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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
**Pop Sugar 2023 Reading Challenge #31- A book about a family**
Good family drama with some interesting characters and a few surprises
A strong four stars! This one really surprised me! Loved the writing - very elin hilderbrand like. Loved the different perspectives - kept me hanging until the very end. The ending felt a tiny bit abrupt and also super random...I would’ve liked a little more, but I did enjoy this one a lot.
Big family lots of secrets and poor decision making. 3.5 stars.
This is a great 3.5-star family drama with a slow-burn story. The novel is packed with rich character development, deep-rooted drama and creative storytelling. Told through multiple character POVs, each chapter picks up — quite literally — where the last one left off, making it a seamless page-turner.
The story starts with 29-year-old Sunday Brennan getting into a drunk driving accident in L.A. Though she's been out of touch with her family for years, her brother, Denny, is still her emergency contact. Denny is contacted by the police and immediately flies from New York to LA to help his sister. And thus begins the reunion of the Brennan family. As Sunday returns to the East Coast, secret after secret unfolds. From financial struggles to affairs to trauma, the Brennan family (including Kale, Denny's best friend and Sunday's high school sweetheart) has it all.
This was an incredibly impressive debut; it's clear that author Tracey Lange comes from a large Irish family, as her depictions of the family dynamic were raw and honest. Her writing is descriptive without being flowery or overwritten. Her onion-peel character development provides depth and intrigue — each character unravels their own secrets, which made me a more empathetic reader.
Overall, it's a pretty great read but there were a few things that robbed this one of a few stars from me (the abrupt ending, most of Sunday's story, etc.). That said, it's still worth the read!
The story starts with 29-year-old Sunday Brennan getting into a drunk driving accident in L.A. Though she's been out of touch with her family for years, her brother, Denny, is still her emergency contact. Denny is contacted by the police and immediately flies from New York to LA to help his sister. And thus begins the reunion of the Brennan family. As Sunday returns to the East Coast, secret after secret unfolds. From financial struggles to affairs to trauma, the Brennan family (including Kale, Denny's best friend and Sunday's high school sweetheart) has it all.
This was an incredibly impressive debut; it's clear that author Tracey Lange comes from a large Irish family, as her depictions of the family dynamic were raw and honest. Her writing is descriptive without being flowery or overwritten. Her onion-peel character development provides depth and intrigue — each character unravels their own secrets, which made me a more empathetic reader.
Overall, it's a pretty great read but there were a few things that robbed this one of a few stars from me (the abrupt ending, most of Sunday's story, etc.). That said, it's still worth the read!
I really enjoyed this book. A wonderful family drama with characters that had depth and feeling. For me it was a book that made me feel I was in the story, with the characters. There were twists and turns, some of which I saw coming and some of which I didn’t. I was engaged with this book the whole time.
Rating: 3.5⭐️
This book is about a family of Irish Catholics. It’s about the sibling children, mainly. They’re building a bar and the sister comes back after being gone for 5 years. There’s no real “mystery” here, but it was a decent story about the family. I felt “meh” about this book, so I don’t really have much to say. It was a quick read, which was nice! But the ending is an open ending & I’m not entirely happy with it.
This book is about a family of Irish Catholics. It’s about the sibling children, mainly. They’re building a bar and the sister comes back after being gone for 5 years. There’s no real “mystery” here, but it was a decent story about the family. I felt “meh” about this book, so I don’t really have much to say. It was a quick read, which was nice! But the ending is an open ending & I’m not entirely happy with it.
This book was DRA-MA and I'm here for it! I needed to know everything about this family. I almost felt like I was a part of their family. It's a story that feels so real and palpable. A family doing everything to get by. Toeing the line of financial ruin. Secrets from brothers, sisters, parents, wives. True love torn apart. This is a mostly character-driven story so at the beginning while all the relationships were being established, I did feel like it was slightly slow, but once I reached about halfway, MAN I could not stop reading. It's the first time in a long time that a character-driven story kept me up way past my bedtime. I just HAD to know what was going to happen! Based on the synopsis alone, I would not have picked this book up, but I am so glad I did!
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
I am so thoroughly in wonder of this book!!
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Sunday Brennan. A series of misfortune has her coming back to her childhood home, where she ran from 5 years ago without an explanation to anyone, including her close knit family and fiancée.
It’s a beautiful story story of the ties that bind, and the damage that secrets can do.
And if I’m not mistaken, I feel that this is not the last we can possibly see if the Brennan clan.
My only probable trouble with the story line is the fact that at one point I was rooting for the dissolution of a marriage at one point. Hard to swallow…. But makes sense in the long run.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Sunday Brennan. A series of misfortune has her coming back to her childhood home, where she ran from 5 years ago without an explanation to anyone, including her close knit family and fiancée.
It’s a beautiful story story of the ties that bind, and the damage that secrets can do.
And if I’m not mistaken, I feel that this is not the last we can possibly see if the Brennan clan.
My only probable trouble with the story line is the fact that at one point I was rooting for the dissolution of a marriage at one point. Hard to swallow…. But makes sense in the long run.