A very well-written storyline that you will definitely enjoy reading. I found myself wanting to know more about the characters.

Overall I truly enjoyed reading This Is Home

Synopsis: sixteen-year-old Libby Winters lives in Paradise, a seaside town north of Boston that rarely lives up to its name. After the death of her mother, she lives with her father, Bent, in the middle apartment of their triple-decker home—Bent’s two sisters, Lucy and Desiree, live on the top floor. A former soldier turned policeman, Bent often works nights, leaving Libby under her aunts’ care. Shuffling back and forth between apartments—and the wildly different natures of her family—has Libby wishing for nothing more than a home of her very own.

Quinn Ellis is at a crossroads. When her husband John, who has served two tours in Iraq, goes missing back at home, suffering from PTSD he refuses to address, Quinn finds herself living in the first-floor apartment of the Winters house. Bent had served as her husband’s former platoon leader, a man John refers to as his brother, and despite Bent’s efforts to make her feel welcome, Quinn has yet to unpack a single box.

For Libby, the new tenant downstairs is an unwelcome guest, another body filling up her already crowded house. But soon enough, an unlikely friendship begins to blossom, when Libby and Quinn stretch and redefine their definition of family and home.

This cover gad me at Hello! It is gorgeous! “this is Home” by Lisa Duffy sold me just as much on the inside, too! I’m always intrigued by books about vets dealing with PTSD, and this one draws a beautiful storyline! I highly recommend it.
I received a copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really loved this book in a new to me author. The characters and location really and to the story. I can't wait to read the next one. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

#FirstLine ~ Prologue: After John left, Quinn would lie awake at night and picture the look of shock on his face.

Man, I loved this book. I loved the story setting and characters. It was a fabulous escape, in which I got lost in the story. I love when a story captures my heart and makes me lose track of time. I have never read Duffy before and now I cannot wait to read her again. Such a great book!

John had acted like Quinn was a stranger when he left. John had been to war and changed. He had PTSD. I liked that PTSD was mentioned. Quinn miscarried twins. Libby's father shot the pool when she was ten years old. Cancer took Libby's mother away.

You know those books that grab you from the beginning and you want to spend every waking moment devouring the pages while simultaneously not wanting it to end? This Is Home was that book for me. Libby, Quinn, Bent and Desiree (all the characters really) were so authentic that I felt like I knew them personally. Some were flawed and messy while still full of heart. One moment my heart was breaking then the snarky dialogue would come along and have me laughing out loud.

I know I'm just gushing over this book and not really doing it the justice it deserves. Just read it! If you are in a book slump this is the book to restore your love of reading.

What I really expected to be a book about the unlikely friendship between Libby and her downstairs neighbor, Quinn, ended up being a lot more about military life, PTSD, and drug abuse. Not that this was a bad thing! I really enjoyed the book but it was a bit heavier than I had expected when I started. Ultimately, however, this book was about family. Not the genetically linked family you are born into, but the family you make through deep connections with those around you. I really enjoyed reading how each character came to know, trust, and love the other characters. It made for a very satisfying read!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and Lisa Duffy for the opportunity to read and review this book - wonderful!

Teenage Libby lives with her dad, Bent, a soldier who was injured in the war and is now a police officer in small town Paradise. Also sharing their triplex home are Bent's two sisters, Lucy and Desiree, and Quinn, a nanny to twin boys. Quinn's husband, John, joined the military and struggled dealing with real life when he came home. He stormed out after an argument and Quinn hasn't heard from him since. She was forced to move out of their home and into the bottom floor apartment of Bent's house.

This book is filled with wonderful characters experiencing real world problems such as PTSD, addiction, grief, single parenthood. You will find yourself laughing, crying, and cheering on these characters - they feel very real. As we draw close to another Veteran's Day, makes you pause and reflect on all the sacrifices made by both the soldiers and the families remaining back home.

