I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book from Net Galley because it sounded like a funny, feel-good story, which is something that I’m always in the mood for. When I decided to finally pick it up, I was instantly hooked on the story, and I couldn’t stop reading it. I’m happy to say that this book had a lot more depth than I was expecting, and that it had a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, and that I enjoyed every page of it.

The reason why I liked this book so much is that I fell in love with the main character. I found Agnes Parsons to be a lot of fun, and I enjoyed reading about her journey to discover herself again after everything fell apart around her. She had a lot of moments that made me laugh-out-loud, especially when she discovered processed baby snacks. I also liked that she genuinely cared about the boys in her classes and that she wanted them to succeed and to get through middle-school unharmed. I liked her character development, and I enjoyed reading about her transition from Santa Monica trophy wife to a single mom trying to get by and forge her own path.

I also liked the supporting characters in this book. Beeks is an amazing friend, and I loved how supportive she was of Agnes, and how she helped Agnes realize what it is she had to do. I also genuinely laughed at a lot of the phone conversations between the two characters, which made the book so much more enjoyable. Stacy Figgs, the teacher who lives next door, is another character that I liked; I enjoyed her Christmas sweaters, and I liked watching her grow along with Agnes throughout the story. I wasn’t a huge fan of Jack, I found him to be way too controlling, and he said a few things to Agnes that I would not have been able to forgive. Finally, I liked the boys in Agnes’s class because they had genuine problems and fears that they were trying to sort through.

The other thing that I enjoyed about this book is that it takes place at a middle school. I think middle school is the perfect setting for this book because Agnes and the boys are both going through big changes. Agnes is adjusting from having everything she could ever want to surviving pay cheque to pay cheque and the boys are dealing with transitioning from being kids to being teenagers.

This book was somewhat predictable in the sense that I knew what Agnes was going to decide to do very early on. Fortunately, I don’t have any problems with predictable books because I enjoy finding out how the character is going to get to the ending that I predicted. In this case, I enjoyed going on this journey with Agnes and I spent the whole book rooting for her to make the right decision.

Overall, I found this book to be fun and heartwarming. I liked the characters, the friendships, and the setting. I enjoyed reading about Agnes’s journey of rediscovering herself, and I recommend this book to anyone looking for a funny, fast-paced read.