I received Carnegie Hill by Jonathan Vatner as an ARC from NetGalley. Carnegie Hill tells the story of some of the residents and employees of Chelmsford Arms. The novel focuses on the members of the coop board who are, with the exception of Pepper who is a newlywed in her thirties, older, rich, quirky white people. The board is set in its ways and not looking to change. Pepper joins the board because she would like to see more diversity at the Chelmsford Arms. This book was well written but the story was just not for me. I didn't relate to the characters or find them enjoyable.

I enjoyed the more unique premise of this book. I found the characters to be interesting and the storyline easy to follow. It did not truly pull me in and make me want to sit down to read all day like some tales do, but it was definitely worth the time. Thanks for the opportunity to read this!

I know it was pretty much a given, but the fact that all of these characters were insufferable really took away from my enjoyment of the plot. However, I'd say the representation of the caricatures in question were hilariously accurate. The marriage and relationship was super entertaining, and I always love reading stories that take place in my home state of New York!

Despicable characters and terrible relationships abound in this book. Just not for me I guess. The concept sounded good and I like these styles of stories that follow residents on a street or in an apartment building. These characters just did not appeal to me at all.

I voluntarily read and review an advanced copy of Carnegie Hill. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a several day/week-long read. It really could have even been several shorter novels! I found the characters and their interwoven storylines extremely interesting. I spent so much tea with these folks and their issues that I feel that I knew them as real people. What a well written novel! I can can say with great certainty that this author deeply understands the hearts of human beings--the fact that every individual just wants to love and be loved.

Thank you to NetGalley and Jonathan Vatner for the ARC!!!

I received Carnegie Hill by Jonathan Vatner via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and truthful review.

This is such a charming and fun book. A light read that brings joy. (A nice change from what I have been reading.)

I loved the concept of a late-bloomer coming of age story. The characters are lively and jump off the pages. If you like Sophie Kinsella, give this one a try.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fun read about a shallow woman who finds meaning in her life. Not terribly relatable, but it would be a great beach read

I enjoyed this book about 1 apartment building in NYC. I don’t want to spoil the plot but I enjoyed the descriptions of how the residents saw the neighborhood changing over their time there. I enjoyed reading about the board meetings of the co-op and I would have liked a little more detail on some of the other members. Really appreciated that Penelope could be on her own at the end and successful. Thank you for that!

Carnegie Hill, Jonathan Vatner's debut, is a confectionary of co-op living. Chelmsford Arms, the co-op where much of the story develops, is the book's silent main character. While many of the main, human characters are somewhat hard to like the co-op remains steady throughout.

While this debut took me a little longer to get into and finish it is a solid novel and will make the perfect summer read. There is great character development-and in an interesting turn of events the spoiled, socialite heiress Pepper is the most likeable of the co-ops residents. She has empathy and yes while slightly neurotic she sees beyond her privilege and wealth. Her fiance, on the other hand, is obsessed with money and power and his image.

Pepper and Rick are among the youngest of co-op residents and to Pepper her neighbors have charming lives and happy, loving marriages. But behind the Chelmsford Arms facade those images crack along with the residents' secrets.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC.

I love New York City, and I like to read books about life in the city. But I find this book, even with its many characters, boring. Can't relate to any of the characters. Can't sympathize or empathize with the main character, Pepper and her privileged rich girl problems. Story didn't really take off for me. Nice, light read though.

I really wanted to like Carnegie Hill by Jonathan Gather but it felt many times that there was a not-so-hidden agenda. That is so not my thing as it tends to make me feel used. I was attracted to this book by its cover and title, when I read the description I wasn't sure as it seemed like a beach or summer read and I haven't had a lot of luck with that genre. They usually are a little light, a little overly dramatic for my taste. I did, however; find it interesting to see/read about people in relationships at different stages of their life so I decided to give it a try.

