ɴᴇᴛɢᴀʟʟᴇʏ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ || NICE WORK, NORA NOVEMBER [thank you to publisher and @netgalley for my #gifted digital & audio copy!]

Title: Nice Work, Nora November by Julia London
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Format: audio
Star Rating: ★★★☆☆
Narrator: Karissa Vacker
Narration: ★★★★☆

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ:
After nearly dying in a surfing accident, Nora November creates a "reverse bucket list" to accomplish the dreams she neglected while living on autopilot. Burdened by a high-pressure career and chronic depression, she now seeks to fulfill aspirations like learning to cook, tending her late grandpa's garden, and reconnecting with a man she was briefly and intensely connected to during a traumatic hostage situation. With a renewed sense of purpose, Nora embarks on a journey to live life to the fullest.

ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
This was a mostly enjoyable listen! However, at multiple points in the story, I wanted to shake Nora and yell, “What are you doing?!” She seems to take two steps forward and then three steps backward through the entire novel. But I did enjoy the relationships that she developed and the parts of herself she discovered along the way.

ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Bucket Lists
Books about Self-Discovery
Low Key Romance
Closed Door Romance
Mental Health Representation
Toxic Family Drama

ᴅᴇᴛᴀɪʟꜱ:
GR: 3.94 ⭐️
# of Pages: 368
Pub Date: June 4, 2024

Nice Work, Nora November, is a fictional book written by Julia London. I feel like this is a hard book to describe, there were parts that were “feel good” and other parts that made me feel lots of emotions. I did not know much about this book before reading it; the cover and title drew me in, but I really enjoyed it! Definitely would recommend trigger warnings for depression/mental health discussion, as well as alcohol abuse.
I loved the characters in this book, and the multiple storylines. I feel like the ending really came together which I appreciate, and I really admired the main characters strength in her relationships with her parents and family. I definitely recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley and to the author and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A must summer read! There are some harsh realities in this book, alcoholism, mental health, suicide mainly. But they are addressed well and don’t take away from the fun book that this is! Nora has decided she needs a change. She rebuilds relationships with family, finds self love, finds new love and a whole crew of elderly ex broadway stars that need a leg up! The garden is a great catalyst for love and friendships. I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advanced copy. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

I found Nora to be insufferable. I did not enjoy this and probably would not have finished if I had't been given a copy.



I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed reading about Nora, a complex woman recovering after a near death experience. Before her experience, Nora was depressed, working at her father’s law firm and failing to live up to his expectations. After her near death experience, Nora creates a reverse bucket list of things she wanted to change and pursue. One item on the list was to find Jack, a man she met while a hostage at a failed robbery. Jack’s story added depth to the story, as did Nora’s relationship with her Grandpa. Recommended for an uplifting read, even as difficult topics of depression and alcoholism are discussed. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

If you died today, what would you regret? Anything? What if you died and were brought back, would you do anything differently? Nora November, the quirky, brave lead character of this book, gets exactly that. A second chance to live life the way she wanted to and never did. She creates a reverse bucket list and attempts to start working her way through the list. However, will her overbearing family and her need to please derail everything and send her back to a depressive cycle of self-loathing or will she find the will power to keep moving forward? Would you?

Great characters with unique personalities that make them even more realistic. A wonderful plot that will delight and entertain you for hours even while dealing with such strong issues such as emotional abuse, alcohol abuse, breakups and depression. The story still manages to come off a light-hearted read with a strong backbone. All I can say is more, more, more! I can't wait to read something else by this author!

I really enjoyed this book. A little darker than I anticipated, especially given the sunshiney cover, but a really great read start to finish. The romance took a backseat to Nora and Jack's individual stories, which I really enjoyed. While this is definitely Nora's story, I liked the bits of Jack's perspective and his own journey that we got as well.

