I enjoyed reading this book by Jen Lancaster! I loved her early books and then lost track of her books due to work/ motherhood/ life. It was so awesome to see her name pop up with a new book to read!

I enjoyed reading about 2 best friends and their widening circle of friends as well as them joining the Fearless group and tackling some of their fears and learning what is important in life. Overall, a great book!

Do you feel stuck in your life? Are you a people pleaser and feel like a doormat? Do you want to get over your fear and have a more fulfilling life? Well, Emily and Liv do and this book is their story on how they are stuck in the hamster-wheel that is everyday life and they can't figure out how to get out. One day just takes the next and the next and so on.

Emily Nichols is a university professor who is teaching environmental science, a subject she was so involved with, protesting and standing on up for the Amazon, chaining herself to trees for days in protest. It is still her passion, but a past tragedy dealt her a hard blow and current living circumstances as sucked the spark out of her.

Olivia 'Liv' Bennett lives in a house with her hypochondriac mother and older sister and her twins, and her family exploits her to a painful degree and her employers and coworkers are even worse. She has her dream job but her living situation and workplace has worn her down.

Both women are stuck and they acknowledge a change is needed, but they don't know how to break the vicious cycle that is their daily life. It is toe curlingly relatable, so when they join Fearless, Inc. I cheered them on, along with the other misfits in their group, each with their own impediment tripping them up in life. They come from all walks of life, and they all have one relatable fear holding them back, so if you can't relate to Emily or Liv, you can likely relate to one of the others.

Following the journey of self-improvement of our everyday heroines is intriguing and the challenges are hilarious. To get out of a slump something big and uncomfortable needs to happen, to push the boundaries needed to create the momentum to make the changes they need in life. I may have <s>seal clapped</s> applauded a few times when this group of strangers came together and faced their fears by building each other up.

I loved the pop culture references that peppered the story! Some might have gone over my head but having Liv quoting Encanto when she mentions not talking about cousin Bruno made me involuntarily laugh out loud.

Despite it being a lighthearted story of breaking the mold and becoming a better you, the story still tackled the heavy subject of climate change, seen and experienced through Emily's POV. Fear itself is also an intrinsic part of the story. Zeus, their teacher, tells Emily something really thought provoking:

"Fear is self-perpetuating, and it's the biggest problem we face as a society. Fear is why we hide behind our cameras instead of acting when we see something bad going on. Fear is why so many are sheep instead of sheepdogs. The wolves thrive on fear. They cultivate it. Fear is why we don't know our neighbours. Fear is what closes us off from outsiders. Fear keeps us stuck, keeps us crouched behind the couch in the dark. Fear keeps us isolated and alone. And the pandemic? That took our collective fear to an entirely new level."

If that's not something to think about, I don't know what is. It is definitely something I will be remembering long after I've read this book.

4 stars

Wanted to like this more.
Thanks author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

The Anti-Heroes is a funny yet thought provoking book about people who are surviving but not thriving in their lives. Emily and Liv are best friends who are in the wrong place at the wrong time when an armed robber tries to hold up a coffee shop. One woman in the shop takes down the robber, and her quick act of bravery inspires all the other people in the shop to want to be like her. She tells them that her take charge mindset and quick response came from taking a class, which serves as a call to action for the rest of the people there. They all sign up for the class, too, and learn how to overcome the obstacles that are holding them back in life. In the end, this crazy band of misfits form a tight bond and help each other become better versions of themselves...under the instruction of a huge, muscled, UFC-fighter looking man with a serious addiction to Taylor Swift and exotic birds.

The book is lively and entertaining though heavy on social messaging, just an FYI for people weary of finding talking points when wanting to escape into a good book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little A for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little A for the ARC and chance to review this one, not out till fall.

I loved this spirited, wacky story about a group of sad sacks trying to get their shit together. It was light-hearted, a little absurd, very funny and heartfelt all rolled into one silly adventure. As always, I love a book (or show, or movie, or whatever) about mostly good people mostly doing their best, with a dash of humor and this definitely fit that bill.

