Why Mummy Swears

Why Mummy #2

by Gill Sims

The hilarious second novel, and Sunday Times No 1 Bestseller, from author of the smash hit Why Mummy Drinks.

Monday, 25 JulyThe first day of the holidays. I suppose it could’ve been worse. I brightly announced that perhaps it might be a lovely idea to go to a stately home and learn about some history. As soon as we got there I remembered why I don’t use the flipping National Trust membership – because National Trust properties are full of very precious and breakable items, and very precious and breakable items don’t really mix with children, especially not small boys. Where I had envisaged childish faces glowing with wonder as they took in the treasures of our nation’s illustrious past, we instead had me shouting ‘Don’t touch, DON’T TOUCH, FFS DON’T TOUCH!” while stoutly shod pensioners tutted disapprovingly and drafted angry letters to the Daily Mail in their heads.How many more days of the holiday are there?

Welcome to Mummy’s world…The Boy Child Peter is connected to his iPad by an umbilical cord, The Girl Child Jane is desperate to make her fortune as an Instagram lifestyle influencer, while Daddy is constantly off on exotic business trips…Mummy’s marriage is feeling the strain, her kids are running wild and the house is steadily developing a forest of mould. Only Judgy, the Proud and Noble Terrier, remains loyal as always.Mummy has also found herself a new challenge, working for a hot new tech start-up. But not only is she worrying if, at forty-two, she could actually get up off a bean bag with dignity, she’s also somehow (accidentally) rebranded herself as a single party girl who works hard, plays hard and doesn’t have to run out when the nanny calls in sick.Can Mummy keep up the facade while keeping her family afloat? Can she really get away with wearing ‘comfy trousers’ to work? And, more importantly, can she find the time to pour herself a large G+T?Probably effing not.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Chick Lit, Comedy, Audiobook, Contemporary, Parenting

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 12, 2018

About the author

Gill Sims is a bestselling British author and blogger.

Sims is the author of Why Mummy Drinks which was the Sunday Times Fiction Bestseller of 2017, Why Mummy Swears published in 2018, and Why Mummy Doesn't Give A **** published in 2019.

In 2016, she began her Peter and Jane blog, which quickly gained a viral following. Her blog offers a comical response to issues facing parents. She has also written postnatal depression for Netmums. Sims has been regularly profiled as a leading proponent of a "Mummy Blogger."

She lives in Scotland with her husband, two children and border terrier, 'Judgy Dog'.

Reviews

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read Gill Sim's first book "Why Mummy Drinks" the No. 1 bestselling debut fiction hardback of 2017 but had heard fabulous things about it so was over the moon to be in a position to read her latest book "Why Mummy Swears".
As a parent myself I've encountered many similarities in this wonderfully funny story - the days out to national trust places thinking you're doing the correct and intelligent thing to secretly disposing of end of year school work desperate not to be discovered. The part regarding the family eating in the self catering cafe was very identifiable - having three kids myself and all having individual menu quirks!
All of the incidents Ellen (Mummy) recounts are so hilarious but are also truly realistic and the author engages the reader in such a way to guarantee a giggle and nodding of the head in agreement.
I could hear the change in Ellen's tone superbly - from when she speaks to the kids to shouting at her husband. Screaming at her hubby after he had cleared out her kitchen cupboards was side splitting - who doesn't have out of date spices lol?! This is due to the authors brilliant writing narrative and I actually found myself feeling better about parenting - things that you thought you were bad at are no different to how other exhaustive parents cope.
I liked how the story was set out as a diary so you could follow the timeline perfectly. The kids were just typical 'kids' running wild and never more true was the saying "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings" as Boy Child Peter and Girl Child Jane constantly came out with embarrassing talk.
All in all, a very fun filled read that I could totally identify with, was undemanding, entertaining and very well written. I'd highly recommend "Why Mummy Swears" especially if you have kids and look forward to reading more by this funny and talented author.

