This book is about Nora November and after a near death experience, she is working through a reverse bucket list. I appreciated following Nora's quest to change her life for the better. If you're looking for a story where the main character is flawless, this isn't it. As she's trying to improve her life she makes a lot of stumbles along the way. I found myself extending a lot of empathy to her and rooting for her to succeed. I also thought the romantic side plot was cute.

Check trigger warnings on this one as there is a lot of discussion around mental health.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to listen to the arc of this.

All opinions are my own

This was a lot to unpack. You know how they say, "It's about the journey, not the destination." I think that applies to this book. Alot of unpacking of very triggering topics that some may not be able to handle reading about (d3ath, su!c!de, d3ath of parent, depression, etc). It's deep, the author tries to "lighten it up", but again a lot to unpack. Poor Nora has been through so much in every sense of the word. This is her journey to becoming renewed while working through things she wishes she did when she could have. While it's a decent story with deep meanings, I feel like it was a bit stretched out. I also feel the guy from the robbery could've been a great help along the journey, but he comes in at the end. I feel his character could've changed the whole dynamic and helped support Nora through the process of everything, but again, it wasn't written that way. It's a lot, it's deep, and has good deep meanings underneath it all... but it's also a long journey, so I now understand and see why many gave 2-3 star reviews. I enjoyed the premise just execution made it quite extensive to push through.

I received this ARC audiobook from NetGalley and Harper Muse to listen/review. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully listening to this audiobook.

I absolutely adored ‘Nice Work, Nora November’! Nora was a delightful main character, and her zest for life post-NDE was contagious. The writing was captivating, and the narration felt like a perfect fit for Nora.

Post-NDE Nora is brave, compassionate, and determined to be better for those around her. I was desperately rooting for her to find Jack, to gain confidence and pride in who she is, and to thrive in her new (or previously retired) hobbies. Vacker did not shy away from difficult topics, and she has written an excellent representation of what depression is like. Her ease at diving into hard subjects made the characters and their issues feel so much more real.

The romance aspect of this novel was fun, but I was so eager for them to reconnect! The flashbacks were perfect, and I fully believed the feelings the two developed for each other.

‘Nice Work, Nora November’ is a hopeful and inspiring story about finding yourself, love, and redemption. I completely and wholeheartedly recommend this!

Thank you so much to Harper Muse/Harper Colllins Focus and netgalley for the audiobook!

THIS BOOK is like a love song, it was so well written and i cant wait for all my friends and family to read it!!!!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC audiobook for an honest review.

Nora died...then came back with a new perspective to live life differently while pursuing a reverse bucket list. Top of that list is finding the man who "got away." There are two points of views in the story: Nora and Jack. I adored both our main characters and all the side parallel stories and secondary characters leading to the grand reveal. The author did a nice job balancing the sweet and quirky moments with the deeper emotional and darker topics (alcoholism, depression, attempted suicide). While there are lighthearted parts in the story, you could still feel the struggle and conflict throughout. It broke my heart how Nora had to earn the trust of her sister and cousin due to her past unintentional alienation due to her depression. And I have to mention how much I despised Nora's parents!! They truly were horrible human beings...

This is a story of second chances and learning to live life to the fullest. While I enjoyed the romance and was pulling for our couple to finally reconnect and get their happily ever after, the ending felt a little rushed. Still, coming full circle to the "aha moment" made me smile.

The narrator did a wonderful job bringing the story to life!

4.5 stars

Nice Work, Nora November by Julia London
Contemporary women’s fiction with secondary romance focus.
After experiencing a near death situation, Nora November has a whole new outlook. She also has a bucket of regrets and a bucket list of changes or things she wants to do this time around. She wants to learn to cook. Play basketball. And find the man she spent hours with during a hostage situation. This time, she’s going to work against the chronic depression and work towards happy.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook of this book narrated by Karissa Vacker who does a marvelous job on the performance. The pressure and happy come through clearly in the narration, as does the hope. Of course I cried along with Nora in certain points. Her strength also comes through effectively making me cheer her on all that much more. The story is easily followed in this narration, so recommend this format for an effortless but emotional wringing few hours of listening.
I did listen to this at my preferred speed of 1.5.

Nora finds out what’s important to her and goes after it this time around. It’s an emotional journey reconciling those she may have slighted in the before time against new priorities and a happier outlook. It’s not an easy journey but it is heartfelt. And heartbreaking. And ultimately, the feel-good path.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Harper Muse.

