Grace is having a day from H-E-Double Hockey Sticks. All she wants to do is pick up the Love Island cake she has ordered for her daughter Lotte's 16th birthday and deliver said cake before the party begins. But there is traffic and people are making assumptions and the past is playing in Grace's head in endless loops. Fran Littlewood sets up this debut with the current day as one timeline. The other two date from 2002--the beginning of her relationship with her husband (Lotte's father Ben) and a pivotal series of events beginning four months ago. Don't worry, the chapters are clearly marked. I found that pairing the audio with a digital copy helped me keep my ducks in a row. My star rating is a smidge higher than the average so far.
Here are four reasons why I gave it four stars:
🌟Grace's day reminds me of a recurring dream I have where a goal is before me, but as I work toward it the things I have done unravel. I could relate to how her day stretched on and on with the prize seeming to be further and further away.
🌟The book reminded me of the 1993 Michael Douglas movie "Falling Down." Sure enough, the author mentioned that movie specifically in her acknowledgments. High five!
🌟Themes like motherhood, loss, menopause, infidelity, grooming are all contributing to the family crisis. Fran Littlewood actually gives us a happy ending in the midst of all that angst.
🌟I have actually watched a couple of episodes of "Love Island" with my kids. I had high hopes for this epic cake that Grace had ordered from the bakery.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved "A Man Called Ove," so was hoping for something like that based on the description.

However, this is just a scrambled mess. The storyline jumps back and forth between when Grace and her husband Ben first met to the present day, and then to various times in between. (Often presented as "four months earlier," "two months earlier," or some such, so you have to try to figure out when that was in relation to whenever you just were.)

There wasn't a single character in the story that I connected with. Grace is completely unbalanced (possibly for good reason), but clearly unable to control her outlandish behavior, which often is overblown to the situation. Ben isn't very supportive or helpful to his wife (or even faithful). And their daughter, Lottie, is a teenager who's lashing out at the world, certain that she is the only one with any brains of the bunch (even though she's making dangerous, childish decisions, pretending to be an adult).

The only thing amazing about Grace Adams is how completely she fell apart, which I don't deem to be entertaining. The poor woman needed professional help long before the present day of the story!

Thank you to Fran Littlewood, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

At the end of this book you don't have sympathy for any of the characters and the journey left you wanting a better resolution.

As someone who is turning 30, happily married, with no kids I may not be the target audience for this one. I thought this was going to be similar in feel to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, which is a book I absolutely adored, but this was not like that at all. This was a bitter tale of a woman absolutely losing her ever-loving shit and until the very end hardly accepting any responsibility for what happened before it. I'm all for losing your shit sometimes, but also not when it harms other people in the process like this.

I will also mention that the timeline of this book was very hard to follow. We have three separate timelines going on, but somehow the setting of this is all happening in one single day. Grace has constant flashbacks to when she met her husband, when her daughter was young, and then comes back to present day. I had a difficult time keeping track of what was going on and cannot recommend this as an audiobook. If you're going to try this one out, get the book!

"...the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back." Ummmm, I didn't think so. I found it confusing, sad, no focus, blah characters. I feel like Grace was not going through a funny middle-life crisis as a single mom dealing with a teenager, but instead she was losing her mind and living in chaos and drama. And it was uncomfortable. The back and forth in timelines was too much too. I don't know if it was really necessary. I did enjoy Grace and Ben's meeting and start of their love story, but otherwise it was just whatever. Even Grace and Lottie's relationship wasn't that interesting. There were moments that were relatable and even funny, but there was so much drama behind it that it became sad and I think took away from the story. Just not for me because I couldn't tell what the actual story was supposed to be.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the arc.

I was interested in the premise of this book and am always intrigued by a book that's comped to Eleanor Oliphant or A Man Called Ove. I'm also very invested in books focused on 40something woman and was curious about the story of Grace, who we know was wickedly successful in her career and living a happy life and then in the present day is separated from her husband and on the outs with her 16 year old daughter, Lotte.

The book opens on Lotte's birthday and Grace is adamant about going to her party. Caught up in traffic, Grace abandons her car and embarks on a cross-city walk to the party with all sorts of hijinks and confrontations in between. We get two past timelines as well - from four months earlier and then 20 years earlier. Both timelines build toward the present so there was a quite a bit going on.

