I was honored to receive a free copy of the audiobook by Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The narrator had a lovely British accent that was easy to understand and easy on my ears. The book was about Susan, a wife, mother, daughter and a doormat for friends and family. She did not like to disappoint people and wanted them to like her. This book tells her journey, in her own words, from adulthood into her 50’s/60’s. You could tell that she was one of those people that never shut up, in fact the step-daughter at age 4 even tells her to stop talking. I found the book to be quietly humorous and applauded Susan when she really did “astonish the world.”

The story begins in 1990 and ends in 2020 and follows the 30 year friendship of Susan and Norma.

Although the writing was good, this one wasn't really for me. I chose to stick with it because Joanna Scanlan did a great job narrating and I follow through on my commitments.

I think this will appeal more for those that enjoy reading stories about years long, unlikely friendships. There is covid talk, as well, and I don't care for that since we're still living it.

Having not read anything from this author prior to this book, I went in not knowing the writing style or being familiar with themes that may be touched upon.

The description of the book barely glances off what the emotions portray within the story though. I went through every emotion possible, sometimes along with the characters and sometimes opposing.

This story has characters with extremely different outlooks on life and relationships. Each of these characters had their own flaws and their own dreams that they were striving to accomplish. I sometimes found it difficult to emphasize with all of the characters and how they were reacting to different obstacles that came their way or creating obstacles that could’ve been avoided.

If anything, this story made me reflect internally to see how others may find me to be rather than how I may find myself to show outwards. It can be extremely difficult to take criticism and feedback on how you personally approach a subject or person.

Without giving anything away, I think the thing that resonated with me the most was the title of the book and it’s origin. It can mean so much in so many different ways; it’s just how you look at it and push to make it happen.

Thank you so much to the author, Nina Stibbe, Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the arc audiobook!

2.5 stars.
One Day I Shall Astonish the World is a pretty enjoyable book but wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. The book is well written with a few confusing moments, but overall it was a miss for me.

This book follows more of a rambling stream of consciousness style throughout the life of the main character Susan as she experiences emotional situations. There seems to be an emotional detachment as the Susan relates the events that she has experienced. The lack of emotion left me feeling a little bored and felt like a chore to keep pushing through. If I hadn’t received this audiobook as an ARC, I probably would’ve DNF’ed it.

This style of writing following character development versus plot made the book feel a bit unresolved and had me wondering where the book was going. I sadly didn’t connect to any of the characters and the humor throughout the book did not fit my vibe.
If you like character development books, then this book might be more of your style! :)

Stibbe artfully tells Susan's story from young adulthood starting in the 90's all the way to 2020 and beyond with the onset of covid to present. This is the type of book that I would turn to in between intense books just to have something calm to read, but I would likely read it for a bit, set it down, read something else and then come back to it. This book's focus was more on personal development and the lifetime relationships instead of a plotline. Please note...there was no defined plotline. If you're looking for a calm gentle read, add this to your TBR list.

**Additionally** the narrator was fantastic. She was a joy to listen to, her pacing was perfect. She was easy to understand, and as an American, I had a good laugh when she demonstrated her American accent. 5 stars to the narrator!

First of all, LOVE the title of this book. After listening to it I am somewhat mystified about the cover, but it does look nice.

Secondly, while I enjoyed this book, I feel like the moral I took from the story clashes with the intent of the author, judging by the end.

Anyway, this book is about Susan and her longlasting friendship with Norma while both of them go through adulthood with its trials and tribulations, which, for the two of them, are quite different and cause some ups-and-downs in their relationship as they choose very different paths in life.

Susan, while quite academic, chooses marriage and a child above finishing her degree and is genuinely quite happy in her daily life and work it seems, even if she loves academia still and would have loved to have finished her degree, she does seem quite content remaining on the fringes of proper academia.

Norma chooses academia and a literary career, while she does marry a couple of times she eschews children and, technically, conventional relationships.

*Warning warning, mild spoilers ahead.*

Now, Susan is the main character and therefore we see things from her perspective, which is something to keep in mind as I explain the moral I got from this story, which is that: sometimes in our 20's we will be thrown together with people on the basis of a common denominator - like a job - which causes us to spend a lot of time together and form a bond with people we don't actually have a lot in common with. And that's ok. Some friendships aren't built to last, in fact, some friendships prove that it is actually a good thing to 'break up' with friends. Breaking up with a friend means that you can focus your energy and attention on people who actually want to be in your life and who actually like you for who you are, which is what you really want. Basically, rather than try to change someone into the friend you want them to be, let them go and find your true people instead.