This was not the book I was expecting but it was a beautifully written dark book that he had a wonderful lightness to it.
While dealing with a near-death experience, Nora feels a weight of all the things that she wanted to do or wished she could do, but for whatever reason didn't. She has partial memories of her time prior to her accent but no memory of the accident itself. She creates a reverse bucket list to help her grow in different ways.
Though there is a lot of growth and discussion of mental health, depression, narcissism, alcoholism, neglectful and dismissive behaviors, and the struggles that come from dealing with all of these issues, I feel all the discussion was done in a respectful and responsible way while still managing to find the lightness and joy.

#arc
#netgalley
#niceworknoranovember

This was so cute! The premise was unique and fresh, and the writing felt fresh as well.

I loved London's work and look forward to more from her!

I enjoyed the audio narration of this heart-wrenching women’s fiction. The voice and tone of the book appealed to me. While the overall mood is uplifting, Nora is dealing with significant trauma, which made the book darker than I expected. Nora is a people-pleaser with controlling parents, which I always find difficult to read.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Nora November awakens from a near-drowning experience. She had indeed died, but now she's prepared to live life on her terms. Nora, an attorney at her father's law firm, detests her job. It should have been her twin brother working alongside their father, but he passed away as an infant. Struggling with depression, Nora often finds it difficult to cope. She feels she has disappointed her sister and cousin Gus numerous times. Now, she has created a reverse bucket list. During a robbery at a convenience store, she connects with a man, but she hesitates to reach out, believing he deserves better than her. Nora embarks on a quest with her new list: to revive her grandpa's garden and discard all her designer clothes. She resigns from her job to work pro bono for a group of senior citizens. Determined to reconnect, she searches online for Jack, the man from the convenience store. Nora is embracing her own path; despite the many setbacks she encounters along the way.
Nora's dad is not impressed with her new life and her mother keeps trying to get her back in line.

An emotionally driven novel that is also funny. The protagonist, Nora stole my heart and I could relate to her emotions on many levels. This story is full of love, grief and friendship. I loved it!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Nora November had been living the life that her parents had decided she should live. But not only didn't she enjoy it, it depressed her.

She took a vacation and drowned in the ocean during a surfing accident, but she was resuscitated and she survived. After the accident, she was different. She had spoken with her deceased grandfather during her near death experience and slowly, she started doing what she wanted to do. But she wasn't particularly talented. Just about everything she tried, she failed at. No matter what, she kept doing what she thought was right for her.

Serendipitously, many of the things she tried, eventually changed her life for the better. But she struggled mightily to get through the tough stuff. This book deals with serious issues so it won't be for everyone, but I enjoyed it a great deal.

I listened to the audio book. The narrator was great.

With a new lease on life and reverse bucket list in hand, Nora is determined to heal from the things that pulled her under water in the past and hopefully recover every lost opportunity, including love, in the process.

"You can’t grow the good stuff when life is choked out by weeds."

Life is hard and the world is full of assholes. And this book is full of triggers. I critiqued the hell out of the first half while listening to it, not appreciating all the plot holes initially but they filled in beautifully by the end. The "romance" is a sweet secondary storyline, intended to lighten the mood, but the instalove is nauseating even under the circumstances. A garden is my own personal sanctuary so I genuinely enjoyed that role and representation in this story. I honestly think the narration improved my overall rating of this book.

Nice Work, Nora November - Julia London
Genre: Contemporary, Coming of Age, a bit of Romance

What a fun, thoughtful, and delightful read Julia London’s Nice Work, Nora November is. Nora November is recovering from a near drowning experience. She creates an anti bucket list and she tries to overhaul her life which she quickly remembers is just not that happy. She has suffered from depression and has lost strong relationships with some she loves through it - including her sister and cousin. She has met the perfect man as a hostage in an armed robbery and lost his phone number. She hates working as a lawyer in her father’s law firm. She does not follow through on her promise to maintain her late grandfather’s garden plot in a community garden. So…she vows to work on the garden, to learn to cook, to play basketball, to renew relationships, and to find the lost Jake. Her journey has its ups and downs but is a joy to read. The copy I read was narrated by Karissa Vacker who brought Nora to life for me!
And, of course, Nora is what I loved most about this book. I am clearly a character driven reader. Nora is baffled at the beginning of the book; she can’t remember much of what led to her near death experience, but boy is she determined to change her life. She isn’t wallowing so much as figuring out what will make her happy moving forward. And listen, she doesn’t have a built in support system. She has alienated her sister Lacey and her cousin Walter. She has nothing in common with her social climbing, career oriented parents. Oh her dad is deliciously hateful. She misses her grandfather - who accepted her unconditionally - so much. But what is beautiful is that through her chaos and a variety of mishaps, some more serious than others, she builds a new family: Kathleen who harrasses her in the community garden, Willow who is an unwilling partner to her mom at cooking class, Nick from the garden center. And while she doesn’t know it, she is circling closer and closer to Jake who has inherited a garden plot from one of his dying patients. Small world, right? And slowly Nora is working to repair her relationships with Lacey and Walter. I loved all of the people and all of the shenanigans. London expertly develops and manages it all - walking Nora forward in a believable way.
I feel a little bored by my musing on my dislike of change. But gosh, I really do admire Nora’s desire to create a life that she loves. Her depression is portrayed honestly - right down to losing a therapist for insurance reasons - and being shamed over medication. Yet, it does not control the narrative or her life. I love that approach - not lighthearted, but hopeful. I am a huge fan of the list approach. I am list driven. I have always done better at work and on a project with lists. The checking off of items, I love it. And yet, yet, I’ve done few lists in this my first year of being retired from full time work. I’m not a trained counselor, so I won’t try to figure that out, but perhaps a list or two wouldn’t go awry for me. (Dear google, I see the blue underlines for my style choices. I’m doing it anyway.) Finally, I respond to praise - always have; I could explain why, but who has the time? Teacher observations? Way more stressful than the kids and the curriculum. Maybe I do miss the feedback though? Anyway, when Julia London gets us to the “nice work” part of Nice Work, Nora November, I could only think well done. Well done - what a book!

