When the book begins we meet Grace Adams, a mom trying to repair her relationship with her daughter who is turning 16. Her day progressively gets worse and we see the unraveling of someone who was once bright, beautiful and talented. As the story jumps back and forth from her present day to the important times in her past, it becomes clear how she's ended up in this nightmare of a day. Told with empathetic insight and humor, this novel will have readers cheering for Grace, hoping she can pull her life back together.

Littlewood has created an amazing and remarkable character in Grace. Through her journey Grace's resilience and love get her to the end! You will be cheering for Grace!

This was a slow burn, and I vacillated between thinking Grace had a personality disorder and thinking she was just a stressed-out woman approaching menopause. I couldn't really relate to her because it seemed like her whole existence was her hormones and her family, and those just don't resonate with me. I am ok with not being the intended audience but I thought I might like the characters more, and I did not. At a certain point in the book you get a glimpse into why Grace is struggling so hard and the family is falling apart, and it allows for a lot more empathy with everyone, but I was still left feeling mostly unmoved.

Grace Adam's has truly gone off the rails. Up and leaving her car in bumper to bumper traffic and setting out on foot to collect her 16 year old daughter's birthday cake. Set amongst one day with flashbacks to how Grace's life has led to this breakdown, this cute but wildly outrageous tale is important in its lessons and themes.

With a 40+ year old MC this is an important demographic to represent. However, at times this age was leaned into rather heavily with all the poor stereotypes being dragged out. "Amazing Grace Adams" is certainly a story of family, wildly funny in parts but overly done in others.

I’m usually a fan of a slow-build towards a twist or plot revolution, but this was a sloooooooow-build. I wasn’t ever quite sure where the storyline was heading and it wasn’t until about 75% in that I had the “ah ha moment.” By then, it was a bit late and the author had lost me. I wish the reveal would have come a little sooner. The last quarter was far more enjoyable, but in all honesty, I would have quit the book before 50% of I hadn’t committed to a review.

The other issue I struggled with was the time jumping. There were multiple timelines which was fine, but we jumped within jumps which got a bit confusing on audio. This might have been easier with print, but just didn’t work on audio.

Despite that, I did appreciate the honest look into the world of a struggling mother and womanhood.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not what I expected, but so much more! It rotates among three time periods, 20+ years ago when Grace met her husband, 4 months ago when her life really took a downward turn, and present time when Grace is simply trying to get a cake to her daughter's 16th birthday party. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult at all to keep up with the different time periods. It began as a familiar story of a middle-aged, perimenopausal woman who decided she was fed up with the everyday nuisances of her life, i.e., the things women are expected to put up with, and instead was going to take action rather than tolerate them anymore. There are several funny anecdotes about her standing up for herself, but as the story continues, it becomes more serious, and heartbreaking in ways that any mother could imagine. She learns more about herself and her family, and how she could have handled things differently without taking the blame for everything. As other reviews have mentioned, it did seem like the author tried to put a lot of issues into one story, but at the same time, combined with the flashbacks to the other time periods, they actually worked to explain Grace's situation. Wonderful debut and great cover!

Thanks to the publishers at NetGalley for the advance copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings after finishing this audiobook. The protagonist, Grace, is having a very bad day while trying to pick up a cake she has ordered for her daughter’s 16th birthday party. But, Grace is dealing with perimenopause, her husband has left her, her teen daughter is a nightmare, and she’s lost her job…so the day is filled with situations Grace deals with poorly. The story alternates between this horrible day in the present and events of the distant past (when she meets her husband and things that happened early in their marriage) and the recent past (a few months ago when her daughter’s behavior escalated and her husband left) and I found the jumping around problematic. It was often difficult to keep track of when things were happening. This may be due to the fact that I listened to the audiobook; it may have been easier if I was reading. But, I think that the description led me to believe that it would be funnier. While there are outrageous things that happen, I felt more frustration at Grace’s actions and her poor decisions than amusement. Yes, she is tired and frustrated and hurt and angry, but I found many of her actions implausible. I didn’t see her so much as taking her life back as just not thinking clearly. Perhaps there would be nothing to write about if she wasn’t such a mess, but I just kept cringing every time she did something stupid. Part of the problem may have been that the book is longer than it needs to be—there is a lot going on in this book. I did love that Grace and Ben are polyglots and the discussion of language was amazing! Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️ rounded up

<i> Amazing Grace Adams tells the story of a life, a marriage, a family, set against a single north-London day. A rollercoaster ride of redemption and discovery, it's a powerful celebration of womanhood. </i>

I wanted to love this story. Grace sounded like a relatable character, and seeing comparisons to Eleanor Oliphant and A Man Called Ove were quite promising. It started out pretty well, but at some point things veered too far into the outlandish, and then it just…. ended.

