What a treat it has been reading the delightful The Fecking Fabulous Forties Club: 4 stars

We read the book through Rebecca's POV and her life at forty-six. She is a mother of twin boys, divorced, and has a wisecracking mum of seventy-six. Of course, the most critical being in her life is Daniel, her cocker spaniel. Her lifelong abiding friendship with Niamh (I am very proud to say that I could pronounce this beautiful Irish name like it should be read: Nee-ev) and Laura. The book reads like we are privy to Rebecca's personal thoughts and inner monologues. She is a wonderful, dutiful daughter, a doting mother, and a devoted friend. Her friendship with Niamh and Laura forms a critical aspect of the book. However, her friendship went awry with Laura during her divorce from Simon about a decade ago, and the book further delves into that.

What I loved about the book is the authentic and relatable aspects, such as a perpetual fear of parents' health and their wellbeing. I was mainly able to relate to the part where she would pick up her phone the moment her mum would call and pray that all was ok. When she called out for her mum, and there was no response, her brain went into the worst what-if scenarios. Although I am a couple of years away from hitting forty, the concerns and worries were poignant and genuine. As a reader, I felt heard and seen because I have felt these similar pangs of fear regarding my parents. There does come the point in life when suddenly some of your friends are bidding goodbyes to their parents; your anxiety is at an all-time high, thinking, has the countdown begun for my parents? I appreciate how the author speaks of this fear.


When we read about Rebecca's father's passing and the emotional aftermath, it's impossible not to feel a twinge of heartache. I commend the author for her deft use of humor to guide her readers back to the light-hearted tone of the book. The humor in the book is not just a relief from the heavier themes but also a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

When her closest friend loses her mother to cancer, Rebecca starts reassessing her life. This holds true for a lot of us; a life-altering event, a sudden and tragic loss of a loved one, makes us want to take a back seat and look at the larger picture; similarly, losing her dear friend's mother prompted Rebecca to reevaluate her own life and relationships.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read the fourth wall break. It was a clever narrative device that allowed the character to directly address the reader, creating a more intimate reading experience.

Overall, I felt I was reading Rebecca's diary. Although we only get her perspective on everything, from aging, menopause, losing a parent, endless worry about the wellbeing of the other parent, and worrying about children and her friendships, maybe having a different perspective would have given it a more well-rounded reading experience; nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The humor and cultural references kept the reading light and upbeat. I found myself giggling on various occasions.
As I said, some serious issues, such as aging, loss, and the fear of losing loved ones, are mentioned, but the author does a stellar job of talking about them without making the book morose.

I want to thank Netgalley for giving me this fantastic opportunity.

Trigger warning - Loss of a parent, loss of a parent to cancer, divorce, and infidelity.

Becca has a crisis of confidence, brought on the death of her best friend’s Mum. This causes her to re-evaluate her life - socially, parentally, romantically.

It’s a decent concept for this genre of book, but that market is so overcrowded, the book’s themselves have to be so distinctive to stand out. It’s funny, where it needs to be funny, but structurally it’s too slow in the narrative. That itself is propelled by dialogue, which leaves Becca as the only character in the whole thing with any depth. Where it needs to say anything meaningful (about mortality, growing old, being a parent) the tone seems confessional, rather than what is pitched as a comic novel.

If anything, it resembles a Marian Keyes book (the Irish setting, a wisecracking Mammy)… but it lacks the comic scalpel and mastery of plot. It’s published by Boldwood Books on August 20th and I thank them for a preview copy. #thefeckingfabulousfortiesclub

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! While I am not quite yet middle aged, I was able to connect to the main characters well. I loved the theme of female friendships and the various layers of emotions depicted in the book- it's a mix of seriousness and fun/lightheartedness.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This is the first book I've read by Freya Kennedy and I have to say thoroughly enjoyed it so will be looking out for more.

I usually avoid anything that looks like/ sounds like, a rom-com/ romance novel. It’s not my normal thing, but now and again I like a change of genre, a change of pace and this one appealed to me.
The cover is a bit deceiving in that it hints at something fun and lighthearted. ( I will just say though that I DO like the cover immensely).

The more I read the book, the more I lost myself in it. It was far more relatable than I could have known.
Being middle aged myself, also having 2 of my children at University and suffering a lot of loss & grief in the last 4 years, I really felt connected to Becca.

The book isn’t the “light & fluffy” read, I was expecting. It was far more and far better than that.
The book had depth to it, the characters were beautifully developed, the story line flowed.
The author has a truly lovely writing style that really pulls you along and in.
I absolutely loved this book. I can’t think of anything about it that I would change.

After I finished this, I went back and searched for more books by Freya Kennedy, I didn’t realise how many she had written until now.
I feel awful that I’d never read any before, but I’ve added them to my wish list. I shall definitely be recommending this book to others.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of The Fecking Fabulous Forties Club by Freya Kennedy. This book captured middle age pretty closely without it seeming all doom and gloom. It was both light hearted and serious, tackling a lot of issues of middle age. I liked that is was mostly a book about friendship than romance or a midlife crisis. It does tackle loss of a parent and parental aging.

