Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - The Latecomer

Honestly, I tried to like this book. I just couldn’t get into the character changes. We start with the parents, then go to the kids, and in the kids section we jump between children. It just didn’t feel direct enough and it caused me to keep losing interest. This especially happened when the next character would start. I also didn’t realize that the narrator was the sister until probably half way through. It kept sounding like sister number one and if you didn’t pay close enough attention you would miss the cues that it was sister number two.

It also definitely needs some content warnings as it deals with many dark topics such as vehicle death, hoarding, alcoholism, indoctrination, anti semitism, neglect, and more.

Content Warnings

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Out May 31, 2022 [Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Latecomer is the sweeping tale of the evolution of an unusual, and extremely complicated, family—Johanna and Salo Oppenheimer and their triplets and, later, fourth child— that doesn’t always consider itself a family at all.

In many ways, this book chronicles a slow evolution of many characters, which perhaps makes it apt that my reading experience was something of an evolution as well. In the beginning, I was entertained but felt the book was an undeniably slow build. By the middle, I was charmed by the Wes Anderson/Royal Tenenbaums vibes and cheerfully reading along to see where things went. In the turn to the final section I was thoroughly gut punched, to the point where I sat up straight and just stared at the page for several seconds, blinking wildly. By the end, I was thoroughly obsessed with this book.

It’s hard for me to say too much about why I loved The Latecomer without giving things away, and I firmly feel that everyone should go in blind. But what I can say is this book is brilliantly written, sharp, smart, funny, and layered, and I will not soon forget the story it tells or the journey it took me on. It’s rare for me to be so thoroughly pulled in by a character-driven novel, but the characters are so perfectly rendered (even Harrison, who I regularly wanted to punch), and all the small threads that pulled the story together were so beautifully and intricately woven that once I started to spot them I was completely and entirely captivated. I’m entirely sure that I will be marveling at this book and my experience of it for years to come.

Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: literary fiction that packs major twists; family drama with deep character sketches; intricately evolving stories.

CW: Infertility; infidelity; racism; anti-Semitism; some discussions of mental illness.

Content Warnings

kaylasbookgram's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

3.0

Thank you Celadon Books for the advanced copy for my honest review.

This book touched so many topics from mental health to racism to religion. I thoroughly enjoyed the story but the slow build is not for me especially in bigger books. Which is why I’m giving it a 3⭐️ for I liked it. The genres on Goodreads says this is a mystery/thriller but I didn’t get that vibe at all so I wouldn’t suggest it for someone looking for that specific genre.

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