Reviews with content warning for Cancer - We Are the Brennans

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We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

16 reviews

kloft1993's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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abbiesb_read's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I was ready to rate this a 3.5/4 but the third act got me sucked in! There are a few lose ends that I think needed a follow up or can definitely open the door for a second book. I would love to know what happens to the Brennans after the events of the final chapter!!

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sarahholliday's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is not a traditional "page turner," and yet once I started reading I couldn't stop. I stayed up way too late to finish reading because I was so deeply enthralled by the messy yet lovable Brennans.

So much of this story felt familiar and relatable. Having grown up in conservative religious culture, in a upper-middle class suburb close to a big city, and with a relationship that felt like it defined me for much of my young adult life...I could see versions of the events in this story occurring in my own life. Take that statement with a grain of salt, because this story is not lacking in melodrama, but that makes the relatability of the story all the more impressive.

If you love family dramas, long-buried secrets, flawed characters, and stories that end on a note of hope...I really think you'll love We Are the Brennans.

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emmclaay's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Sunday Brennan has moved out to California, leaving her family and fiance behind in New York with little explanation. After five years away, a drunk driving accident prompts her to return home and try to rebuild her life. There, she is forced to confront and unravel the secrets of her family’s livelihood, relationships, and most importantly, the reason for her mysterious departure.

The audiobook narration is excellent, well-paced and with distinct voices for each character that evoke their personalities and make the story easy to follow. It’s a deep dive into the Brennan family, sometimes veering into very mundane territory; however, I didn’t mind this. Because each of the characters felt so real, even the seemingly unimportant events of daily life were, at the very least, comforting and pleasant to read.

I appreciated the way that Sunday’s big secret was tied into the financial challenges that her family faced with the pub. This prevented the book from feeling discombobulated and raised the stakes. Additionally, I was genuinely surprised by her secret when it came out about halfway through the book, as it was not (exactly) what I predicted. At first, I felt like it was revealed too soon, but the pacing ended up being appropriate so that the characters could sort out how to approach the main problem.

I also loved how there was still one final reveal in the last few minutes of the book. I wasn’t expecting to get an answer to the question of who killed Billy, but that made for a satisfying conclusion that I truly did not see coming.

The themes of this book are clear and compelling - the staying power of family connections, confronting secrets and mistakes as their consequences become inevitable, and moving forward in the aftermath of life-altering events. Ultimately, I loved this realistic portrait of a tight-knit, loving, but simultaneously messy and highly imperfect family.

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pomoevareads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you to @celadonbooks for sending me We Are the Brennans, I loved it so much!

This story of a close-knit Irish Catholic family with four siblings was heart warming and impelling at the same time. When Sunday Brennan returns to New York after an accident in LA she is looking to mend relationships that she has let fall away. Her ex-fiancé Kale is also there as he has always been as a quasi fourth son. Sunday has kept secrets from her family and Kale and when she finds out that her brother also holds some secrets of his own, hers are threatened to be revealed. It is this kind of family drama that propels the story forward.

While this is a character-driven story the plot moves along at just the right pace to resolve characters’ trajectories personally and for the story itself.

The story is told in alternating chapters with multiple POVs. Uniquely, the author inserted a structure that I haven’t seen before. When ending a chapter, the last line spoken is the first line of the next chapter. At first I wasn’t sure if this worked and wondered if the repetition was necessary but it didn’t take me long to appreciate this format for showing who the last speaker was and then having that person’s POV in the following chapter.

I am very impressed that his is @tracey_lange ‘s debut and will be reading future stories by her.

I have seen this book compared to Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane. I haven’t read this one although it is on my highly anticipated TBR. To change things up a bit I am suggesting three TV shows that I think people will like if they liked this book and vice versa. They are Bloodline (Netflix), The Affair and Ray Donovan. Each offers something similar to the books.

Thanks again to @celadonbooks for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. we Are The Brennans publishes August 3, 2021. It was also a Book of the Month selection.

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sfbookgirl's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I went into We Are the Brennan’s book a bit hesitant about the story, so it’s no mystery that I finished the book on less than positive terms. This very white, family drama revolves around 29-year-old Sunday Brennan and her family’s troubles. After getting into a car accident in LA, Sunday moves back to her family’s home in New York to gain some clarity about the life she left behind five years earlier.

Overall, I am not the biggest fan of family dramas, but I know those that are may really enjoy this one. Each of the family members have a secret, but there isn’t much of an event when the secrets are revealed. We Are the Brennan’s is filled with unlikeable characters, which normally is fine in my book, but I truly did not love any of the characters. Regardless, Lange executes the choice to use multiple POV’s well and I enjoyed the story for its consistent pacing.

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