshing to read a realistic portrayal of female friendships where real women have real problems and deal with them in real ways.

Child-free rep: I think Olive’s inner struggles are very real, and a lot of women can relate. On the other hand, a lot of women who are child free might feel differently. What I appreciate about this book is it never claims to represent the views/desires of all child free women. It’s just Olive’s story, and what she goes through.

People with jobs! I’m a sucker for a character who is exceptional at their job, and Olive does not disappoint. She not only has talent at her job as a journalist, she shows good judgement. Every time I thought she was going to make a Bridget Jones-esque work faux pas or violate her professional ethics...she instead just went about her job like a grown up and eventually gets promoted for her skill and competency. You love to see it! There were some references to “showing up late and no one noticing” but we don’t actually see that behavior. Typically she’s working late at home doing research for stories, staying late, and hating the weekends because she prefers a productive workday.

Overall, this was a wonderful quick read, light but thoughtful, and I highly recommend it. The audio book is also a gem.

Olive is many things, but a mother is not one of them. When her friends all come down with baby fever, Olive feels pressured to live up to the expectation that women are put on this earth to mother. Olive wants to advance her career, to drink herself into a stupor when she feels like it, travel, and spend her money however she sees fit. Olive does not want to be a mother; truly has no urge to bring another human into the world. But how will this impact her relationships? And what if she changes her mind (also, why does everyone assume she will)? A sentimental story about navigating the transition into adulthood and all of the stereotypes and expectations that come with it.

I had no idea how much I needed this. I have been reading a lot of very heavy books lately and I chose this for something a bit more lighthearted. It ended up being so much more than that. As a woman who has never wanted children (and is consistently told that I will change my mind), I could relate to this so much. In all honesty, I didn't even like to be around other kids when I was one so I certainly never had the desire to welcome a child into my life. I am judged for this constantly. I am told at work that my "needs are different because I don't have a family" and "now just imagine if you had to go home and care for a family after work." I am not an orphan, I have family. It just doesn't look the way YOU think it should.

"Do we not care about women with no maternal feelings in society? Must we change them, or disregard them?" I can tell you from my experience, the answer to all of these is yes. If you do not have or want children, you are treated as less-than. 'My body, my choice', as it seems, only matters in regards to basic birth control conversations and not long-term life choices. Child-free by choice (CFBC) is considered to be selfish, and maybe it is, but it is still a choice that any individual has the right to make.

To have a character who had the same experience was incredible. Honestly, it was just want I needed right now. But what I enjoyed most was the variety of perspectives. Bea & Cecily's adventures into motherhood, and most importantly, Isla's struggle with infertility. I feel like up until recently, this was something that was so rarely talked about and I think it is an important discussion to bright to the forefront. The struggles between Olive & Isla were heart wrenching. They both felt so strongly about wanting/not wanting children and still wanting the best for their friend who felt the exact opposite. I know exactly how Olive felt when she was trying to explain to Isla that just because she doesn't want children doesn't mean that she doesn't want Isla to have them.

Bottom line: What I think everyone should take away from this book is that we are all different. We have different ideas of what our lives should look like. We have different experiences, perspectives, hopes and dreams. None of them are wrong, they are just different, and that's ok.

The only negative, from my perspective, was that I sometimes found it difficult to follow. I wish it would have flowed chronologically, instead of jumping around haphazardly. I may feel differently when I purchase and read a physical copy (yes, I liked it THAT much), but from an audiobook perspective...it was a bit challenging.

The book begins with Olive graduating, along with her 3 Best Friends, Bea, Cecile, and Isla. It is interesting how their relationships change as they grow up and make different choices in life. The book is told entirely through Olive’s perspective. One of the biggest issues is Olive is certain she does not want to have children. Life can be pretty tough on a woman who makes this choice.

Olive is a loyal, caring, slightly adrift women, but is easy to relate to. I did like this book, but did not love it. My favorite parts were hearing about Olive and how she knows her own mind, but keeps feeling pressured to be open to having children. I think her friends would say that Olive is not always open to their choices and struggles as well.

I did find the audio dragged a bit, as the narration was mostly Olive’s story. We don’t get to hear from the other women. I think I would have liked to have heard more of their perspective considering the length of the book. The last 1/3 of the book picked up a lot more for me and enjoyed that the most.