5 stars

[Anni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is a woman after my own heart – she even has a border terrier like mine, which features on the blog from which these anecdotes are taken, along with a glass of mother’s little helper. There will be few moms who cannot relate to these snippets of family life on the frontline.
If you find yourself needing a bit of light relief from worthy heavyweight literature, then you can do no worse than to indulge your guilty-secret craving with something wickedly funny and undemanding like this follow-up to Why Mummy Drinks.
P.S. A word of caution: if you don't like profanity, this is not for you - the clue is in the title.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley

[Marina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The attraction of ‘Why Mummy Swears’ is relating to the main character and yes, there were many funny and astute observations of modern parenting that would resonate with most mums.
However, there were some things I just couldn’t relate to:
a) Her choice of swear word is ’ bastarding ‘ - is that even a word?
b) She seems obsessed with her own middle-classness and with preserving her middle-class appearance
c) Her husband is a sexist and self-centred prick. But in a middle-class way.
I didn’t actually finish the book. I didn’t think, ‘f**k this bastarding book’ …I just lost interest and couldn’t be bothered to pick it up again.

[Rachel (not currently receiving notifications) Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having listened to the audiobook of Why Mummy Drinks and the sweary rants of middle-class mother, Ellen Russell, I was unprepared for how entertaining, honest and irreverently funny I found it. Despite not being a mummy or even married I was still able to empathise with Ellen’s plight as just about the only requirement is an idea of how parenting has changed over the course of the last decade and just what a complex minefield it has become. Written in the same diary format as Why Mummy Drinks, this follow-up focuses on Ellen attempting to get some semblance of a life back outside of motherhood, marriage and running a home as her occasionally insensitive husband, Simon, and their two precious ‘moppets’ are faced with her return to working full-time.

Despite this being a continuation of Ellen’s riotously funny story this follow-up effectively works as a standalone with minimal reference to the first book and any required backstory is provided along the way. This second book picks up two years on from the events of Why Mummy Drinks as Ellen is faced with a whole new set of challenges with daughter, Jane, now eleven and Peter, aged nine. Having taken voluntary redundancy three-months ago and the profits from her app dwindling, the expenditure that the summer holidays necessitates is the first of many problems for Ellen as she addresses the difficulties of actually working from home and not just eating biscuits and browsing the Daily Mail website! After the frenzy of booking the children into summer camps Ellen’s intention of days full of wholesome fun quickly fizzles out as Jane harangues her about getting an Instagram account as part of his plan for a career as a social media lifestyle influencer and Peter attempts to suffocate her with his noxious flatulence!

Hating the idea of being dependent on Simon and wanting a more stimulating and challenging role outside of her biological function, Ellen decides to focus on her own hopes and ambitions now her children are growing up and not simply referring fights between them and providing Haribos! The overarching plot of this book is concerned with the home truths of Ellen’s return to work and rapidly discovering just how taken for granted she has become in her own household. Together with attitudes in the workplace, Simon’s seeming inability to recognise her career as every bit as important as his own and Ellen’s own concerns that she is a neglectful parent and the moppets will suffer, she is well and truly worn to a frazzle. Couched within Ellen’s rants there are so many honest truths about the struggle of women returning to work and the anxiety and demands for those attempting to ‘have it all’. Entirely relatable, Ellen’s struggles take aim at the many inequalities between mothers and fathers in the workplace with real moments of insight as she juggles the conundrum of doing her best for her children in a modern world where just about everyone has an opinion!

Not content with everything going on in her own life, Ellen is guilt tripped into becoming Chair of the PTA and taking on the many onerous responsibilities it entails as she bemoans turning forty-two, manages her bossy older sister, Jessica, becomes an unlikely parenting guru to her step-sister, Sarah, and catches up with the latest hare-brained scheme of Simon’s unwashed sister, Louisa, and her feral brood! Humorous, light-hearted and occasionally profound, Why Mummy Swears, is every bit as much fun as the original.

[Tracy Shephard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellen's diary is hilarious..

Covering a year from July, and the start of the school holidays, to the following July this hilarious look at motherhood, career adventures and family had me rolling with laughter.

I could write a novel with just my review and include all the times I giggled, snorted and wet myself laughing at life in this dysfunctional but very realistic household.

