Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling -Review

by Emer McLysaght, Sarah Breen

Plot

I purchased this about three weeks ago mid-lock down, and let me just say this novel is everything we need right now! Aisling is that Dunnes-shopping country girl we all know and love. Before reading this, I was completely mystified as to what an Aisling could possibly be and how on earth this stereotype would be brought to life. Quickly I found I was chattering away to myself with “oh’s” and “that’s how’s”.

Country girl Aisling, twenty-eight lives in her hometown of Ballygobbard AKA Ballygobackwards, with mam and dad. She commutes to Dublin every day, except the two nights a week she stays with John (her boyfriend of seven years) for her job in PensionPlus. John’s from Knocknamanagh, which Aishling’s dad sees as a combining of two parishes, like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. Just without as much gore, blood and more nights in the pub. They both come home every weekend without fail to see their mates for a couple pints, even though most Friday evenings “that N7 would have your heart broken.” And with that Aisling is preaching to the choir!

Our first introduction with the main character is her rush to the hotel dining hall, so as not to miss the post-wedding breakfast (the first of possibly a million great shouts by Aisling). Panic stricken she wakes John, getting his butt out the hotel room door in record time. “‘John’, I whisper, my voice shaking, ‘I think we’re going to miss the hotel breakfast.’ My heart was in my mouth, unlike the award-winning sausages, apparently cooling downstairs.”

Aisling is a box ticker, her life is full of order, following on the steps she’s set out for herself. FYI planning out your every move is the first signs of being a “complete Aisling”. There’s one small problem with Aisling’s methodized madness, she’s been patiently waiting seven years for John to pop the question and she's starting to wonder if he ever will.

Needless to say, when her week in Tenerife didn’t end with a ring on her finger, Aisling surprises everyone, mostly herself by calling it a quits with John. After an emergency night out to forget about John with best friend Majella, she agrees to start fresh and move up to the “Big Smoke” full time with the stylish girl from HR, Sadhbh and her friend Elaine.

She wants it all, the ring, the road frontage and the house just like her parents and she’s determined to get it. But for now, life is about to be flipped upside down for our favourite country girl. With a desperate need for change, Aisling starts this newly single life in Dublin. Wondering how she’ll cope without her Mam cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or her Dad filling up the petrol in her car. It’s up to Aisling and no one else to figure out what she she's going to do with her life, but will the big city be too much for this country bumpkin to take?

What started as an online Facebook page where authors Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen shared what it was like to be an Aisling. When the platform grew it could’ve been easy for them to keep Aisling virtual or simply keep listing features. Luckily for us, Aisling was given a life of her own with the type of home-relationships we can all relate to. If you haven’t read this book yet, prepare to crease yourself every time you hear a typically “mammy” phrase in future. I can’t help the giggle that comes every time we even talk about the drying anymore, and don’t get me started about when the word vegan pops up!

Thoughts

Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling is a side-splitting, heart-warming journey though Aisling’s life in the country to becoming a Dublin City girl. This novel came so highly recommended I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. But, I never once expected to laugh out loud, on my own so much. It was embarrassing how often I had to explain that yes, a book really can be that funny! And never in a million years did I expect to relate to an Aisling. Nevertheless, I had all the feels reading this.

Are you an Aisling? Like Aisling do you love going Out Out? Would you risk your life dashing to the complimentary hotel breakfast? (Especially when you double checked your Pigsback voucher to ensure everything was truly included). Have you ever been on a holiday you haven’t booked yourself and planned every tiny detail?

Ask yourself are you the one who does everyone else’s washing up? Was the answer “Sure, if I don’t, who will?” It’s time to face the music, you’re a complete Aisling too!