In the prelude to an impending hurricane, Ramona discovers her husband is having an affair. Between that, her weird boss, her quirky mother, her two kids, a random neighbor kid, and of course, the incoming hurricane, Ramona has all she can handle. As she struggles to evacuate her family, and the class guinea pig, Ramona learns that Prince has died. Losing him feels like a final nail in the coffin of her carefree younger days.

There was so much going on in this book! I get that the idea was to show how overwhelmed Ramona was, but the neighbor kid could have definitely been cut with no impact to the story. And this is a personal thing I know, but I don't like having potty-training a child as a story line.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available November 22, 2022.

Romana has the life of Calamity Jane and Everything is going wrong. I loved this story and couldn’t put it down.
Many thanks to Atria and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Prince and was super excited to try this book! I agree that when Prince died, we lost some sparkle in our world. This book is a frantic, hot mess express! There’s a hurricane coming and some life changing news happens to fall in Ramona’s lap at the same time, making it much harder to focus on making plans. So, everything is haywire. Throw in some random memories, and this book can be a bit hard to follow. If you are a hot mess express mom, or live in a Hurricane zone, you may just love this book. If you like organized and linear and easy to follow stories, this could be a challenge for you.

Thanks to NetGalley for early access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

Over the course of 48 hours, Ramona’s life is upended when she catches her husband cheating just as a hurricane is bearing down on Savannah. Her life is already complicated enough – she’s a working mom – but now she has to evacuate her home with her kids (and her kind of weird teenage neighbor) while trying to keep her job and figure out how her marriage went so wrong.

The prose of this book is basically Ramona’s stream of consciousness. Her thoughts are a jumble and not always appropriate, but they’re often funny. There are flashbacks to the early days of her marriage and those flashbacks reveal that Ramona wasn’t necessarily a happy wife. It’s a clever, fast-paced story.

I had a like/dislike relationship with Ramona. I rooted for her at the same time I wanted to shake her and say, “Wrong decision, dummy!” The way she handled the evacuation was…not great. But I also wasn’t sure I would make different decisions.

I also wasn’t quite sure what the title had to do with the story. The title is so amazing, so I was expecting more about Prince and more of a connection between the events of the story and Prince’s death. The whole connection felt a little weak.

That said, I think I would still recommend this book, particularly to my friends who are moms.

Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me. I can't identify with any of the characters, but especially the main character, so they are all unlikable to me. The writing is simple and dry, kind of like a story or report written by a kid for class. Sadly, I just don't care what happens to anyone in this book. I requested it based on the cover and title, thinking it would at least be funny. "Don't judge a book by its cover." Message recieved.

I found this to be a solid, middle of the road, light-hearted chick lit offering. Fans of Finlay Donovan will love Ramona and her escapades as she tries to evacuate with her kids while the rest of her world keeps spinning. (The hurricane and the characters’ indifference to taking is seriously was made slightly less fun by the reality of two rather severe hurricanes taking place in real life this week.) It’s cute, it’s funny, but it never really measures up to the brilliance of its title.

This was funny, but didn't quite reach the level that the title would make you think it's going to. A second round purchase for most libraries.

Funny and relatable! Spending two days in Ramona’s world… dealing with a petulant boss while navigating life with two small children and alllll the responsibilities… made me even more grateful that season is behind me. Ha! Hang in there, mamas! It gets easier!

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

None of This Would Have Happened If Prince Were Alive: A Novel by Carolyn Prusa is a book that I had to read. That title alone guaranteed it, no matter what the story. The story is about a tumultuous 48 hours in the main character’s life where she finds out about her husband’s infidelity, evacuates for a hurricane, deals with an inconsiderate boss, and revaluation of her entire life.

I really enjoyed this one. I read it in one sitting. I liked the main character Ramona. From the moment she was introduced, she was likable and identifiable. Dealing with an unreasonable boss, finding out her husband is cheating on her, trying to evacuate her home, and basically reevaluating her entire life. The hits literally just keep on coming for Ramona.

One thing that is pretty clear from the beginning, is that Ramona is a huge Prince fan, which I actually just love. If you don’t know who Prince is, I feel sorry for you. If you have never had the joy of watching Prince perform, you really missed out. If you never had the opportunity to just watch that man exist, I pity you. Prince was an unparalleled, unrivaled, unmatched talent the likes of who we will probably never see again. Ramona equates everything in her life to before Prince died and after Prince died.

“Prince has been gone six months, and the world already feels less sparkly, specifically my world. He is never again going to don a shoulder-padded blazer with a billowing scarf and remind us that we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.”

Ramona, at her core, is every woman. Every wife and mother that is doing a lot, sacrificing parts of her personality, her wants and dreams, and her passions just to be able to get through the day. Only to be rewarded with her husband stepping out on her because he needs sex and she is too tired at the end of the day after doing everything for everyone but herself to simply fall on her back in bed. I admired Ramona’s reaction and her handling of the situation because I would have been doing my best Angela Bassett impression from Waiting to Exhale. Honestly, Ramona’s journey is a joy to watch and by the end of None of This Would Have Happened If Prince Were Alive, you really enjoy not only Ramona but her journey.

