I really liked this concept and rooted for Nora every step of the way. Her family had my fuming about 90% of the time, it’s no wonder she felt lost and alone in the before.
This was a 3.8 read for me.

When I read the synopsis, I thought we were going to be taken on this awesome bucket list adventure. However, it's more like she had a near death experience and decided to clean up unhealthy habits with a side of learning to cook and a subplot of gardening and love.

With that, I would definitely check trigger warnings. I was gifted a copy of the audiobook, and there were no warnings. So here are just a few: death(on and off the page) hostage situation, verbal abuse from parents, negative talk about weight, alcohol abuse, suicide and depression.

With all that said, this book is about going to therapy and overcoming the negatives in your life and helping others live a positive life. The subplot of her finding "that guy" was the only thing that kept the story light and although very sweet, I found it hard to root for them when I was rooting for Nora to really find herself.

Overall, it was a good read more on the women's fiction side!

*The audio was fantastic!

This was cute without a doubt, but the way it started off I had REALLY high hopes and unfortunately it petered out a lot. It wasn’t really a romance.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Harper Muse for proving this ALC in exchange for my honest review. Nice Work, Nora November by Julia London is an engaging, funny story. Nora November is a member of the November family and a big disappointment. The book begins when Nora wakes from a coma after a near death experience. She had drowned and was clinically dead for several minutes. Nora had spent her life appeasing her demanding father, and she struggled with severe depression. Once she recovers, Nora is determined to begin to really live her life. She creates a reverse bucket list - a list of things she wanted to accomplish after she died. The list included reconnecting with her sister, helping her alcoholic cousin, finding another job, and finding a man she had connected with during a hostage situation. This book is the story of how Nora works through her list with strength and determination to find a life of her own choosing, filled with love and acceptance and found family. It was an inspiring book about a woman with a history of depression who found a new lease on life and a happily ever after. The narration was great and I was drawn in quickly to the story. I loved everything about Nora, Jack, and the secondary characters who made the story so colorful and amusing. I would definitely recommend this audiobook for listeners who enjoy contemporary romance and women’s fiction. The mental health representation was very positive. I am very glad that I got the opportunity to listen to it.

Nice Work, Nora November
Get Lit ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

After a near-death experience leaves her clinically dead for a few minutes, Nora awakens with a profound sense of purpose. She decides to create a “reverse bucket list,” letting go of negativity and embracing new hobbies and friendships.
Meanwhile, before her accident, Nora met a man who made her believe in love at first sight. Now, she’s on a quest to find him while ticking off items on her bucket list and trying not give up on her new life even when things don’t go according to plan.

The Characters:
Nora, a terrible lawyer; a group of senior thespians; a pretentious family; and the guy she met during the corner store robbery 😳

Thank you @netgalley @julia_f_london for this ARC. Loved it!

Nice Work, Nora November is simply delightful from start to end. When faced with an NDE (Near Death Experience), Nora is compelled to make big changes in her life. This means going against her overbearing father, her reprimanding, high-society mother, and deconstructing her life in all the ways that no longer served her. Unbeknownst to her, a love story is playing out in a beautifully parallel manner until, at last, their paths cross. I highly recommend this fun, summer read!

I think most people can relate to needing to occasionally reevaluate their life, their purpose, and making changes to live a life full of joy. After surfing accident in which she experiences a near death experience (NDE) Nora decides to create a "reverse" bucket list. It's got a great "found family" vibe, which Nora needs because her family is the pits. Vacker did a great job with the narration and although it was a little predictable at times I really enjoyed this.

Thanks to NetGalley and Juliea London for a review copy.

4 Stars

This was such a good story! Nora wakes up after a near death experience with a new lease on life. We get to follow along as she figures out what is important and what isn't. All while she is trying to find the man she got to know during a hostage situation. This book does have some possible triggers. However, even though these are things I do not like to read in a book it was not done in a heavy way. The narrator was amazing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Focus for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

