User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Sally Parker lives in the stockbroker belt in Surrey, she’s married to Frank a wealthy hedge fund manager. Frank is a generous alpha male, a tour de force, brimming with bonhomie and cheesy bon mot. Sally has her ‘life taken care of’ with a staff of many including the lugubrious housekeeper Paloma. Their three children are Stephen, currently eating himself to death, Cleo who has square eyes from watching so much reality tv and eleven year old Mikey turns plenty of good deals at school and is a regular chip of the old block. The smartest cookie in the house is Emily, Sally’s niece who has lived with them for years. When there’s a market crash the good life in Leatherhead grinds to a screeching halt and they learn exactly what ‘the best things are’.
This is a well written story with lively descriptions and wry, dry and gentle humour as you would expect from Mel Giedroyc. Although she pokes fun at the Parker household it’s always tongue in cheek and never in malice. Sally at first, is a purpose seeking shadow but she grows into herself as the book progresses and I love some of the things she comes out with especially to the local well heeled, beautifully coiffed, designer draped coven. All they need is a broom, cauldron and a guest appearance by Lady Macbeth as they drip their poison with a malicious smile and I dance with glee as Sally bish bash boshes right back at ‘em!!! The best drawn and strongest characters in my opinion are the children especially Cleo who is hilarious without realising it with her oblivious malapropisms! Some of the minor characters are good too such as Frank’s great granny Bronwen Llewelyn. I zipped through the first two thirds with many an accompanying titter, the occasional chortle and the odd unladylike snort. However, I feel it’s just a bit too long and so loses some of its snap, crackle and pop. As it reaches a conclusion it becomes a bit cliche and predictable as we know what the message is going to be even though it’s so true!
Overall. It’s a fun, enjoyable well written read and a nice piece of escapism, so needed at this time.
With thanks to NetGalley and Headline for the arc for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
DNF 14/2/2021 (20%)
I’ve always liked the TV duo Mel and Sue; so much that a few years ago I read Sue’s memoir ‘Spectacles’ and really enjoyed it.
So when Mel’s first foray into adult fiction appeared on NetGalley it was a no-brainer to hit that request button. Therefore I had such high hopes for this... especially when I’ve enjoyed Graham Norton’s (another BBC TV presenter) fiction too. I thought that the warmth I always felt from Mel on screen would translate to a great read.
Sadly it did not.
The book opened with a very odd passage about manure... honestly I’m still scratching my head as to what the heck was the point of that. It was one of the poorest openings to a novel I’ve ever read. I think it was meant to be some sort of metaphor for life? Who knows!
Then at least the book got properly underway.... but at breakneck speed! It was like there were too many plates spinning in the air all at once with the writing constantly trying to keep up to each plate. By that I mean the plot was frequently incoherent with strange time jumps and changes in character perspective. There were far too many cliches when it came to creating the cast of characters and the book relied far too heavily on sticking rigidly to tropes rather than bringing a freshness to them. It was just exhausting to read.
I also disliked the feel of the narrative of the book; the writing never flowed naturally and was frequently rather crass in tone. It just felt like a writer that didn’t know her own style; to me it seemed as if the author was trying to cater to her perceived audience rather than write the book in an authentic fashion. Ultimately I began to feel that the book was suffering from a case of attempting to cater to many but pleasing none. I therefore decided to DNF after five chapters (20%) as I just could not see myself enjoying this novel at all.
I’m so disappointed by this novel. I was really excited to read something by one of my favourite TV personalities but sadly this was a let down for me.
*An e-copy was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley for honest review* Publishing 1st April 2021, Headline
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Rating: really liked it
This is clearly another opinion of 'didn't live up to expectations'. I have watched Giedroyc on several TV shows over the years, and enjoyed her as a personality, so was looking forward to seeing how her foray into fiction would turn out.
I'm sad to say, not well.
Like another reviewer, I was utterly baffled by the introduction. Horse manure? Really? I'm still trying to fathom why it was there. Bizarre.
The characters weren't likeable, they had echoes of Schitts Creek but I like those characters, whereas these just didn't make me care about them.
At over 400 pages, it is long, and feels like the author was just waffling to get her word count up!
I'm glad others have enjoyed it, but it wasn't for me, sadly.
Rating: really liked it
For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...
One thing is for sure: the Parker family are filthy rich. Materialistic, out of touch and living a lifestyle that is protected by fortune. Whilst Giedroyc has created a caricature of personalities in this story, extravagance is definitely an unmissable element to the plot.
Rating: really liked it
I really like Mel Giedroyc. I find her very funny and extremely engaging, and behind that slightly daffy persona there’s an extremely intelligent mind, so I was hoping for something very good here. I’m afraid I was disappointed.
The Best Things relies on a very well-worn trope: a very wealthy woman finds herself rather bored and without purpose. She has little relationship with her husband or children who are all cocooned in their own comfortable worlds...until they lose everything and have to survive together and begin to learn Valuable Life Lessons.
It’s fine for what it is; Mel writes well, it’s decently structured and readable. The trouble is, it all seemed such old hat – to the point of being trite in places. The characters are well drawn but oh-so-familiar and I really couldn’t work up much enthusiasm for any of it.
The Best Things isn’t actively bad by any means; I may not be the target audience and others may enjoy this more than I did, but I can’t really recommend this. Sorry, Mel.
(My thanks to Headline for an ARC via NetGalley.)