It is totally relatable and what I loved the most was 'Ellen's voice'  it's like hearing a tale from your best friend like you do over a glass of wine.. it's brilliant, genius and fun. Some of it was just priceless.

Gill's humour pours from every page, word and life snippet and I couldn't help but wonder how much of this book is down to personal experience.. I know I have encountered some of Ellen's happenings while trying to bring up two children.

I loved the 27th December entry, I think it has to be my favourite. I chuckled and chuckled.. and will never look at a gravy jug in quite the same way again.

The swearing is mega, but you know, the warning is in the title, but this has to be one of the best books I have ever read. It reigns supreme and I highly recommend it, I think it's going to be one of the most talked about books of the year and will be on everyone's reading list.

It's a complete riot.

[Lorraine Shorter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought and downloaded this book on Kindle after the fun and bright cover attracted my eye on a mooch through Sainsbury's. I hadn't read the first book by Gill Sims 'Why Mummy Drinks' and perhaps if I had I could have saved myself £3.99.

While I admit the book started quite well - fast paced, with humorous moments where I thought 'me too', it quickly deteriorated. The continuous manic speed makes for a crude and abrasive read, and the constant barrage of sentences written in capitals, poor punctuation and repetitive swearing wore me down. By 31% in I was wondering if it was worth asking Amazon for refund ...

This book is just an excuse for a middle-class, cliched rant about first world problems. The characters are souless and barely engaging, in bland, self-limiting scenarios. So unless you're living in a world where you judge people by how they drink their coffee, I wouldn't bother.

[Sesili · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moraju 4 zvezdice jer mi je prva knjiga bila zabavnija, ali jesam se glasno smejala, čak i na javnim mestima. KAD ĆE SLEDEĆI DEO?!!??!!?!?1

[Ashleys Bücherkabinett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich feier Ellen!
Wiedermal durfte ich herzhaft lachen, mich fremdschämen, mit ihr mitfühlen und mir mit meinen alltäglichen Mami"problemen" nicht alleine vorkommen. Ich freu mich auf Band 3 😍🙌🏻

[Fabulous Book Fiend · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just hilarious. It was so great to be back with Ellen again. I felt as if I was on her team and we were fighting the injustices of the world swearing and drinking together. If you think they covered every possible funny mummy scenario in Why Mummy Drinks then think again because there is so much more trouble children and mummies and daddies can get into and it is a just as funny the second time around.

Ellen is such a great main character to spend time with. She is just down to earth and she gets to say and do exactly what we are all thinking. On the pages of her diary of course. She is strong and opinionated and always feels like she should be doing more to be a good mother. She debunks all the myths surrounding child raising, working and marriage and its just great to get to live vicariously through her for 300 or so pages. The other characters in this book are those that we met in Why Mummy Drinks. Peter and Jane are very typical for children of their age, Jane wants and Instagram account and Peter has been absolutely fascinated by the sex education video they watched at school.

I absolutely hated Simon, Ellen's husband, in this novel, like seriously shouted at the pages hated him, but well written Gail Sims, I love a character I can feel passionate about! Ellen's family are also featured in this novel and provide great comedy value, serious good fun! I also loved the fact that we get a lot of feminist values coming through the pages of this novel concerning working mothers and fathers babysitting their own children. The way this book is structured is one of my favourites in a novel. I love a book written in diary form because rather than think you'll just get to the end of a chapter, you think you'll read on until the next month and so this was a very quick read for me, but one I laughed my way through entirely!

Although this is a sequel to Why Mummy Drinks, you don't have to have read the first book to enjoy this one, it works on its own. If you ARE planning on reading the first novel in this series though, I would recommend doing that one first so you don't get spoiled for some of the details by reading this one. I read them back to back and can highly recommend both for a jolly good time-so much fun!

[Lucía · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it a lot but the first book was funnier

[Denton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got through about a quarter of the book and then definitely decided to give up forcing myself through it. This is saying a lot, I've read 47 books thus far this year and have not ever once felt the need to give up a book entirely. So what was so bad about the book?