There was not necessarily a lot to like about any character actually which can make for a tough read. If one doesn't like the majority of characters why continue? I know from the description and from reviews that Caleb and Sergei's relationship is the one we readers, and Penelope/Pepper "should" look to as the "best model for love" but is it really? Sergei made it very clear from day one that he wanted, needed the relationship to remain secret, that he was uncomfortable and unable to let anyone, especially his family, know he is gay. Caleb knew this, had complied albeit not very happily, but he complied and accepted it. He did as Sergei asked regarding the steps necessary to keep the relationship hidden. Yet on the one year anniversary of their relationship, Caleb outs Sergei. There is no other way to describe it. Caleb very deliberately tells Francis that he and Sergei are in a relationship and had been for a year. Why, to get advice? Really? Caleb is out to his family and others. Why did he choose a resident at the apartment house? Caleb may go to Francis' apartment once a month for coffee and to discuss books but I wouldn't say they are especially close or that Francis is someone to reveal closely held (or what should be) secrets. Caleb doesn't seem to especially like Francis and seems to think that Francis is not someone who understands his life (as a black man, a gay man or as a gay black man) so why seek out advice from him? Perhaps, on some level, Caleb wanted to out Sergei. Sergei specifically said more than once what a hotbed of gossip the Chelmsford Arms was and Caleb already knew first-hand having heard other people's private business.

People who love someone do not do something like this. If the person you love feels strongly about something, you don't go against the it wishes. Sergei was unready and uncomfortable with anyone knowing he is gay. It is his choice if and when to share that information. It is nobody's business and it is not anyone else's decision what and when to make public what he wishes to keep private. It is not the act of someone who loves and respects you.

It doesn't seem like anyone in Carnegie Hill is a "role model for love" but they are human and humans make bad and selfish decisions all the time.

So while the description states "To her surprise, Pepper's best model for love may be a clandestine romance between Caleb and Sergei, a porter and a doorman." I feel that is inaccurate. There may be small things to admire about each relationship, or not, but on the whole none of the relationships should be held on a pedestal.

Carnegie Hill is a very chic and expensive apartment building in the Carnegie Hill section of Manhattan. The reader gets to meet several couples who reside there. They are all very different- age, religion. Socio economic status.
Some become really good friends, others just meet at Board meetings and in the elevator.
It was a slow moving book- but definitely worth taking the time.

This was an interesting story about relationships; What keeps them together, what breaks them apart, and why it's important to fight for them as well as recognize the toxicity. The glimpse inside these 4 different romantic relationships is quite eye opening and for most of the book, you received a little bit of each point of view, until the end when it all comes together in the aftermath of each separate decision.

I did receive an advance copy of this book for review. My only critique was because of the way it was formatted, sometimes it was hard to see when the point of view changed from one situation to another. I don't know if this is corrected or changed in the final draft but it did make it a little hard to transition from one part of the story to the next seamlessly.

Overall, this is a good read and really does make you think about how things affect people differently and how a perspective can change due to emotions and values.

This was a fun book, especially for those of us in flyover country who are not intimately acquainted with the nuances of NYC upper class co-op life. While I wouldn’t say it is monumental or moving, it is satisfying in that it demonstrates the truth in often repeated themes: no one knows the truth of any marriage, often not even those who are in it, and also that human problems cut across all classes. While the backdrop was upper class New York, which made it interesting for those of us who aren’t familiar with that kind of city life, it seemed to me that a similar story of love and marriage, and questioning both, could have been written set in a suburban cul de sac.
The story peels back layers on relationships of the inhabitants of the co-op, and the reader sees each from different perspectives. It examines what people of different ages and lifestyles expect and need in their relationships, the secrets they keep, and the choices they must make in determining whether to persevere or abandon ship.
I didn’t find any primary characters who were totally likable, and some moved into the fully annoying category by mid book. But I suppose even their annoyingness served a function in the story. Overall it was entertaining, and that’s my principal requirement in reading material.

