What is this about?
The Drop-off follows the trials and tribulations of Lizzie, Sam and Megan who are long time friends that met at their kids’ school drop-off. The Drop-off is a slice of their life, when everyone is going through something big, but with a healthy dose of humour, snark and heart.
What else is this about?
It’s about three different families, bound together by their friendship. They are all very different stories, filled with complex characters that are going to make you laugh out loud.
Blurb
At Bayside Primary, it’s the adults who are behaving like children…
Lizzie, Megan and Sam became accidental friends over good coffee, banter and wrong-world jokes at school drop off. Lizzie is a part-time midwife with four kids and a secret past. Sam is an ex-chef and stay-at-home dad with an absent, high-flying corporate wife. Megan is an ex-model single mum with a thriving online business and no time for loneliness. None of them have much interest in their school community, but when tragedy deals Bayside Primary’s reputation a potentially crippling blow, this unlikely trio have to step up. Forced out of their respective comfort zones, Lizzie, Megan and Sam learn more about each other, the school and themselves than they thought possible.
And it all begins at The Drop-Off
I am ashamed to admit, I wasn’t entirely looking forward to reading The Drop-Off. I mean, really, how can school drop-offs be that interesting, right?
Yeah, I want to go back in time and kick my butt because I should have started reading this much earlier. It’s Lizzie, Megan and Sam’s characterisation that make this such a treat to read, and second, it’s this little world of judgy parents, and principals who look like they’re out of 1955, and kids who drive everyone nuts.
The Drop-Off is a character-focused story, filled with humour and heart — which I keep mentioning, but it drew me in so effortlessly, I was sad when it ended and wanted more!
Lizzie, Megan and Sam
Lizzie is a mid-wife, is married to a wonderful man called Greg, and has four kids. She, Megan and Sam share a the same snark and she is the kind of woman who may always be run off her feet by her family, but boy does she know how to bring them (and by them I mean her kids mostly) to heel, and at the same time they will never doubt how much she loves them. Greg is the one that knows her inside out.
The book explores a secret Lizzie has kept from Greg when she realises an old boyfriend, Rick, is teaching at the school now, and when she starts to help Megan with a school play, it brings her into closer contact with Rick. She’s genuinely guilty over what happened with them years ago, and she is terrified that her Greg will think less of her and leave her. She’s a good person, surrounded by love and laughter she’s beginning to think she doesn’t deserve because of what she did to Rick. As the book progresses, this shadows her storyline, highlighting her marriage and her relationship with her (wonderful) family and Greg.
Megan is a former model, running an online kid’s clothing business and is a single mum to Oscar. She’s wrapped up in her own world, and when the crossing guard (a volunteer from the community) dies, his funeral forces her to rethink her life a bit. She’s been coasting in her comfort zone, so when Lizzie dobs her in as someone who can write and produce their kids’ school play, Megan is at first furious, but then she embraces it — and to her surprise, she enjoys it.
We’re also introduced to her mother, Ellie and her ex husband who round out her inner family-circle. She’s the kind of character that on the surface I would think she’s got the perfect life, and would annoy me, I think, but in this book, she’s relatable, and you’re going to sympathise with her and cheer her on.
It’s hard to describe Megan’s storyline. As the book progresses, she begins to realise the life she thought she loved may not be for her, which begs the question: what does she want her life to be? These are big questions, but the author pulls them off in such a way that you’re going to cheer Megan off every step of the way.
Sam, bless. He’s a house husband, and former chef and he is good at it. His wife, Bridget, is a high flying executive who seems more at home in that life than she is at home with her kids, where criticism is more her go to thing to do, usually levelled at Sam. You can see what’s coming a mile away with these two, and Sam. Sam is the teddy bear of a guy, whose storyline is more about acknowledging the breakdown of a marriage long before it actually ended — and nearly took his self-worth with it.
The choice here to portray his chapters through emails to his best friend were odd at first, and odd at the end when compared to the details offered in Megan and Lizzie’s chapters. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy them, it just took some getting used to. His storyline is a little bot like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon of criticism and anxiety thanks to his wife, and I would have liked to have seen more in his chapters.
This case of characters is rounded out by the trials and tribulations that come with having young kids, parties and sports to go to, and a secondary cast of characters that will leave you nodding and chuckling to yourself.
There you go, that’s The Drop-off: a tale of character goodness, that will draw you in and leave you laughing and you won’t even know how it happened! Go read it!
Intriguing. Character-goodness, humor, and snark! Sounds like fun, and I doubt I would have picked it up otherwise.
Humorous and character-driven? I’m in! Love your review of this one. 🙂
This one sounds hilarious!
It 10000% is!
You’ve convinced me! Sounds like fun.
I love slice of life stuff, and these three sound like they would keep me captivated too.
This actually sounds like it would be really fun!
I like the sounds of these two women and their friendship. I think this would be something I’d enjoy. Thank you sharing it.
I think this book managed to show how complex friendships can be. And still made me laugh!
Adore character-driven stories, this sounds so good 🙂 I’m glad it made you laugh.
This one really surprised me in the best way!\
You had me at snark! I never thought the school drop off could be so interesting! I love that even readers without kids will enjoy this one and I love characters that narrate everyday life. This sounds like a mother’s club version of Seinfeld and I’m here for it!
Haa, I didn’t think of it that way — maybe? They all have issues going on, so it’s not a show ‘about nothing’ per say, but yeah, it’s more a slice of life story, and it’s done well.
Oh, this sounds like a great read for right now. I need some humor and snarky goodness in my life. Glad this one turned out to be a pleasant surprise for you. 🙂
This is exactly what you need then!
This book sounds fab! I love books that focus on characters, and I’m always down for humorous books. It reminds me a tiny bit of Class Mom which I loved.
-Lauren
I’ve only recently gotten into these types of domestic stories that don’t seem much at first, but are a petri dish of life. This does sound like a good one. Thanks for putting it on my radar, Verushka.
This sounds like a great story. I love a plot focused on friendship, real and relatable challenes in life, and think it’s great that it was sprinkled in with humor! Character driven stories are my favorite, and it sounds like this one paid off. I don’t care how good a plot is, if it has flat characters, I struggle with it. Fantastic Review Verushka!