Just going to put it out there straight away that I didn't really like this book much. I have read a previous novel from this author and quite enjoyed it, but I wasn't a fan of this one. I found it a bit hard to swallow that Joni was on her high horse about Ant lying when she herself had used pictures of her sister on her online profile, then followed (stalked...) Ant to force a meeting in person, at which point she used a fake name and had to change her phone number so Ant didn't put two and two together. I mean... really? Ant was 100% not a good person, but Joni wasn't exactly honest herself. I kept reading because I was mildly interested to see how it would all turn out, but I can't honestly say I enjoyed it. There were some parts I appreciated, like when Joni forms a connection with the other women that Ant is seeing. Refreshing, authentic and viciously fun, it’s a hooking narrative as you watch the story and cast evolve over time while laughing along the way. I absolutely loved Just Got Real. It's modern, it's relevant, it's funny, and I was completely hooked from start to finish. Whilst the dating story is the primary storyline, it's very much Joni who is the main focus of the story, as she moves on with her life after a divorce, the loss of a friend and her daughter leaving home. She takes comfort in her routine but there's no real joy there. I won't go into what happens along the way but by the end I was full of hope for her in the future. Jane is known as the revenge queen, but I really think the dialogue queen is more fitting, because the dialogue is truly masterful in this book. Jane's skillful use of razor sharp dialogue really brings every character to life, and makes the scenes so vivid. The story is perfectly paced, and you are guided effortlessly through the chapters. Fallon is infallible in her handling of revenge. On the surface, a mummy influencer gets her just desserts when a woman whose husband she stole, Iris, decides to troll her online. Isn't that the normal spin, that successful influencers are leading a life of lies? Not in Fallon's hands. Her believable characters, and deftly revealed twists along the way make us re-evaluate our perceptions.

Fallon describes Joni's job-sharing down to a tee, that slight resentment of the other person and any work they didn't manage to get to. She also does a brilliant job with the online dating world. More than anything though, I think I just found Joni and her life really relatable, and I enjoyed all the details of her life, her flat, her job and her love of the gym. I was sad to leave her behind and I feel like I got to know her really well. Jealously, betrayal, envy and revenge are the ideal elements to escalate this funny, clever and thoroughly addictive tale. Fallon is always so adept at honing in on what matters to women, in this case in their 40s and 70s.

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Her snappy, clever fiction . . . seems to slip down like a glass of nicely chilled white wine' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH The plot is fresh, fun and timely with so many people turning to online dating apps and watching programmes like The Tinder Swindler on Netflix. Jane Fallon has always been on my reading radar and as always, given fans a fabulous engaging and totally hooking read. Joni had nooit gedacht dat online daten iets voor haar zou zijn, maar haar dochter haalt haar over het te proberen. Dus ze maakt een profiel aan, maar gebruikt daarin de foto’s van haar zus. Als Ant haar mee uitvraagt, durft ze hem niet te bekennen wat ze gedaan heeft, dus doet ze alsof ze hem laat zitten om hem vervolgens ‘als zichzelf’ te ontmoeten. Ze krijgen een relatie en het leven lijkt haar toe te lachten – tot ze via haar account ontdekt dat Ant nog steeds heel actief is op de app.

Witty, funny, beautifully written and dotted with life's truths like sprinkles on a birthday cake' CATHY KELLY The husband left her, she is bored at work and is now renting out her spare room because she’s broke. I hated Joni at first. Firstly because of the need to catfish, and then when the catfish becomes the conned, the need to keep sleeping with him to mine for more information. I couldn’t help but wonder if the genders were reversed, how sleazy a read it would be.

The Perfect gift for Christmas? This hilarious and sharp revenge comedy!

Het idee van dit verhaal is natuurlijk superleuk, maar voor mij kwam er eigenlijk geen enkele verrassing. Normaal gesproken komt Jane altijd met een heel sterk plot, maar dat ontbrak deze keer voor mijn gevoel. Ook de laatste hoofdstukken vond ik een beetje overbodig.

Some of the behaviour of the characters was so cruel, so unnecessary, and there wasn’t a happy ending really for any of them. It was just a “and then life carried on, the end”. Oh but she got a cat… of course, because no sad, childless troll could ever be complete without a cat..! Ik word altijd blij als er een nieuwe roman van Jane Fallon verschijnt, want haar verhalen zijn altijd zo sterk, maar ik zal dan maar meteen eerlijk zeggen dat ik dat bij dit verhaal niet had. Just Got Real is described as a ‘revenge rom com’, and that truly is an apt description. It has more revenge than romance but plenty of humour throughout. There are two main themes that Fallon explores which are middle aged dating, which for some reason, at my ripe 28 years, I’ve always loved reading about, and she also explores friendship through the dynamics of Joni, Saffy and Mary. She then concocts a plan, to accidentally meet Ant in real life without revealing who she really is.

I’ve read a few Jane Fallon books and enjoyed them, but I don’t know what it was with this story, but It did take me a little while to get into it, but once I did I couldn’t put the book down. The story is told from multiple POV. I liked the plot, it felt very current, with strong themes of online bullying, stalking and harassment, I did find it very thought provoking. To be completely honest, Lydia is just the worst. Her envy of her so-called best friend is embarrassing; they may have been best friends once upon a time, but really, Lydia seems to have always been jealous of Georgia, and I just don't understand why she would want to get ahead in her career of becoming a published author/illustrator due to her connection to Georgia rather than her talent. Because even if Georgia had managed to get Lydia in with her publishers, Lydia would then want something else, something more, because it wouldn't be enough and honestly, she needed to grow up. Whilst this is a story of three women trying to get revenge on a man who’s been playing them all, it’s also so much deeper than that. I thought it was also such a gorgeous look at loneliness and making friends as an adult, which can feel so daunting. As much as I loved watching them make Ant squirm, I REALLY loved the moments where the women were all together and just having the best time as friends - and I definitely had some warm fuzzies going on by the end!

Jane Fallon's razor-sharp wit runs through this novel. With sparky lead characters and sharp insights into the world of influencers, Fallon has delivered another laugh-out-loud funny read Charlotte Heathcote, SUNDAY EXPRESS Jane Fallon is a brilliant observer and writes in a sharp and sarcastic way – my favourite kind! The writing flies smoothly and is filled with funny and more serious moments. It was thought out well and it took us on a roller – coaster journey full of mixed feelings and emotions. This book is another winner from Jane Fallon, filled with close friendship, betrayal, intrigue and suspicion but this all written in a light, chatty way – this all makes this book so readable and not so easy to put down, you simply want to read and read to see what’s going to happen.

Even at its best (i.e. passable), the prose in the book is never more than workmanlike. The dialogue is best left unsaid. But it’s when it comes to explication of character that the book really falls flat.