Book Synopsis:
“SAM! AVA! Get downstairs, NOW. Have you done your TEETH? HAIR? SHOES? Come on, come on, come on, we’re going to be bastarding late again. No, I haven’t seen Lego Optimus Prime, and nor do I give a shit about his whereabouts. Sam, will you stop winding your sister up and take this model of the Shard that I painstakingly sat up and created for you last night so that I wouldn’t be in trouble with your teacher. I mean, so that you wouldn’t be in trouble with your teacher. No, it doesn’t smell of ‘dirty wine’. Well, maybe it does a little bit. Look, Sam, I haven’t got time to argue. Just hold your nose and get in the car, okay? AVA! TEETH! HAIR! SHOES!”
Gemma is only just holding it together – she’s a single parent, she’s turning 40 and her seven-year-old daughter has drawn a cruelly accurate picture which locates Gemma’s boobs somewhere around her knees. So when her new next-door neighbour, Becky, suggests that Gemma should start dating again, it takes a lot of self-control not to laugh in her face.
But Becky is very persuasive and before long Gemma finds herself juggling a full-time job, the increasingly insane demands of the school mums’ Facebook group and the tricky etiquette of a new dating world. Not only that, but Gemma has to manage her attraction to her daughter’s teacher, Tom, who has swapped his life in the City for teaching thirty six to seven year olds spelling, grammar, basic fractions – and why it’s not ok to call your classmate a stinky poo-bum…
It’s going to be a long year – and one in which Gemma and Becky will learn a really crucial lesson: that in the end, being a good parent is just about being good enough.
Readers love this hilarious, fast paced slice of family life:
Absolutely Smashing It is available in ebook and hardback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.
My Review:
I’m a huge fan of the Why Mummy series so was excited to receive a copy of another similar book, though I was initially a bit nervous as to whether it would be as good. I was quickly reassured and found this book as funny, if not better than anything similar I’ve read.
Firstly I so wish Gemma was my friend as she is so like me and my approach to parenting. It was so refreshing to read that there could possibly be other parents like me who are perpetually disorganised, turn up at school looking harassed and forget school projects. Her descriptions of them getting into the car for school run had me absolutely howling with laughter as it’s so true to what I end up doing daily. My poor neighbours must find the shouting and vision of me coming out of the house holding mounds of stuff hilarious. Her children also seem like mine as they always manage to sing inappropriate lyrics at top volume and find a random toy that it’s essential they bring on the school run. It’s comforting to know that other people experience the same stuff and made me feel a lot better about myself.
This is actually quite a fast paced book as there is always some drama or crisis to overcome. As mentioned above I immediately loved Gemma and wanted to keep reading to find out what she’d get up to next. What does happen is absolutely hilarious and I often found myself laughing out loud. There is sadly some modern lingo that I had to look up to find out what they meant but this just gave the book a very modern feel and Gemma had older children then I do so who knows maybe I’ll get better as they get older.
This is the author’s debut novel and I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next installment! I wasn’t aware of the author’s blog and have recently followed her Facebook page. If you like Frank, honest and utterly hilarious books about what it’s really like to be a parent then you need to read this book! Though maybe not if you are just thinking about being a parent as, like some of the characters, it might put you off!
Huge thanks to Kirsteen Astor from Little Brown for my copy of this book which I received in exchange for an honest review.
About The Author:
Kathryn Wallace is an experienced blogger, whose writing career pinnacle to date was when a little blog post she wrote about her front bottom’s run in with some mint and tea tree Original Source shower gel went viral and ended up being read by more than 30 million people globally. #lifegoals
A full time working parent, Kathryn somehow finds the time in between regularly losing her shit and svreas “TEETH! HAIR! SHOES!” on repeat to update her blog, I Know, I Need To Stop Talking, which has around 140, 000 followers on her Facebook and is growing rapidly.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
I’m off to add this to my wishlist, it sounds like something I would enjoy!
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