Monica Heisey’s debut is a breakup novel that reads like a group chat at 2 a.m. Loud, messy, painfully honest, and often very funny, Really Good, Actually follows twenty-nine-year-old Maggie through the first chaotic year after her 608-day marriage implodes. She is broke, stalled on a grad thesis, and overcompensating with late-night burgers, a spree of new hobbies, and a determination to “be fine” that is anything but.
What it’s about
Maggie’s world is a revolving door of newly divorced confidantes, a tough-love advisor, a ride-or-die group chat, and a Toronto backdrop that feels specific and lived in. The book leans into the comedy of self-delusion while tracing the slow, unglamorous work of healing. Heisey’s background in comedy shows in the razor timing and meme-sharp one-liners. Whole chapters land like sketches, including the standout “Emotionally Devastating Things My Therapist Said to Me Like They Were Nothing.”
Voice and vibe
The narration has the energy of intrusive thoughts set free. That can be exhilarating and exhausting by turns. Heisey captures the cringe of post-breakup flailing with startling accuracy: oversharing, bad decisions, Google spirals, and the kind of jokes you make to avoid crying. When the humor hits, it is laugh-out-loud funny. When the sadness sneaks in, it hurts.
What works
- Dark but generous humor that treats heartbreak with honesty rather than pity
- A sharply observed millennial portrait of friendship, therapy, and internet life
- Therapist and group-chat scenes that feel painfully true
- LGBTQ themes and mental health threads woven in without didacticism
What may not
- Repetition and length. The bit-by-bit vignette structure can feel long and samey if you want a firm plot spine.
- High cringe tolerance required. Maggie is self-destructive and often unlikeable on purpose, which some readers will find alienating.
- Cultural references skew North American and very online, which may not land for everyone.
Bottom line
Really Good, Actually is a tender, chaotic, frequently hilarious portrait of life after a breakup. It is less a tidy redemption arc and more a year in the emotional trenches, where progress looks like showing up for work with a toothache. If you enjoy voice-driven, confessional comedy about modern love, messy friendships, and the awkward slog toward okay, this will hit the spot.
Content notes: explicit sexual content, strong language, mental health, divorce.
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