Overall this book did not totally work for me. While there were moments I gravitated towards and was intrigued enough to know where the story went, I had a hard time connecting with Grace and with being invested in the story. I don't have to "like" a character to root for them, but found Grace hard to follow and hard to empathize with.

While I enjoy the idea of Grace fighting back against the system and society, and did find some warm moments to this book, this just wasn't the right book for me.

At times I also struggled to follow the timelines, as each timeline had flashbacks within them, and both of the past timelines moved toward present day. I don't know if I would have had an easier time had I physically read the book, but would consider myself a seasoned audiobook reader. That said, the audiobook narration itself was well done so I think it was more a function of the story style.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley and Henry Holt and Company. I appreciate the opportunity to listen to the advanced audiobook ARC.

Oh, Grace.

I really felt for this main character who's going through a lot. In the immediate, she's walking across London to deliver a birthday cake for her 16-year-old daughter Lotte, who didn't invite her to the party. As she walks, she flashbacks to the highs and lows of the past two decades.

I wanted to know more about Grace's relationship to Ben (Lotte's father) than I ever learned, but I think that's a matter of the heart of the book being the mother-daughter relationship, not Grace. In that sense, I'm not sure the title is an apt one - while it (and the cover, without the circle over the middle finger) drew me in, I felt like this was less about Grace and more about Grace as a mom. Which is a challenge, when Grace was also an employee, a wife, a person unto herself.

I'd recommend this one for those who enjoy character over plot, and anyone looking for more stories about perimenopausal women. I'd encourage you to skip the Kirkus and Publishers Weekly reviews if you plan on reading, as both provide more information about the book than I'd have wanted.

I liked the narration by Claire Skinner. I alternated between the audio and text based on what I was doing, and didn't particularly prefer one mode over the other.

Grace Adams is stuck in traffic on her way to get a cake for her daughter Lottie’s sixteenth birthday party, when she hits rock bottom. Grace will do anything to get the cake to her daughter in time because in her mind that will solve everything that has gone wrong in her life lately. So, she abandons her car in traffic and sets off to get the cake.

Fran Littlewood does an excellent job developing the character of Grace. We get more clues about how Grace has gotten to this point with flashbacks in the story. Over time, we learn about Grace’s estranged husband Ben, Grace’s childhood, and Lottie. As we learn more about what has happened in the last year to Grace, we understand why she has hit rock bottom. I listened to the audiobook of this one and Claire Skinner did a great job. I never felt lost even when the points of view changed, or we jumped from past to present. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys realistic fiction! I give it 4/5 stars.

I listened to an advanced copy of this audiobook as part of my local book club and as a free title for review on the NetGalley app. The title and cover of the book intrigued me, as I love a good tale about women in mid-life, learning to find themselves and busting out of traditional norms and expectations. Which is partly what this book is about. The first half of the book wove a tale of Grace Adams, fed up with her relationships, her jobs, and basically life, bursting out of conventions and literally her car (stuck in traffic) to salvage her relationship with her teenage daughter. We are led on a tale (woven through three separate time periods: now, 4 months ago, and 20 years ago) of how Grace came to find herself where she is today and what she plans to do about it. Through straightforward and funny writing, we find out Grace is a hot mess coping with a rebellious teen daughter, an ex-husband, and a job she gets let go from because she can't get there on time. I found myself a bit taken aback by some of Grace's actions as she leaves her car and begins a long walk to her child's birthday party while picking up a cake along the way. She's been cautious-not asking enough questions about the size of the birthday cake she ordered and therefore overpays for, not speaking up when it's her turn in line, and not stating her true feelings to anyone. And she's done with that-so she smarts off, yells and smashes, and deals with an abundance of heat (menopause? the moment? figuring out Instagram? over it all?) while foraging through the city to make it to her destination. I got aggravated with Grace. Get ahold of yourself! Make better choices! Calm down! And then the second half. We learn of Grace's part, dealing with grief, guilt, and an unimaginable loss. And I was hooked. As a teacher, I work with teens and their families and a myriad of issues that stretch beyond the classroom. As a volunteer, I work within the grief community. And as an adult reader, I am drawn to stories of untold and heartache and grief. While I was starting to become frustrated and a bit bored in the middle of the story, waiting for SOMETHING to happen and propel it forward, it finally came when the narrator, telling Grace's past, drops what I'd been waiting for and Grace has never dealt with. All of Grace's current choices, frustrations, and unhappiness become clearer when she discovers she has to break free of what has been holding her back. Grace must deal with her reality, where her decisions affect the loved ones in her life and she has to be responsible for saving her daughter and creating her best life.

