I ate this short story collection up. As a mother, I liked that a lot of these stories were about motherhood. I also liked that the author really covered a lot of different topics and situations. Some of the stories were a little out there, but I think that was fun and I genuinely enjoyed all of the stories. I look forward to reading more from this author.

3.5 stars

This collection of short stories is filled with unlikeable female main characters (my fav). Each one was struggling with different obstacles but all in relation to motherhood; career, pandemic, sex life, family, fame, breakups, infidelity, and more. I found some of them relatable especially when it came to how women are treated (generally and in the work place/by men) but had a hard time relating a lot of the time bc I am not a mother and have never experienced motherhood. I did love how the author included the dark inner thoughts of the fmcs throughout the stories and when they made bad decisions you could understand maybe why they would do it. It takes a special talent to make an unlikeable character relatable and to make the reader feel empathetic towards them. I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I could’ve related more but that’s nothing against the author I’m just not a mother. Overall I did enjoy this collection and it was a quick and easy read. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the arc of this book!!

A short story collection about motherhood, children, finding yourself in the chaos of abdominal kicks and working as a tired and depleted woman.
A father who won’t leave a timeshare even for his pregnant twin daughters, lusting over the shirtless neighbor during Covid, a single mother living on a Dino ranch, a cat who soaks everything with its leaky eyes… all of these stories had their own unique tone and feel, even though the underlying message of motherhood was the focus.
Fast paced, full of feminine rage and unbridled sex appeal; this is a solid collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of these thoughts and opinions are my own.

As most short story collections net out, some of these were hits and some of these were duds. I felt like the blurb and the art drew me in (mid 20’s single woman) and the target audience should be higher like mid 30s married woman. With that being said the writing was great, and the story telling was great.

I enjoyed reading this short story collection! In every story the main character was a mother, or expecting, and they talked about the struggles of parenthood or work/life balance. This book made me think, there are so many struggles with motherhood and the book doesn't really glaze over them.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC!

(3.5/5, rounded up)
The very last story saved this from just being 'meh' (bumped it from 3 to 3.5), made my jaw drop and brought my hand to my forehead. I'm a sucker for a solid full circle moment and Naomi Wood is clearly full of them - she nails it, but not in cheesy, obvious ways. & That's rarely done anymore, IMO.

The insights on motherhood are refreshing and raw, sometimes unconventionally so (which I liked even better).
I wish I could have read this before becoming a mom so that I'd be able to revisit it again after having my son; I'm so curious what I'd have identified with even before sharing a role with the characters.

My one major complaint is that I have 0 clue what almost all of the French words/sentences/phrases meant, and for once I felt like it really did make me miss out on fairly important pieces (can't be sure though, for obvious reasons).

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Naomi Wood and publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!}

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things is a solid collection of short stories primarily about motherhood, but also about failed relationships, rage, desire, jealousy, and managing with life in general.

I thought all the stories meshed well together and none of them were completely boring or felt out of place. Although motherhood is a common thread through all of them, I didn't think that it was necessarily the focus or point of each story. The weakest stories were "Dracula At the Movies" about a film director who wishes to use the real life story of an actor's dead sibling and "Dino Moms" which, while I appreciate the absurd, I was extremely confused about what was happening.

"Flatten the Curve" was an excellent look at what life during COVID felt like (although granted, this takes place in the UK so as an American I can't entirely relate to the strict guidelines). I also enjoyed "Peek-A-Boo" which while motherhood was in there as an aspect, the story is really about coping with a stubborn, irrational, aging parent. "A/A/A/A" also stood out with how much I could sense the betrayal and disappointment of the protagonist. I felt similarly while reading "Wedding Day"

I was unclear if motherhood was supposed to be an overarching theme somehow because in some of these stories the characters are pregnant I guess just to get "being a mom" in there even though it's not the main focus. It didn't take away though from the writing, it just seemed interesting because while motherhood is a large aspect of womanhood, quite obviously it is not the only aspect and I think we all know by now that being pregnant or a mom is not needed to make a woman compelling or have a story worth sharing.

I love a good cohesive collection of short stories and this definitely fits the bill. I'd absolutely read a full length novel by this author.