Overall, it is a well written and I had a copy of the book, too. I like this combination between reading and listening. That worked very well.

At heart, Olive is a kind, loyal and caring friend who values her friendships. She just struggles sometimes to know how to stay connected, but that is understandable.

The narrator was quite good, which is very important. It added to my listening experience.

Thank You NetGalley, Emma Gannon, and Andrews McMell Publishing for giving an ARC of both the book and the Audio.

Would definitely read this author again! A great read! I was very surprised with this book as I thought it would be the usual light romantic holiday read. Not a heavy read, but very enjoyable.
Funny with a touch of realism that we can all relate to.
I found it thought provoking and it rang so true regarding thirty something relationships with friends at different places in their lives. These felt like real people with real lives and stories.

I found the narrator easy to listen to, thank god, as I’ve had some good books ruined by awful ones.

Easy listening and exploring topics which are common but rarely discussed! I listened to the audio book alongside the ebook for a different perspective and to hear the characters' voices as they can be quite similar.

EXCERPT: When I was twelve in 1999, I remember being obsessed with snipping cut-outs from my Mum's old Argos catalogues and sticking them into the blank pages of my notepads. Notepads were the only present people bought me or put in my stocking, because I was always doodling as a tiny kid. I would have stacks of them: beaded ones, velvet ones, bright pink ones, furry ones, holographic ones and secret ones with a lock and key. But I had stopped writing and started making collages instead. I would neatly cut around pictures of products I found interesting from the flimsy thin pages of Argos and Pritt-stick them inside the blank pages. Navy blue patterned plates. A big wooden rolling pin. Hand painted tea cups. A garden slide. A stylish armchair. A woollen throw for a sofa. A picture frame designed for four landscape shaped photos. I would trim carefully around each one with big kitchen scissors, in circular motions, around the plates, bowls, crockery. I would stick them into the blank pages, designing my life in detail from an early age. I believed I would have these perfect things in my home when I was older. I would have a garden. I would live in a big house, bigger than my mum's. I would have a husband. I would have a baby too, probably. Or two. Or three! Because that's what you do. My friends would come round with their babies. They would all play together. We would go to the beach and tell them not to eat the sand, while we drank tea in flasks and reminisced about the good old days. That's what grown ups did. When I am an adult, I would think, everything will be good. I will finally be free. Adulthood = Freedom.

I painted a picture of my Big Bright Future through the lens of an old Argos catalogue, and today I am inside that distant future; in the painting, living and breathing it. But I don't have the hand painted tea cups, or the navy blue patterned plates. I don't have a garden slide. And I don't have the baby either.

ABOUT 'OLIVE': Independent.
Adrift.
Anxious.
Loyal.
Kind.
Knows her own mind.

OLIVE is many things, and it’s ok that she’s still figuring it all out, navigating her world without a compass. But life comes with expectations, there are choices to be made, boxes to tick and – sometimes – stereotypes to fulfil. And when her best friends’ lives start to branch away towards marriage and motherhood, leaving the path they’ve always followed together, Olive starts to question her choices – because life according to Olive looks a little bit different.

MY THOUGHTS: Oh where do I start? This is chic-lit, but not chic-lit. It is funny, and serious at the same time. Olive explores many things, but mainly the dilemma of the woman who chooses not to have a child. (No, I am not talking about abortion.) While Olive's friends are all madly nesting, and procreating, or trying to procreate through IVF, Olive makes the decision to remain 'child-free'.

Emma Gannon has written a humorous, searching, thoughtful and honest book about Olive's decision and how it impacts her life, her relationship, her friendships, particularly those with her three best friends: Bea, who has it all - the husband, the house, and 2.4 children (3 actually); Cec, who is pregnant with her first child; and Isla who is struggling with infertility and the impact it's having on her marriage.

Olive demonstrates how easily we can feel threatened by other people's life choices, how we become so defensive of our own, and how our life choices can affect our friendships.

I didn't always like Olive, or her friends, but sometimes I loved them, a reflection on how friendships wax and wane. All of these friends are, at various times, self-obsessed, dismissive, judgemental, supportive, and loyal. They were definitely fun.

Sian Clifford made an excellent narrator of the audiobook.

Olive is both entertaining and thought provoking, a lighthearted look at some serious subjects.