I understand that I am not the targeted demographic for this book. I am 24 years old, have no children (nor do I want them) and I have a good relationship with my mother and I always have.
That being said, I couldn’t stand this book. I’ve read other books where I was also not necessarily the targeted demographic but they were still enjoyable to read. Not in this case.
Grace adams is a self-centered woman who has a terrible relationship with her daughter and spends the entire story complaining.
I found every character to be miserable to read about and quite frankly, anxiety inducing. Grace herself is NOT amazing and makes everyone’s life around her harder because she is so caught up in her own problems to care about anyone else.
Other than one shocking fact near the end, everything was predictable.
All in all, a disappointing read. I would probably recommend this to someone who is going through a difficult time with their child or spouse, but for someone like myself, I’d stay away.

Grace Adams is a relatable character. A woman in her 40’s, with a teenager that she feels changed overnight.
I listened to the audio and enjoyed the narrator, but found the story hard to follow at first because of jumping around between three different times. Once I got used to that I enjoyed the story much more.
Reminiscent of Elenor Olyphant, I will be recommending Amazing Grace Adams to fans of woman’s fiction.

Well, Grace Adams, I sympathize with you. I feel you! Mid-forties and all the hoopla that goes with it (and when you were described as late 40s, despite being 45, I wanted to scream with you!).

Grace Adams. She has given up her career to raise her daughter. She is experiencing all the symptoms of perimenopause, all while dealing with a 15-, almost 16-, year old girl. Lottie, her angsty teenager, is posting on Instagram, making Tik Tok videos, and living her best crop-top wearing life. Ben. Well, Ben. He seems like he may be living his best life, too, including a few indecent discretions. Nope, Ben. Not okay. Never okay.

The book covers a large span of time, from just before Lottie's conception to her 16th birthday party. Throughout the book, Grace is attempting to pick up a special 2-tier cake for Lottie. As she drives to the bakery, she encounters a lot of traffic and abandons her car on a busy street. She walks many miles in uncomfortable shoes and is sweating through her clothes. She has bloody blisters on her feet and the stress of the world on her shoulders. On her trek, she may or may not have had a few confrontations and may or may not have had words with the police.

We learn about Ben's mother, Grace's childhood, Lottie's childhood, Ben's indiscretions and the going-ons of 15 year old Lottie. Grace and Lottie have the normal riffs of a mother and a 15-year old daughter with the added complications of a strained marriage and a horrible event from the past.

When Grace shows up at Lottie's birthday party, the guests are in for a treat, and shockingly (pun intended), Grace, Lottie and Ben's relationships begin the paths of healing soon thereafter.

Amazing Grace Adams was quite the adventure. I was heart-broken for and sympathetic of Grace's struggles, and in the end, my heart was happy. This book was a fun listen and earned 4 stars in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audio recording in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5774924048?type=review#rating_638741318

Grace is in her 40’s, single again and she’s perimenopausal. She’s fed up. One day in a traffic jam, she decides to get out of her car and walk away. We then go back in time to see what events transpired to drive her to do this.

Grace is a character that other readers may enjoy more than I did. She wasn’t likable which is fine, but I didn’t find her interesting either. She’s sadly very self absorbed and whiny. It’s definitely a light read and the narration on audio is excellent. Humor is of course subjective and this is the light, quirky and cozy type. Admittedly I prefer something a little darker. I think comparing Grace to Eleanor, Bernadette, Rosie and Ove was way off, but I wouldn’t compare those books to one another.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance audio copy.

Sigh what hope I had for this book. This was provided by the publisher for our book club.

The narration was great, the character was brought to life by the selection.

