★★★★☆
Meet Hannah Thompson: wife, mother, teacher and secret writer of erotic fiction - not porn, definitely not porn. With her eldest son heading off to university and the pressure to write a sequel to More Than Sex, Hannah struggles to juggle all the balls it takes to lead two lives. Feeling her life isn't exciting enough to spark fun ideas for Book Two (untitled), Hannah attempts to step outside her comfort zone and become her alter-ago, Twinky Malone. We follow her on the journey of self discovery, awkward results of attempting to liven up her sex life and, above all, trying to be the perfect mum. What could possible go wrong?
Before the first chapter had even finished, I'd already lost count of how many time I'd laughed out loud. My stomach genuinely hurt. The witty narration and relatable thoughts were one of the things I loved so much about this book. Relating to a mother who is an erotica writer in her private time isn't someone I thought I'd relate to, but Smith does a brilliant job of making Hannah's character one who anyone can take bits from and find them in ourselves.
One aspect of Faking It that caused me to smile to myself whenever it was brought up was how body and sex positive it is. The subject of sex is inevitable, especially when the main character writes about that exact thing when she isn't teaching high school students. Hannah truly grows as a character and realises that just because she's a mum, doesn't mean she can't wear clothes that seem intimidating but ultimately make her feel amazing - that goes for both a simple pair of skinny jeans and a latex jumpsuit fit for a dominatrix (yes, really). These positive lessons lead to Hannah's multiple discussions about feminism with her daughter, which I adored. Talk of feminism isn't shoved down the reader's throat but it's there nonetheless and, on a personal note, was something I wish my own parents had taught me more about from a younger age. However, there was a particular conversation about strippers that showed Hannah could be quite the hypocrite. The discussions of feminism didn't quite reach the career choice of being a stripper, it seems.
When a book is written from the first person perspective, it tends to put me off as I think it can easily destroy a story. But not this. Going through Hannah's inner monologue about the small things - work colleagues, a particularly controlling mum at her youngest son's school - added that level of realism. It made me think of how I perceive others around me and how we all have similar thoughts, whether we like to admit it or not.
Is this a masterpiece? No. But I'll tell you what it is: a hilarious, light-hearted, brilliantly written piece of women's fiction that will have you laughing loud enough to wake someone sleeping next to you. Trust me, that's spoken from experience.
Faking It is available to pre-order from Amazon before its August 7 release.
*I received an advanced copy of this book from Harper Collins through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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