** spoiler alert ** First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
Nice Work, Nora November was about Nora breaking cycles and creating a new life she’s happy with after a near death experience.
This book was rife with triggering material considering its advertised as an uplifting and heartwarming. Just off the top of my head: domestic violence, depression, suicide, homophobia, infidelity. Lack of trigger warnings aside, this book wasn’t super heartwarming OR uplifting in my opinion. It wasn’t a bad book, but she spends a lot of the book talking about her depression and also being depressed. It also sort of annoys me that she finally gets the guy and then all of her life rules. Idk it was a fine book, but I wasn’t crazy about it. It’s also a little problematic that she has a failed suicide attempt and suddenly she’s cured?? With a handful of therapy visits before she can’t go anymore?? Hello??? I didn’t hate this but I certainly didn’t love it and it would probably be better received by people who aren’t mentally ill themselves.
3⭐️

Dare I say this book is in the same league as the other queens for general fiction/ romance, Emily Henry or Ali Hazelwood? I loved this book so much and loved the message. This book majored in Nora finding herself and minored in Nora finding love. Which is my favorite. I love when the FMC finds herself and finds someone who adds to her story not makes the story about them. This was a great book about loving your life.

I received the audio version of this book and the narrator is Karissa Vacker. Dare I say she reminds me of the Julia Whelan (my favorite audiobook narrator ever)?? This is one of my new favorite books.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus for the audiobook of Nice Work, Nora November! Out now!

I completely loved the book.
It deserves so so much more than five stars.
It just became one of my all-time favorites. I loved this.
I just wanted to keep reading.
Finally a cute and sweet romance that doesn't involve romance problems. I've been waiting and needing a book like this for years. I loved it. It was so good.
The main character connects so much with the reader because she is just a normal person doing what she can. And the love interest is super sweet, and he's also trying ways to feel better. Both characters try to deal with the challenges in their lives, despite them having different circumstances, but they try to look for happiness and make it their own. Which is so good.
We have time to get to know the characters individually and love them, before the romance starts, and is so sweet.
I loved the romance, it was one of the best things ever, the little things that connected them, even without them knowing, their being invested in the same thing despite the different ways, this whole destiny romance filled my heart with love.
I really loved the book, I completely recommend it to everyone who wants a good romance, both romantic and about the evolution of the character's love for herself.
Just the best.

And the narrator was the best. Through her voice I could feel the emotions of the characters, and feel more connected to the book. Was really the perfect smooth voice, that don't let you put the book down.

🎧AUDIO REVIEW🎧
📚Nice Work, Nora November by Julia London
🎤Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was such a delightful story despite the hard & difficult issues that are discussed throughout the book. Nora November has an NDE, near death experience, in which she actually dies, clinically dead after drowning. This experience changes Nora's whole perspective on life. She realizes she's been unreliable & selfish to family members & friends. Determined to make a difference in her life & change situations & relationships, she makes a "Reverse Bucket List" of items, things she wished she would have done BEFORE she died with the hopes of finding more joy, happiness & freedom in life.

She wants to learn to cook, strengthen her relationship with her sister, plant a garden, play basketball & find the man she had a "soulmate" connection with during a hostage situation. She's determined to do all this despite her chronic issues with depression.

🎧Let's talk narration: This book was narrated by the incredibly talented Karissa Vacker. Honestly, this was one of the reasons I wanted to listen to this book. Vacker is masterful at creating voices for quirky characters, creating humor & showing all the emotions the characters are going through. She has such a light & airy voice that is so easy to listen to. She is absolutely SPECTACULAR as Nora. Vacker makes you wanna cheer for Nora, cry with her during the difficult times & showcases the vulnerability, pressure & hope she feels about her new happy outlook on life. She's an absolute delight to listen to.

It's certainly an emotional journey for Nora as she tries to reconcile toxic relationships & prioritize the important things to her. It's a hard journey but this story is so heartfelt & hopeful. And ultimately, Nora finds her way to happiness. I loved this audio & highly recommend listening to this book!

CW: suicide attempt, infant SIDS death (occurs off page in past), depression, alcoholic side character

Thank you NetGalley, Harper Muse and author Julia London for the advanced listening copy. This was such a treat to listen to!

I gave this audiobook a 4 star rating. I really enjoyed the narration of the story and really liked the character Nora who was the main female character. She was super likeable and relatable. The way she needed to find herself is very relatable and inspiring. I would recommend this in audiobook.

Nice Work, Nora November, written by Julia London and narrated by Karissa Vacker, is such an entertaining listen. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the narrator, Kariss Vacker. Her voice is just so good. She is able to voice both characters so well, and I really did not want to stop listening to this one.

