This book took me on an emotional ride I didn’t see coming. Francine is trying to figure out life after losing her mom, who was loving but struggled with serious mental health issues. Taking care of her mom meant Francine didn’t really build strong friendships, so when her mom dies, she’s left feeling totally alone.

Enter Davie Mayes—a ten-year-old boy in the foster care system who ends up being exactly what Francine didn’t know she needed. Davie’s been through so much, but he’s such a sweet kid with a big heart. He’s autistic and obsessed with random facts about slavery, and honestly, I loved him so much. His presence shifts everything for Francine.

Through Davie, Francine reconnects with Jeannette Phillips—her high school crush—which kicks off a whole new chapter in her life. Their relationship goes in some unexpected directions, and not all of them are pretty. Jeannette is… a hot mess. She has her own unresolved stuff and tries to justify her shady behavior, which didn’t sit right with me.

Francine’s aunt Liane? Ugh. She got on my nerves more than once, but the way Renee Swindle handled that messy family relationship felt real. I appreciated that nothing was too neat or easy.

This story is full of raw moments, tough truths, and real growth. Francine’s healing journey felt authentic—sometimes painful, sometimes beautiful. Davie’s neurodivergence is handled with care, and his story adds so much heart to the book.

At the core, this book reminds us that no matter how messy life gets, there’s still hope—and sometimes, the right people show up at the right time to save us from our own crash and burn.

Thank you Penguin Dutton Group, Tiny Reparations Books, and NetGalley for this eARC.

4.5 stars.

Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn by Renee Swindle is an absolutely delightful novel.

Francine Stevenson is navigating a new normal following the death of her beloved mother. While her mother was warm and loving, she suffered a plethora of mental issues. Francine took on the responsibility of caring for her and as a result, she does not have a network of friends to guide her through this devastating loss.

However, rescuing ten-year-old Davie Mayes becomes a turning point in her grief journey. Davie has been through a lot in his young life and Francine understands and accepts him as he is. Davie’s experience in the foster system is heart wrenching and his current foster mother brings Francine face to face with her high school crush Jeannette Philips. Their reconnection goes in unexpected ways that eventually leads to pivotal change for Francine.

Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn is an emotionally compelling with a cast of diverse characters. Francine is immensely relatable as she faces her traumas and undergoes tremendous growth. Davie’s neurodivergence is sensitively portrayed as he eventually finds stability in his life. Jeannette is a hot mess with unresolved issues that she tries to use to excuse her abominable behavior. The storyline is well-developed and completely captivating. Renee Swindle brings this captivating novel to a heartwarming and realistic conclusion.

Francine's world begins to unravel after the sudden death of her mother. Her life was already on shaky ground, and the loss pushes her to the brink, even contemplating suicide. One day, she hears a young boy being bullied outside and steps in to help. That moment leads her to Davie—and through him, to his foster family, which includes a familiar face from Francine’s high school days. As her bond with them deepens, Francine begins a slow, uneven journey toward healing. At times, you'll want to shake her and snap her out of her self-destructive spiral; at others, you'll be rooting for her as she takes brave steps toward a new beginning.

Whew! Francine is going through it!

Francine was always bullied and ostracized by her peers for being too dark, for being too smart, for sounding "white", for being bougie, etc.

With no other supports, she's developed a codependent mother/daughter relationship with her agoraphobic mom, until the day her mom dies suddenly. This loss send the already struggling Francine into a spiral.

Work takes a back burner, taking care of herself isn't even though of, in fact she's thinking of ending things. Until she sees a little boy, Davie, being bullied by older kids and steps in to help.

Davie and Francine connect and when she meets his foster mother, she realizes she is THE It Girl from her high school, Jeanette. And so begins another toxic, and ultimately doomed, relationship.

Kinda spoilery from this point.

Thankfully Francine starts making great moves for herself. She begins working with an excellent therapist, explores her interest in photography, makes new friends, and even reconnects with her aunt and uncle and eventually seeks information on how to adopt Davie.

