Good Joy, Bad Joy - Mikki Brammer - ★★.½

AUTHOR: Mikki Brammer

GENRE: Contemporary Uplit

PUBLICATION DATE: May 5, 2026

RATING: 2.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary fiction about an old woman discovering the joys of being bad. A sophomore novel that has some things in common with the author’s debut ‘The Collected Regrets of Clover’. Mixed feelings about most things in the book, whether the plot or the characters or the writing choices. Not convinced by what it was trying to suggest. Goes a bit overboard on social commentary at times. A decent option for the right reader but not a must-read. You might like it better if you can accept the lead character’s life choices.

Plot Preview:

Eighty-nine-year-old Joy has always been a good woman, following rules to the letter and never deviating from etiquette, always a devoted wife and mother even when circumstances become challenging. When she learns that her best friend Hazel, who was always an adventurous rebel, has only a few months to live, she is heartbroken. But she is also surprised that Hazel has no regrets because she has lived her life to the fullest. Joy isn't sure if she can say the same about her own life. Thus she decides to make the best of her remaining years and step beyond her comfort zone. But can ‘good Joy’ indeed turn into ‘bad Joy’ that easily?

The story comes to us in Joy’s first-person perspective over two timelines, though the past timeline is more like a random filler and gets relatively limited focus.

This author’s debut novel ‘The Collected Regrets of Clover’ had been well received in many circles. But I had mixed feelings about it, most of which were because I didn’t find the eponymous Clover convincing. Sadly, I have to say the exact same thing about this sophomore work’s eponymous lead, Joy, even though Joy is way better than Clover.

Bookish Yays:

🎹 The *punny* significance of the title – really clever once you know what it indicates.

🎹 The focus on female friendship with a geriatric pair of women having no secret romantic feelings towards each other. It’s nice to see genuine platonic friendship in fiction.

🎹 The small-town feels, enhanced by the cozy vibes and nosy neighbours.

🎹 Good to ponder upon whether we live life to the fullest. (Definitely not by following Joy’s or Hazel’s example!)

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🚗 Joy’s feelings towards her late husband – very inconsistent. It was tough to dislike him when Joy herself wasn’t so certain.

🚗 A few of the secondary characters, especially Joy’s grandson Finn, were really good. The rest were either limited by their roles or stereotypical.

🚗 The themes. Some of these are really good and even connected to the story, but some feel forced in. I’m really tired of every book attempting to incorporate social commentary even if the topic doesn’t suit the plot.

🚗 The storyline. Mostly paper-thin and predictable. It offers several good emotions but barely any surprises.

Bookish Nays:

⚱ Good Joy. In many ways, she had her positive attributes. But her counterpoints felt heavier to me. She seems simultaneously judgemental and sanctimonious. She is also very emotionally needy but doesn’t verbalise it. Her insistence on not being an imposition on others makes her seem spineless. There are characters who are so ill behaved that is easy to hate them. But it's equally annoying when characters are too well-behaved and constantly demeaning themselves while still harping on about how much good they try to do. I found it tough to like Good Joy.

⚱ Bad Joy. Way worse then Good Joy. She takes so many idiotic decisions! Ninety years of living within the rules would have been constraining, but she always had the choice of doing her own thing and she never used it. And when she finally decides to turn ‘bad’, her actions are silly to the point of being ridiculous. Some of her choices even endanger others. As much as I disliked Good Joy, I hated Bad Joy even more.

⚱ The main issue: what is the book trying to say? That those who follow the rules don’t live fulfilling lives? That breaking the law is okay no matter who might end up hurt? That societal rules don’t exist for a valid reason? I would have expected Bad Joy to live life better and fuller, not as a geriatric delinquent. I just didn’t find the message convincing!

⚱ The writing approach towards cancer. Severely triggering, especially if you know someone battling the disease. I hated how Joy made pronouncements such as “cancer is like signing a death warrant” even before she knew what type/stage of cancer Hazel had.

Overall, I picked up this book expecting to find a story about an old woman who finally learns to ‘carpe diem’. But I never expected her to do so by turning selfish and endangering others. Unlike many readers, I found no scene humorous or heartwarming.

But it is clear by other reviews that several readers were moved by this story. So I again stand as an outlier. Please go through their thoughts and take a more informed call on this book. It might help if you are a person who lives on the edge. As an inveterate rule-follower, I simply couldn’t accept Joy’s turnaround as an acceptable life choice.

Recommended to fans of contemporary fiction with a tolerance for old leads who appear to be goody-goody but aren’t.

2.5 stars, rounding down wherever applicable as I liked the intent but not the end result.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing the DRC of “Good Joy, Bad Joy” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.