Having read and loved Lisa Duffy’s debut novel, The Salt House, I couldn’t wait to read her latest release, This is Home. Teenager, Libby Winters shares an apartment in Paradise, north of Boston, with her aunts and father Bent. Whilst Bent is forced to work long hours as a policeman, Libby’s aunts strive, with a slightly eccentric spirit, to make up for the tragic loss of Libby’s mother.

But Libby isn’t the only one trying to find her place in the world and when military wife Quinn Ellis rents the apartment downstairs, she and Libby eventually form a friendship.

What makes Duffy’s writing so special? It’s the realistically flawed characters, the relationship between Libby and her aunts. Even her large, lumbering dog, Rooster, is the kind you want to take home and love.

Covering serious themes including pregnancy, coming of age, grief and abandonment there was the potential for the novel to feel heavy going, and yet there is plenty joy to be found in Duffy’s writing too - remember those fun-loving aunts? This is Home is beautifully written relationship fiction that would make a great book club pick.

I loved this beautifully written and intensely emotional story. At times I found myself crying and laughing, and other times, I was yelling at the characters. The characters became so real to me with their struggles and heartache.

I found the different POVs interesting here with teenager Libby who is trying to understand an adult world and adult Quinn who is trying to understand her adult world. Each with their own sorrow and conflicts and both are trying to find their place in it all.

Lisa Duffy does a great job here, exploring the different ways we feel alone in grief and disconnected from others. Through the relationships and dynamics here, we see how the characters find out something about themselves, each other, along with some understanding of each other's struggles and conflicts. It left me thinking, maybe home is somewhere in that understanding. She weaves a few well-plotted heartbreaking themes here with a feel-good story of hope. I highly recommend it.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

"Home is where the heart is"--something the two main characters of this new story by Lisa Duffy need to learn.

Libby is the motherless teenaged daughter of Bentley Winters, Iraqi war veteran and police officer in Paradise, MA. They are living on the second floor of a three-decker house, owned by Bent's sister Lucy. She shares the upper story with their youngest sibling, Desiree, who is once again fighting with her boyfriend.

Into their midst comes Quinn Ellis, whose husband, a soldier suffering from PTSD, who served under Bent, has left her. She moves into the first floor of this house, at Bent's invitation. He seems to want to watch over her. At her husband John's request? Or is he just someone who takes in strays, like the dog Rooster?

Libby is upset--who needs more people living in this house?! And why can't she and her father just go back home? And Quinn can't even bring herself to unpack, to make herself 'at home.'

Both come to learn what makes a home--a place where you are known and loved. This is a lovely character-driven, heart-felt story about relationships. Strong female characters struggle to find their place, their home.

Duffy also addresses PTSD and the difficulties of returning to a 'normal' life. Is there any real chance of coming home for these men? Is the gulf between war and civilian life just too wide for some to get over?

I received an arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I apologize for being late coming to read it.

Libby lives with her father, Bentley (Bent to nearly everyone) and their oversized, lazy dog Rooster Cogburn. And then there's also her Aunts Lucy and Desiree, who live in the apartment above them. And now there's Quinn. Quinn's husband John and Bent served together in Iraq. Bent invites Quinn to live in the basement apartment after John goes missing, suffering from PTSD. Libby feels the place is crowded enough already. And Quinn's not too thrilled to be there either. But, before either of them realize it, they are thrust together and slowly become friends.

This is one of those quiet, unassuming books that sneaks up on you, pulling you in with its beautiful writing and wonderful characters. There's no wild plot, insane mystery, or major twist--just elegant prose, a troubled cast, and some real and raw moments that will stick with you long after you finish the last page. Lisa Duffy is an excellent writer, and I so enjoyed her book.

"He'd come home from from the war a different person. A stranger to her. Someone she moved around carefully, gently, as if he were a bomb, ready to explode."

There is a lot going on here--the aftermath of war; family issues; a budding teen romance; marriage problems--but it all works. Libby and Quinn each tell their own story, and as their lives begin to intertwine, it's very heartwarming to watch each come into their own a bit. They each have their own unique voice, and it's hard not to fall for both of them. Libby, especially, tugged at my heart. (But I loved Quinn, too!)

