This book was an absolute surprise to me. It's not really like anything else I've read before although it absolutely has notes of other books I've loved including Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone, Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss and Emily Austin's Someday Everyone in this Room Will Be Dead.

Good Friday afternoon! I initially wrote this review on the hottest day of the year and I imagined you were probably already furious/melting/refusing to work/swimming in a paddling pool in the garden – delete as appropriate. Since I was sure your main interest at that point was just lying infront of a fan whilst groaning, I’ve waited until I thought I might have your full attention to post this because I’m very keen you receive my message loud and clear: go and pick up a copy of Impossible by Sarah Lotz right now/after work and get reading this weekend!

I became an instant Beth O’Leary fan after reading The Flat Share (I’m excited for the TV adaptation too) due to the unique premise, fun note writing format and quirky characters. It was a quick, page-turning read and I instantly went on to download and devour the free Christmas story on her website that followed the characters after the book ended.

Gillian McAllister is a pretty cool cucumber. I first discovered her on instagram where she has a significant presence now, updating followers on both her daily writing life and the walks she takes with her dog Wendy in the countryside near her home. She talks openly and often about how she left her job as a lawyer to be a full-time writer and outlines in detail how hard she worked to make this a reality.

Unexpectedly one of my top reads of 2021, I requested this book on Netgalley because I’ve also been writing a novel about a young woman obsessed with dying and I was keen to compare and learn. Of course, because Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead (let’s ‘shorten’ this to EITRWSBD) starts in such a well written and attention grabbing way I instantly lost the will to write my own novel.