Francine's determination to fight for a better life for herself and relationship with Davie is really what makes this book so fabulous. We see her struggling to be okay with making her needs a priority and it's such a win when she does that you want to celebrate her! I love how nuanced each character is, everyone has their flaws, and it makes them feel so much more real for it.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Thank you NetGalley and Tiny Reparations Books for access to the e-ARC. I won a physical ARC in a giveaway and ended up reading that version.
I first want to make clear, while I did very much enjoy this book, PLEASE read the content warnings before reading. It has some very triggering topics in it, that if not in a good state of mind, can be very upsetting.
I have to say, something I specifically enjoyed was all the different characters and watching them all interact and grow and change. Some of my favorite characters were Davie (of course) and Kenji. As mentioned above, this book has some hard topics in it, but these are topics that NEED to be talked about, not avoided and shoved under a rug like they don't exist. I appreciate Swindle showing characters with complexities and imperfections, and showing that you can learn from mistakes. I really think this book should have a lot more hype.

A heart warmer that's never saccharine and which will keep you guessing. The death of Francine's mom destroys her- they've been codependent for years-but things change when she impulsively rescues young Davie from bullies. Davie, a neurodiverse foster child, sparks something in her and then it turns out that his foster family comprises a couple Francine went to high school with. Annette has changed since high school. Now she's devoted to her own son Sterling if frustrated by Davie. Francine begins to bloom thanks to their relationship but then....This has terrific characters not just in Francine, Annette, Davie, and Sterling but also in, of all things, Francine's boss. It touches on bullies, racism, abuse, and most of all mental health challenges. It's painful to read that Francine was called Mudface after Bell's palsy pulled one side of her dark skinned face down. And it's even more painful to see her used. But this is about Francine coming into her own and understanding that she's more than she thought. And it's about Davie. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Highly recommend.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on April 9th, 2025. Links provided.

Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn tells the story of Francine Stevenson, a woman whose life is upended after the sudden death of her agoraphobic mother. Struggling with grief and isolation, Francine turns to unhealthy coping mechanisms, including using her mother’s pills to escape her emotional pain. Her routine is disrupted when ten year old Davie appears at her doorstep, seeking refuge from bullies. What starts as a brief encounter evolves into a growing bond between Francine and Davie, as she unexpectedly becomes an integral part of his life. As she navigates her grief and attempts to support Davie, Francine reconnects with her past and faces difficult truths about her relationships.

While I appreciate the depth of the themes explored in the book, Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn didn’t fully resonate with me. I get that the book was trying to dig deep into some heavy topics, but I honestly didn’t enjoy it. It was so relentlessly heavy, and after a while, it just became a bit much. The constant focus on grief, trauma, and difficult life circumstances made the whole reading experience feel more exhausting than enlightening. I kept waiting for something to lift the mood or offer some relief, but it felt like every page was just piling on more emotional weight. As for Francine’s relationship with Davie’s foster mom, I just didn’t see the point of going down the path it did. It felt like it was thrown in there for drama’s sake, but it wasn’t developed enough to make it meaningful. By the time I reached the end, I felt like the story was dragging on and I was just trudging through it, hoping for something to happen that might balance out all the heaviness. Yes, the book ends with positive character development, but it wasn't easy getting there. Even with the little moments of humor, the overall vibe just felt too negative for me. I know the book was trying to be thought-provoking, but it left me feeling bored and mentally drained instead of moved or inspired. I realize this could be my own fault for not realizing the gravity of the themes of the story before choosing to read this book, but I was drawn in by the cover and blurb, thinking the story was gong to be more lighthearted than it really was. I might have enjoyed it more had I been more mentally prepared for the contents of the book, and I do believe that it will be appreciated more with the right audience.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton, Tiny Reparations Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn in return for my honest review.

Spectacular crash and burn is how I would describe my (short) reading experience unfortunately.

At the VERY beginning, I’m talking first page, I was pulled in. I liked the voice of the character and the premise however things went downhill quickly. The two main reasons why I dnf’d this book: 1) In the last paragraph of the firs chapter, the phrase “cheesy AF” and I think my brain short circuited. I understand trying to appeal to a younger adult audience but truly, that was so cringey; 2) the author says that they won’t spend too much talking about her mom’s death however, it goes on for multiple chapters.

I know those may seem like stupid gripes but they really pushed me out of the world that Renee Swindle was trying to create.

Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton | Tiny Reparations Books for this ARC.

DNF'd at 40%

I'm actually so sad that I DNF'd this book because I wanted to like it so bad, but I just could not get into it :( I just couldn't get into the characters or the plot. I might come back to it at some point, but I'm not sure.

I really enjoyed this one! It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting content wise based on the cover but I flew through this & was invested the whole time. This book follows Francine & her life after her mom passes away unexpectedly. This book can be heavy at times so please check trigger warnings before reading!! Overall I found this book to be a really honest & relatable look at grief & how black women in particular deal with it. If wasn’t a perfect 5/5 stars for me but overall this story had so many good & interesting things going for it I couldn’t give it less that 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc and thanks to PRH Audio for the alc.

Francine's Spectacular Crash and Burn is a spectacular and witty novel without a doubt. I can't figure out why, but as I was reading this book, i was reminded of titles such as Margot's Got Money Troubles. I am not sure why I am comparing these two stories to one another as they are quite different, but maybe it is because the characters are both strong-willed women. Yes, there were some parts of this story that made me uncomfortable. but I believe that shows the sign of a good book. Additonally if it says anything about the quality of this story, I was able to finish it in under 24 hours. Bahni Turpin was also the perfect choice to narrate the audiobook and I loved how she brought Francine and the other characters to life. I definitely think I would consider reading more by Renee Swindle in the future, as her writing style seems to be quirky, yet charming.

Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn joins the ranks of Renee Swindle’s other books. I know I’ll be treated to a spectacular story and engaging characters. She didn’t disappoint with this one.

Francine deals with a lot of issues at home and work. She tries hard to appease her agoraphobic mom and mend the schism between her mom and aunt. A series of events sends Francine into an emotional tailspin that leads her to Davie. In an unlikely friendship, a new “family” is formed and we are treated to a different Francine.

Swindle handles various topics with care and consideration. Neurodiversity, suicide, racism, and splintered families aren’t the end of the world in Swindle’s hands; they are exposed and are great starting points for awareness and self-examination.

I received the ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Francine lives with her agoraphobic mother who records psychic and astrology videos. Their codependent relationship abruptly ends when Francine's mother dies and Francine feels lost. Preparing to end her own life, she instead meets 10 year old, Davie, a boy on the autism spectrum, when she saves him from a bully. Davie lives with his foster parents in a poor section of Oakland, and when Francine takes him home one day, she realizes she went to high school with Jeannette, the foster mother, and her former crush.

This intense, well written book deals with issues of mental illness, substance abuse, codependency, racism (most of the characters are Black), classism, and neurodiversity. Yet, despite all of that, the book does not feel cluttered or preachy. Instead, it's incredibly well written and engaging, with three-dimensional portraits of all of the main characters.

Highly recommended.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for this advanced copy of FRANCINE’S SPECTACULAR CRASH AND BURN.
I was really excited about the premise of this book and following the main character after her mother’s death, and how foster care might be portrayed throughout the book. Unfortunately. this book did not quite hit the mark for me. The author’s execution of the characters development fell flat for me, and the characters were quite unlikable from my perspective.
I decided to DNF this book, but others who are a fan of a character finding themselves, found family, and mental health representation might find this book enticing!

𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨

𝙁𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚’𝙨 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝 & 𝘽𝙪𝙧𝙣
by Renee Swindle
320 pages
Out soon! 4/15/25

Thank you @reneewritesnovels and @tinyrepbooks for allowing me to read this hidden gem before it was published.

I love a character who doesn’t have it all together, perfectly imperfect, feeling self conscious- because frankly, who hasn’t felt that way in life?
This story had all the chaos of real life.
Francine has had to deal with many obstacles as she cared for her agoraphobic mother, and longed to fulfill her own dreams. Francine’s mom was quite eccentric, and Francine has had a really unorthodox home life, but had persevered and had a decent job at Peeps- a social media company. Still, she longed for more for herself.

