Really Good, Actually: A Novel

Written by Monica Heisey

Narrated by Julia Whelan

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 

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jan 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9780063235441

Monica Heisey

Monica Heisey is a comedian and writer from Toronto. She has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vogue, Elle, The Guardian, Glamour, New York magazine, VICE, and more. She won four Canadian Screen Awards for her work on Baroness von Sketch Show, and has written on shows like Schitt’s Creek, and Workin’ Moms, among others. She currently lives in London, UK. This is her first novel.

Reviews for Really Good, Actually

[Stephanie Marie Kennedy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I feel like the author could do better. Her writing style can be funny at times but the main character/ narrator was so annoying and boring. There was so much inner monologue especially for the first half and very little dialogue or plot.

[Joelle Hogan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun and lighthearted story about what happens when your “Ever After” doesn’t turn out to be so “Happily” after all. I especially enjoyed the narrator, Julia Whelan.

[Cheyenne Smith · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Possibly great for a divorcée or someone looking to find themselves but otherwise it was quite exhausting the amount of self loathing. I really wanted a happier ending for her but I guess it is what it is.

[Blair Russell Lane · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I found this book to be very tedious to listen to.

[kaiju k · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great way to escape a cloudy blue Sunday submerged in a few hours of reading.

I really enjoyed spending my time with Maggie and her experiences in a myriad of relationships, they were very real and at the same time ridiculous af, as life itself is these days. From dating to getting married to the not so great aftermath she takes you by hand through it all. It was also nice to laugh my butt off a few times, this really surprised me in the best way.

- Kasia S.

[Jessica Chapman · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It helped sort through my thoughts on a break up I went through. We were together for fifteen years and people kept telling me it was pretty much a divorce. After listening...I guess it was, just without the paperwork. This is brilliant and vulnerable and I respect it for what it is.

[Amber Choruby Whiteley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Currently going through a divorce so I LOVED this book. I thought the writing did so well at capturing modern-day struggles with social media and faux self-help mantras online while doing so humorously and compassionately. Can’t say enough good things about this book.

[GMunro · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The main character in this book was not likeable in any way. The majority of the book seemed to be inane inner monologues about her 'utterly disastrous' life, with no regard for anything else around her except a few sentences thrown in, but lacking substance. There were parts of the book that were funny, and the narration was good; but overall I did not enjoy it.

[d-fbuser-330971935 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If married and divorced young, I think you’ll find this enjoyable and relatable. Or if you’ve had many flings and relationships then you can appreciate the supporting characters. I am the target audience for this. Being married and divorced in my 20s myself, this book brought me to moments of reflection and things to consider. I also enjoyed the narration- the tempo and change in tone for each character was great.

[Tee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a very unique read meant for a very specific reader. This is not a story with a beginning middle or end it’s a just a woman unravelling and trying to figure something out.

[Skyler Stuckwish · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I did not like this story. I did, however, like the writing. Also, Julia Whelan narrated it so that may have influenced me to even finish it.

[marissa2fallon · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I found this boring and repetitive, couldn’t even finish it.

[karen bryce · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I kept waiting for something that never came. It was funny at times but sort of boring after a while.

[Monzeratte Verenice Leyva · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Hated every second of this book! All she did was cry about her shitty life!

[Kate · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I would need to write to write the whole essay on what I didn’t like about this book. It’s easier to say what I liked cause this is only one word: NOTHING.

[Monica Cedeno · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I literally laughed out loud many many times during this.