I get how some people would see it as humorous, but I just felt it was trying way too hard without actually being funny. When I first started the book, I was reminded of the way Sophie Kinsella writes and had rather high hopes for the book. Unfortunately, the whole thing went downhill from there. Why is Mummy such a whiny bitch? Why does she put herself in positions that she doesn't want to be in just to then whine and complain about it to her terrifyingly piece of shit human of a husband? WHY is she still even married to this mega tosser who can't put anyone before himself and is also incredibly sexist and unsupportive of his wife, whom he CHOSE to spend his life with?? Is this what The Straights™ deal with in marriage?

This book just made me want to slap every single character in it and yell at them to shut up and make better 'bastarding' choices.

[Odette Brethouwer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Net zo leuk en geweldig en goed als de eerste!

De humor vind ik hilarisch. Herkenbaar en soms overtrokken, maar niet onrealistisch. Juist niet. Dat is heel tof.

Maar toch zit er een diepere laag onder. Net als in deel 1 steekt die op 85% ineens de kop op, op een goede, mooie en logische manier.

Heerlijk boek weer!

[Catherine Victor Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

2nd instalment in the why mummy series and this one didn't disappoint. It had me grinning and chuckling her and there throughout because frankly with 3 kids and a full time job I can totally relate. A couple of years have passed since the first book and her kids are now 11/12 (just like my daughter is now) and 8/9. After having paid the mortgage off in the last book after designing a successful app and having taking redundancy from her part time job, Ellen lands her dream job. The only catch is that's its full time. This book mainly deals with the stress of juggling the kids and a full time job as well as the PTA and I can totally relate.
What struck me the most (and I think I May have felt this way in the first book) but is probably even more evident in this one is... what a fucking useless piece of shit her husband is! I honestly wanted to punching him several times throughout this book. I honestly don't know how Ellen decides she does want to be married to him when it's actually quite evident that he is actually not supportive of her and she is actually happier when he isn't around most of the time as is evidenced in Lanzarote (which my the way was my favourite part of the book) they way she stuck it to him was legendary. Why does mummy swear? Because frankly we just need to!!
Slowly making my way through the series. P.s just heard a 6th one is due later this year!

[Ivana Grujić · Rating 5 out of 5]

5* jer me uspela nasmejati ova limunada od knjige.
Verujem da ću pročitati i druge delove iz ovog serijala.

[Sian Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

admit to not having seen Gill Sim's blog or Facebook page before, so I hadn't heard of Peter and Jane and their adventures. I also hadn't read Why Mummy Drinks, which is the first book by this author. I love to laugh and am not offended by swearing, so I was really looking forward to getting stuck in to this book. Any writing which can take the mickey out of parenting in a lighthearted way is a winner for me.

Why Mummy Swears is the story of Ellen, her husband Simon and their two "precious moppets" Peter and Jane. Peter is 9 and Jane is 11 and my children are exactly the same age gap, although two years younger. The book starts with Ellen contemplating the summer holidays and what they are going to do with their time. She is also job hunting, and amazingly gets an interview for her dream job. As a mother, any job is going to be difficult to juggle the children around, but this job is full-time and you can see how that would make childcare a struggle.

Gill Sims writes about the the exasperating side of parenting incredibly well. We have all experienced the child who would only eat from the blue plate, or the children who fought over the yellow bowl every morning. In fact, I once threw all the blue plastic IKEA plates away in a fit of rage when my children fought over them for the 8th time that morning. It's good to feel that I am not the only one who occasionally has to walk out of the room, utter an expletive and walk back in with a cheery demeanour!

Frustratingly, though, I found the lead character Ellen difficult to warm to, which led to me struggling through the book a little. Why Mummy Swears grapples with some huge topics, divorce, pregnancy, not wanting children, and equality at work, but personally I feel it fails to adequately tackle inequalities in the home. It made me incredibly thankful that my husband helps out at home, and treats me as his equal. When Ellen starts her new job, she fails to mention that she has children, and once she hasn't mentioned them, it becomes increasingly difficult to blurt out the truth. Why Mummy Swears highlights the inequalities of the workplace in the fact that her colleague Lydia is treated differently because she is the only mother in the office. Her colleagues belittle Lydia and claim that she is not doing her fair share, because she has to go to school assemblies and sports days. After a showdown near the end of the book, where Lydia puts everyone in their place and proves just how hard she works, the workplace does end up a little more equal.