Claire Skinner did a great job of narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Fran Littlewood, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ALC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Grace Adams is frantically trying to make her daughter's 16th birthday party with a special cake she's purchased for the occasion. OK, the cake was more expensive than she wanted, and not as big, and didn't travel well. But Grace really tried. Her daughter has moved in with her father after Grace has snooped a bit too enthusiastically. Any mother would, right? She was only protecting her.

But Grace's cross town journey with the cake, on a VERY hot day is disastrous. It seems it was only yesterday her daughter was a tiny thing, gazing at her adoringly. And now she is a teenager with raging hormones, a 'secret' life, in trouble at school, and furious with her mother. Grace's odyssey will make you laugh out loud as she navigates traffic, the heat, blisters on her feet, the unsettling symptoms of perimenopause, and encounters with a variety of strangers in her attempt to see her daughter and mend their estrangement.

Narrator Claire Skinner perfectly portrays Grace's confusion and dilemma. Every mother will find connections with Grace.

Don't miss this one.

Since this is an audio book, it is hard to go back to see if I missed something indicating the underlying issue the characters were dealing with in the beginning. If I didn’t, I felt the issue crept in too close to the end to comfortably switch my thoughts or feelings.

The struggles in the relationships seemed to be missing a key factor for much of the book. Perhaps a bit of foreshadowing would help with the flow or direction the ending took? Either way, while it dragged a bit in some places, since I couldn’t empathize with Grace’s unrelenting need to reach her daughter on this particular day, it did come together in the end. I would have enjoyed the ending more without so much being shared only in the ending.

Worth the listen though. Grief can be hard to deal with in real life and in writing.

Grace Adams is definitely having a bad day. Grace used to be amazing - smart, beautiful, and together. Now, at age 45, she is perimenopausal, unemployed, and a little unhinged (she did steal a golf club and threaten someone with it).

Grace is determined to get to her teenage daughter’s birthday party (even though she’s not invited) and deliver the special-order cake (that turns out to be more expensive but much less impressive than planned). Grace reaches her limit when caught in traffic and abandons her car, determined to walk across London, to a party where she will not be welcome.

Grace’s story unfolds as she progresses on her journey, moving back and forth between recent events and past memories. The closer that Grace gets to her destination, the more her anger, grief, and guilt makes sense. Grace’s quest is important because she needs to remind her daughter (and everyone else) that they are a family and will always love each other.

Claire Skinner expertly narrates this story, focusing on Grace and bringing her character to life.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy of this book. All reviews are of my own opinion based on the ARC copy.

🎧 4.5/5 ⭐️ An emotional day of discovery for Grace reliving the important moments in her life and how she starts to understand where she is now. This book is relatable to any pre to post menopausal women with daughters. It is an emotional physical journey driven by emotions and hormones of the past and finally being pushed to the brink.

This has been posted to Goodreads. I have also spread by word of mouth to friends that I know will resonate with this character.

We meet Grace Adams one day when she has no effs left to give and snaps. Through flashbacks, the events leading up to that moment are told in an alternating past/present narrative. Although I find the concept of a woman reaching her last give a darn compelling, parts of the story just didn’t land for me.

As a woman who just experienced night sweats for the first time a couple weeks ago, I found I could very much relate to our perimenopausal protagonist in Littlewood’s debut novel, Amazing Grace Adams. We meet Grace while she is stuck in a traffic jam and feels she has been “set on fire from the inside out.” Next thing we know, she exits her car and leaves it behind while it is still sitting in traffic.

The story continues to follow Grace throughout a single day as she now travels on foot, desperate to pick up and deliver a cake for her 16 year old daughter who wants nothing to do with her. Nothing will stop Grace from getting the special cake she had made for her daughter Lottie, and telling her how much she means to her. As the reader follows her throughout the day, there are flashbacks to 2002, when she was extremely successful in her career and met the man she would marry. There is also a third timeline that is just four months ago, when her daughter was still at home and tells the story of why her daughter is so angry with her. The difference in Grace now and Grace from 2002, is huge. It’s like she’s a completely different woman.

I think the reason I personally loved this book, is that I was able to relate to Grace so much. Before marriage and children, we women are our own person and have one identity. But as we marry, become mothers, and then BAM hit our forties, we have often changed so much for others and these roles we are now in that we no longer recognize ourselves. I know I personally have felt like I haven’t been “me” in a long time. I think this is especially true for women like myself who are “people pleasers”. Now that I’m a couple weeks from turning 45, I’m really thinking hard about where I am and the parts of me that I’ve lost and want to get back!