Becca is mid forties and divorced. When her best friend from high school’s mother dies, she must confront the fallout of their friendship as well as reconcile her teenage self with her middle aged self.

So so good. Now I Need to read more about the antics of Becca, Niamh and Laura. I want them to go on adventures together and hear about the forays of Becca dating and her career progressing. The ladies all meet again when Becca’s mum tells them of the sad passing of Kitty Laura’s mum. This passing stirs up memories good and bad and the day they attend the wake Becca and Niamh meet Laura for the first time since n over ten years. They were once so tight as besties and then get temporarily lulled back into this. Then they realise that the elephant in the room needs to be addressed but can this happen. This was such a lot of fun, lots of grief, anger, rage and sadness all rolled into a great book. Thank you for writing it. Thankyou NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

My my, I absolutely love books about women's friendships, with little romance as a theme.

This book truly hit home with everything really - divorced mum of two boys, trying to find herself again.

Such a beautiful story, and I laughed out loud so many times!!

Highly recommended!!

Engaging, entertaining, and relatable. A recommended purchase for collections where women's fiction is popular.

I absolutely enjoyed this book.
It is not often that a woman in her 40s is the main character in a story and what a brilliant and relatable character Becca is.
The book follows her navigating her life, including grief, betrayal, symptoms of perimenopause, and of course friendships and love. Even though it deals with some rather heavy topics at times, there is no shortage of humour and I often laughed out loud while reading.
'The Fecking Fabulous Forties Club' is a great mixture of seriousness and lightness - just like real life itself.

Becky is now single, her twin boys are at university and she has Daniel the Spaniel to keep her company. On one of her mothers “ you’ll never guess who’s died” speeches she is horrified to find that the mother of one of her closest school friends has died. Laura fell out with Becky many years ago, but Becky and her other close friend Niamh brave going to the wake and find things aren't as bad as they thought with Laura who is overjoyed to see them. They are now all in their late forties and looking back at the time capsule they set at age 16, they decide things have to change going forward.

I very quickly got into this. It’s written with an Irish sense of humour and a big heart. It's a look at life and how sometimes, perhaps without realising it, we take things for granted and the years slip through our fingers and before we know where we are it could be too late to do that dream. There are UWOS (unexpected waves of sadness) which many will relate to as we get older, and lots of laughs on a journey through life and what it throws at us. A book that inspires you to go the extra mile and do what you feel, whatever your age. One that left me with a huge smile.
For more reviews please follow me on Twitter (X) @nickisbookblog
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Extremely well done book about Becca (in her 40's) who has lived a good enough (if unremarkable) life. Becca and her friend Laura want to make themselves and their lives more remarkable, interesting, worth looking back on with joy. They want to impress their teenage selves and make them proud. It is so relatable to real life... I think we all feel like exactly like this and would want our younger selves to have the absolute best in their future. Also, there is much more depth, profundity, and wit than I expected. Wonderful read!

Based on the cover and title, when I picked up this book, I expected a light-hearted summer read. This is not that; instead it focuses on grief and loss through much of the story. Granted there is some humor woven into the story of how life changes in your forties, but it's not a lighthearted beach read.

This book was fantastic and had me laughing out loud throughout. Becca is a brilliant likeable character and very relatable.
The book touches on many themes including menopause, grief, empty nest syndrome but is so well written and just flowed perfectly.
I’m hoping for a sequel to see what happens with Becca, her friends and family
Thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Freya Kennedy for an advance copy in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Thank you Net galley for my ARC of this book.

I thought this was going to be a fun lighthearted read looking at the title but there was a very serious theme of loss, death and grief throughout. I found some of this quite triggering for my particular circumstances. There was however also abit of humour mixed In.

I felt halfway into the book I wasn’t really any further forward in the plot, it picked up slightly as the book went on. There were themes of the menopause, friendship and relationships throughout too.

If you are in your forties and want a book based on real life scenarios then this is perfect for you. For me I found some parts triggering but my expectations were completely off what the story is about. It still reads well and is written well just for me I’m all about a more lighthearted read.

A book about 40year old women! Yes please! This was a book after my own heart! I loved it! Pick this one up!

This was a fabulous book about perimenopause, friendship and living. Told from the perspective of Becca, a forty six year old in denial about perimenopause, adjusting to life without her sons who are both away at university, feeling increasingly responsible for her mum and reeling from the death of her estranged childhood friend Laura’s mum. Along with her long time friend Niamh, Becca reunites with Laura leaving them wondering just how their lives have passed so quickly and what they can do going forward that would make their teen selves approve.

There’s some great humour in this but it’s got a lot more depth than I expected it to have with the mundane reality of what life is like in your late forties as well as the effects of grief and yes perimenopause. The characters are all well written and relatable, Becca especially is just such an everyday person with everyday worries that she feels very real and her life is well narrated. I think the cover of this is slightly deceptive as it looks like a more frivolous read which doesn’t do this book justice as there’s some very strong storylines in here however as the cover does indicate there is some great humour too. 9/10