"I really liked the book. I loved the pace of it, it belts along but never feels rushed. The writing is so vivid - I could almost feel Orla's hangover, and everyone else's too. [Macmanus has] created a great gang of characters, and a great variety too, all of them very human... All the music in the novel is cleverly and very successfully achieved. And London - what [she's] managed to do with London, and what London means to different generations of Irish people - is terrific, and deeply moving." (Roddy Doyle)

"Just finished [The Mess We're In] and I'm so sad it's over. I could have read another sixty chapters about Orla's life, Fahy's pub and her family... A fantastic read." (Joanne McNally)

"Such a gorgeous book... I absolutely ate up every word... It has been so long since a book has stopped me from, not just checking my phone, but actively made me want to put my phone to the side and focus completely on the story. I loved Orla, I can see the TV show or the movie already. I loved the world - oh my God was it nostalgic about moving to London... It's just so grounded in someone who knows the world and place they're talking about and it just fully comes through... It's just done so brilliantly and needless to say at the end I cried... I loved this book." (Aisling Bea)