Not As Enjoyable as the Comp Titles It Is Compared To

Years ago I enjoyed the book The Nest, so when it was listed as a comp title for We Are the Brennans, I could hardly wait to read the latter. The title gave me no idea what to expect, and unfortunately, I just did not feel captivated by Sunday Brennan, the main character whose drunk driving caused an accident and resulted in her being in a Los Angeles hospital. Despite being 29 years old, Sunday has never really gotten her life together, and she has to return to her home roots on the East Coast in order to have the support of her family. It is a humbling experience for her since she more or less burned all of her bridges when she left for her expectations of a more exciting life in California. One of those burned bridges included her boyfriend, for whom she still seems to love. While this novel's individual characters were - for the most part- believable enough, and certainly a decent contemporary family, neither Sunday's big breakup nor other family issues seemed to be anything so substantial to send a 29-year-old fleeing to the other side of the continent.

I have nothing against characters with flaws and problems; obviously, problems and their resolutions help move a plot forward. However, I never felt very interested in what happened to Sunday or how the Brennan family overcame some of their anger and hostility towards each other. Most of the pre-publication publicity also references family secrets - as if this book was on the verge of being a thriller; again, however, nothing seemed all that devastating to me.

I appreciate all of the work that goes into writing a book. Unfortunately, this was a "just okay" reading experience for me.