Wow, what a book! Lots to unpack here! It's a funny look at hitting that "age" where you are entering the edges of menopause and looking back at your life and thinking what the heck have I been doing for the last 20 years? The book will hit home and be much more humorous to those of us who are in the same spot or have passed it as we have lived through the condescending crap conversations with the doctors who just want to tell you that you are a woman and thus are just too emotional or dramatic, some even going so far as suggesting that you just need to exercise more or suck it up and live with your symptoms. Then of course there is the family dynamics of living with teens and a husband who is used to you just doing everything for them so how dare you suggest that they actually attempt to help out. I read this book with no expectations other than a good woman's fiction book and I quite enjoyed it. I found it humorous, albeit leaning a bit too realistic at times so also found myself tearing up in solidarity with the main character as well. There were times I found myself yelling at the husband or the kids to stop being such jerks, but I also wanted to tell the main character to toughen up and start telling people the truth as well as the word no. To me that is the test of a quality writer! They can bring a visceral reaction out of the reader whether it be laughter, tears or anger and I can say that this author definitely hits that nail well! The narration was wonderful as they brought real personality to the individual characters and helped bring the story more fully to life. I do think that this book will be better enjoyed as an audiobook due to the narrators ability to breathe life into the characters. Overall, I enjoyed this book and will definitely be checking out more of this authors work!

I really enjoy “slice of life” stories, and this one did not disappoint! Written from the perspective of a 40 something wife and mother wanting to find herself.

I found Jessica likable and relatable.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for a copy!

As many other reviewers have said, this story is relatable to a lot of women. Summers did a great job with the characters dialogue and made them seem real (especially the bratty teenagers...LOL). I loved the blended humor and seriousness in this book. I also loved watching Jess's journey to find herself. Great story to remind everyone that it's ok to prioritize yourself, and you're not too old, nor is it ever too late to go after what you want.

On a side note, every chapter starts with an amazing quote. Here are a few examples:
“Everyone wants to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” - Oprah Winfrey
"You know you've reached middle age when you're cautioned to slow down by your doctor, instead of by the police." - Joan Rivers
One last thing, the audiobook is excellent! I highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for providing me this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+⭐️
I Used to Be Fun by Melanie Summers, an audiobook narrated by Tavia Gilbert was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I believe this book has to be a "Must Read Book" in high school, then has to be re-read when you hit 30 and later 40 years mark!

This is a handbook for every female on how to know self-worth!

And it was so easy and fun! There were chapters where I laughed out loud! It was so, so brilliant!

Jessica, 40+ years old, married, part-time working mum of 2 teenagers realizes that she feels miserable and is ready to do something to change that, she just doesn't know what to do. This book is about the self-discovery journey, self-respect, and how to learn to stand your ground!

Tavia Gilbert made this audiobook just perfect, I can't believe she could read this without laughing!

Thank you, NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this fantastic, unbelievably amazing audiobook!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book early! The first part of this book was a little hard to get into but once I got attached to our main character I loved it! This is about a woman named Jessica and a midlife crisis of sorts. She has 2 teen kids and a husband who don't appreciate her, her career has turned into taking care of people and being a PTA mom and she's completely lost the fun side of herself she knew so long ago. RELATABLE. She hits a breaking point and decides she's going to do something for herself. She quits her job at a pottery studio (or something like that?) and decides to pursue her dream of law school. She gets a job at a law firm and her family REVOLTS because her husband finally has to step up and her kids have to be a little bit more independent. Gosh this part filled me with rage because it was like HOW DARE SHE do something for her. Yes, she could've communicated better, but whoa did it highlight how she was the only glue holding her family members together. I wish she would've gotten more appreciation in the end and she did to an extent, but as always it was her that bent and changed her goals to meet their needs. I felt myself laughing and raging on her behalf in this book and anything that can elicit such emotions in 3rd person is well done. I do think this could've hit 5 star territory if it was in 1st person from Jessicas POV but beggars can't be choosers.

In “I Used to Be Fun,” Jessica Holloway is feeling like so many other mom’s and women in their forties do. Underappreciated and overworked, yet still unfulfilled, and not at all where she thought she would be in the middle of her life. I found her husband and teenage children to be incredibly annoying and ungrateful, and perhaps that was the point of the way in which each was written, yet it made me question Jess as a woman and mother, that she would have raised two such spoiled children, and that she would stay married to a man who did not value her contributions to their family.

