Happy Release Day!
Congratulations Mikki
on the release today of
Good Joy, Bad Joy!
Good Joy, Bad Joy by Mikki Brammer
Women's Fiction, 294 pages
May 5, 2026 by St. Martin's Press
From the bestselling author of The Collected Regrets of Clover comes a whimsical, heartfelt novel about friendship over the decades, self-discovery, and what it means to have a life well-lived.
As her ninetieth year draws near, Joy Bridport can't help question how she’s ended up outliving her husband and almost all of her contemporaries except for one—Hazel, her best friend since she was eight years old. Joy has led a quiet life compared to Hazel, living in the same small town on the Hudson River for the past seventy years, spending her days gardening, teaching piano, and raising her daughter and grandson.
Joy thought she was content with her life, until Hazel tells her the very thing Joy has been dreading: her best friend only has a few months to live. Hazel says she’s at peace with her diagnosis, knowing she’s squeezed everything out of her exciting, adventurous existence. But as a lifelong people-pleaser and staunch rule-follower, Joy realizes she can’t say the same. As she throws herself into ensuring Hazel's final months are as comfortable and happy as possible, Joy starts to question whether it was worth always putting others first and being confined by society’s rules. What does she have to show for it all? When her efforts to assist Hazel in her time of need leads her to commit a petty crime, she gets a tantalizing taste of what it’s like to live outside of the “Good Joy” persona she’s always worked so hard to embody—and to live more like Hazel.
But as her foray into rule-breaking escalates, Joy must consider what kind of legacy she wants to leave behind, and whether there's a way for her to embrace the liberation that "Bad Joy" offers without losing all that "Good Joy" holds dear.
My thoughts about Good Joy, Bad Joy ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First line—"It starts with the gentle tittering of birds outside my window. The warm filtered sunlight nudging my cheeks. Then a smile spreads across my face. I am awake. I am alive."
I read this author's debut novel and fell in love with her characters, and her writing. I was excited when I saw that she had another book coming out. And I immediately fell in love with this story as well.
Joy is an elderly woman who, along with her best friend Hazel, rejoice in the fact that they wake up to see another day. The check-in calls first thing each day are so endearing. Oh, to have a best friend like that.
Hazel is the wild and carefree one while Joy is the stable, 'do the right thing, all the time' kind of person. How two such different people could be just the best of friends is beautiful. When Joy steps outside of her comfort zone for her bestie, she discovers a taste of the exciting life that Hazel has lived. I have to admit that this title and the story took me in two different directions. I was not expecting for the story, and Joy, to take the turn that they did.
I absolutely loved Good Joy, Bad Joy and with Ms. Brammer hitting two for two in my book, she has now become one of my must-read authors. Her books are such a delight to get lost in. I highly recommend this one!
I received a copy of Good Joy, Bad Joy via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
About the author
Mikki Brammer is an Australian journalist and author who hails from Tasmania. She is now based in Brooklyn, New York (by way of France and Spain) where she writes about design, architecture and art for publications such as Architectural Digest, Dwell and ELLE Decor. The Collected Regrets of Clover, her bestselling debut novel, was named a Best Book of Summer 2023 by the New York Times Book Review and a Best Book of 2023 by NPR, and is being published in 27 languages. Her second novel, Good Joy, Bad Joy, will be published in May 2026. ~ Goodreads
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