It's a diary style book, and I can see why other reviews have compared it to Bridget Jones' Diary. I really, really wanted to like this book, but in all honesty, I found it a little flat. It didn't make me laugh out loud. Whilst there are elements of the book which are highly relatable, as I have similar aged children to Ellen, I didn't find the household environment realistic. I found the book to be quite judgemental, and a bit painful to read at times. In fact, having read the other reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, I have ended up questioning what is wrong with me and why I don't find it funny like everyone else! I know the book is tongue in cheek, and I think possibly the fact that I couldn't warm to Ellen had a huge impact on my enjoyment of the book. It was well-written and the plot flowed nicely, making it easy to read, but the tone just didn't quite sit right with me. Gill Sims is a bestselling author and her previous book Why Mummy Drinks was the number one bestselling fiction debut hardback in 2017. Her first novel was in the Sunday Times Top 10 Bestsellers for over 23 weeks, so there are plenty of people who absolutely love her writing. I think that if you liked the previous book then you will love this one too.

[Karschtl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nachdem mich das erste Buch der Mami-Reihe letztes Jahr vollauf begeistert hat, waren meine Ansprüche sehr hoch! Was soll ich sagen, sie wurden vollends erfüllt!
Gill Sims schreibt erneut sehr erfrischend (und realitätsnah!) aus dem Leben einer berufstätigen Mutter, die sich mit präpubertierenden Kindern, Mann, Schwester + Schwägerin, Eltern anderer Kinder und ArbeitskollegInnen rumplagen muss. Mir wäre in einigen Situationen auch absolut die Hutschnur geplatzt. Im ersten Buch dachte ich, nur Simons Schwester ist unerträglich. Diesmal fand ich auch Ellens Schwester Jessica und vor allem ihre Mutter ganz furchtbar. Sowas von unverfroren. Und trotzdem lässt es sich Ellen ein ums andere Mal gefallen, dabei ist sie doch sonst eine starke Frau! Zum Beispiel wenn es darum geht, ihrem Mann Simon mal die Meinung zu sagen wenn der glaubt, die Kinderbetreuung gehe ihn per se nichts an und er tut seiner Frau einen Gefallen wenn er sie doch mal 'ausnahmsweise' übernimmt. Oder wenn er an dem Abend, an dem er mit kochen dran ist, einfach das von ihr für den nächsten Tag vorgekochte Essen aus dem Tiefkühler nimmt und der Familie serviert. Grrr...!

Ich habe mich auch hier in vielen Situationen wiedererkannt: der Museums-Besuch mit Kindern, auch ich habe noch einen kompletten Stapel mit 100 Namensschildern zum einbügeln rumliegen, die ich mir eingebildet (oder von anderen eingeredet) habe unbedingt zu brauchen. Und dann habe ich doch lieber alles mit Textilmarker beschriftet. HIIT-Kurse sind auch in meinem Fitnesscenter derzeit der 'Hit', zum Glück bin ich nicht der Typ für Kurse sondern verziehe mich lieber auf den Crosstrainer wo ich in Ruhe lesen kann. Und Facebook ist bei den Kids wirklich absolut out, das hat uns auch die Rednerin des Vortrags "Safer Internet" in der Grundschule letztens erklärt. War mir vorher gar nicht so bewusst. Aber klar, wenn sich dort schon all die Eltern (und teilweise sogar Großeltern) tummeln ist das 1. schon mal voll uncool und 2. will man sich da ja nun wirklich nicht auch noch bespitzeln lassen von den Erziehungsberechtigten.

