Reviews

The Family Reunion by Karen King

homeiswherethebookshelvesare's review

3.0

This is the first book I’ve read by Karen however I realised I have bought a couple of her books already & they’ve been waiting for me to read them! I will definitely enjoy them if they’re anything like this book.

This book was a really quick and easy read for me. It had lovely short chapters which is my fave!

The characters were okay, I wish they had been a bit more likeable, I ended up getting really frustrated with them.

The book kept me guessing and when I thought I’d figured everything out, proved me completely wrong. Bit of a jaw dropper!

There was a relatively happy (not sad) ending with another plot twist right at the end - I’d love to see a second book continuing the story, I think that would be great!

Thank you to Karen King, Bookouture & NetGalley for approving me for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

whathilaryreads's review

3.0

I read this novel as an ebook ARC- not useful now as it released January 23rd BUT I still recommend it! Mary is a recent widow who focuses on finding her happiness in her children and grandchildren. Among those children is Hope- a daughter that nobody ever knew about and that Mary, as a teen with a newborn, hoped would find a better life with someone else. When Hope shows up, Mary's past and multitude of secrets and lies threaten her relationship with all of her children. Lots of twists and turns make this a quick read, although a bit predictable. 3☆

Read my other reviews on Instagram- @whathilaryreads

girley75's review

5.0

This book was really good! Took me a while to finish it as it’s not exactly a page turner. But wow, the twist at the end made it all worth it! Definitely a book where you wonder who can be trusted? Everyone seems guilty!

mrssmithslibrary's review

3.0

The Family Reunion is a slow-burn read about a family with lots of secrets.

How much can one family take?

I felt like this book was a little slow at the beginning up to about the 50% mark. The ending seemed rushed and unoriginal for the most part, but some of it surprised me. Overall, a decent read, but I wouldn’t read it again.

oliviarich25's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

thanhtra's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

jayne193's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

tsavage's review

4.0

WOW do the twists ever end? The answer is NO, they don’t!

Karen King’s newest book The Family Reunion is an absolute whirlwind told from multiple perspectives. It follows Mary on her newly widowed life and journey to find her long lost daughter. But when being reunited starts turning into disaster after disaster, the family starts to question the newest “daughters” intentions.

This story is absolutely wild. It was a little slow at first, but still keeps you wanting more. You soon realize this family is not as perfect as they make themselves seem, and EVERYONE has a secret. I was genuinely left guessing until the very last pages.

Overall, the story was really engaging and unpredictable, which I love! Thanks to Netgalley, @bookouture, and Karen King for allowing me early access!

Read this if:
-you love family drama!
-you like long lost reconnections of family
-genuinely want to be guessing til the end

abi0188's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

 

This psychological suspense novel has readers guessing until the end who is creating havoc in Mary's life. 

There is a lot going on in this book. Mary was raised by a strict father. She fell in love with Robbie and got pregnant at 16. When Robbie ends up in jail, she gives birth and leaves her newborn daughter, Hope, in a phone booth. Flash forward to the future where Mary is recently widowed and is still feeling guilty for this act of abandonment (she never told her husband of decades about Hope), she sends a message out onto the internet hoping to find her long lost daughter. Miracles upon miracles, Hope (now called Cathy) responds.

This novel follows the direct months after Mary and Cathy reconnect. We get to watch the two get to know each other, or so they think. Cathy is rather suspicious, the readers knows she is lying and keeping secrets from Mary. Mary is also now strangely now losing things, becoming forgetful and worrying for her safety. Is Cathy to blame? I thought this was a great set up and was suspicious of Cathy from the beginning. The dark secretive vague information available about her father, Robbie, was also very intriguing. 

However, Cathy is not the only suspicious character. Mary has two grown children from her happy marriage: Joanne and Jason, who are both married (neither happily) with two children each. Joanne resents Jason (and now Cathy) and she seems to have a drinking problem. Jason's wife is cheating on him and he seems to be constantly pushing his mum to downsize her home to get money from her (he has past money issues - and maybe current ones). 

My main issue with this book was that I didn't like a single character. All of Mary's kids were really annoying and I felt like every single one clearly just wanted money from her. I think the vulnerable forgetful older woman role was a little too played upon, I would have liked this to have been more subtle. The push from all three kids to make Mary move into a smaller home started to feel repetitive. The intrigue and dark past of Robbie also fell a little flat for me when the truth came to light.

The epilogue was a total curveball and kind of random, but the best "wtf" moment of the book.

 

whataverysreading's review

3.0

Unfortunately, I found THE FAMILY REUNION to be boring. Maybe it’s because it’s an ARC, but there were SO MANY TIMES in this book where sentences were literally repeated word for word. This book was very repetitive and boring. The author makes reader wait until 80% of the book is done for the “big reveal” and it was disappointing. 

I didn’t like any of the characters. They were all terrible and had no redeeming qualities. 

Below I’ll go into more details but SPOILERS AHEAD 

I did not like Mary at all. I felt like she abandoned her two children for Cathy at a drop of the hat. I did not like how she treated them at all. 

I also hated Cathy so much. Everything about her sucked. 

This book actually just made me mad.. but like?? Good job to the author for evoking emotions like that out of me.