Living the Dream by Lauren Berry

Living the Dream

by Lauren Berry

'Bridget Jones's Diary for the millennial set' InStyle

'Cheeky, sweet and serious' Psychologies

'Will strike a chord with anyone who's survived their twenties' Red

'A funny quarter-life crisis tale' Glamour

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Does your side-hustle pay the rent? Yes [ ] No [ x ]

Is your boss a dick? Yes [ x ] No [ ]

Do you ever cry in the toilet? Yes [ x ] No [ ]

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Emma works in advertising.

Clem lives with her mum.

This is not where they thought they would be by the time their thirties loomed - too old to blag buses but too skint to take cabs. London budgets and bastards from the past spur Emma and Clem towards success, but it's not as easy as everyone else makes it look, right?

Living the Dream is a spiky comic novel of friendship, day jobs and the search for a career with meaning.

Reviewed by Joséphine on

4 of 5 stars

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Initial thoughts: Hilarious and highly relatable book about friendships (how we don't know all of our best friend's friends anymore), work life (how we work to our bones for someone else's dreams that we might not even support) and aspirations (how we know what we want but aren't quite sure how to pursue) in your late twenties.

It's funny that when we were younger we used to think hat 30 was the magic age by which we'd have adulthood fully figured out and be well on our way to success. Life doesn't always pan out this way, and Living the Dream is a too painfully familiar tale. Made me laugh though, as I could only empathise with the characters' misfortunes but also happily celebrated their breakthroughs.

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  • 29 November, 2018: Reviewed