A debut that drops you right in the middle of a family drama!
I think family drama is one of my favorite genres. It doesn’t matter if it’s fiction, fantasy, or thriller - I just like being dropped in the middle, which is typically the case to keep the mystery, of a family drama. For me, WE ARE THE BRENNANS did not disappoint as Tracey Lange dropped us right in the middle of the Brennan’s family drama from chapter one up until the very end of her debut novel from Celadon Books.
Reasons to read:
☘️You are all for the family drama
☘️Family is most important to you above all else
☘️Second chance relationships are your thing
Likes:
☘️I really loved closeness of the Brennan’s and it was super easy to feel like I was part of the family from the moment I started reading. I wanted to know the secrets they were keeping from me. I wanted to yell at them for not sharing their secrets with each other.
☘️You know I’m a huge fan of multiple PoV books, but what I loved, loved, loved that Lange did was throw in random characters for chapter. It enhanced the story so much!
Frustrations:
☘️One of the siblings is developmentally disabled and I felt that his character was used more as filler; as an afterthought. He had one key moment for the plot, but the rest of the time I felt like it was, to put it in simplest terms, representation for representations sake.
☘️The pacing was odd. You never knew what you were going to get. I really enjoyed it, but I didn’t get wrapped up in until about a little over halfway through.
If any of you are Disney fans, do you remember the old rides when you would go through doors and never know what you were going to get on the other side like Snow White’s Scary Adventures? WE ARE THE BRENNANS is exactly like that. One chapter is exciting and you fly through it then you reach the next and it’s a lull. I enjoyed my time with the Brennan’s and I loved being in the family drama from start to finish, but it wasn’t a perfect debut. Even so, I will definitely be picking up Lange’s next book because I was entertained by the story.
WE ARE THE BRENNANS is out everywhere on 8/3 from Celadon Books.
Thanks to BookishFirst for early copy to review!
Content Warnings: car accident involving alcohol, Dementia, miscarriage, adultery, sexual violence, gun violence
Reasons to read:
☘️You are all for the family drama
☘️Family is most important to you above all else
☘️Second chance relationships are your thing
Likes:
☘️I really loved closeness of the Brennan’s and it was super easy to feel like I was part of the family from the moment I started reading. I wanted to know the secrets they were keeping from me. I wanted to yell at them for not sharing their secrets with each other.
☘️You know I’m a huge fan of multiple PoV books, but what I loved, loved, loved that Lange did was throw in random characters for chapter. It enhanced the story so much!
Frustrations:
☘️One of the siblings is developmentally disabled and I felt that his character was used more as filler; as an afterthought. He had one key moment for the plot, but the rest of the time I felt like it was, to put it in simplest terms, representation for representations sake.
☘️The pacing was odd. You never knew what you were going to get. I really enjoyed it, but I didn’t get wrapped up in until about a little over halfway through.
If any of you are Disney fans, do you remember the old rides when you would go through doors and never know what you were going to get on the other side like Snow White’s Scary Adventures? WE ARE THE BRENNANS is exactly like that. One chapter is exciting and you fly through it then you reach the next and it’s a lull. I enjoyed my time with the Brennan’s and I loved being in the family drama from start to finish, but it wasn’t a perfect debut. Even so, I will definitely be picking up Lange’s next book because I was entertained by the story.
WE ARE THE BRENNANS is out everywhere on 8/3 from Celadon Books.
Thanks to BookishFirst for early copy to review!
Content Warnings: car accident involving alcohol, Dementia, miscarriage, adultery, sexual violence, gun violence