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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
Antonia Russo and Sofia Colicchio are two girls of Italian heritage growing up together in Brooklyn. They are best friends and they share everything, and their families are close too. Their fathers work together for “the family”, but Antonia and Sofia are too young to know what that entails. When Antonia’s father disappears in thin air soon after having announced that he doesn’t want to work for the Family anymore, the girls start to understand that their fathers’ work is very peculiar, and not legal at all.
I really enjoyed this novel which follows the lives of the two women from childhood to adulthood, always in the shade of the “family”, a criminal organisation based in Brooklyn that will soon involve their husbands too. I appreciated the prose and the style, and the way the characters were developed through the story. This is a family saga that spans through the twentieth century while telling a story of migration, desire to belong and friendship. I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the narration too. Recommended!
•thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for the #ALC in exchange for an honest review•
I really enjoyed this novel which follows the lives of the two women from childhood to adulthood, always in the shade of the “family”, a criminal organisation based in Brooklyn that will soon involve their husbands too. I appreciated the prose and the style, and the way the characters were developed through the story. This is a family saga that spans through the twentieth century while telling a story of migration, desire to belong and friendship. I listened to the audiobook and I really enjoyed the narration too. Recommended!
•thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for the #ALC in exchange for an honest review•
So slow and I could not for the life of me figure out who was who this entire time :/
This is my first DNF this year after reading 60% of it. It's a slow burn, with very little, if any (depends on your view), excitement. I was very bored and by the just past halfway mark I decided that I really didn't care.
Great idea for a storyline, though.
I would not recommend it.
Great idea for a storyline, though.
I would not recommend it.
I wanted to like this a lot better than I did. I didn't love the tense choices and the weirdly distant perspective on the characters, I didn't like that there were hints at emotional difficulties that weren't followed through, and the ending wasn't very satisfying. I read most of the book with interest, but it just did not quite come together for me.
This book was difficult to rate because it was nearly a DNF for me but then I ended up really enjoying it.
The first half was a slog. It was not only slow but the writing left a lot to be desired for me. It felt like the author was just telling me some rote facts about a couple families that I didn't really care about and ultimately couldn't keep straight.
I was reading this with a book club though so I chose to stick with it and I'm very glad I did.
Toward the second half, the storyline picks up. Once the girls become mothers, I felt more drawn to their characters and I thought the writing shifted into more showing rather than telling.
This novel is really about the family behind The Family and the women that keep things afloat while the men are off. If you're looking for a mafia book, this isn't really it, however, I did love that Sofia got more involved with the business as the book went on and I would have loved more of that narrative.
Ultimately, I loved that this novel focused on a group of behind the scenes women. It highlighted their flaws and more importantly their strengths. It showed how women change and adapt, fulfilling roles as friends, daughters, mothers, sisters, wives, and business partners.
This novel was clearly a debut and the writing progressed as the novel went on which was very commendable. I will definitely pick up work by Krupitsky in the future.
The first half was a slog. It was not only slow but the writing left a lot to be desired for me. It felt like the author was just telling me some rote facts about a couple families that I didn't really care about and ultimately couldn't keep straight.
I was reading this with a book club though so I chose to stick with it and I'm very glad I did.
Toward the second half, the storyline picks up. Once the girls become mothers, I felt more drawn to their characters and I thought the writing shifted into more showing rather than telling.
This novel is really about the family behind The Family and the women that keep things afloat while the men are off. If you're looking for a mafia book, this isn't really it, however, I did love that Sofia got more involved with the business as the book went on and I would have loved more of that narrative.
Ultimately, I loved that this novel focused on a group of behind the scenes women. It highlighted their flaws and more importantly their strengths. It showed how women change and adapt, fulfilling roles as friends, daughters, mothers, sisters, wives, and business partners.
This novel was clearly a debut and the writing progressed as the novel went on which was very commendable. I will definitely pick up work by Krupitsky in the future.
The reviews on this one are all over the place, but ultimately I enjoyed this read (but I am totally intrigued with crime families and how they function). I do wish this one had dived into the crime aspect of the family a bit more, but the focus in the one was really on the character development. There was enough plot to keep me engaged though. I think this was a solid debut, and I would check out what the author writes in the future.
Wow...this story was much more than I expected. Compelling characters, fantastic writing, an unusual plot and distinct point of view, and a sense of intimacy with the people and events that is unusual. Highly recommended.
I really enjoyed this book! A great story of generational friendships and hard decisions. Sofia and Antonia are wonderful characters, as are the people in their worlds.
Entertaining and certainly easy to enjoy. However this book doesn’t add anything new to the Brooklyn Gangster media cannon. It really felt like an amalgam of recycled parts; the honor-bound head of the family, the plucky daughter, an outsider poised to inherit everything, betrayal of the family. It’s a good read if you already like gangster/mafia/organized crime movies and books. If you do, however, you’ll be able to forecast the way the book is going to go within a few chapters.