Thank you Putnam Group for the review copy of Clover Hendry's Day Off; I also had an audiobook copy from the PRH audio influencer program (and the narration was great, I listened to the middle-part on audiobook).

This is a fun read, I appreciate, and celebrate, a book that is about women in midlife, the joys of perimenopause (so relatable), the feelings of being pulled to always touch base with (children, spouse, friends, siblings, parents...the caring up and caring down and being the sandwich generation)... the desire indeed to take a day off, no explanation given (or needed though so many expect women to always give a reason/have a reason... the reason is BECAUSE). I appreciated a slightly edgy dark humor vibe in places, the kind of internal dialogue I can relate to while in the end Clover was often making herself still present to and with others even as she yearned for... a break.

I laughed a few times, was reminded of Bridget Jones chaotic life a bit at times (though this book is also very much it's own thing and not in that style of those books), and felt myself thinking what would my day off end up feeling like. What resonated was the Clover felt constantly reminded/pulled back into her daily life despite planning a break... it does feel that way doesn't it at times?

Cute, upbeat writing elevates this story of a 40-something-year-old woman who decides to just… be different one day. This is a fast, amusing story, but ultimately lacks believability, especially since the main character behaves so atrociously throughout her day that it's hard to maintain appreciation for her.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the e-arc.

DNF @ 44%

Clover Hendry has been a people pleaser her whole life, but not today. Today, she’s taking the day off - not just from work but from being the doormat everyone knows her to be. Today, she says yes instead of no, speaks her mind, and quite frankly does whatever she wants.

I liked the idea of this book, but the execution wasn’t it for me. I needed more from the beginning than “oh she took some vicodin and now her whole personality is different.” There is likely some surprise real reason further in the book, but Clover is too unlikeable for me to continue reading.

I feel like most women can relate to a people pleaser, but for me, not to the extent that Clover was. Her background stories did not make me feel sorry for her or make me like her at all.

At the beginning, she was rude to some people who deserved it - the rich people taking her cab, I can get behind. Her trying to “stand up” for Petroc and just causing an embarrassing unnecessary scene was not it for me. Going into a store knowing you gotta pee but trying on a dress anyway to make some sort of point and then having to leave the store in the dress you haven’t paid for to go to the bathroom? Really?

Others may relate to Clover and her antics and may enjoy her story, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t for me.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book from the very first page. It immediately sucked me in!

Clover Hendry is a married middle aged mom of two twins who one day has just had enough. I had a hard time getting hooked in this one. I couldn't get invested in this story. Midway through reading, I did lose some steam powering through. This one did fall flat for me; however - this still may be the perfect book for someone interested in themes of motherhood, finding's one place in the world, some laugh out loud moments. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Imagine if you stopped saying yes and being Agreeable, and started actually telling everyone what you REALLY thought. Clover Hendry is a middle-aged mom of two twins with an ancient-ruins loving sweetheart of a husband, and one day, she finally decides she's had enough of being meek little Clover.

This book was meant to be a spin on 'Ferris Buehler' from an older woman's perspective. There were moments that were funny or poignant, but mostly I just felt like I was scratching my head about what was happening.

When she'd cry or get upset, it felt like it was out of nowhere with no reason or build up to the emotion. I just had a hard time relating to or investing in her as a character.

I was excited for this one, but it fell flat for me in the end.

First and foremost I’d like to thank NetGalley for this arc reader edition!

Clover is a wife and mother who doesn’t know how to say no. Not in her family with her mother Rose or with her boss Vince. But on this day she is not saying yes to anything that does not kindle joy.

Now when I first read the description I was pretty intrigued since I do enjoy women’s fiction but that intrigue fell off at about 25% in the book. I originally downloaded the book back in May 2023 and I picked it up today because I knew it was coming out soon. I started where I left off all those months ago. There were very long descriptions that were not needed so I found myself skipping through a lot of it but I will say that I really like the premise. I think that there some very hilarious parts where she has different incidents with people throughout the day and I especially was there for the part with her mom but I wished it was kind of done differently. Would I recommend this book? Maybe for those who don’t mind longer books. Final rating is 3.5.