This started out as a cute book with a fascinating premise: Nora cheats death and decides to make changes in her life. But somewhere along the way, it really resonated with me. Maybe it was the fact that while Nora looked professional and put together on the surface since she’s a lawyer, but deep down, she’s a mess. There’s a lot about depression and mental health as well as alcoholism and dysfunctional families but it all comes together so well and makes you cheer for the new Nora. A great read!

What would you do differently if you were given an unexpected second chance at life? That’s exactly the scenario that main character Nora November finds herself in after a near death experience gives her a whole new perspective on life.

As she recovers from nearly dying, Nora starts to think about her life and feels like all she really has is a long list of regrets and missed opportunities. She decides to make it her mission to live a better life moving forward. To accomplish this, she creates a reverse bucket list filled with all of the things she has always wanted to do, including learning how to cook, learning how to take care of her late grandfather’s garden, and perhaps most importantly, try to find a man she felt a deep connection to when a robbery at the corner store forced them into close proximity for hours. He’s the one who got away and Nora deeply regrets not seeking him out sooner.

I really loved everything about this story. Nora’s journey gave me so much to think about with respect to my own life. I think her regrets are just so easy to relate to, which made it all the easier to root for her to accomplish everything on her list, especially finding that second chance at love. The story does tackle some weightier topics such as depression, but it’s also a story that is full of heart and humor.

Because of the way it resonated with me emotionally, Nice Work Nora November is one of my favorite reads of the month and I highly recommend it!

Quirky and heartfelt, Nice Work, Nora November is a funny, yet thoughtfully written book about second chances and learning to live in the present and with intention. Fans of women's fiction will enjoy this read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book Harper Muse through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of Nice Work Nora November. Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me. I loved the idea of the story and Norah’s reverse bucket list idea post death but it kind of fell apart as didn’t the story for me. I didn’t care enough about the characters or Nora’s plight unfortunately to have a connection with the book. Just okay for me.

I was more attracted to the idea of this story than the execution itself. Nora November is declared clinically dead for a few minutes after a surfing accident after which she is revived. The near-death experience prompts her to become more in control of her life and make changes she wouldn't dare to before. The book is centered upon multiple triggering themes like suicide, death, depression, parental abandonment, etc, yet in my eyes, it was very straightforward. The novel is my no means 'light' but I didn't have to think too much to understand the meaning of the story because it was right there. I was rather disconnected from the characters and though I sympathized with them, I was very much a distant bystander. Many aspects of the story were lacking in depth and weren't that intriguing.

While Nora November does an excellent job of showing mental health representation, I struggled to connect with the characters. Following a NDE (near death experience), Nora intends to upend her unhappy existence by working through a reverse bucket list, and first on that list is attempting to connect with the man (Jack) who helped her get through a robbery/ hostage situation in a local convenience store. Told in dual POV, we get glimpses of Jack, his life and experiences, but not near enough time with Jack and Nora on the page together. For some reason, Nora’s heaps of bad luck (surfing accident/ critical father/ job she hates/ robbery) felt a little bit overboard to me. I have a feeling that this is a book that some will love, and I hope it finds its right audience! Thanks to Harper and NetGalley for my gifted ARC!

Nora November suffers a near-death experience after a terrible surfing accident. While clinically dead, she has a visit in the afterlife with her grandfather who passed away over a year ago. Once Nora awakens from her coma, she contemplates her past and present life and decides to make some major changes. In a reverse bucket list - a list of goals she’d like to achieve after she died and came back - she’d like to learn to cook, be a better sister, quit her awful job, bring her grandfather’s neglected garden back to life and find the guy she let slip away.

If you are looking to pick up a light romance with poignant moments this summer, you’ll want to pick up Julia London’s latest novel, Nice Work, Nora November.

This book was moving and heartfelt. It delt with mental health topics really well and I personally felt so seen. This book is definitely a lot but has moments of humor and romance. Overall, I really did like this book.

