Reviews

This book revolves around an aging matriarch, Catharine, who is trying to correct generational mistakes that have led to a family in crisis with a granddaughter who is pregnant out of wedlock.

You are following a large cast of characters. When you've had 9 children, significant others, grandchildren and all the aspects of modern families, you are thrown a lot of names and a lot of who's who.

This book is very character driven. The problem arises when you are following 6 points of view. Although you get a feel for how the family works, you are not given enough time with each character to understand the reasons for their actions. I didn’t find myself rooting for any of them, which left me little reason to be invested in the story.

In some ways, I really connected with this book. Being raised in the Catholic church, I felt the author’s portrayal was accurate. She included a lot of the belief system that I was raised with. I also found Catharine’s perspective to be very believable. I watched my grandfather move through the aging process. Entering an assisted living facility, breaking a hip and the gradual decline of his health, Catharine’s experiences in this book parallel what I watched happen to my own grandfather.

I also feel that this author tries to do too much. Every family has their issues, but it feels like she opened a drawer with the worst life can throw at you and dumped it into this book. PTSD, mental illness, depression, death, infertility, accidental pregnancy, etc. With so many problems within one family, it takes away the importance of these topics and desensitized me as the reader.

This book also lacked any visible personal growth. These characters didn’t seem any better off at the end of the story than at the beginning. I found the characters to be messy, flawed and sometimes toxic. They were full of contradictions. Worst of all, the matriarch thought bringing a child into this world was going to put the family back on solid ground. I don’t mind an ambiguous ending if it’s done well, but this book literally just ends. If you are looking for answers or resolutions, you won’t find them here.

Unfortunately, this book feels like a fantastic author’s debut novel. I read Dear Edward in 2020 and Hello Beautiful in 2023, which were both beautifully written books. This book does show how much the author has grown as a writer. I just didn’t find this one to be well executed. Each of her novels has shown her progression as an author. With that said, I will continue to read her books as they are published.

cbashore's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

okayletsread's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

After reading Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward—both five-star reads—I thought this was sure to be a home run for me. But the book never hooked me in like her other stories. There were too many character POV shifts and not enough continuation between events to keep the novel on track. After learning the novel is being republished after 20 years, it makes so much more sense why I've connected more with Ann's later works. She's grown so much as an author.

yetanothersusan's review

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4.25

After the success of her two recent books. Within Arm's Reach was republished 20 years after its original publication. I am not sure whether edits or changes were made, but if you read Ms. Napolitano's two more recent books, you can see the growth of her writing. And, based on some of the writing including terms that are no longer acceptable, I'm guessing there wasn't any update made. That is okay as long as you view it as helping place the story within the historical time frame. Character development was still the main focus of the book. This wasn't as accomplished as strong as in the more recent books, it felt a little uncertain and uneven. But, with so many characters and points of view, this didn't make that development any easier. As always with her books, the characters made me want to reach out to them and give them hugs, shake them, tell them to just talk to each other, etc. That is the beauty of Ms. Napolitano's books and characters.

Thanks to Random House / Dial Press for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

flowersfavouritefiction's review

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challenging reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

bibliotherapy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

jenniemcgarvey's review

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4.75

4.75 stars rounded up. I loved it! In fact, I enjoyed it so much I read it in one day. I just didn’t want to put it down.

The women in an Irish Catholic family can be stoic and efficient. This is certainly true of the McLaughlins. They are all fighting themselves and each other throughout the book. Their individual stories are ones of sadness, and struggle, too.

We get to know Catharine, Kelly, Lila and Gracie throughout the book, as well as other members of the family. At the beginning I saw the story going one way, when in fact, it really went the opposite way. The story takes a turn for the better, giving the family, and the women, a chance at healing and forgiveness.

I definitely related to this story and enjoyed getting to know the family. The ending was good, however, there were definitely some loose strings.

Advance reader copy proved by NetGalley & Random House but all opinions are my own.

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