This story was very tough to read, while I love a story line that bounces around this was too much. plus by the time you got to the reveal I could not stand the main character.

While this touches on hard topics there are a lot, and this story was exhausting.

Amazing Grace Adam’s has a beautiful, heartfelt premise that is highly relatable and the narration is gorgeous. Unfortunately, I think this is harder to follow as an audiobook because of the time hopping. The story kept me pushing through, but the back and forth time hopping left me confused most of the time. I think I would have had a better time following along if I was reading it. All in all, this is a beautiful, honest and raw story of a middle aged woman finding her authentic self after being lost in the roles of wife, mother etc. I really enjoyed her voice!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Imagine a day of the worst possible luck…how would you react? They say don’t judge a book by its cover but this cover sold me on the novel, and perfectly sums up a crappy day of bad luck.
Grace Adams has finally had enough with the bad times in life — divorce, perimenopause, her job — and decides nothing will stop her from getting to her estranged daughter’s 16th birthday to make things right. From abandoning her car in the middle of London traffic to walking across the city with a giant Love Island-themed cake and a golf club, it’s a never ending adventure. Much of the story follows a single day’s event, while 2 past timelines give perspective into how she got here. Unfortunately, there were just so many different themes and storylines to the novel that it became hard to follow and seems like some major plot points revealed later on didn’t get the due explanations they deserved.
As for the audiobook, Claire Skinner provided a hilarious and relatable narration as Grace makes her way through the day from hell.
Thank you to Henry Holt and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This comes out 9/5!

I’m struggling with how to rate this book and I think I may just not be the right audience. There was nothing objectively wrong with the book but I feel as if the blurb was misleading. What was pitched as a reclaiming of oneself after motherhood/marriage was actually an utterly depressing storyline of loss. I feel as if trigger warnings should have been used as well as a more accurate description.

TW:
Child loss, cheating, depression, sexual assault.

*The writing was very well done and I would not hesitate to pick up another book by this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy.

A really great, immersive read about a woman’s life basically imploding in her mid forties. What starts as this story about a quirky, brilliant woman, turns into this really heartbreaking, honestly really sad story about loss and tragedy. It was a lot deeper than I expected and although certain things about Grace drove me crazy, it really was an endearing story.

2.75
At the heart of this story is Grace, a mid-forties woman who is trying to forge a connection with her daughter on her 16th birthday. Separated fro her husband and being told not to come to her daughter's party was more than Grace could handle . On top of this, she was let go from her job, What else could possible go wrong? Well, plenty, it seems.

Told in 3 different time periods, it did get a bit confusing. I was listening to the audio book, which may have contributed to that, While there were points in her life that I could relate to Grace and a connection would begin to be formed, the story would jump to something else and all ground was lost.

Amazing Grace Adams has some very serious situations in the story line such as sexual grooming of a minor. It did not seem to be handled well. It was left rather messy as a story line - I don;'t mean it has to have a happy ending, but it feels like that road just stopped.

The frenetic energy inside of Grace's mind was well conveyed, but the transfer of that energy felt ungrounded for me as a reader. It felt like it became more and more of farce than a woman in crisis.

All of this being said, this is Fran Littlewood's debut novel. There are some really great parts of this book. I look forward to reading what she does next and to see this budding talent really start hone her craft. You can tell that there is much more to come!

My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I listened to this on audio book which had both positive and its negative points. The reader was British and read the character well and passionately, but it jumped back and forth between three time lines and it was very hard to keep track. It would have been a lot easier to understand if it all played out without hopping timelines. I understand you’re trying to figure out why Grace is in the crap circumstances she finds herself in at 45 but it was a bunch of harsh transitions. Grace is looking back on her life as she’s trying to get to her daughters birthday party for which she’s not welcome by her husband and daughter. Everything that could go wrong has but she preservers. As the book goes on you slowly get bits of why. As her daughter acts out and mouths off without hesitation it slowly ate away at me, I wish I knew why earlier it made it hard to sympathize. Most of the novel made me a bit nervous of how I will navigate the 15 year old version of my kids. All in all Grace and Bens POV was very well written so I applaud Fran Littlewood on her debut novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook ARC.