Gill Sims Schreibstil ist selbst in der deutschen Übersetzung absolut göttlich. Ihr Humor ist genau meine Wellenlänge (beim Weihnachtsessen habe ich lauthals gelacht, und das passiert mir nicht oft!) und die Kraftausdrücke, die sie benutzt, fand ich auch nicht störend sondern immer passend für die jeweiligen Situationen (und im richtigen Ausmaß verwendet).

[Bookish Chat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book arrived at just the right time. Picture the scene....a sweaty, disgruntled 12 year old boy, one foot out of the door, ready to hop on his bike and disappear into the great outdoors. Me, equally as sweaty and disgruntled as I try to cajole, coerce, tempt and bribe him into doing just. A. Tiny. Bit. Of. Revision. Pleeeeeease. Me: 'Shall I stick these revision notes on your bedroom wall for you?'.....Him: 'yeah and if you could just stick some in the bin that'd be great'.......in the words of Ellen, the mummy in the book....FFS!!!!!

I was pretty chuffed to find that the children in this book were of similar ages to my own two precious darlings. I have a 12 year old boy (you've met him) and a 9 year old girl. The two children in this book are 9 and 11 and although the sexes are reversed the general behavioural shizz is the same.

I could identify with so much of what was said in this book. The bickering, the constant pleas for an Instagram account because 'everyone else has got one', the general day to day trials and tribulations of trying your hardest to ensure you hold down a job, whilst simultaneously keeping your children happy and more importantly alive!

This book is ram jam packed with humour and heart. Even if your children are younger/older there are moments in this book you will surely be able to identify with. Even if you don't have kids yourself this book is such an enjoyable read.

We meet Ellen, the mother of two children Jane and Peter and her husband Simon.  We follow their day to day lives and the various incidents sent to try Ellen.  Difficult PTA meetings, childcare issues, family drama's and marital strife but all with a healthy dollop of grim humour.  Ellen tries to get herself out of tricky situations but ends up digging herself a deeper hole, and can't we all identify with that at some point!?

I believe the author Gill Simms started off with a blog and has a first novel called Why Mummy Drinks which was a huge success.  I think I need to get my hands on it..... right after I've persuaded the boychild to do some revision that is.......

If you want a lighthearted read chock full of laughs then this is the book for you.  A great summer holiday read.

Thanks to Rosie Margesson and Harper Collins for the review copy.

[bookish_emmxx · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to in audio format.

Why Mummy Swears is the second diary written by Ellen. Forty two year old Ellen is married to Simon and they have two children Peter and Jane.

It is another stressful year for Ellen. In a moment of madness she volunteers to become head of the PTA. After working from home for the last year Ellen gets a full time job with a trendy start up company.

This was a laugh out loud book helped by the narration of Gabrielle Glaister. The funniest chapter was the Christmas chapter when Ellen had to help her cousin give birth.

I recommend this hilarious book.

[Lainy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time taken to read - on and off over 4 days

Pages - 368

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Why Mummy Swears is the much anticipated new novel from Gill Sims, author of the hilarious Why Mummy Drinks and online sensation Peter and Jane.

It’s every parents’ nightmare – the start of the school holidays – and instead of sitting in the sun, reading a book over a cold, crisp glass of Pinot Grigio, Mummy has two bored moppets to attend to. After frantically booking sports camps, child minder slots, not to mention time off work, Mummy is exhausted. But this is only the beginning…

After being dragged to join the school’s PTA in the new term by an annoyingly kind-spirited neighbour, Mummy is stuck with organising the Christmas Fayre and pleasing all the overly disapproving parents. In combination with getting to know her father’s surprise new glamorous (and much younger) wife, and being forced to spend more time with her narcissistic mother, life isn’t cutting her much of a break. What more could possibly happen?



My Review

Over the space of a year we delve into Ellen's life, in diary format. A no holds barred look into parenthood, marriage, two children, interviews/work, family and juggling the added pressures from all corners. Ellen is hillarious, she has a mouth that could make a sailor blush, she swears like almost every other sentence. She is really funny, has different names for the kids, not all pleasant and I think if you don't take it in the humour it was intended some may be offended.