This book not only spoke to me, it sang 80s hits to me! As a mid-40s woman who grew up on Ferris Bueller's Day Off, there was so much in this story that made me laugh so hard I may have peed my pants (those of you over 40 know what I mean). Have you ever wished you could take a day and do and say whatever you wanted with relatively no repercussions? Have you ever had a torrent of brutal honesty just bubbling to break free? Clover Hendry just delivered that wish in the most wonderful way possible. This is a 24-hour journey in self-discovery, friendship, sisterhood, motherhood, randomness, coincidence, and humanity. It went a direction I wasn't expecting (I'm purposefully vague here to avoid spoilers), and it was brilliantly executed. This is a lesson in giving yourself grace, hiking up your granny panties, and taking the bull by the horns at any age... even if the bull happens to be your mother.

This NEEDS to be a movie. Ferris Bueller meets Bad Moms would be a blockbuster!

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

DNF at 28%. I get that this is a "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" type story but... the tone feels a bit off-putting. The story starts with Clover taking some left over medication in a casual way that didn't feel right to me. Following that was a head injury situation that came off as attempting to be funny but wasn't at all. There are definitely some funny situations when Clover is leaning strong into her devil many care attitude. The pool scene at the club was hilarious. Throughout her day, there are so flashbacks to other points in Clover's life and some of those moments were truly boring. By the time I got to the scene of Clover trying to stand up for her co-worker Petroc, I felt really uncomfortable and decided I could not go on Abandoning this story is the best thing for my reading life.

I found this book so relatable. Who hasn't wanted to just take a day off from all of their responsibilities and pressures. Clover Hendry is the ultimate get the job done, and yes woman in her life. But today is different. I loved spending the day with Clover as she took back control in her life and lived for herself. The living for yourself attitude was so refreshing and I laughed out loud several times. While the story has a lot of fun moments, there is a deeper problem at play in Clover's life. I am so proud of Clover for facing the pain and darkness and giving us an amazing and satisfying ending.

I DNF'd at 24%. I laughed out loud several different times from the first chapter to when I DNF'd, but ultimately this story was lacking the depth that I personally needed to believe Clover Hendry had a reason to be going off the rails, other than being a wife, mother to twins, & working in the television industry. She was funny, but unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the e-ARC to read and review. I did ultimately enjoy this story as it went along, though at the beginning of my read I did think I would relate to the character more if I were 15 or 20 years older than I am. I usually don't care about a character's age (especially if it's just great storytelling all along!) but here I definitely got the sense it would be a much more fun read if I were also a mom of teens who could just really use one single day off of work to let my hair down. I *could* relate to her being a people-pleasing yes-person, and I wanted her to just put her phone on silent and enjoy herself. I think Clover's sense of humor and style were engaging and kept me interested, but I ultimately didn't like the kind of chaos she got up to in the book - it was less about giving herself a day to be wild and say "no!" to the people who needed to hear it from her, and very much more about her like, actively committing crimes and causing problems!

🦇 Clover Hendry's Day Off Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❓ #QOTD When was the last time you said no OR what are your self-care rituals? ❓

🦇 What if you said, "F--- it all," and spent the entire day YOUR way? Clover Hendry no longer has to wonder. In this perimenopausal Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Clover prioritizes saying "no" over pleasing everyone around her. Unfortunately, taking a day off to do and say the first thing that comes to mind can create a mess later.

💜 Clover Hendry's Day Off is a reminder that you can't live for yourself without prioritizing yourself. Clover is messy but relatable, realistically human and fallible but also a character you'll cheer for. Her narration is frantic, a million thoughts running through her mind at a minute, but that's realistic of a working mom trying to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders, too. In time, she learns to empower herself, which is inspiring.

🦇 While I understand the reason behind the writing style, the lengthy paragraphs and thought spirals weren't for me. I read to escape my own messy mind, so entering someone else's isn't an escape so much as an amplification of my own messes. I did expect some magic realism to the story, though; instead, Clover is injured, takes a painkiller, and has a sudden change of mind about her life. The eureka moment felt anti-climatic, given the rushed and frantic narration. Some scenes or thoughts are scattered and abrupt as well, making the story a bit long-winded and lacking focus.

🦇 Recommended for anyone who wants to make a change in their life or struggles to press pause and live in the moment. Ideal for fans of Sophie Kinsella.

