“Worst Idea Ever” is the story of Georgia, a successful children’s author and illustrator and her best friend, Lydia who aspires to write and illustrate a book but is stuck in a job she hates. They have been friends since the age of 19 and whilst Georgia has married Nick and has two grown up children, Lydia remains resolutely single. In order to cheer up her friend, Georgia invents a fake Twitter name and admires Lydia’s artwork incognito hoping to inspire Lydia and help her to sell her work. However when Lydia starts to reveal some shocking information to her new internet buddy,Georgia learns some difficult things about her own life and she is not sure what to do. This is a light read on the subject of friendship and betrayal and whilst the first half was entertaining, I did want to shake Georgia at one point when she gets so obsessed with finding out what Lydia knows. No one that “eavesdrops” ever hears something good and this is certainly the case for Georgia. Lydia suddenly morphs from a fun best friend to something completely different and it was almost difficult to believe that this could really happen. All in all this was an enjoyable read which I whizzed through in a couple of days. Georgia and Lydia were interesting characters but the men in the story were rather boring! Nick and neighbour, Harry, really didn’t have much going for them. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

A wickedly insightful story of relationships, repercussions and revenge. The story is aptly named. Georgia tries to help her friend's business and morale by engaging her on social media using a pseudo profile. The subsequent message conversations have surprising results and lead to an intriguing tale of betrayal, lies and secrets. The characters are relatable, and the relationship dynamics authentic in this tale woven with humour and poignancy. Readers familiar with the author will expect the unexpected. Knowing this and the many plot twists keep you turning the pages. I received a copy of this book from Penguin Books UK - Michael Joseph via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Chick lit that was just that little bit different. I thought I knew where it was heading, but half way through it did have a little bit of a shock twist. Georgia and Lydia have been friends since they were 19, and now in their 40s, there is a little bit of a strain on their relationship. Georgia seems to have the perfect life - a husband who loves her, twins who have just moved out to university and most importantly a job as a published children’s author and illustrator. Lydia meanwhile, is still single, no children and although she works in the book publishing world, she can’t seem to get her own book published. Georgia starts to feel bad when Lydia mentions about her book and starts up her own online business, because she knows that Lydia’s illustrations are wonderful so she comes up with an idea to help Lydia feel appreciated and like her artwork is seen… she sets up a fake Twitter profile and catfishes Lydia. “Patricia” gushes over Lydia’s online shop and forever promises to buy things when she’s been paid, the logistics of how to do this without ever giving herself away completely flummoxing Georgia. That was the start of the worst idea she ever had. From this Twitter account, Lydia tells Georgia (or Patricia’s Twitter account) some devastating news which turns Georgia’s life and world upside down. This book kept me interested, as I wanted to know what would happen next. But some parts were pretty obvious and others completely floored me. It was an enjoyable read and a very easy one at that. It would be something I recommend to people that want a quick and easy read. It was a little bit far fetched at times, although it was so well written that it didn’t particularly matter.

I do love Jane Fallon’s books, just when you think you are dealing with a fairly simple storyline she upends everything and you are reading a very different novel! Georgia and Lydia have been friends from their university days, however life has not been as kind to Lydia as it has to Georgia. Georgia is a successful children’s illustrator, happily married with grown up children. Lydia is single, still trying to make it as an illustrator and stuck in a job she hates. Georgia has an idea to boost her friend’s confidence which quickly goes horribly wrong. To reveal anymore of the plot would ruin the story, suffice to say this is a very superior revenge novel. Jane Fallon writes so cleverly and beautifully, you really can’t put this down, a real “just one more chapter” book! Thank you to #netgalley and #MichaelJBooks for allowing me to review this ARC.

I am a big fan of Jane’s books and she is one of the authors who cheers me up when I hear news of a new book coming out. I find Jane’s books really well thought out and easy to get into and Worst Idea Ever is no exception to this. Georgia and Lydia are best friends and go way way back. Although they work in similar areas, Georgia’s career has really taken off whereas Lydia is equally, if not more, talented but just never seems to catch a lucky break. She has a job that she hates and despite trying to sell her art online, it hasn’t really caught on. Georgia and Lydia’s personal lives are also quite different. Georgia is married to Nick and they have grown up children who are now off to university. Lydia doesn’t want to settle until she meets the one who ticks every box. She dates with ease but potential partners never seem to last long. She is comfortable with her choices but Georgia really wishes that she would meet someone to sweep her off her feet and that her luck would change professionally. Georgia decides to give Lydia a little boost by creating a twitter profile and using this to comment upon and ‘like’ Lydia’s art but very quickly she turns into a new friend for Lydia and starts to be taken into her confidence. What could possibly go wrong… I found this to be an engrossing read – I quite liked both main characters when first getting to know them. I really felt for them both – it must be difficult to see your friend have all the successes you would love to have for yourself yet because they are your friend you also feel delighted and proud on their behalf. Although you could see how bad an idea it was to create the fake profile, you could equally see the genuine wishes to be helpful and supportive behind it. I suppose in a similar position I might be tempted to do the same although I don’t know that I would have taken the conversation further but then once you start chatting and learn something that you shouldn’t then I can see how it might be almost impossible to extract yourself from the situation – human nature being what it is, the desire to find out more must be overwhelming! It was very easy to feel invested in both Lydia’s and Georgia’s lives and hard to put the book down! The idea of knowing something about a loved one because of impersonating a different person and thinking about how you would deal with having this information was a really great idea for a story. Initially we see things from Georgia’s perspective but alter get an insight into Lydia’s views and see things through her eyes. I love how Jane writes and has you thinking one thing and then all of a sudden things change and are not what you thought at all. I am being deliberately obtuse as I don’t wish to give away key plot points as not only is it annoying, but it also might spoil the story for you which is absolutely not what I want to do! If you want a book that takes you on a rollercoaster of emotion and keeps your attention from page one then this is the book for you. Friendship – the good, the bad and the ugly – brilliantly written and sharply observed. Another great book from Jane!