Many thanks to Mariner Books and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

Despite not being a mother myself, Naomi Wood did such a good job on making me feel included. It's a very mother-centric book with mothers in all the short stories, but you're still able to resonate with the characters. But, to some extent the characters felt off? almost very monotoned. Either way, not bad at all!! I’m just not the target audience here.

I am new to Naomi Wood's writing and thoroughly enjoyed this collection of stories about bad mothers and wild women. Men are more or less an afterthought in these stories, and instead, women and all of their questionable choices take center stage. There's a lot to chew on here and even more to laugh (even if uncomfortably) about.

I enjoyed this whole collection while on vacation with both my kids and my mother, which was basically the perfect backdrop for these biting short stories. Highly recommend!

As a newbie to Naomi Wood’s stories, I took a bit of a rollercoaster ride through her short story collection. The writing is definitely polished, and each tale flows into the next seamlessly. Wood’s got a knack for crafting intricate plots and bringing characters to life vividly.

But here’s the thing: as well-crafted as they were, I struggled to really vibe with the stories on a personal level. The characters, while interesting, felt a bit distant, like there was this invisible wall between their world and mine. It made it hard to dive deep into their lives and feel fully immersed.

Each story had its own unique journey, and I appreciated that. But there was this intangible something missing that kept me from really connecting. It left me feeling somewhat disconnected overall, which was a bit of a letdown.

Still, you can’t ignore the good stuff. Wood’s prose is elegant, and the way she strings together the stories kept me turning pages, even if I didn’t feel that emotional tug. If you’re into well-crafted short stories with a twist, this collection might still be up your alley.

Appreciate the opportunity to read this! It was a good book, not great but also not bad. I recommend giving it a chance if the synopsis sounds good to you!

The stories are hilarious, biting, and full of women who are done playing nice. They dig into failed sisterhood, sketchy parenting, and the ugly truths of modern love. It’s all about how society expects women to behave and what happens when they just… don’t.

This is a refreshing anthology that highlight motherhood, womanhood, and the complexities of being pregnant in the workforce and in society. I enjoyed how Wood did not shy away from exploring all aspects of womanhood, and all types of women. My only critique is that the last short story, which features a mother and daughter reality show with dinos, feels just slightly too far out. I can appreciate that this story was an attempt to comment on the performative aspect of motherhood, but the difference of this story compared to the others, I believe makes it a little difficult to grasp.

A short volume of nine short stories. COVID informs most of them, which I could get with, but most were stories of pregnancy and/or involved new mothers so I couldn’t really relate. Not bad at all, I’m just not the target audience here.

My favorite was “Dino Moms” which follows a woman and her daughter who live in a real life “Jurassic Park” reality show. Some nice quotes: “Wasn’t she meant to be our diversity intern.” “She’s South African.” “She’s WHITE.” “Cal was vegan. There was little that could be done about that either.”

A collection of short stories about women existing, flourishing, and barely making it through their lives while managing children, jobs, husbands, lovers, parents, etc.

I enjoyed reading this short story collection! In every story the main character was a mother, or expecting, and they talked about the struggles of parenthood or work/life balance. Some of the stories had some unsettling undertones to them, some talked about COVID, and a lot of them had absent/missing father figures.

My favorite story was the last one, Dino Moms, which takes a Jurassic-esque park where moms and daughters are "doctors" to these dinos, and live in the park as well. There is only one story I kind of glazed over (it was getting way technical), otherwise I was able to read this collection in one sitting.

This book has me thinking, and I like that in books. There are so many struggles with motherhood, the book doesn't really glaze over them. The stories can all be set in the same universe, and some of them ran together, but they all had different messages and a different issue at hand.

Overall, I enjoyed a few of the short stories, but this has also got me thinking about motherhood. It was my first book by this author, and I would be interested in reading more in the future.
Content warnings: sexual content, toxic relationships, loss of a loved one

This was 3 stars for me!

The short stories were well written but I just couldn't connect with them personally. I enjoyed the journey of each character but there was something within the stories and characters that didn't click with me. This made my overall experience with my first Naomi Wood novel a blah moment.

It was still enjoyable in regard to the writing style and the overall flow of each story.