✨ The Vibes ✨
🐇 Ferris Bueller Vibes
🐇 Humorous
🐇 Working Mom MC
🐇 Relatable
🐇 First Person POV

🦇 Major thanks to the author and publisher for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I really enjoy books about women of a certain losing their shit and fixing how they’ve been wronged. This is pretty much what Clover does; she walks out of her job and pretty much lays destruction where she goes. There is humor but there’s definitely a serious undertone to it.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this book because it sounded up my alley, unfortunately it was really hard to get through for me. I did not relate to Clover and her day off stressed me the heck out and felt not so fun. I had high hopes and this one just wasn't my cup of tea.

I DNF this book at 25 percent, I just couldn’t get into the story. Too slow moving for me. I have tried to read it two different times. Therefore, I will let other reviewers who enjoy this book promote it, so I will not be posting on social media or reviews on retail sites. That way, this book gets much deserved attention from those reviewers who loved it!

What a breath of fresh air this story was!!!

I am still chuckling over scenes days after finishing! It was so good!

Not only did I find it incredibly entertaining, but it also made me feel seen as I can so relate to Clover’s character.

Outstanding writing!! I definitely recommend this book!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

Clover Hendry is typically a people pleaser to the detriment of herself; one could call her a "yes" woman. She doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings so she either keeps her feelings to herself or does things to keep the peace professionally and personally.

However, Clover wakes up one morning with a pounding headache, decides to take a painkiller to help the ache in her head, and then is hit on the head by a fellow subway passenger on her way to work. Something suddenly changes in Clover's mindset. She decides to start putting herself first, which includes (finally) taking a day off to enjoy it instead of just going through the motions.

The idea of this novel is great; don't get me wrong. I love that the author based this novel on "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", an iconic film. I also personally identified with the main character because I am a mother of twins (mine are identical; the main character has fraternal twins who are the opposite gender), am someone who can just go through the motions every day without actually stopping to smell the roses, and tends to be someone that is overwhelmed by many moving parts at one time. I like how she was able to stop herself from continuing this cycle of thinking and start feeling empowered to make herself happy.

Here's where I had some issues with the book, though. I thought that the reason for her suddenly being empowered to stop and smell the roses was a little anticlimactic. If the author had added a fantastical element to the story or rather had a scene in which the main character could have finally come to this realization with some context from her past, it would have made it more interesting.

I also thought that many scenes and reasons for her doing certain things in the book were a little abrupt and scattered (if you have read the book, it's the one scene toward the end of the story at the wrap party that just comes on suddenly). They didn't connect that well to the rest of the story and just fell into the reader's lap with little to no background knowledge, which was frustrating to read.

One of the many things that annoyed me about this book was the fact that many of the chapters would tell a story from the main character's past, but they were incredibly long-winded and lost what the point of her narration was trying to convey. It was like a friend was telling you a story with long-winded explanations and unnecessary details, and you ended up starting to doze off or think about other things. The story could have been at least 50-100 pages less if these chapters were cut.

While this book had some valuable life lessons, especially for working mothers and women in general, the story itself had poor execution.

I really tried with this one. If the book was about the rabbit and Clover was a side character, I would have loved this.

I couldn’t get past a lot of the holes in the writing. For one example, and it’s from early in the book, so I don’t spoil anything, Clover gets hit with a briefcase hard enough to make her bleed and no one at her job notices it? Little gaps like that turned me off of the book.

But, the rabbit rocks!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC, all opinions are my own. Unfortunately this didn’t work for me.

Clover hasn’t said “No” a day in her life. Until today. Normally a woman who tips her hairdresser even when the cut is hideous, is endlessly patient with her horrendous mother, and says yes every time her boss asks her to work late—today, things are going to be very different. Because Clover is taking the day off. Today, she’s going to do and say whatever she likes, even if it means her whole life unravels.

Okay, not sure what I just read, but it was hilarious, amusing, & unique.

This book did an amazing job of setting the narrative that spanned for a couple of hours only. I enjoyed how Clover became a completely different person "that" day. The writing style was really good. I often found myself wondering, "Is this real?"

I do think that this book won't be for everyone, but if you enjoy satire mixed with women's fiction in a unique way, then I think you should give it a try.

<i>Thank you Netgalley & Publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.<i>