Thank You NetGalley & Harper Collin’s Focus for the audiobook.

Super cute story about creating your own second chances.

I appreciated the clean storyline and the thought of a near death experience making you want to be better.

But I found Nora’s dysfunctional family exhausting, EXHAUSTING. The November family is the kind of family you go no contact with in real life 😬

overall a quick, cute read.

Nora November is a wonderful character. The book deals with tough topics depression, mental health, addiction, family issues and love in such a tender way. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a wonderful job. I loved how the senior citizens had such an impact in the story. I truly enjoyed this book.

Thank you #NetGalley, #HarperCollinsFocus, #HarperMuse, #JuliaLondon, #KarissaVacker and #NiceWork,NoraNovember for the advance audiobook for my honest review.

A near death experience has Nora November re-evaluating her life decisions as she tries to track down the guy that got away and rectify past regrets. Moving, heartfelt and with AMAZING depression and anxiety rep, this book was great on audio and highly recommended for anyone who has struggled with life. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review. Perfect for fans of authors like Rachel Lynn Soloman!

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

I loved this big-hearted, thoroughly sweet book about second chances, fate and what we make of our one - or more - chance(s) at life.

Nora November has just survived a near-death experience (NDE) after drowning in the ocean. The brief time she spent in the afterlife was beautiful, with visits from her grandfather and childhood dog. But it wasn’t her time, and soon she finds herself waking up in a hospital room, where her wealthy, vapid family seems mostly happy to have her back, if only so she can get back to work at the family law firm, an ambulance-chasing outfit that she’s in line to take over one day, though this doesn’t exactly align with her personal values. She also knows that she is a somewhat sorry stand-in for the heir her father actually wanted, her twin brother who died as an infant and is now the name behind much performative philanthropy from her family.

With a second chance at life — time is now divided distinctly into “the before” and “the after” — Nora decides to make a reverse bucket list. What did she want to do before dying that she hadn’t gotten around to? And then she goes for it, all of it, often with stunningly terrible and hilarious results. But hey, she’s trying. And she’s trying hardest to find Jack, the guy she met in a corner store robbery/hostage situation and should have called. She’s trying to find him so hard that her story eventually ends up on the news and Taylor Swift’s social media. Their meet cute and missed connections are delightful. The senior thespian/gardening group with which both become involved separately are delightful. Nora standing up for herself, her values and who she wants to become in “the after” is everything.

There were several moments where I could picture a theater audience standing up and cheering for this heroine. This, much like Nora’s fictional story in the book, would make a great movie. I also want to call out Karissa Vacker’s perfect narration. She is one of the best. This publishes this week on June 4. Thank you, #NetGalley, #HarperCollinsFocus, #HarperMuse and #JuliaLondon for this terrific advance listen!

I am pretty sure that if a book’s title includes a character’s full name then I’m likely to be a fan. I think it all started with Owen Meany. Now Nora November isn’t akin to Owen, but I just wanted to hug her and invite her over. I loved her devil-may-care attitude. More than that, I appreciated the way that it made me contemplate how I would respond to a NDE (near-death experience, ofc). There’s something so contagious about the new Nora’s personality… something that just made me inhale this one! I just reviewed Nice Work, Nora November by Julia London. #NiceWorkNoraNovember #NetGalley

Really enjoyed this story I haven't read anything like this the whole near death experience and searching for herself and changing her life to be who she wants to be not who her parents want her to be. To trying to find this guy she had a once in a lifetime connection with if was a sweet story