There is, of course, darkness here. This novel offers a very thoughtful exploration of the aftermath of war, not only on the soldiers, but those who love them. It's not always an easy read, but I think it's a valuable one. It gives a very unwavering look at the PTSD these men and women face and how it can not only can ruin them, but their families as well.

Overall, I found this to be an excellent and poignant read, and I'm sorry I let it sit on my Kindle so long. Easily 4+ stars.

I received a copy of this novel from Atria Books and Netgalley in return for an honest review.

This was a sweet story about grief and moving on. I loved the character development and was very invest in the story. It did move fairly slow and was more of a character drive novel but overall I enjoyed it.

Beautifully written. It was a uniquely written story that provided heartfelt points of view over tough topics.

3.5 Stars

Libby Winters lives with her father Bent in a multi-family home which she shares with her two aunts (Desiree and Lucy). Bent is a veteran who now works the night shift as a police officer and Libby is often left to be cared for by her aunts.

Quinn moves into the bottom floor of the multi-family after her husband (also a veteran, suffering from PTSD, who served with Bent) goes missing. Quinn has a hard time feeling getting settled and hasn't even unpacked when she meets Libby, Desiree, and Lucy. The 4 women quickly form a friendship that will eventually help all of them find their own meaning of the word home.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked reading about Quinn's story better than Libby's. Quinn's story was built upon layer by layer and I felt like I really knew her. A lot of times Libby's story seemed scattered and rushed to me. The story with her, Flynn, and Jimmy was a little all over the place for me and I would have liked it to be more developed. This would have been a 4 star read for me if Libby's part took more time to tell. I loved all the characters and would have loved for the book for continue with more depth.

This Is Home was a wonderful novel about family and home! I enjoyed the characters and the way they were depicted The story centers around the multi unit house where Bent and his teenage daughter Libby live. Bent's two sisters, Lucy and Desiree, also live here. Quinn moves into one of the house's units after her husband disappears. The story is about the family who lives in the house and the other people in their lives who come and go. Bent struggles to raise his daughter on his own. Libby struggles with the hectic part of living with everyone in the house and her relationships with her friends. The characters and their stories encompass a little world that feels like a comfortable and warm home like atmosphere. The story is told with a range of intense emotion for the difficult parts of the characters' lives and humor for the lighter moments.

Even though high school is well behind me, I do enjoy reading about younger characters. This was a great fit for me because it had an adult and an unrelated teenager so I had the best of both worlds. It was an interesting peek into a life very different than my own. It seemed fresh and not forced and I enjoyed how the relationships grew throughout the book.

Set in a small beach town near Boston, Libby and her policeman dad, Bent, move into an apartment hone that houses 3 families. Libby’s aunts live on the 3rd floor and a pregnant widow moves in on the first floor. Libby is 17 and still misses her mother who died of cancer. She finally makes friends with Quinn on the first floor and they help each other with what life throws at them. A good story of some dysfunctional folks who form a family. I received a copy of this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received a free e-copy of This is Home by Lisa Duffy from NetGalley for my honest review.

Oh my goodness, my heart. Such a moving and unforgettably emotional yet heart warming story!

Libby, who is sixteen years old, lives in the town of Paradise, near Boston. She lives in the middle apartment of her Aunt Lucy's building that consists of three apartments. Libby's two aunts live in another of the apartments and the third tenant is a man named John, who served with Libby’s dad, Bent, in the military, and his wife, Quinn.

John, who suffers from PTSD, leaves without telling Quinn where he is going. Bent knows where John is but has promised not to tell Quinn.

Libby misses her mom, who died of cancer. She and her dad had to sell their house to pay all the medical bills. Libby misses her home but doesn't want to tell her dad.

The story line goes back and forth between Libby and Quinn and each of their stories and eventually the stories intertwine. The friendship that becomes of them both. A story of pain, addiction, friendship, sadness, pain and joy.