Life unfiltered
Book
Review
Funny, fresh, and surprisingly frank, get ready to
have your illusion of #MyBestLife shatteredWriting | Bonnie Evie GiffordI
’m not really an
Instagram kind of
person, but even
I’ve been sucked
in by certain hashtags
showing off the
perfect #OOTD (outfit
of the day), sharing
#motivational words of
wisdom, and creating
the kind of #jetset
#lifestyle it’s hard not
to envy. It can be easy
to forget that a single,
flawless shot doesn’t
show us the full picture.
In Living My Best Life,
debut author Claire
Frost gives us a quick
glimpse behind the
glittering veneer into
the myriad of everyday
struggles (big and small)
that we experience –
influencers and all.What’s it about?
Bell never thought
she’d be approaching 40
single, and struggling
to move on after her
partner of 10 years
dumped her.Sick of feeling like her
life doesn’t live up to
everyone else’s, she
decides it’s time for a
change, to find out who
she really is, and who
she thinks she should be.
In parallel, it looks
like Millie has the
perfect life. A successful
influencer on the
surface, behind the
scenes she’s a single
mum struggling to make
ends meet, dealing with
trolls, and an ex who
cares more about his
career than their son.
Her life feels more like
#BestLie than #BestLife.
A heart-warming and
humorous novel for the
Insta-weary, Living My
Best Life gives readers
a glimpse behind the
curtain of perfection.Friendship, community,
and finding your own
happiness
Nearly all of us have
experienced the
heartbreak and upsetof a relationship that
has come to an end. For
anyone who has had a
relationship fizzle out,
or felt they haven’t had
the catharsis of knowing
where things went
wrong, Bell’s journey
will ring true.
Claire shows a side
of modern dating
and break-ups not
often seen in fiction:
hours lost to scrolling
through your ex’s
social media feed
looking for answers,
dreading an update that
shows they’ve moved
on already, and an
underlying knowledge
that we really shouldn’t
be using our time and
energy on could-haves
and what-ifs. Bell’s
bordering-on-virtual-
stalking is as equal
parts refreshing as it is
unsettling to read.
Touching on how the
modern dating scene
has changed for women
in their 30s, Living MyBest Life feels like an
empowering book of
self-discovery. Bell
and Millie are fairly
different, yet each of
them struggles to an
extent with isolation,
finding a support
network, and making
more friends. While
Bell has a best friend
and some family, it isn’t
until post-breakup that
she is able to see how
dissatisfied and out of
touch she has fallen.
Despite her perfect
facade online, Millie is
still a struggling single
mum with no family or
real support network
nearby to lend a helping
hand.
As we follow Bell and
Millie on their journeys,
we soon see the
importance of making
new friends throughout
our lives, as well as
the impact helping
others – and focusing
on defining our own
happiness – can have.