NICE WORK, NORA NOVEMBER is out in the world, and I couldn't be more thrilled! I have always loved novels by Julia London for her fun characters, humorous dialogue and interactions, and great storylines. With NICE WORK, NORA NOVEMBER, London has taken her writing to the next level. She has tackled difficult issues with both sensitivity and straightforwardness that will have you feeling all the feels for Nora.
Nora was brought back after being dead for several minutes. With a second chance, she realizes it's an opportunity to do all the things she should have done before, so she creates a reverse bucket list. Trying to achieve everything on it is an adventure, and not always a good one as things never go according to plan.
Nice Work, Julia London! I adored Nora November and can't wait for everyone to read it! Now to work on my bucket list.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.

Nice Work, Nora November tells the story of Nora, who at the beginning of the novel is recuperating from a surfing accident; she had an NDE - a near death experience - where she saw her beloved deceased grandfather and dog and felt a calm peace that had been sorely lacking in her life. I enjoyed Julia London's easy-to-read writing style and I was pulled into the story right away. I liked the way that Nora called her pre-accident life her Before and after being discharged from the hospital, she was living in the After. Nora had many regrets in her After about her Before so she made herself a "Reverse Bucket List" and set about to do the things that she regretted not doing, which included finding Jack, the guy she connected with so well but lost his phone number. This novel has a very interesting cast of characters including Nora's aloof mother, her judgmental father, her loving but exasperated sister, her like-a-brother cousin who struggles with addiction, and a slew of senior citizens she meets at her grandfather's community garden plot. I liked it! I both read this novel and listed to an audio version and I really enjoyed the reader's inflections and voices for the characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel - and also an audio - in exchange for an honest review.

I had SUCH high hopes for this. In the beginning it gave vibes that resembled seven year slip, but unfortunately it fell short. I would honestly not class it a romance. Sure they were searching for a person they met once and thought they might love, but that was legit it, they spent one evening in a high stress situation and never met again until the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an entertaining and heartwarming book about a woman who works to reinvent herself and live the life she wants after surviving a Near Death Experience (NDE).

Long Story Short:
The book starts with Nora in heaven talking with her deceased grandpa, with whom she was very close. She wakes up and eventually has an epiphany to make a “reverse bucket-list.” She will do all the things she wanted to do with her life after her NDE. This includes tending her grandfather’s plot in the community garden, rebuilding her relationships with her sister and her cousin, and finding the corner store guy, a man that she connected with during a hostage situation at the corner store several months before her NDE. Unfortunately, her bucket list isn’t easy to accomplish. She stinks at gardening, her family doesn’t trust that they can depend on her, and she can’t even remember the corner store guy’s name. But she perseveres and adapts her list as she learns who she is and what her strengths are.

The Good
Nora and Jack, the corner-store guy, are likable characters that you root for throughout the story. Despite her mishaps, I wanted to keep reading to see her finally succeed at one of her bucket-list goals. It was also inspiring that she kept going throughout her constant battle with depression.

The Bad
My biggest issue was the pacing. We readers see Nora fail at her bucket-list attempts for a good portion of the story, but only the last 10% of the book is dedicated to her successes. I wanted more of that instead of reading about it in a past tense way in the final chapter. I wanted to see her reconnect with Lacey and wave to her mom, and I wanted more of her and Jack together. My other issue was the dual POV. It was mostly Nora, with a little bit of Jack thrown in here and there. I think the story would have been stronger if it was more balanced between the two POVs.

This was a very enjoyable book and my issues didn’t diminish from the joy I felt when Nora finally got her happily ever after. I give the characters and the plot an 8 out of 10 and an overall grade of a B+.

Reading Challenge 2024 - A book with something broken on the cover

3.5 stars. I really liked it! It was a cute story with a happy ending. A feel good happy woman’s romance with some unexpected meaningful moments. Fluffy but somehow also deep. Like you’re drinking that chocolate shake but someone snuck in some vitamins without you knowing. 🤣