While I did find it easy to empathize and relate to many of her feelings early on in the story, I lost the ability to relate and feel sorry for her with quite a bit of the story left to be told. While it was a good reminder that you are never too old, and it is truly never too late, to pursue the life you had imagined for yourself, I found this story to be more of a tale of what not to do if you find yourself in similar circumstances, which is not at all what I was hoping it would be. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

My audiobook review
I USED TO BE FUN BY Melanie Summers and narrated by Tavia Gilbert

The cover drew me in to listening to this audiobook along with the amazing narration by Tavia Gilbert who brought Melanie Gilbert’s words to life in an amazing way.
The story revolves around Jess and her struggles with her place in life as her children got older.
In places the audiobook makes you laugh so hard you almost wet yourself. There is plenty of humour throughout this book and humour even during her struggles with trying to find out what’s wrong with her like her visit to her doctor. She had tried many things but the vagina steamer was hilarious.
At home she’s a perfect wife to Mike; wonderful Mom to her two teenage children in their normal rebellious stage and of course the family dog Baxter.
Jess doesn’t feel respected y anyone except her best friends Rachel and Diana and even they are having trouble understanding how she’s feeling it they do try.
Mike makes the mistake of offering to have the family Thanksgiving dinner at their house with Jess doing the cooking without consulting Jess who’s really having trouble but she agrees.
Mikes second even greater mistake happens during family talk at the Thanksgiving table leaving Jess in tears. (I’m sure many of us will relate Jess and her feelings at least I can relate to many situations in this book but love the humour the author manages to create in even awkward situations.) Please listen to the book to hear what did happen at the Thanksgiving table the author really handles it skillfully.
Eventually Jess decides to make a major change in her life and no one in her family supports her even the dog makes his feelings known.
Jess decides to try to follow her career dream of being a lawyer.
I honestly don’t want to give you more of the plot but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book and the narrator honestly brought the author’s words to life in an incredible way both making you laugh and cry but mainly laugh so hard.
This is a great story by Melanie Summers if you love books with humour and the honesty of a women facing the eventual empty nest this is worth the listen and the end is absolute perfection.
Another book like this please Melanie!

Melanie Summers wrote this book for me.

Ya'll can read it too, but I Used To Be Fun hit so many points of my own life. It's the story of a woman, who used to be a person, then got married, supported her husband emotionally and physically as he built his career (aka life), bore children, supported them as they lived their lives, then realized.....is that it? Is that my life? And thanks hormones for showing up and inserting yourself at a time when I am ill-prepared for your presence.

As a kid in the 70s/80s, I grew up in the era of parents home by 5pm, and Mom went from work to home work to bed to work. I vividly recall her reading the newspaper and laughing at one of the few columns penned by a woman - Erma Bombeck. Mom didn't laugh a lot, so I paid attention. Back then, if you wanted to recall or share, you cut things out of the paper to pass around. The females in our family passed around Erma Bombeck columns and laughed. I did not understand at the time how impactful this humorists' words were to women also living the struggle of aging while caretaking.

I thoroughly enjoyed I Used To Be Fun, but it also hurt a little bit because it was so on point. Well done Melanie Summers.

'I used to be Fun' is a sweet, relatable read - even for people who aren't going through the same things as Jess!

Premise: Jess is a 46 year old mom of two who feels unfulfilled in life. When she decides to finally go after her dreams and become a lawyer, her family is less than supportive.

Jess is a flawed protagonist who can be truly immature at times, but is well-written enough to be relatable all the same. I'm 16 years younger than her and not going through the same issues, and yet I felt like I could be in a different life. Despite my issues with the novel, I was really invested in Jess's life.

Jess's family super-sucked though. Her husband was a jerk (I did not find their <spoiler> reunion to be a HEA), her kids were entitled brats (especially Whitney), and her mom's bizarre about-face to become suddenly supportive wasn't believable.

The book starts slow and the ending fell a little flat for me, but the middle was fantastic. Averaging 3 stars (beginning and end) with 5 stars (middle), equals 3.67 and that rounds up to 4 stars for the overall story.

Thanks, NetGalley and Indigo Group, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As someone *gasp* middle age, I totally connected with the main character. My kids are getting older, needing me less and less, so I could relate to the family dynamics of this book.

I loved that this book told the accurate story of a mom. That as much as we love our kids sometimes we want more. Jess is a lost woman at the beginning of the story and we follow along on her journey to find herself. With a few stumbles along the way.

