So Thrilled For You Holly Bourne

I loved reading So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne. I've been having trouble concentrating on a book, and often my mind will wander. But So Thrilled For You kept my attention, which was lovely. It's so nice when reading doesn't feel like hard work, and the story just pulls you in, making it feel effortless to read.

So Thrilled For You by Holly Bourne

So Thrilled For You is a story about life choices—choices about how you want to live your life as a woman. The big themes in this book are motherhood, pregnancy, relationships, work, and friendship.

Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi

Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi met at university and became very close friends. Now they're in their thirties, and life is pulling them in different directions. Charlotte desperately wants to get pregnant but can’t, while Steffi doesn’t want children and loves her career.

Baby Shower extravaganza

In So Thrilled For You the friends all get together for Nicki's baby shower, which Charlotte has organized for her. Charlotte went all out, with a vulva-shaped piñata and 'fertilized' cupcakes. But it's swelteringly hot, and tempers fray when they're all together in Nicki's parents' glasshouse.

It's not a special story but Holly Bourne tells it well

So Thrilled For You is not a particularly original story. It's a bit of a standard chicklit story, but Holly Bourne tells it so well I think it's better than most chicklit stories of this genre. Especially Lauren's exhaustion and pain as a new mom really made me feel for her.

Different perspectives

Holly tells the stories of Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte, and Steffi by switching perspectives and sometimes going back in time. Normally I really don't like this, but in this case it works—because as a reader you become curious about the different perspectives on the same events.

The events stay the same, but the person experiencing them changes.
And that makes for an engaging read.

And that makes for an interesting read.

Whom to love, whom to hate?

In this kind of novel I often find myself taking sides. While reading So Thrilled For You I kept wondering who I should root for. Which of the women were unsympathetic, bad friends, and who I could dislike? The different perspectives made this harder, because you get to know each woman and understand why she did things. Nevertheless, I think it's safe to say that Nicki is the worst friend.

Grief

One of the things I liked in this book is the way Holly very accurately describes grief. Steffi lost her mom, and when her career takes off her first thought is to share the news with her. But of course she can’t, because her mom has died.

'I miss Mum so much I think I'm about to be sick. Because I'm already about to call her to share this, to glory in it with her. (...) Except she's not here. Not now. Not ever.'

It beautifully illustrates how grief can hit you unexpectedly—even after four years, in this case.

Motherhood

But mostly it's the things Holly lets Lauren think about motherhood that are very poignant.

• 'I can see it now I'm on the other side – how motherhood is a banana skin we all trip up on. Everyone warns it's slippery, but we distrust and dislike the whingeing mothers who came before us. Until it's our turn to tread on the same banana skin, and over we go – ouch – flailing on the floor, our bodies piling high, warning the others behind us about the danger, but none of them listen and, ouch, here they are in the pile too, saying: "Why didn’t you warn me how hard it is?"'
• 'The biggest headfuck about motherhood – there's no going back. There's no trial period or refund with a receipt.'
• 'I have given him literally everything and he still always cries. He’s taken my body, my identity, my free time, my sleep, my sanity, my marriage, my sex life, my independence, my savings, my friendships . . . everything that’s good about my life, I’ve pulped it to blood on the altar of motherhood.'

Poor Lauren had a very traumatic birth experience, and then Woody turned out to be a baby who cried a lot and hardly slept. I think it's fair to say she suffers from PTSD and postnatal depression.

Summing up

I had a great time reading So Thrilled For You. Holly Bourne paints a realistic picture of motherhood as it is now, and of the times we live in, with social media inviting us to share our 'beautiful' lives. On Goodreads the book gets 3.94 stars, but I would rate it 4.25.

You can find it at your local bookshop or on Amazon.

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