A woman, recently married, moves into this crazy condo and somehow ends up on the board of directors with a cast of nutty residents. In the meantime, her husband is not who she thinks he is. It was a good read.

This book is a fast-paced read with some humor and quirky characters. I found some of the characters believable and relatable. While some of them are not very likeable, I could understand how they were. Once you get to know some of them, you get why they act as they do. The goings-on at Chelmsford Arms was entertaining at times and cringe-worthy at others. This read is a little like some soap programs. Perfect beach read. Thank you NetGalley for the early ebook.

At the time I chose to read this book, i was looking for something light, and light hearted. This did the trick! A love story/romance book that was just perfect.

I wavered quite a bit with this book. It's an easy read, with no mind-enhancing or lesson learning plot themes. However, I doubt the author intended for there to be.

Our central character is a 33-year old woman named Pepper (she does start to use her given name "Penelope" to give herself some weight). Pepper wants for nothing, yet is continually confused about what she should want for. A string of going nowhere jobs, a gorgeous, loving, and rich husband, and most importantly - a condo in a co-op in the nicer part of Manhattan. The co-op is a study in relationships, one which we get to view through many lenses, which I was thankful for. I enjoyed reading about all the other relationships, although I thought the relationship between black porter Caleb and closeted Russian Sergei could have been given more airtime. There are decades long relationships, both crumbling and not,

The wavering and aggravation is due to Pepper. I understand that technically she's a millenial, so there had to be some highlighting of that, but for the most part, she was unbelievably annoying. I've read other reviews by other millenials where the reviewer is happy to see that the same problems that plague the middle class also plague the uber-rich. Here's the glaring difference between the two: Pepper doesn't need to work! She bounces from job to job, and widely laments it, but then goes home to her million dollar+ and picks out a $50,000 bottle of wine to drink from her husband's wine fridge. I can't relate to having that problem, nor can most millenials. This reads like a coming-of-age novel about a woman in her 30s.

I can't recommend reading this unless you're taking a super long flight somewhere and also have wine to drink. There are better stories about coming into one's own. Read those.

This book surprised me.

Based on the synopsis and the fun cover, I honesty didn’t expect more than a fun little romance where the main character, Pepper/Penelope, would find herself, and that would be it.

This book was artfully written, poignantly sad and joyously happy, and remarkable. The main character, Penelope, went through a lot of change in the novel, and she, like many of the other characters, came out of the other side of the novel happier, more well rounded, more purposed.

It takes a while to get started (at first I thought it was a weird sex book with a rich white woman trying to be a “racial savior”), but once the introduction of the other character’s perspectives occurred, I fell in love with the story and couldn’t put it down. Each character is complex, diverse, and heartfelt. They all have their flaws, but they are also all good people–even if, for some (*cough Patricia cough*) it takes a while to get to that conclusion.

I wish that the synopsis was a little better, because it really does not do the book justice. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, or for it to be as deep as it was. It has the charm of a Mitford book, coupled with the elegant and starkly written sadness of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, tied together perfectly.

My minor complaint is that a lot of the people in the book are rich, or appear to be, and that can make it a little hard to relate at first. Like I said, the book’s beginning is a little slow-going, but once you get through the first chapter, it picks up and becomes incredibly delightful and complex. Vatner handles a lot of difficult issues (being LGTBQ+, racism, poverty, needing therapy, divorce, depression) in an excellent way.

I especially enjoyed the portrayal of Birdie and George. Their sections were harder and harder to read as the book went on (George has depression, which a large focus of their relationship), but they were also some of the most important sections, and I’m glad that Vatner decided to handle topics of depression and suicide in an honest and real way instead of candy-coating the truth.

Overall, I highly recommend Carnegie Hill. It will most certainly make you cry, but you’ll also fall in love with almost all of the characters (maybe not Rick but, you know, give him a chance).

Unfortunately, I'm not finishing this one. I felt uncomfortable reading about all of this privilege. It wasn't fun or satirical but vapid and maddening.