2.94k reviews for:

We Are the Brennans

Tracey Lange

3.81 AVERAGE


I thoroughly enjoyed We Are the Brennans, Tracey Lange’s debut novel. I was lucky enough to receive a print copy from Celedon Books and the audiobook from Macmillan Audio narrated by Barrie Kreinik.

Sunday Brennan fled her family and fiancé five years ago and headed to LA with little explanation. When she wakes up in the hospital after a drunken car accident, her older brother Denny convinces her to come back to New York to be with her family. Sunday reluctantly agrees to come home so that she can heal and help out at the family’s Irish pub, but she’s harboring a dark secret that she doesn’t want to face.

The Brennans and Kale Collins, Sunday’s ex-fiancé who is now married with a son, are a tight knit group and they’re currently opening a second pub location across town. Sunday isn’t the only one keeping secrets though, her brother Denny has made some bad financial decisions and the hole he’s dug keeps getting deeper.

The novel unfolds through alternating chapters narrated by the Brennan family, Kale, and his wife. The story flowed flawlessly and I was hooked from the first chapter, I had to find out why Sunday left all those years ago and how everything would play out.

Barrie Kreinik’s audio narration is engaging and realistic, her voice has a soothing quality that made me want to keep listening.

This is Lange’s debut novel and I’m excited to read what she writes next. Her ability to portray the emotions of her characters was a pleasure to read, it was as though I was part of the Brennan family, they are so realistic. I highly recommend this excellent family saga!

While the book started out interesting and full of promise it just fell a bit flat to me. About halfway in it lost it’s appeal and I just finished it because I already had time invested.
challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Not a fan of family dramas and this is what that is. Stopped reading around page 70
medium-paced

I always enjoy getting a more contemporary fiction as part of my book of the month box. This book was well written and beautiful.

The main story is told through Sunday Brennans point of view, but her brothers and dad also all have a few chapters. When Sunday is young she takes off and heads to the West Coast, leaving her family and fiancé wondering what happened. Now, years later her brother gets a call from an emergency room in LA notifying him that Sunday has been involved in a DUI and he flys out from New York to help. He convinces her to come home.

Once home, the secrets of the past come to light and the family works to get through them together.

This was a good feel good story about families and how working together is better than keeping secrets. I gave this book 4/5 stars.

3.5
challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ok so I did like this book. It took a minute but the last third really pulled me in. A lot of whiplash, mostly frustrating, but had a satisfying ending so what more can you ask for? I am not from an Irish Catholic family, I just married into one, but I still felt like this was walking a very tight rope between authentic representation and heavy handed stereotyping. Just a thought.
emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes