Really Good, Actually: The must-read major Sunday Times bestselling debut novel of 2023

Product Information

With that, another #tandemreadalongis done and dusted. This time, the group ventured into the rapidly falling apart world of Maggie. She finds herself in her late 20s, staring down the barrel of divorce. We follow her throughout the year of her separation, between split and divorce papers. I'll begin this review by stating what I think is v important: this book is not for everybody. I know my mom would hate this book, as would probably most folks over the age of 50. But- BUT- I will say I think I am the target audience. Not just, like millennial white women in their early thirties; I honestly felt at times like the book was made for me and me alone. I related so much to Maggie, even though I'm happily married and not going through a divorce like her.

Maggie is an interesting character in that she is more complex than first meets the eye. I'll admit to getting frustrated with her at times but to be honest that's kinda what made the book special. Had Maggie been written as a one-dimensional character , it would have been a fluffy, mindless read. Instead she's a hot mess and even though you might not make the same choices as her, on some level she is relatable. I’d never considered how the taboo surrounding divorce (until much more recently) has meant that nearly all divorcee pop culture references have typically centred around middle-aged people who have families or homes that need to be divided and negotiated. Really Good, Actually provides a completely different perspective as Maggie and her ex have no children (but there is a cat), they don’t own their home, and they have no shared belongings. She’s also at the stage in her life where everyone around her is either newly engaged or about to get married, just as she’s coming to terms with her marriage coming to an end. The first to get married in her friendship group and now the first to get divorced, you can imagine Maggie’s internal struggle with coming to terms with her new reality.It’s a book that falls into the sad (but not sad) girl lit pile and follows our protagonist Maggie, a 29-year-old PhD student who is newly separated from her husband after 608 days of marriage. While she is determined to embrace this next chapter of her life, this is a book that is introspective and centres more around Maggie’s thoughts and feelings rather than what she intends to do next. The author also writes with astute observation at the absurdity of how life goes on despite big devastating life events that you can experience personally, and we see how Maggie tries to navigate the ‘normalness’ of the lives of her family, friends and work colleagues, and convincing her and everyone around her that she is happy and ok. I particularly enjoyed the impact of Maggie’s situation with her close group of friends (and how their friendship is tested by Maggie’s destructive behaviour) as well as Maggie’s relationship with Simon (Maggie’s self-preservation and detachment in this relationship was definitely relatable). Call it what you must, but you need to practise walking around and living life and being heartbroken at the same time. Not in an exciting way, where you're in the thrall of some new person, or buying something outrageous, or terrorising Jiro, but in the way where you still have to go to work when you have a toothache.’ A hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about one woman’s messy search for joy and meaning in the wake of an unexpected breakup, from comedian, essayist, and award-winning screenwriter Monica Heisey

There is no doubt about it: for anyone in their twenties or early thirties who has longed to see their experience of divorce depicted in contemporary culture, this book will be a balm. I just wish Heisey’s stamina for exuberant quips was a little lower. Hi, it’s Maggie, I’m the problem, it’s me 🎶 Maggie is our anti-hero. She has instigated a divorce but is maybe having second/third/forth thoughts. She’s selfish, confrontational, and has zero impulse control. She’s slowly but surely alienating her friends and co-workers as she stumbles through a terrible year of having to face the complete and total fear of starting over and being seen as a failure. First of all, the positives as I see them. The premise is a creative one and I do enjoy the new chaotic life Maggie now lives though the standout feature that appeals to me the most is the ironic, sarcastic tone and the social commentary. The friendships are good and there are some scenes that are entertaining as Maggie employs a multitude of diversionary tactics. The Google searches she does a funny too! Looking for love in all the wrong places, continually texting and calling her ex because he said they should keep in touch (and he has their cat Janet, after all) and alienating herself from her friend group for being such a Debbie Downer, she’s having more than a bit of a struggle handling things . . . One of the most hotly anticipated, hilarious and addictive debut novels of 2023, from Schitt’s Creek and Workin’ Moms screenwriter and electric new voice in fiction, Monica Heisey.Maggie is a 29 year old struggling to come to terms with a fresh divorce and for some reason has zero self restraint. She is endlessly cringey; constantly acting poorly and saying awful things to her friends. I’m surprised her friends didn’t fall out with her sooner. I had high hopes for this Canadian writer and comedian, a writer for the show Schitt’s Creek which I LOVE! i would compare this book to a mixture of ADELAIDE and ROMANTIC COMEDY but tbh i liked it a lot more. i believe i read somewhere that it was being adapted into a movie or series and i think it would translate very well! I feel like when you get a divorce everyone’s wondering how you ruined it all, what made you so unbearable to be with. If your husband dies, at least people feel bad for you.

Maggie’s marriage is ending only six hundred and eight days after it began (despite being together nearly a decade) . . .

Well this was a darkly comical and often times tragically relatable read. Maggie’s marriage has ended just 608 days after it started, but she’s fine - really good, actually. Or is she? She seems to be embracing her aloneness and navigating the anxiety and unknown of her first year of divorce by throwing herself into new hobbies, dating, saying whatever comes into her head (over sharing x 💯!) and getting horribly drunk with her new divorced friend Amy. However, all that being said I have little doubt this but will be a hit if not because of the authors script writing credentials.

I am awake WAY too early because I accidentally took a weeeee depression nap after learning about a family member's illness. 🥺🥺I think my mind just needed to take a break to process so here I am awake at this unGodly hour. They say nothing good happens after midnight and I 100% agree with that. Opinion | Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song shouldn't have won the Booker 26 November, 2023 How They Broke Britain by James O'Brien is full of anger - and not much else 23 November, 2023 Jungle House by Julianne Pachico is an affecting AI mystery 23 November, 2023

Laugh-out-loud funny, razor sharp and painfully relatable, Really Good, Actually is an irresistible debut novel about the uncertainties of modern love, friendship and happiness from a stunning new voice in fiction, Monica Heisey. Maggie’s marriage has ended just 608 days after it started, but she’s fine – she’s doing really good, actually. Sure, she’s alone for the first time in her life, can’t afford her rent and her obscure PhD is going nowhere . . . but at the age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new status as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™. The reader gets inside the chaotic and often contradictory thoughts swimming inside Maggie’s head, which anyone who has gone through a heartbreak will relate to Maggie’s self-destructive behaviour and the way she questions her life choices, in this case marrying in her 20s, and if she is worth loving. The short extracts of text messages, notes, fantasy scenarios, google searches and other forms of writing that illustrate Maggie’s internal dialogue (that are included at the end of most chapters) were hilarious to read and painfully relatable. You know those miserable friends you avoid at all costs? This book was like being forced to listen to one for 5 hours straight. Painful. This kind of book doesn’t usually make it on my top 10s of the year lists. If it didn’t terrify me, make me cry or make me gag because I was so disturbed, then it probably wasn’t for me. I like a book that gives me a literal physical reaction. But this book made me laugh so much and made me so happy??? That never happens! So it might just end up in my top 10 🥰🫶🏽