The F**k It List

Author: Melanie Cantor

Publisher: Bantam Press/Penguin UK Books

Available: 9^th May in Paperback & eBook

Thank you to Anne Cater, Random Things Tours and Bantam Press/Penguin UK for my gifted copy and for having me on the blog tour for this book. My review is based on my experience of the book and any thoughts expressed here are solely mine alone.

Book Details

Meet Daisy. She’s just caught her boyfriend shagging someone else at her fortieth birthday party. She’s camped out in her childhood bedroom. And it looks as if her dream to have a baby has gone down the pan.

Now Daisy is 40, alone and in a world that seems built for couples.

Time for a F**K It List!

Hilarious and heart-warming, this triumphant novel asks what it is to be 40 and suddenly single, asking the question, why do we think we need a man to start a family, and what would you do with your own F**K It List?

A book to empower every woman sold the lie that they need a man to complete them.

My Thoughts:

 Oh, how I wish Melanie Cantor’s latest novel The F**k It List, had crossed my path a decade ago, when I had just turned 40 and in a very similar way to the protagonist, Daisy in this book, my life also exploded or imploded, either way, it was completely decimated but like Daisy, I had to find a new perspective on living life. So, you might be wondering why, having lived through such calamity would I choose to read a book, that cuts very close to home!

For me, there are two very good reasons, firstly when I fell down this rabbit hole, there were no books that fictionalised, women over 40, having a life that didn’t conform to the expected norms and if there were, I never found one and trust me I looked hard, so I was fascinated to see how Melanie would approach it! Secondly, Melanie’s book offers to us, her readers, the comfort of knowing, that it is eminently possible for any of us, to choose what we do next, when life doesn’t work out in the way we expect it! In fact, it may be even better, than we could ever have dreamed!

At the start of the novel, Daisy Settle, seems to have it all, a lovely home, a charming, handsome, wealth partner, an interior design career that she adores, and she is about to embark on the journey to becoming a parent. This is her dream, she has always wanted to have a baby, all the pieces of life’s puzzle are firmly in place! Until that is they’re not….

On her 40^th Birthday, life as she knows it, is irrevocably shattered and like any woman, she retreats to her bed and lets her emotional grief, hurt and anger engulf her…fortunately she has a very supportive and funny circle of friends and family, to encourage her to wash her hair, take a shower and take the necessary footsteps back into her new world.

With a new flat and plenty of fantastic work to keep her busy, life moves on, the hurt and anger about what she’s experienced, however merely simmers! Daisy reflects and wonders why on earth ‘had she not prioritized, what she wanted’ so much sooner. So, now is the time, she’s wasted enough of it, she feels. Motherhood is finally, top of her ambitions. Can she do this alone? Does she want to? And so, the F**k It List, is drawn up to help her assess, the pros/cons of her decision! But of course, if, you want to know, what Daisy decides to do next, well you’ll have to read Melanie’s book and find out, won’t you!!!

Now to be a little blunt, I have never understood the overwhelming longing to have a child, personally I couldn’t think of anything I would want less, but that is completely my choice. I have had friends and family for whom parenthood, has been their hearts desire and I have happily supported their journeys. So, I can truly comprehend the emotional turmoil and complexity of circumstances, that Daisy finds herself in. And I can honestly say, that Melanie, has written a witty, wonderful story, that I feel will be a source of comfort, encouragement and inspiration to many who read this book, especially those, who have traversed a difficult route to becoming a parent. Melanie has treated her fictionalisation of the experience in sensitive and sentient way.

I think my favourite element of this book, is Daisy’s determination, to not let her age, social constricts or expectations of family, spoil her dream. I whole heartedly applaud, how strongly she believes, that motherhood is attainable for her and how she bravely sets out on this journey. Which is one filled with both physical and emotional battles and which Melanie has constructed in a beautifully direct, humorous and positive manner!

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it is charming, compassionate and compelling and I hope you add it to your bookshelves very soon and you may want to create your very own F**k It list! I have been inspired by Melanie’s book to create mine, although I have swopped out babies for dogs as that’s my dream! While reflecting on my list and Melanie’s words, it became apparent to me, that at the core of this book is the often ignored truth, that, we all have the opportunity to decide, what we really want from our lives and all our choices are unique and intimate and nobody else, has the right to quash these dreams, what ever they may be. Nor can society’s morays dictate the route we take to achieve them and I think, we all need to be a little braver in following our desires, just like Daisy!

Thank you Melanie for articulating this with such panache!

Happy Reading Bookophiles….

About the Author:

Melanie Cantor was a celebrity agent and publicist for over thirty years. Her clients included Ulrika Jonsson, Melinda Messenger and Melanie Sykes. In 2004, she hosted a makeover show on Channel 4 called Making Space and in 2017 having just turned 60 she was scouted on Kings Cross station, subsequently appearing as a ‘real model’ in the most recent Dove campaign. She is the author of Life and Other Happy Endings.

Please do read some of the other reviews on this blog tour.