... honest, moving and funny. A passage where [Heawood] realises she will always worry about whether her daughter is warm enough made me cry, but she never mentions her, or her daughter’s father by name, calling him only The Musician. The book is more about her experiences and will help other women who have to deal with insensitive health visitors assuming that their baby has a 'daddy'. And although she puts a lot of effort into not hating The Musician, I felt exasperated at his behaviour ... There are a few celebrity cameos. She interviews Goldie Hawn and Jodie Foster, who come across as kind, but then Heawood knows how to play the Hollywood publicity machine, 'kiss arse' and write in a way that’s sharp enough to impress but not offend ... Heawood has a good sense of humour, but is never bitter or cruel. Above all, she has written a tender book about parental love that she and her daughter should be proud of.
Smart, funny, and touching ... [Heawood's] journey from singlehood to motherhood is captured in delightful vignettes with cheeky titles ... Heawood presents a perfect mashup of wit and style with excellent comedic timing and the ability to capture the essence of whatever scene she is observing. Recommended for everyone who enjoys memoirs that read like humor essays à la Nora Ephron.
Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Sex in the City, Heawood’s entertaining account should appeal to fans of similar memoirs on single parenting, motherhood, and relationships.
... beguiling ... Hell is stories of other people’s children. Yet this mix of poignancy and punchlines, which runs through Heawood’s book from start to finish, makes The Hungover Games much more than a parenting memoir; it’s frequently hilarious ... at its most acute — and most heartbreaking — in the hospital just after her daughter’s birth ... The market has been flooded in recent years with memoirs by zeitgeisty female writers suppposedly popular with millennials; few pass the 'why do I care' test. Yet, thanks to Heawood’s way with humour and her knack for getting herself into screwball scrapes, The Hungover Games sustains. Occasionally, in the later parts of the book, her more whimsical vignettes on east London life can feel like padding. Nevertheless, it is a charming, diverting, indie flick of a memoir, a joy to gulp down in the garden on a sunny afternoon.
... an unexpected adventure in self-acceptance ... Raw and funny, Heawood’s memoir celebrates the messiness of life and motherhood with boldness, panache, and unexpected moments of real poignancy ... An uncensored and eccentric delight.
