I'm putting a different Sunday Scary book out there. What happens when your marriage ends and you are left floundering? The end of any relationship is scary!
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
2023 Frenzied Bibliophile Challenge Category: Book of the Month
Stars: 4
Will you like this book? You might if:
You’ve ever found yourself adrift at the end of a relationship
Like witty writing
Can find humor in awkward situations
Love a redemption story
Maggie has just separated from her husband of less than two years, 608 days to be exact. She isn’t quite thirty and she can’t believe that her ten-year relationship didn’t survive two years of marriage. Heisey has written a very funny book that is dealing with an unfunny topic: what does your life look like after being so intertwined with another person for so long. I think many of us have been at a similar place as Maggie, a relationship has ended but you’ve built a lot around that relationship: job, home, friends, family. All of a sudden you realize you won’t be seeing your mother-in-law ever again. Or your significant other’s best friend. It’s like all of a sudden you’ve experienced numerous deaths.
Heisey is a screenwriter and I think her ear for humor is perfect, there are some real zingers in the book, including a an entertaining scene with some darts. On the BBC’s Books and Author’s podcast, Heisey said something that I thought really summed up the book: that all comedy is drama and all drama is comedy. The funniest parts of the book are some of the most dramatic. Maggie herself is a bit dramatic, but I don’t think she is all that different from a lot of people in their twenties. They aren’t quite sure what they want for a job, they are trying to fit themselves in the world and see how they stack up against their friends or siblings.
Though a funny book, it was also thought-provoking and sweet. A few times cringe worthy and you would like to knock some sense into Maggie. She has a great support system but it takes her awhile to figure out just how amazing and so she risks losing them all. But she gets it right in the end, well at least as right as we all can get things in this life.
This is a great book for the summer, good beach read, perfect travel book. I’m excited to read what Heisey writes next.
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