Tracy Bloom

The third novel in No-one Ever Has Sex series from Tracy Bloom, No-one Ever Has Sex on Christmas Day is a laugh out loud book about a small circle of adults and the odd way life brings people together. Though it is from a series, I felt it could be read as a standalone as I have not read the other books in the series previously. We follow Katy and Ben as they navigate their first holiday season settled in a new home with the pressure of family, work, and the future piling on them. Their show more friend Braindead brings the constant laughs, and some well-timed insight, as the two struggle with the decisions ahead of them. There's also Matthew and Alison, preparing for their next child, dealing with Alison's demands as a perfectionist, and helping, or hurting, Matthew's friend Ian in his quest for love.

"I mean, it's so not sexy. Kids up at the crack of dawn, hands up turkey's backside before breakfast, stomachs bloated by too much food and alcohol, exhaustion from weeks of celebrating."

I really enjoyed No-one Ever Has Sex on Christmas Day for one big reason, the characters are all realistic. They are flawed, they are curious, then are navigating a world that, like real life, comes with bumps, changes, and incredible opportunities. We get annoyed with our parents and our spouses, we miss some of our kid's moments and we constantly strive to be better in everything. Katy, Ben, Braindead, Matthew, Alison, and Ian all live in the same town, but they're acquaintances at best, their pasts having brought them together once that left things a bit on the awkward side. The book itself switches from character to character, never focusing on a single household for long, not until their lives start to bring them together again.

"This was turning out to be maybe not the most cosmopolitan but certainly the best Christmas he ever had."

I love just how much humor was in this book, Tracy Bloom writes with so much spirit and she knows how to make you laugh. It's lighthearted all while proving that a book doesn't have to follow the standard familial layout of career, children, and friendship. It is funny, it has moments of shock, and it even has a stay-at-home dad with an overworked wife. I appreciated that it was stereotypical, that friendship, romance, and sex carried this story forward, bringing some depth to the humor and sharing with readers a message about love and the people in your life. No-one Ever Has Sex on Christmas Day is a fun, lighthearted read that's perfect for the holidays, or anytime really.


ARC provided in exchange for an honest review. show less

This was one of the funniest romantic comedies I have read in a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed the British humor that had me staying up until quite late to finish this book. Katy and Ben are a married couple with a 3 year old daughter. Katy is an executive at an ad agency who works crazy hours while Ben is a high school teacher who left his job to stay at home with their daughter. He is now teaching part time at his daughter's pre-school. The other main couple in the story are Mathew and show more Allison, parents of 3 children with one on the way. If you have read any other books in this series, you will know that these two couples have a past, and in this book, they are going to run into each other again. The author gives enough details about this that you do not need to have read the other books. Throw in the secondary characters of Daniel, Katy's gay best friend, her mother and her new "toy boy" who are coming for Christmas, Ben's bestfriend, Braindead, and his girlfriend and mix in their Christmas plans and you have a fun story. There is also Mathew's best friend and co-worker Ian and their nanny Lena who round out the other family. With Christmas Party's, pre-school nativity plays, proposals, business trips abroad and all the angst that happens at Christmas, and you will understand what the laughter in my living room was all about. This is the first Tracy Bloom book I have read, but it will not be my last. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. show less

The Wife Who Got a Life is a light-hearted read following 48-year-old Cathy as she sets out to reclaim her life over a year-long period. I liked the journal/diary form this book used, and I found it particularly helpful to get to know Cathy and understand her reasoning, her fears and her dreams.

This is clearly meant to be a light-hearted read and, even though I didn't find most of the humour particularly funny, I definitely noticed the multiple attempts and can see how other readers might show more find this a laugh-out-loud read. Maybe I just wasn't the target audience for this, but while a lot of the issues Cathy faced felt very realistic, I was often quite irritated by her attitude and that of the people around her.

None of the characters were particularly likeable, nor did they feel very well developed. In fact, most came across as embodying a specific stereotype (e.g. "rebellious teenager", "selfish younger sister", "supportive friend" and so on) and barely ever moved from that.

Cathy also came across as extremely passive-aggressive, complaining about people not behaving like she'd like them to but never actually telling anyone what she expects. And, surprise surprise, basically all of the problems she identified with her life at the beginning are solved by having actual conversations with people. I also really didn't like her constantly shifting the blame on others for things she could have honestly proactively tackled herself.

Her conversation with a GP was a prime example, where she tried to make it out as it being the health practice's fault for her not knowing about the pill until she was 48 years old. Now, I'm all for having a serious conversation about the multiple ways health systems globally fail women and do not account for their specific needs, but this is taking it one step too far, seeing as this book is set in a place and age where all this information is available if one only were to look for it and the main character is a middle-class, educated white woman.

Overall, this was an underwhelming read for me at best. I definitely appreciated the effort that went into trying to tell this story in a light-hearted yet reflective way, but sadly it just fell flat for me.

I received an e-arc of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. show less

This was an audiobook from Audible, which I listened to over a number of runs during one week. It is narrated by Juanita McMahon, who did a great job overall. There were seven main characters, and she did give voice to them all.

The story concerns three couples – Chris and Beth, Tony and Sarah, and Marie and Duncan. The women have been friends for years, and the men are therefore friends by default, and all six of them meet up once a month at each other’s houses, for a dinner party. Then show more one night, Chris invites his friend Simon along; Simon is gorgeous – and heartbroken because his wife has just left him for another man.

Having another person in the mix soon changes up the dynamic of the group, as the men feel their territory threatened (with the exception of Chris) and the women are intrigued by the new face.

Throughout the year and the various dinner parties, Simon’s role in their lives means new alliances and new animosities are forged and created and eventually everything culminates in one unforgettable dinner party at his house…

On paper, there is a lot going for this book, and I would say I enjoyed it – for the most part. For the first 45 minutes I had severe doubts though, and considered giving up on it. Repetition can be quite funny, but at times throughout the book, and especially in the first part, it seemed as though Bloom had had some kind of bet to see how many times she could shoehorn a particular word in. In the first part for example, we see just how obsessed with dips Chris is. He loves his dips, and we are hit over the head with this fact as the word dips is trotted out too many times to count. Later on the same thing happens when Beth laments that people find her cuddly. How many times do we need to hear the word cuddly to realise that it annoys her? (It annoyed me too!)

The characters are a mish-mash, and for the most part, not particularly likeable. Chris is so relentlessly cheerful, but yet completely oblivious to what is going on around him (and his failure to pick up on social cues is annoying) that he just comes across as shallow and stupid. I did love him for one scene though, which I won’t reveals here as it would be a potential spoiler.

Tony is pompous and chauvinistic and goodness knows why Sarah put up with him!

Marie is the worst of all. Vacuous, self-absorbed, vain and insensitive, I couldn’t stand her and was amazed that she had managed to find two friends and a nice man who wanted to marry her (I liked Duncan most of all).

What I would say is that the writing flowed well, and it was an undemanding listen/read. I’d give it a middling scream which is to say that I didn’t think it was brilliant, but it kept me entertained enough while I pounded the streets. show less