Amazing Grace Adams was a well-written and well-narrated book. However, the story was way too stressful and depressing for me. Grace was not amazing. She was crazy! Her life choices made me cringe. I get how much she loved her daughter, and I realize she experienced trauma….but she was too much for me. The book was just so sad. I also felt like there was too much time jumping . The story was all over the place and I got confused at times. I don’t mind flashbacks, but this book had too much of it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book.

When Grace Adams abandons her car in stalled traffic and sets off on foot across the city to pick up her daughter's birthday cake, the reader isn't sure why she's fed up with life. But as she walks, she ruminates on how she ended up where she is now. The story jumps back and forth between the past and now - but the past is not always chronologically presented.

Narrator: 5/5
Excellent narration - if you're going to buy into Grace's character, the narrator is going to be the one to convince you.

Book: 3/5
At times a but hard to follow as an audiobook. Maybe less of an issue in print.
The first 30ish % was slow, but then I found it hard to stop listening. I could guess where it was all headed - except for one big twist I never saw coming - and it felt like trying to get to the moment of impact.
The thing is, this book advertises itself as 'funny.' Very little of the book felt funny; more raw, open wound, painful to me.
I didn't love Grace's character, but I didn't dislike her. I was definitely rooting for her by the end. I found it interesting, but I wasn't really ready for how dark and dismal it got.

Thanks to netGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this book. All opinions are my own. I did not finish this book. It just couldn’t keep my interest. But I’m grateful for the chance to try. Thank you.

I LOVE Grace Adams. The more of this I listened to, the more I liked it. It's not for everyone, but being a woman heading into my 40s who has raised children and teenagers.....this was lovely. It was funny, sad, beautiful, and touching. The narration was perfection, and I love the cover of this book--even more when it's uncensored. A PERFECT debut from Fran Littlewood. 4.5 stars rounded up.

kicking off my week with a bit of a bummer of a review, because fran littlewood's novel 'amazing grace adams' just didn't do it for me. the book follows grace adams, a woman who on the way to pick up her daughter's 16th birthday cake, snaps while stuck in traffic. she just abandons her car and walks away. her life is a bit of a mess: her daughter won't talk to her, her husband is divorcing her, and her family feels completely scattered. but her family used to think she was the best, and somehow they and the rest of the world have forgotten. but grace adams will do what it takes to make them remember.

i just wasn't sold on grace as a character. the book moves back and forth from the present to various moments in grace's past, as a method of showing the reader the stark difference between her current situation and the past she remembers fondly. the time jumps felt clunky at times, and sometimes hard to follow. i think the main thing about this book is just that it's essentially a book about motherhood, and i've realized now that books about motherhood just don't work for me. i can't relate to the struggles, and frankly i just don't care? not a maternal bone in my body, i'm afraid.

If you're looking for a thought-provoking, unique audiobook, you're apt to find this fits the bill. Amazing Grace Adams is about a fragile woman who is feeling her age. Her self-image and worth have taken her to the point of feeling completely invisible, yet a streak of determination is soaring through her. No matter the obstacles, she is going to make it to her ex-husband's. Why? Her daughter is with him and it is her 16th birthday 

But it seems everything, including a traffic jam, is going against her. So how can she make it to where her daughter is if cars are sitting bumper to bumper? Ditch the car and walk away from the gridlock? Why, of course.

The whole story required me to suspend disbelief and just go with the flow. It also left me feeling torn between laughing and crying for Grace. Mostly, I think I listened with a dazed expression plastered on my face. This lady was a very unique individual.

The story goes between the present day and Grace’s reflection on her earlier time with her husband (now ex-husband) and daughter, and her feelings of slowly losing control and self-confidence.

It’s insightful and well-written but, at times it was a struggle to overlook how outrageous Grace’s actions were.

My Concerns

Even though it offered some good thoughts, at times it was hard to follow and too exaggerated.

Final Thoughts

Though Littlewood does an amazing job of illustrating the ups and downs of Grace’s relationships with her husband and daughter, something about the non-linear story presentation felt hard to follow as an audiobook. Would I have had this problem had I been reading? I don’t know. 

As the narrator, Claire Skinner does a very good job, but it still isn't enough for me to recommend the story.

My rating only indicates that some will like this book and some not so much. It was just okay for me.

However, I say, when in doubt give it a try.

Thank you to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audio ARC.