The strongest part of this story for me was Francine and her relationship with Davie, the 10 year old boy she serendipitously saved from bullies one day. Her empathy for him came from her own experiences.

She faced a domino effect of setbacks, but she always continued to do her best to be a good person, awkwardly attempting to be the best version of herself to achieve her goals and a great friend to others (often at great expense to herself). I should also say as a fellow neurodivergent person that I empathized with her reactions and social miscues. I’ve had those moments myself.

Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and even though there were some characters I truly disliked, I loved loved how this one ended. I was rooting for Francine through the entire book. This was a heartwarming story that I could not put down.

I read this in one day. If you like something different, check it out.

QOTD: Davie loved Steve Jobs and Pixar movies - what’s your favorite Pixar movie?
A: Mine is Monsters, Inc.

This reminded me in some ways of Maame by Jessica George (2023) as far as similar life obstacles. I loved both of the MCs as they faced similar struggles.

#arcreading #newbooks #francinesspectacularcrashandburn #currentlyreading #amreading #hiddengembooks #contemporaryfiction #realisticfiction #lgbtqbooks #neurodivergentcharacters

I wasn’t sure about this book initially, but I enjoyed it in the end! I’m still curious about the autism representation (at times I wondered if it was relying too heavily on stereotypes and if she had a sensitivity reader. She doesn’t mention one in the acknowledgements).

Francine was a frustrating protagonist at times, but by the end I wanted to root for her. Her affair with Jeanette seemed doomed from the start. I was glad she was able to finally wake up to the manipulative behavior and abuse before things escalated any further.

At times, it seemed like the author dropped certain characters or plots until they were useful again (like Davie). But ultimately, it was a nice story about finding yourself, healing, finding connection, and discovering neurodivergence. Definitely wayyyyy heavier and more intense than the cover would lead you to believe, though 😬

I recieved a free eARC of this book.

Francine is a young woman who has just never quite gotten started. She spends her life between an agoraphobic mother and her job as an assistant for a social media executive. Her life goes from bad to worse when her mother dies suddenly, sending her into a tailspin, but then changes when she meets Davie, a smart autistic foster kid who is being bullied. The two build a friendship and have a lot more in common than they might expect.

When Francine meets Davie’s foster parents, one of whom is her high school crush, things seem even better, right?

Ultimately. This is a sweet book about how what you think you need isn’t always what you want, and how sometimes what you get isn’t what you need. This is categorized as a new adult book, and I believe it’s correctly classified.

DNF at 8%

I thought I could handle parent death, but I lost one of my parents to a heart attack and my other is going through cancer treatment. So while I actually liked the writing a lot (which is rare for me in literary books), I had to stop reading after Francine's mom died on page.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Francine is trying to figure out how to live her life in the aftermath of her mother’s death. When she rescues a 10 year old kid from some bullies she becomes a big part of his life. Determined to help him out, she meets his foster family and realizes that Davie’s foster mother was a girl that Francine had a crush on in high school.

While the book does have some lighthearted and fun moments, it’s definitely more serious than the cover design makes it seem. The story deals with grief, bullying, suicide, ableism, colorism, toxic relationships, past sexual assault, abusive parenting, and so much more. I don’t think anything in the book was poorly handled, but there were definitely a lot of times where I felt like things were just being glossed over instead of diving in deep. Like at a lot of points there were time jumps that made me feel like I was missing out on being able to see important developments happening. So often it felt like things were just occurring out of nowhere.

In the end I did enjoy seeing the journey that Francine went on with figuring out what she wants from her life and building up a community of people around her. I’d recommend this for readers who enjoy coming of age stories about adult characters, found family, and complex queer characters.

This story is SO messy and Francine seriously angers the reader so often. Thankful for the sounding boards of some side characters that speak to what the reader is thinking. David and Francine’s relationship is beautiful but challenging at times.
Jeanette is just bad news from the beginning and SO unlikeable. There are moments of hope through this book, but ultimately, Francine DID indeed crash and burn.