Nora November has a near death experience that changed everything. She no longer wants to be the person she was before and creates a "reverse bucket list." She has goals, like ditching her high-paying, high-profile job at the family law firm and tending to her grandfather's garden. Additionally, she really wants to reconnect with the man she met one fate-filled night during an armed robbery at a local corner store.

As Nora tends to her grandfather's garden and when Nora tries and fails at both cooking and basketball, Nora learns more about herself and her needs. She also realizes she neglected as well as was neglected by some of the most important people in her life.

I loved listening to Nora accomplish her goals while standing up for herself and doing things that made her happy. This was a very sweet story. I definitely recommend. It is easy-breezy for the most part and could definitely be devoured while under a large umbrella while sipping something with a little umbrella (maybe a little ocean breeze too).

Thank you to NetGalley and HarpersCollin Focus for this advanced audio copy of Nice Work, Nora November in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Fun listen! 4.25 stars .

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, publisher, and narrator for an ALC in exchange for an honest review

Much thanks to Julia London, HarperCollins Focus, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

To preface---I've been battling chronic depression for nearly twenty years now. Well, that's how long I've been on antidepressants; the depression itself likely started before that. I've been going through a really debilitating bout of it for the last six months or so. I was very curious to see if Nora and I had a lot in common.

And I wanted to love this book. I so, so did. It was uplifting, it was engaging, it was well-paced, I loved the characters.

But....it's not what it thinks it is. It thinks it's a book about a woman who fights depression and overcomes it, changing her life for the better.

Sorry, no. This book has no idea what it's talking about.

Where was the crippling depression in the narrative? Nora had a few doubtful moments, a few misgivings, some short bouts of low self-worth, a boat load of guilt, but I didn't see much depression. Nora seemed pretty ordinary to me, with short-lived low moods that everybody gets. In exposition she described depression pretty well---"Days of feeling like her body was filled with lead and suffocating under the weight of it. Days when depression gripped her in a vice and wouldn't allow her to generate the slightest bit of energy. She'd felt empty and useless and like an abject failure. Her life had felt completely out of her control"---but we never saw that.

Because the story's about her "after" life---after her near-death experience, which unearths her confidence. Direct quote. (Well, no, verbatim it's: "And then, somehow, in the aftermath of a terrible accident, her confidence had been unearthed")

So according to this book, depression is a lack of confidence, and dying will cure that.

Yes, it is suggested that:

1. Dying is a successful way to fight depression. Dying will completely change your brain chemistry so that you feel an inner peace and drive you've never felt before.

2. You're not successfully fighting depression if you're not making huge changes in your life and taking on responsibilities that will bring several new layers of stress to your life. Because if you're depressed, you need to try harder and do more, you lazy, self-centered bum.

Overall, this book seems to suggest depression is a choice. An attitude. And that is false.

This is not a story about a woman overcoming her depression. It's just another women's fiction about a self-perceived fuck-up gaining confidence in herself, while also being about a woman dissatisfied with her life making changes to become satisfied. And it utilizes the nearly-dying-sparks-epiphany trope. And at that, it's excellent! If depression had been left out of it, I'd have rated it five stars.

But as it is, it will only perpetuate the misconception plaguing mental illnesses.

Then again, maybe Nora didn't seem to have depression because her antidepressants were working. If so, I need to know what she's on.

Nora was dead but is given a second chance and she has to now use this chance to make her life better in her “After”. Her before was miserable and so she needs to make real changes to live a better and happier life. This also means finding the man she really liked but never called, being a better sister and cousin, tending to the garden her grandfather left her and finding a job that she loves. Nora has been living under the shadow of who her parents expect her to be and not who she is and it’s time she come out into the sun.

This was an interesting novel to read because it explored really hard and dark topics but was written in a light handed way (not disrespectful, just lighter than one would normally expect). The novel was essentially about depression, alcoholism and abuse but the way it was written you felt in a way like you were almost reading a rom com. I want to say that I enjoyed it but I almost feel bad saying it - Nora spent the entire novel trying to break free from her depression but the story never felt particularly heavy. I write with the caveat that I have never experienced clinical depression so I don’t know if someone who has would find this book appropriate but I enjoyed reading Nora’s journey of self discovery. The novel didn’t necessarily always ring true (too many situations seemed out there to me) but the book engrossed me while I was reading it and I was rooting for Nora. The audio was excellent and I actually offered to make my daughter a main course for her potluck because I wanted to keep listening (plus teens never have a protein when they do potluck).