⭐⭐⭐.6

#Olive #NetGalley
T: @AndrewsMcMeel @emmagannon
I: @andrewsmcmeel @emmagannon

#audiobook #chic-lit #contemporaryfiction #sliceoflife

THE AUTHOR: Emma Gannon is a Sunday Times bestselling author, speaker, novelist and host of the no. 1 careers podcast in the UK, Ctrl Alt Delete.

Emma started her career in digital marketing at agencies and then at Condé Nast as social media editor. She has been a columnist for The Times, Telegraph and Courier magazine on the topics of business, creativity and the future of work.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing via Netgalley for providing an audio ARC of Olive by Emma Gannon for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

This my first read written Emma Gannon. Olive is an interesting story of a tight group girlfriends who do their best to remain friends as their lives move on with spouses and children.

On the other hand, Olive doesn’t have the overwhelming desire to have children, yet she perseverates over it. Over time, Olive finds it difficult to continue to connect with her friends who are juggling their lives while busy raising their children.

Overall, I found Olive to be a rewarding story and just different enough to make it an interesting and engrossing read.

Firstly thank you so much for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book! Wow! Absolutely amazing listen!
What a beautiful surprise this book was to me!
The story is centered around Olive (Olivia to her mother haha) who has to end a long term wonderful ideal relationship as they had different views on having children.
This is a heartbreaking decision for them both and both struggle with their loss. Olive has a very close friend network and the strong views of Olive to not want children begins to impact within her friend circle . The variety of cards that the friends hold are so different and the story delves into each friends story too, from those who have children (& effortlessly) to those who really struggle to have despite that desperate want.
I found this so relatable to my own friendship group with 2 of my besties also being CFBC (child free by choice) and my own personal journey struggling to conceive.
I loved the story so much and despite touching my heart, I also loved the charm and humor the author Emma has brought to delicate subjects. especially between close friends.

I must say also as far as narrators go I believe this to be the most amazing example of narrations i have heard! I am unaware of who this was or was it Emma herself?
Huge congratulations to Emma either way. The characters and accents were outstanding and i couldnt stop listening!
( There are a few errors with the audio version that will need reviewing pre official release as several times the narration/ sentence was repeated. I didnt mind though!

I think if this is the debut novel for Emma, I cant wait for more of her listens!
Thoroughly recommend !

This is a story about friendship, life, growing up and choosing the best life choices for you.
Olive tells a story in different time lines and seeing how her and all her friends have gone through for there life. But what do you do when you get to a age where everyone is getting married and having babies having that perfect life. Do you also get that life or do you want something else.

This story hit me hard I know a lot of woman who choose the no children life style and I know people feel its not a normal choice or you'll change your mind or something. Why is having kids the only choice? That's the question you think about in this story.

Olive faces what to do with her life and also sees how the older you get those friends from college aren't always going to be the same. They all have different focus already having a family about to have a baby and struggling with getting pregnant. The one thing I didn't enjoy about this was how they wouldn't tell each other the big things and when they did it was like a oh whatever or why didn't you tell me. I wish Olive would of been upfront about some things with her friends. But on the other hand something I loved was no matter where they were if they were fighting. If one of the Friends needed something the girls were there.

I felt connected because I might never have kids not because I don't want them but because I don't know if I can. But what I love the most was the honest story and how your choice no matter what it is. its the Right choice for you. No one else can tell you what works for you.

Don't let someone tell you what you can and can't do. Its your life. You know what's right for you.

I got a free ARC Audiobook from NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you

Thank you for NetGalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for allowing me to review this audiobook for an honest opinion.

Olive... aren't you an interesting character? The best way to describe this book is an in-depth character study of young, curious Olive. Likable, relatable Olive is an Editor for a successful magazine, has a fabulous group of friends. She recently has broken up with her longtime partner due to the quarter-life crisis of not wanting children. We learn about the ups and downs of Olive advocating for her child-free existence.

Interestingly, Olive is very different from what I want in my life. I am entering the lifestyle of having multiple, snotty-nosed CHILDREN!. I didn't think I was going to find Olive relatable but her honest reflections of being a 20-30 odd-lady wanting a life outside of the norm to be interesting. All women should read this book to see the perspectives of women with fertility issues, with children, or those who have made the decision not to.