I say this with the impression as a reader that Norma was never really Susan's friend and I full-heartedly felt like we were supposed to despise Norma. Which, towards the end of the book, did not seem to be the case. But the little thrown in occasions of "Norma does care... kind of" were too minor for me to really carry any weight. I genuinely felt like Norma was a bad person, a really bad person who deserved (but seemed to escape) the kind of misery she spread to the people around her. In essence, I hated Norma. A lot.

Susan was no saint, but her being times of disrespectful (like bringing her child to a wedding that was explicitly NOT for children) were small in comparison to the absolute s**t-fest that was Norma's personality and treatment of her 'friend'. I couldn't stop listening because I wanted Susan to grow a spine and for Norma to drop off the face of the earth or something. Needless to say, the ending was somewhat unsatisfying for me.

That said, both Susan and Norma annoyed me in the sense of being very real people, as in, you've met people like this. They didn't seem like characters on a page, they seemed like real women that Stibbe followed around for twenty years and portrayed realistically, foibles and all. And I loved that. People *are* annoying, and we all have our flaws and grating behaviors and being able to portray that is really a talent.

The book also has a timeline that reaches the start of the pandemic, which was interesting. After being in contact with someone exposed to the virus, Susan calls work and asks whether or not she ought to come in. Her co-worker responds with a "it's up to you, but it's not like we can all stay at home, haha"...

... which made me laugh/cry in lockdown memories, as well as the vague memories of the general confusion of the start of the pandemic. Ah, we were but children then... so naive.

All in all, I enjoyed listening to this BUT I wasn't a big fan of the ending. I didn't feel like the build up warranted that conclusion. I would still recommend it though, especially to women who have had long-lasting and complicated friendships, though one may not be able to recognize oneself in the particulars, there is a generality to the friendship aspect that I think a lot of women will be able to relate to.

The narrator was really good too, I liked that she gave Susan and Norma such distinctive voices.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @HachetteAudio for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

This was a good solid book. I was not always sure what was happening. A portion of the virus was thrown in there and I felt like it just came out of nowhere. But for the most post it was a good book

One Day I Shall Astonish the World is an interesting exploration of the expectations, aspirations, and disappointments in everyday life. Disappointingly, I didn't find the promised humor in this story of family, career, and relationships. I choose the word "relationships" over "friendships" because I failed to see evidence of real comradery between main duo Susan and Norma. The moments they share on page are mostly one person (usually Norma) being awful to the other.
My other struggle with the story is that narrator Susan seems to be telling a story that happened to someone else. Despite a variety of ups and downs both mundane and massive, I could find very little emotion communicated by any of the characters.
While the content didn't quite hit the spot for me, I suspect the complaints I have were conscious decisions on the part of the author and will be exactly right for many readers. The writing style and narration together create a very pleasant listening experience, making the audiobook a good choice for this title.

There was a lot of heart to this story and very impressive character work, but ultimately there was something that didn't quite do it for me (perhaps it's that the pacing felt a bit fast for me, but I can't say for sure it was just that). However, I can see this book appealing to a wide array of readers - anyone who's a fan of family sagas (albeit on a smaller, more concise scale) and suburban dramas should definitely give this a go if they are curious.
Must add that the audio format made it so easy to fly through this and the narrator really helped the story come to life.

This book is about friendship, marriage and the mundane part of life. I really enjoyed the narrator but unfortunately I am doff after 40 % because it is not keeping my attention. Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to review for a honest review

One Day I Shall Astonish the World begins in the 90s with the story of Susan and her best friend, Norma. It then skips forward to 2020 and we start to learn about Susan’s life now with her husband, Roy, and their daughter, Honey. The story then jumps between past and present day, exploring all the relationships within Susan’s life.

This is definitely a character driven novel, with focus on friendships, relationships and the dynamics within them, so don’t expect to get much of a plot line. Some people really enjoy this kind of novel, however for me I found it really hard to get into and follow properly. I sadly didn’t really connect to any of the characters and the humour that runs throughout wasn’t my kind of vibe.

However, the narration was very good and definitely helped with getting me through the book.

It reminded me a bit of Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth, so if you enjoyed that or something similar then this one might be for you!

Thank you for the gifted copy of this audiobook!