Really Good, Actually
A Novel
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3.5 • 295 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“Every sentence of Monica Heisey’s writing is a treat. No one makes me laugh like she does.” —Dolly Alderton, New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Know About Love
Recommended by Los Angeles Times • Washington Post • GQ • Elle • Good Morning America • People • Guardian • The Times • E! News Online • The Globe and Mail • Toronto Star • The Week • New York Post • Shondaland • and many more!
A hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about one woman’s messy search for joy and meaning in the wake of an unexpected breakup, from comedian, essayist, and award-winning screenwriter Monica Heisey
Maggie is fine. She’s doing really good, actually. Sure, she’s broke, her graduate thesis on something obscure is going nowhere, and her marriage only lasted 608 days, but at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, Maggie is determined to embrace her new life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™.
Now she has time to take up nine hobbies, eat hamburgers at 4 am, and “get back out there” sex-wise. With the support of her tough-loving academic advisor, Merris; her newly divorced friend, Amy; and her group chat (naturally), Maggie barrels through her first year of single life, intermittently dating, occasionally waking up on the floor and asking herself tough questions along the way.
Laugh-out-loud funny and filled with sharp observations, Really Good, Actually is a tender and bittersweet comedy that lays bare the uncertainties of modern love, friendship, and our search for that thing we like to call “happiness”. This is a remarkable debut from an unforgettable new voice in fiction.
“A prime example of how a storyteller's voice can pull you right in and keep you clinging to every sentence. . . . This is a book I will give to my closest girlfriends and say, ‘You have to read this.’” — Zibby Owens, GoodMorningAmerica.com
“Tremendously funny and thoughtful.” –GQ
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
For the heroine of this anti-romantic comedy, getting divorced in your late twenties is tragic, chaotic, and absolutely hilarious. After breaking up with the love of her life less than two years into their marriage, Maggie is determined to bounce back. The only catch is that between exploring her new interests and throwing herself into the dating scene, she’s also making some very questionable decisions. Before long, it looks like Maggie will offend all her closest friends and sabotage her new relationship. Schitt’s Creek writer Monica Heisey’s debut novel is both devastating and seriously funny, with incredibly on-the-nose observations about romance, self-discovery, and modern life. Maggie and her friends are highly relatable, asking the big questions…like why is it so difficult to buy pants? We devoured this hilarious and wonderfully cathartic book.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Comedian and TV writer Heisey delivers an appealing debut novel (after the essay collection I Can't Believe It's Not Better) about a 28-year-old stalled PhD candidate left adrift after her divorce. Maggie's former husband, Jon, departs with their cat, and, despite their mutual promises to have a "Good Divorce," Jon is soon incommunicado, and Maggie is surprised by how much she struggles with being alone. She stays up most nights streaming crime shows she terms "British murder television" and is disappointed that she remains "annoyingly committed" to habits such as ordering late-night burgers. Maggie progresses to online dating (the men in Maggie's area of Toronto are "bearded and left-leaning"), and after striking out there, she tries exercise classes and creative writing workshops, but wherever she joins up, she's "wall to wall with the recently dumped." Later, the grief for her marriage morphs into a kind of self-obsessed nihilism that alienates her closest friends and torpedoes a burgeoning relationship with a nice guy. Even in its darkest moments the book is very funny, and Heisey's inspired skewering of urban millennial life hits the mark. Readers will gobble up this Bridget Jones's Diary for the smartphone era.
Customer Reviews
Complaints
I did not like how the story ended . I get she was trying to find herself within the first year of being separated , but it sounded more like she was depressed and complaining most of the time .
I do not know if there is a second book after this . But I think there should be .
Bad
Couldn’t make it past 3 chapters of whining unhappiness. Nothing enjoyable reading about this woman’s misery. Can’t believe I wasted money on this.
Emotional Ride
Lots of ups and downs with the main character but it was some emotional stuff I could relate to. I hated the main at times but in the end really enjoyed this book. Once I started reading I didn’t want to stop.