Title: Don’t Make Me Laugh

Author: Julia Raeside

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Bedford Square Publishers

Publication Date: 13th February 2025

Rating: 4/5

Cover:

Summary:

Don’t Make Me Laugh balances anger and humour with the deftest of touches. It is a story about power and control and manipulation, about gendered roles in both the workplace and our personal lives, and about how women are set up in competition with each other. And ultimately – satisfyingly – it’s a story about fighting back.

Review:

I’ve read quite a lot of books that cover the depressingly still relevant topic of misogyny and sexism but this is the first I’ve read that focuses on the comedy scene and it is a piercingly sharp and smart read from beginning to end. Comedy has seemingly been a troublingly male dominated world in the past and whilst that mercifully has changed a bit, it hasn’t changed enough yet, and if Don’t Make Me Laugh is any indication, there is a very real undercurrent of abuse and narcissistic behaviour going on beneath the laughter. The book is occasionally darkly funny, but more often  gives a striking insight to both the positive aspects of the world of stand-up and comedy while also being an angry call to arms of sorts. The story is compelling and I found the characters incredibly engaging, especially in terms of female friendship and solidarity. I loved that it took place in London and my own home city, Edinburgh, and it gets the atmosphere just right for both, in my view. Ali is a great lead character, she’s relatable in many ways and her inner monologue shows just how insidious and subtle certain behaviours, like coercive control, can be and how people can find themselves stuck before they fully realise what is being done to them. Don’t Make Me Laugh is a thought provoking, powerful and timely novel which will have readers both enraged and moved to action. I would definitely recommend it. 

★★★★

Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers and the publisher for my place on this tour and for the copy of the book. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

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