REVIEW: The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel

The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel: When incredible visual descriptions meet dynamic dialogue meet situational comedy slash realism, we have a fabulous read that is more play than book. And it’s seriously clever; both in it’s integrating devices, it’s understanding and representation of people, and more importantly, it’s inherent thematic challenges suggesting that perhaps people can change and maybe chaos is a perfect sign of order.

For Lauren and her family, things are about to take an interesting turn when a flippant comment costs Melinda, the new school secretary her husband, Olivia, the bartender downstairs Dan’s daughter her job and a baby that somehow gets thrust into their lives due to a wickedly good scientific conundrum of every action has an opposite and equal reaction. And as Lauren’s pottery career seriously booms, and Leo her husbands science career literally booms, Evelyn and Phillip, their respective parents challenge each other in ways that no one could possibly see coming.

Every moment of this novel was endearing, and apart from Felicity who in fact was the perfect victim/non-victim just doing her thing, being her narcissistic self, and Melinda who was initially despicable and in no way getting a vote on the island, every character was constructed meaningfully within the narrative, so much so that it would actually be difficult to say who this was actually about other than a comment, a situation, human feelings and a pretty bizarre situation involving a baby.

Not unlike Shakespeare, this had many classic moments; devastating, awkward, hilarious and cathartic, and whilst it all seemingly took place in a chaotic 4-6 weeks, the play/novel invited the reader to move in and become one of the family. This spoke volumes about love and the capacity for goodness and in a very salt-of-the-earth way, the random literary interludes made for an even more real experience.

I cannot speak more highly of this one….it is literally a family comedy/drama play that is reminiscent of Love Actually or it’s ilk, the best kind of Christmas novel, without the Christmas, or perfectly, real life with nothing cut out.

Book Info:

Publication: 31st January 2023 | Atria/Emily Bestseller Books |

Lauren and her family—lucky bastards—have been granted the use of a spectacular brownstone, teeming with history and dizzyingly unattractive 70s wallpaper. Adding to the home’s bohemian, grungy splendor is the bar occupying the basement, a (mostly) beloved dive called The Sweet Spot. Within days of moving in, Lauren discovers that she has already made an enemy in the neighborhood by inadvertently sparking the divorce of a couple she has never actually met.

Melinda’s husband of thirty years has dumped her for a young celebrity entrepreneur named Felicity, and, to Melinda’s horror, the lovebirds are soon to become parents. In her incandescent rage, Melinda wreaks havoc wherever she can, including in Felicity’s Soho boutique, where she has a fit of epic proportions, which happens to be caught on film.​

Olivia—the industrious twenty-something behind the counter, who has big dreams and bigger debt—gets caught in the crossfire. In an effort to diffuse Melinda’s temper, Olivia has a tantrum of her own and gets unceremoniously canned, thanks to TikTok.

When Melinda’s ex follows his lover across the country, leaving their squalling baby behind, the three women rise to the occasion in order to forgive, to forget, to Ferberize, and to track down the wayward parents. But can their little village find a way toward the happily ever afters they all desire? Welcome to The Sweet Spot.