Even if you don't have kids I think you can appreciate and get a kick out of this book. It shows you the madness that is the life of a mum, wife and trying to find time just to be you. We can slip into that domestic situation, get a feel for it, experience it without the committal of being an actual parent.

Lots of ups and downs, some things infuriated me, the relationship with her mother and sister sadly it echos some of the real life family dynamics. The "politics" and behaviours of some parents when trying to arrange things for the kids ugh. However, I loved the shallow, Instagram obsessed Kiki and whilst it is wrote in humour there really are real life Kiki's out there #priorities

For me there were some echos of Bridget Jones in there and what it is like trying to raise kids in a day and age where everything is device and social media obsessed. Laughter, inappropriate humour, emotional, sadness, cursing, joviality to name just a few. Certainly a book you can read poolside and I think it is relate-able for pretty much any reader. This is my first read of this author, it won't be my last 3.5/5 for me this time.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally hilarious and definitely a laugh out loud book. I did try not to swear in front of my children but I can certainley remember desperately wanting to many times.

[Cnikus M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pobavilo. Presne vidim seba o 11 rokov, ako sa natahujem s dcerou o tabletoch a Instagrame (alebo inych socialnych mediach), s pracou, muzom, psom a dokonalymi mamickami.
* dole za strasny slovensky preklad a korekciu. To, ze "millenials" skoncia ako "deti milenia", by som este prezila. Hysak sa vsak nepise s "i". A prelozit "dummy" ako "atrapa", pricom z kontextu je ABSOLUTNE jasne, ze ide o cumlik, tak to je chyba na vsetkych frontoch.
V tomto pripade mama nadava kvoli zlemu prekladu :)
Ostatne knihy zo serie jedine v povodnom zneni!

[Quanti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deja vu: zase je začátek roku, zase čtu Gill Sims a zase je to skvělý, možná ještě skvělejší než první díl. Jane je sice jedenáct a mojí dceři zatím jen sedm, ale některé záblesky puberty už strašidelně poznávám. Mockrát jsem se pobavila a ještě víckrát mě zamrazilo, jak je to přesné. Jen překlad mě místy trochu zklamal (ale víceméně asi v drobnostech).

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it! Some funny relatable bits as a mother but I just found it a chore, didn't manage to get half way through without wanting to shout get a grip! Never has a book defeated me before but the spare time I have to read I want to enjoy not see it as a chore. Just not for me!

[The Endless Unread · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is hateful and disrespectful. There is no point to the storyline except for an author to rant and think they are funny doing it. This is the epitome of bad writing

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second book by Gill Sims, and I hope she will write more.

[Martha Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally, I found Gill Simm’s sequel ‘Why Mummy Swears’ much better than her first novel ‘Why Mummy Drinks’. I never really got the whole app-inventing sub-plot in the first novel and found it all a bit too far-fetched. The sequel, however, I found both realistic and enjoyable. Both novels are super easy reads (a couple of days each), lighthearted and pleasantly mindless. At some points I felt as if the main character was slightly ‘moany’ but then again, I’m not a 42 year old mother. I’m 18 and childless. What do I have to complain about?

[Roz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The opening paragraph of this book suggested it was going to be a humorous, self-deprecating, look at motherhood in the modern age. While the book definitely delivered in that area, it also highlighted real issues that mothers face today while trying to hold down a meaningful career, raise the family, feed the family, clean the house and still be a wife, a friend and a well-balanced human being. And there, that i the reason Mummy swears.

While this book definitely gave me some sidesplitting moments, I did not expect the fury it would raise in me on other occasions. While I wouldn't put this book in a category of serious fiction, I was surprised at how well it covered some relevant feminist issues. This book investigates unfair expectations in marital relationships and in the work place.

I really enjoyed this, and I think it is a good introduction to very simple feminist ideas. However, the title provides a warning - there is a LOT of bad language in this book.

[Shelbycat · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was probably not written for me. It was fine but I did feel there was a lot of whining which got really annoying.

[Nicky Mottram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio version of this book 📚- Another cracking read/listen which has you laughing out loud !! Brilliant!!