3.75 Stars

Thank you to HarperCollins Focus and NetGalley for the ARC to review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you, thank you, thank you HarperCollins Focus - Harper Muse and NetGalley for this perfect audiobook.

I really didn´t expect something like this.
Nice Work, Nora November presents itself like our friendly usual rom-com, but it´s much much more.

Nora died. She was considered dead for minutes, and when she came back, she knew her life could not continue as it was.
Before she struggled with depression, before she was in a job she hated, before she was fading away from life.
But now, she is in the After, and she will live at her best, care for the people around her, and find new passions and hobbies.

Unfortunately, it´s not that simple. Nora knows what she wants, but depression is a disease she will always have to battle, her family legacy is the only job she always knew and apparently, she cannot cook or garden, at all.

This book had so much mental health representation and it was done beautifully. I would still consider it as a ´light´ because the author manages the impossible.
Julia London writes about depression and loss, alcoholism, and burnout in a super delicate way, that sometimes made me smile even though the heaviness of the scene.
I loved how she didn´t redeem some characters who were too far away from redemption. It´s so classic in a book with a dysfunctional family that eventually the parents, or whoever it is the toxic part, have a change of heart and redeem themself, but London doesn´t do it. Nora´s father is a narcissist and so many other things and he will always be. Nora´s mother lived for what other people think of her and arriving at 60 with that mentality it´s difficult to change overnight, so she doesn´t.
And even Nora, after such a changing experience comes back in full swing, but she fails, and fails, and fails again, because that is life. Life is difficult.

Jack's character was refreshing and I even love how their love story didn´t really happen, but was just there, waiting to be found.
It´s funny how the two main characters actually never directly interact in the present and how they really just interacted once in the past. They are so utterly perfect for each other that it was obvious they were going to make it.

Regarding the audiobook, I love Karissa Vacker's voice and I have zero complaints. In this case, I didn´t even mind there wasn´t a male voice actor, because this book wasn´t written as a love story for two people, this book was about how complicated it is to be in this world and how easily we can be sinking in something we hate and fear.

I have conflicting emotions about this book. It is narrated from the parallel perspectives of the main character and the man she becomes infatuated with at the corner store during a robbery. Nora is grappling with finding her path, and the majority of the book delves into her transformation from a state of brokenness to one of renewal.

It's important to note that this book contains numerous triggers. The character has endured significant physical and mental hardships. I had anticipated a romantic comedy and a light summer read, so while the writing was commendable, it didn't align with my expectations.

Nice Work, Nora November
By Julia London
Narrated by Karissa Vacker
Pub date June 4, 2024
HarperCollins Focus
Romance / women’s fiction / depression / near death experience (NDE) / dysfunctional family
5 stars

Nora November has a second chance at life after a surfing accident leaves her clinically dead for a few minutes. She doesn’t remember anything about the accident or even why she went surfing. She does remember that during her time in a coma she was with her grandfather who had passed away. She also remembers feelings of regret for things she always wanted to do but never did. Now that she has a second chance at life, she makes a reverse bucket list and starts living life in a new way.

She remembers before the drowning being in a hostage situation with others and one particular man that she made a connection with but never followed up on. Her depression kept her from pursuing that relationship. Now with a new lease on life she is determined to find him and reconnect. She also signs up for cooking classes and gardening.

This is a heartwarming story told in dual POV between Nora and Jack, the man she was held hostage with in a corner store. The story isn’t so much a romance as much as about family drama and depression. Julia London does an excellent job of adding humor to the story while keeping some suspense of how the two will eventually meet.

While it does deal with lots of issues including suicide, depression, alcoholism, child death, dysfunctional family relationships and a hostage situation, there is humor and heartwarming relationships. However, it is not about a romantic relationship, but about her searching for a man she remembers and living life in a new frame of mind.

I enjoyed the story but I felt like the ending was rushed and anticlimactic. The characters are all well developed and defined even though most are not likable. I think this story is mostly about Nora’s journey to redefining herself and our male main character dealing with working with hospice patients.