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>

This is a fun book - Clover is a middle aged Mom and executive producer with a difficult Mother trying to balance it all until one day she has her Ferris Bueller day where she decides enough is enough and her alter ego wreaks havoc everywhere she goes. At times I laughed and at times I thought “what are you doing?” And at times she was clearly over the top. Stay on her Rollercoaster ride to see how the day ends and the differences that will come from her day off (her rocker). <smile>. As a working Mom it is so relatable and her day was a little liberating and I highly recommend.

At 42%, I am not finishing this book. I thought that I would be able to relate more to this character and in some aspects, I did. However, I did not find any part of the book to be funny and if these things happened in real life, she would have been fired, arrested...etc. As someone who also deals with anxiety, the mannerisms of Clover were almost insulting. The blatant disregard for taking and mixing prescription drugs and other medicines found in her house were not okay.

This was a laugh-out-loud hilarious feminist story about the challenges and exhaustion of modern motherhood and one woman's decision to walk away from it all for a day. I laughed so hard reading this no holds barred, honest look at parenting twins, balancing work and family life while still trying to carve out time for yourself.

The story also takes on consent and sexual assault from abusive men. A great mashup of Bridget Jones and Finlay Donovan (minus the dead bodies). Highly recommended! I hadn't read anything by Beth Morrey before but I can't wait to read more now! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

The premise of this book sounded much more comedic than the actual story was. I felt bad for Clover as she was obviously over extended, stressed and not handling things well at all. I found some of the situations just plain mean. I really wanted to like the book more than I did. Thanks #NetGalley

Beth Morrey's latest novel has its heart in the right place - a middle-aged woman, tired of being a doormat, breaks out of her constricted roles in one unexpected day a la "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Clover is a tired and tireless good girl, always saying yes to everyone's needs and demands except for her own. Her background as written makes it easy to understand why she is the way she is, even if I couldn't personally relate and struggled a bit to empathize. This is a fast read, and by the end it was mostly satisfying, but I didn't enjoy being inside Clover's head all day - the tone came across as strident and mean and missed the mark for me. I could have used more warm humor as Clover figured out her sh*t. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and G.P. Putnam's Sons for a digital review copy.

Clover Hendry’s Day Off was a trip into the mind of a woman tired of all the crap in her life. And today is the day she is going to change everything. Sometimes I loved her behavior, other times she crossed the line. But definitely entertaining. My biggest pet peeves were the flashbacks to show why she was in this place now. Sometimes they dragged on and I couldn’t wait to get back to the crazy day. But overall enjoyable

As a chronic people pleaser, I loved Clover and her story was wonderfully relatable. It was pitched a "Ferris Bueller" day off vibes and I was not disappointed. I loved this funny and engaging story!

Fun read. Plenty of laugh out loud moments for me. Kept me engaged as it was quite engaging.
Thank you @netgalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this ebook!

* I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this book. All thoughts are my own.

I really, really struggled with this book. It couldn’t hold my interest from the very beginning. The premise is interesting but Clover’s day seems to continually take a turn for the worst. Instead of a super fun day playing hooky from work and familial responsibilities, Clover is rude to people she meets, many of whom are just doing their jobs, commits crimes, and acts like typical rules just don’t apply to her. To top it all off, we get some odd glimpses into her background with her own mother, but I still never felt like we really knew Clover at the end. I’m glad she has some confidence and can finally stand up go her mother but i cant get past her being nothing but rude and disrespectful towards everyone throughout the day.

I would not recommend this book.

Clover has always been a pleaser, tolerating people taking advantage of her repeatedly and not wanting to rock the boat. Until she stopped. One day, she just decided she'd had it. Her boss piled way too much work on her, her mother whined and complained and her teenage twins took advantage of her as well.

In a meeting at work one day, her boss tried to pile even more work on her. But, Clover walked out of her job, went swimming, and committed some other acts she would have considered outrageous just 24 hours before. Clover wasn't going to take it any more. During the course of the day, she offended a few people, garnered a large Instagram following, and set herself on a path to putting herself first.

Anyone who's felt overwhelmed by the demands of others will enjoy Clover's resolute determination not to endure another minute of being run over roughshod by family and employers.

Fans of Sophie Kinsella and those who enjoyed Fran Littlewood's Amazing Grace Adams will want to read this one.

Clover Hendry has had enough: enough work, enough family, enough of being taken for granted. So, when she hits that wall, she just leaves work to take a spontaneous day off. And what a great day it is for her, she finds her true self and voice and learns to stand up for herself. This is a fun story about empowerment and self-care. I thoroughly enjoyed Clover’s exciting day off and especially the surprise at the end. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.