I wish <i> Olive </i> was a shorter, condensed listen. However, it was entertaining, with an enjoyable narrator. I believe that I will be thinking of <i> Olive </i> for a while and already have a friend to recommend it to.

Emma Gannon's Olive is about a London journalist in her 30s, she has a tightknit group of girlfriends and well on her way to becoming editor-in-chief of a popular millennial magazine.

Her boyfriend of 9 years breaks up with her because he is ready to start a family and she isn't. She has been waiting to be 'ready' for a decade and somehow the maternal feelings never arrive. Her best friends start moving on with their lives revolving around making babies, growing babies and keeping babies alive. Olive feels ever more alienated, and wonder if there is something inherently wrong with her.

It's a lovely little read and the subject matter resonates with me quite a bit in this phase of my life. The description of a gentrified North + East London is also all too familiar for me.

The audiobook is narrated by Sian Clifford (Fleabag's sister) and she absolutely nails it. I only wished that the author highlighted more the structural barriers for working mums, the completely inappropriate way we treat women, and how society endlessly questions women's decisions about their own bodies. I feel like in many occasions in the book, the topic could have been broached but we've just moved on to the next drama.

The characters are completely self-absorbed in their first world, Londoner, high-income, existentialist problems. With that being said, they do come across very real.

Thank you @netgalley and @andrewsmcmeel for this audiobook ARC.

#olive #emmagannon #andrewsmcmeel #audiobooks #ukliterature #londonbooks #bookstagramuk #bookstagram #ukbookstagrammer #bookrecommendations #bookreviews #bookish #books #bibliophile #childfree #fleabag #bookcover

I really wanted to love this book because I loved Sabotage by the same author and well, I did like it, I think, I couldn't stop listening to it, although I thought it flagged a little towards the end (or maybe my interest in Olive's plight was flagging). The novel sort of feels a little like Fielding's Diary of Bridget Jones but with a Millennial generation angle (Gannon constantly drives the Millennial angle and this personally jarred with me because well, if we're to properly label it, the novel is coming from a white, Middle-Class, British, heterosexual, Millennial angle, if anything...) and a completely different format (no diary but first person narrator - I did wonder if this would have been a better novel if it was written in third person, giving Olive's friend's - or the friendship theme - more depth). The main storyline is rooted in the present, the novel jumps back and forth in time to episodes relating to Olive's present-day storyline (mainly highlighting Olive's sense of being different to her closest friends; which made me wonder a lot about Olive's naivety and, on occasion, superficiality). The novel makes important questions about motherhood and choice but I ultimately found the novel lacking and her characters too judgemental (except for Be) to make them ultimately rather unlikeable (a result Gannon may have possibly purposely looking for? Which would be interesting). In truth, I am unsure what Olive's journey was about (her argument about wanting to be childfree seemed to be entirely with herself) - in short expect no epiphanies or in-depth writing about life (and try not to get too annoyed by Olive's immaturity) and you should be good. I did listen to this until the end and looked forward to the perplexing 'conversation' that this novel made me have with it, if nothing else!
Sian Clifford's narration was EXCELLENT!

Olive by Emma Gannon tells the story of a woman Olive and her three best friends in the years after college with anecdotes from college sprinkled in. Throughout the course of the book we see this group of friends diverge as life goes. I enjoyed seeing Olive find her self, though she definitely struggled and some of her behavior was cringey I felt she was a very relatable character and was cheering for her to find happiness and joy.

DNF @ 56%

The narrator was great but this book is so boring.

Olive is a 30-something woman who does not want children. For all intents and purposes this should be a book that I love, because let’s face it, women choosing to not become mothers should be a non issue. While the conversation surrounding Olive is interesting, Olive herself is incredibly boring. She has no personality, other than not wanting children. Concept for the book was great, execution poor.

Ok, I almost didn't finish listening to the audiobook. I think of Olive as a spoiled woman immature for adult life and too dependent on others' approval. The audiobook goes on and on about how the entire world goes having babies when Olivia, I mean, Olive, because she HATES being called Olivia, God knows why, can't stand thinking about being a mom. Is the entire world judging her or is she the only one judging herself?

I am the same age, and I don't know if I ever want to be a mom, but this isn't a big problem for me, and maybe that's why I think this book dramatizes the problem.

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.