Rating: really liked it
This novel sounded so intriguing. I kind of love seeing rich people get their come-uppances by thinking they'll always be rich and it turns out, they won't. Not when they buy exorbitantly expensive things just for the sake of it, and the person who brings in the money works in the financial sector of all places. However, what normally makes those novels great is that it gives the characters a certain humility. It makes them humble and appreciative and, quite honestly, the Parker family were so bloody up themselves I just didn't care about them.
There was just no warmth to this novel. The characters were hideous caricatures of themselves and it was just awful. They went to every single extreme of how a rich character could ask and I just didn't care for ANY of them. I genuinely assumed a novel written by Mel who always comes across so warm and friendly would be more down to Earth, but instead I just didn't like anything about this novel. I didn't care, and for me that's the kiss of death for any novel.
Rating: really liked it
This is a difficult review to write as I disliked this book very much most of the way through. The characters were hateful and I found it boring at times and very slow. Very disappointing I was hoping for better from this author. If she writes anymore I’m not sure I would bother as I couldn’t read another like this one.
Rating: really liked it
I DNF'd this at 60% - I really wanted to finish it but I just couldn't.
The Best Things follows Sally and family - rich and living in Surrey, they seem to have it all. Until they don't one day. The stock market crashes and they lose everything. Sally's husband, Frank and his business partner Amerjit both have different breakdowns and that is about where I got to.
I found this did not have any flow at all - one minute we were looking at Sally and the next one of her four children or someone else seemingly random. This meant, for me, I found it really hard to keep up with and was a bit lost at times. I did not feel any empathy towards the characters, even though they had lost everything and just found it all a bit odd. Everything happened quite fast, but in a way it was very slow to get into.
Rich family losing everything is a trope that is well-used in books, and one I thought I could get behind in an easy to read sort of way. But I just could not.
I really hate leaving negative reviews, but I just could not get into this one. Perhaps for a different reader it would be their book of the year.
Thanks to NetGalley for their ARC in return for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
DNF : 27%
I as looking forward to reading this debut novel, as I enjoy watching Mel on tv.
However I struggled over several days to read as much as I did.
The book started with a very strange piece about manure. Also I found the characters were very unlikable. I felt that there was too much trying to be crammed into the book and for me the writing was disjointed and didn't flow.
Thank you to netgalley & the publishers for this advance read in exchange for my honest opinion.
Rating: really liked it
I really couldn't get in to this one at all. I had zero relatable experience with the characters, they were chaotic, selfish braggarts and I couldn't care less how much their designer underwear cost. I was hoping for a light hearted, relatable, humourous story from this author but this wasn't it.
Rating: really liked it
Dreadful waste of time - cliche filled drivel.. very disappointing
Rating: really liked it
It's such a joy to listen to Mel Giedroyc tell stories. Her use of language and the refreshing way she chooses to embellish her nouns make for a very captivating experience. Unfortunately it didn't work as well in written form for me. It took me a while to not feel the struggle of following the long winded descriptions. That combined with the myriad of caricature characters led to a difficult first half. Oddly enough, after the halfway mark, the characters started to unfold more naturally and became a lot more interesting. It was definitely a feel good story, intertwined with hints at important life lessons, and would make for a perfect summer read.
Rating: really liked it
I wanted to like this, as I love Mel so much, but sadly I was very disappointed. I found it lacked Mel’s humour, or at least it wasn’t recognisably Mel in style, it was too cliche at times, wasn’t interested or couldn’t empathise with the characters, there were too many and so I didn’t feel they were developed enough to care. It just wasn’t funny and in fact I cringed at points, sadly not as good a read as the author is a comedian
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Rating: really liked it
Warning, slight spoiler alert.
I had high hopes for this book. With glowing reviews from Graham Norton and Jo Brand, I was expecting expecting some laughs and characters I could root for.
However ...
It tells the story of Sally and Frank Parker who lose all their money from Frank's hedge fund business in an economic crash. Their life of lavish parties, in house cooks, more high end brand named household items than any book needs, and nannies in range rovers swiftly comes to an end.
From the start I found Sally to be a shallow and moany woman and I desperately hoped she would find her morals in her redeeming arc as she navigates life without her £18 sourdough from the farmers market. Instead, Sally remained shallow, capitalistic, and without redeeming features (mainly work ethic). The story jumps narrative perspective randomly, the characters dont develop at all, they learn nothing, and I was left disliking them more at the end than at the start. If anything, this is a book about what the desire to "have it all" does to people. I shouted "for gods sake why are none of you trying to find a job?!?" more times than anyone should at one book.
Overall, very disappointed. Worried that Mel Giedroyc thinks Sally is some sort of "normal" person. Even more worried that Graham found it "funny".
Rating: really liked it
Mel is a bit of a national treasure and immensely engaging. So I was very much looking forward to this, especially after the justified success of Richard Osman’s first book.
In my humble opinion this tries to be a blend of chick lit with the sort of characters you would have found in a Tom Sharpe novel.
Sally is the somewhat feckless wife of a very rich hedge fund manager. Life drifts by in the comfort of wealthy privilege. But when the market crashes, the world falls apart for Sally and her family. Can the docile Sally stand up and be counted and actually make a difference?
Described as “life affirming”, funny and charming, I was disappointed to find that it wasn’t. It’s okay, a slow first half and then a better second, it was hard to overly like any of the characters or be amused by the situations they find themselves in. There are some nice lines and mildly amusing situations, but not enough of them to carry the story.
Have to say it didn’t deliver in the way I really hoped it would.