4 grown man Swiftie selfies 🤳🤳🤳🤳

Jen Lancaster's "The Anti-Heroes" is a brilliantly funny and heartwarming novel that captures the essence of reinvention and fearless living. Emily and Liv, two best friends stuck in life's ruts, find themselves on a wild, self-help adventure led by the charismatic Zeus. Lancaster's sharp wit and relatable characters make this book a joy to read. It's an inspiring and laugh-out-loud journey that reminds us to embrace life's challenges and live boldly. Fans of Lancaster’s previous work will find her signature humor and warmth in abundance.

The Anti-Heroes by J. Lancaster, published by Little A, is a witty and fun stand alone.
Emily, a former tree hugger and now living in a condo, teaching at college and her best friend Liv, a people pleaser witnesssing an attempted crime. Impressed with a yoga mom, thgey sig up for a class hoping instructor Zeus will reinstore their old ways and glory.
An entertaining story, well written, funny, sometimes hilarious, a fantastic read.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I am a forever Jen Lancaster fan, read them all! Was so happy to get an early copy of this one and it did not disappoint! We follow two women, Emily and Liv. Each in their own ruts of life and not sticking up for themselves. When they go through a traumatic experience together at a local coffee shop, they become even more bonded with the addition of the others in the room. We watch them each work together to conquer their fears through an unconventional "course". Also loved the Taylor Swift references! That epilogue though! What is next?!!!

The Anti-Heroes by Jen Lancaster is a book that made me laugh and made me think about my own life, as I'm about the same age as the main characters.

Emily Nichols and her friend, Liv, witness an attempted robbery that is stopped by a mom with a stroller while they didn't do anything to help. Emily, who once was an activist who protested, was shot with water cannons and stood up for the underdog is shaken that she didn't do anything.

When the mom who stopped the attempted robbery says that her yoga classes helped her prepare, Emily and Liv, start going to Fearless Inc. and hope that Zeus, the instructor, can help them find their old selves again.

I enjoyed this book so much because it captures what we let go (most of us, anyway) as we age and does it through laughter and humor. It was a hoot and I didn't want it to end.

Get this book, you won't regret it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in consideration for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

There were some really solid laugh out loud moments and I really enjoyed this book. Apparently this author is even funnier in her non fiction books so I’m going to have to check those out! I enjoyed our main characters with Liv being my favorite character! The friendship between Emily and liv was a lot of fun to read about!

Impressive title and cover art. I like to read Jen's writing, but I seem to prefer her non-fiction over these novels. The author wrote the characters well, and I liked them but didn't love them. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I can’t think of another book that made me laugh out loud so consistently.

** I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review **

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of this book! I was so excited to see one of my favorite authors with a new book coming out. I have been a huge fan of Jen Lancaster, Bitter is the new black is one of my all-time favorite non-Harry Potter books. I feel like Jen Lancaster‘s memoirs peaked with the first one and then when she started to write fiction, those books just got better and better. Well, friends, this is the best Jen Lancaster fiction novel yet!

She writes dialogue so well, and I love when she combines a rag tag team of characters all fighting towards a common goal. I don’t want to give away too much beyond that, but some of the lines had me laughing out loud. This story follows two friends, one of whom is a realtor and the other is an environmental studies professor at Northwestern. Side note: All of Jen Lancaster‘s books are such a love letter to Chicago. It is so hard to write dialogue well, in a way that is funny, and she is just a master of it. As a bonus, I learned a lot about climate change while reading this book through the impassioned narrative of one of our main characters. Man, you guys, most of you don’t even remember when Jen Lancaster used to be an Alex P Keaton Republican. a Reagan Republican. In some books that are mostly funny, the characters tend to be quirky, but one dimensional. That is not the case here. The characterization is great over the course of the book.

Really enjoyable! Yay!

Jen Lancaster is a funny writer. Her fiction books though just are not as funny as her non-fiction ones. I liked the idea of Liv and Emily getting over their fears and there were different ways they went about it but this book was not a big hit for me, it was just okay.