I absolutely loved this book. It was so relatable especially as a stay at home mom. It's hard to feel like your own person with goals and a life outside of raising children. There was a part in the beginning of the book talking about fantasies: Having dreams about warm breadsticks and being a hobo and not having anyone to rely on you are so relatable 🙃

I loved watching the progress of Jess's journey to finding herself. It makes me realize that it's so important to do things for myself outside of my children. I loved the progression of their marriage. It felt so real. This is a book that I could definitely read again.

The narrator had a lovely voice and I felt like it really fit with the character and the story.

Jess has decided to change her life and start doing things for herself and not allow her life to revolve around her family. However, her family is not too happy with her latest decision. Will the torn apart family be able to reconcile? This was a great listen, the narrators did a fabulous job!

Loved this book! This story of a married, middle aged mom of 2 teens that is searching for fulfillment. It is a funny, insightful and relatable to many women.
Jessica chose to be a full-time mom over going to law school and now that her children are teens, she feels like she is missing something. Through the struggle of finding out what she needs to be fulfilled, the relationships with her husband, family and friends is tested.
The author does a great job of conveying each character’s emotions. The teen characters were so spot on it will give you a relatable laugh!
I was given an audio ARC from netgalley for my opinion. Thank you Netgalley!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this audiobook. Maybe I’m out of touch with family drama books but this was horribly whiny. A character that was supposed to be relatable with motherhood and family really became unrealistic. And the ending just for her to changer her mind after he family had to make a drastic change for her 😵‍💫 not cup of tea! There was not an upbeat vibe to this book.

Getting older is tough. I can relate. Working in an environment with much younger people really points out how out of touch you can be. Jess has the same problem but she’s figured out that she needs to do something for herself to be happy again. Through trial and error, many misunderstandings, feelings of inadequacy and being underappreciated, Jess finds herself again and it’s an incredibly satisfying (but very short in relation to the overall story) moment. Highly recommended for those who feel a little lost in the daily shuffle and need reassurance that what you’re doing, no matter what it is, is right.

At fourty-six years old, Jessica realizes that she's feeling deeply unfulfilled. She has a husband, two teenage kids, a dog, a part-time job, a community ... But she lacks purpose. She needs to live for herself, to achieve her full potential, to leave a mark on this world as she always dreamed she would. Jessica knows that she can't keep on living this way : something has got to change.

Oh. Well. That was weirdly relatable ? I loved this book ! It was fun (not whiny at all, considering the topic) but also enlightening and a bit inspiring (not too much though, I still can't believe that I can do anything I want with my life). Jessica and her husband were both very well written characters and the family dynamics was interesting. I don’t know if this is a story for everyone, but if you're a 30+ y.o. woman, chances are that you're gonna like ot as much as I did.

🎧 Audiobook narration : 3/5 nice but maybe a bit too young to play a 46 y.o. ?

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for providing me this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.1

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio ARC. There is nothing fun about this book so the title is accurate. Literally nothing was happening causing extreme boredom and dread of listening to this book.

Being a mom and wife, I related to everything the main character was feeling in this book.

Jessica is a stay-at-home mom with very needy children and a husband that makes her feel unappreciated. She becomes fed up with her family and decides to make changes in her life to fulfill dreams that she had before marriage and family put a halt to those dreams. This book was a raw look at how respecting yourself is the beginning of gaining respect from others.

Jessica, the main character, was not flawless, but her husband and children were awful people. It was difficult not feeling angry while reading this book, because her entire family and friends were incredibly frustrating.
I listened to this book on audiobook and the narrator did a great job.

A big thank you to NetGalley and RBMedia for the Advanced Readers Copy. #NetGalley #IUsedToBeFun

Well, the title is appropriate. Jess is definitely NOT fun (though I can't say that she used to be.)

This was hard for me to read and I seriously contemplated DNFing several times.

I am very good about not allowing myself to stress over things I have no control over. Perhaps that has made me apathetic to those who cannot compartmentalize. Well, not everyone, but people like Jess definitely.

Jess is miserable and hates everything about her life. But basically everything 'wrong' with her life is because she made it that way. She 100% has the ability to change it.

And, I suppose, that is the point- she learns she has to be the one to make changes. But it took her so long to get there and she was such a miserably annoying character, it was tough for me to read.

Tavia Gilbert narrates the audiobook. I have no real opinion- I didn't hate it, but I hated Jess so much, I can't really compound on the narration.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this super relatable book about a 40-something wife and mom of teens who thought, “What could have been,” and decides to make it happen. I loved that it wasn’t cookie cutter and what might have been isn’t always what we hoped it would be. Great character arc for the main character!