Becca’s life hasn’t worked out how she thought it would she has fallen out for years with one of her best friends but Niamh is still her best friend. Laura’s mum dies and Becca and Niamh bite the bullet and go to the wake the girls fall into a friendship again but the elephant is in the room.
Follow the older Derry girls on a journey of understanding each other and finding themselves.
Great book well written loved it

I was drawn to this book because of the title.

The main protagonist is a few years older than me but it was really interesting to see the perspective of a middle aged woman who has some depth!

The use of the fourth wall was great.

It was like being hugged and the depth of characterisation was strong.

It wasn’t quite what I expected, as I had expecting something very lighthearted and it covers some darker themes and challenges. This was not an issue for me and if anything elevated the narrative but something for other readers to be aware of.

The other element I was less keen on was the final chapter (no spoilers) and there were some too tidy resolutions throughout.

Overall, an interesting and different book with a strong female lead, cute dog and an exploration of different types of relationships at various life stages.

Thanks to the publisher and net gallery for a copy for my honest review.

In this heartwarming and relatable tale, Becca Burnside finds herself single in her forties, her weekends dominated by grocery trips with her mom and companionship from her dog. When she discovers a time capsule from her teenage years, filled with the dreams and aspirations of her younger self, she realises it's time for a change. Determined to overcome her midlife struggles and reignite her passions, Becca sets out to prove that there's still plenty of life left in her. This charming story captures the essence of self-discovery, resilience, and the quest to fulfil long-forgotten dreams.

This was brilliant!! Hilarious and all too relatable! It had me in tears and I’ll definitely be recommending it! Thanks so much to NetGalley for my ARC

As someone from Northern Ireland I love Rom coms and lighter fiction set there rather than historical fiction or literary fiction. It’s refreshing to see stories about the every day.

I am only 29 but I loved this book. The characters were funny and loveable and the language wasn’t to Northern Irish that people from other countries wouldn’t understand.

I love the way it dealt with difficult topics like grief and heartache but also had so much humour. (Plus it made me have a whole new appreciation for my mum)

If you’re looking for a light summer read to boost your mood this is it

Becca Burnside isn’t sure where it all went wrong. How did she end up single in her forties, with the highlight of her weekend being a trip to Big Asda with her mum and the only chance of cuddles coming from her dog?

This description alone called to me!

I love the friendships in this book, I need to read more of their antics and fun times.

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.