I devoured this book - I loved the writing and descriptions. The characters felt so real and well rounded. I found even without having gone through any of the situations as the characters that all of the characters stories were so relatable. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

In this novel, a Category Four Hurricane is heading towards Savannah where Ramona, thirty-eight, leads a busy and harried life as a project manager, mom to a toilet training toddler, and she’s dealing with her own mother who is refusing to evacuate. In the evacuation hurricane panic Ramona rushes home to find her husband having an affair with a mom from their kids’ school, so she makes the choice to evacuate without him. Throughout the novel, Ramona revisits memories where Prince’s songs played during seminal moments in her life. This was a fast and funny read taking place over the course of a frenzied 48-hours. Thank you to Atria books and Netgalley for the advanced review copy.

This was a cute, fast read! Mothers will find this highly relatable. People who have decided to be child free will feel very vindicated in their choices. didn't love how it ended abruptly on a bit of a cliffhanger, and Ramona is probably the most illogical character I've read this year. We need more Christopher, though.

A chaotic story of one working mom trying to keep it together, with a strong dose of humor and reality. The writing was enjoyable, but I just didn't enjoy the story.

Bonus points for solid and appropriate Prince references!

This fun, campy debut follows Ramona over a day period of time while she is juggling the new revelation of her husband’s infidelity along with an encroaching category four hurricane. Needless to say, we are finding Ramona as her life is both literally and figuratively being blown apart. Prusa’s cheeky protagonist may appeal to harried mothers of young children who have recently been cheated on and have questionable support systems, but often comes across as too stereotypical for those not in her identical boat.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review and boy are you getting one. Wow, so this whole book was like a train wreck you didn't want to look away from. From the kids that make you not want to have them to the husband who's weaponized his own incompetence so badly that the main character stills thinks she might love him EVEN THOUGH he's cheating on her, everyone in this book is the worst. Except maybe Bailey, who's really just along for the train wreck.

At first, I was like okay cool it's a story about a mom, Ramona, who doesn't have her shit together kind of like those Bad Mom movies that came out a few years ago and that she'd take the reigns of her own life into her hands, but here I am writing a review at 75% and she's not done anything to have any character growth. Her kids are the MOST obnoxious and just reiterate that I won't be having kids at any point in my life, because if I did and they were like hers I'd probably end up in jail.. She doesn't do anything about her husband cheating, and cares so much about her own mother she risks the safety of not only herself, but her two children and a child that she's been helping out because I'm pretty sure his parents abandoned him, to save her own mother during a hurricane. Did the author not even consider who little growth the mc has? because like they should have.

In addition to most of the characters not being likable, you also have to contend with Ramona's mother casually using homophobic language at the beginning of the book. Like it was unnecessary, especially when the gay couple was originally going to doing more to help her own child than she was. Also, there were some one liners that were kind of weird like, "Word out on the street is that teenage boys eat half their weight in food every day and I can't imagine what my Kroger bill will be once my son's balls drop." I just feel like there's a better way the author sound have wrote this. It's weird and gross honestly.

Cute and silky tale of a Gen X momma. Laughed and comiserated with Ramona and her family. Also. Spent summers in Savannah growing up so a little fond memories of Catham County. .
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book hit home for so many reasons. I loved going on Ramona’s Adventures. So much can happen in 48 hours, what a roller coaster. This was a page turner for me.

An enjoyable read. I connected with the protagonist, Ramona, as a working mother and how we often carry the mental load for our families. The story bounces between past and less t day. Given that you glimpse Ramona’s life to understand how she ticks. That said, I’d have loved to spend more than 48 hours with present day Ramona. Special mention goes to Bailey, the most likable character in the book.

an honor to read this arc.

the life and times of a working mother of two while an active hurricane bears down on her house of cards life. who hasnt felt only one disaster away from ruin? spooky and plausible, rings true for anyone who has lived through hurricane uncertainty or really a natural disaster of any kind (except less traffic!) with all the uncertainty.

compelling and raw at times but so honest and exactly what i needed after feeling underwater in life, i'd argue the schism occurred when the cubs won the world series but i guess 2016 left scars on all of us.

first time i took a screenshot and wanted to blast it to every woman i know but this is an arc so i'll put a reminder in my phone and wait for publication.

Hurricane Matthew, the brutal Category Four hurricane, is making its way straight to Savannah, Georgia, right to Ramona. Matthew has sent Ramona into a tailspin: she can’t keep up at her young hip job, her toddler is avoiding her potty training, her son’s class pet is their homes newest addition, her mother refuses to evacuate Savannah, and - worst of all - her husband is cheating on her. Ramona’s world is spinning faster than Matthew’s winds as she navigates the 48 hours of absolute chaos the hurricane brings.

This book had me cackling left and right. Ramona and her motley crew are hysterical with their one-liners and goofy antics. They are a hot mess but so entertaining. While funny at its core, the theme of marriage growing pains is so tangible and real. I wasn’t sure how Prince would fit in, but he was a focal character for Ramona, spearheading major moments throughout her life.