My first 5 stars in 2020 and only five days in! Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advance copy.

I absolutely loved this book. It is nothing like Euphoria, which I also loved, except maybe the connection to authors and writing. If Lily King wants to make up more stories about writers and writing, what happens in their every day lives, their families, their grief over loss, I will be first in line for my copy. I loved the story of 31 year old Casey Peabody, $70,000 in debt from college, with waitressing being the only job she can hold down while spending the last 6 years writing her first novel. Her friends who wanted to become authors gave up on it years ago and are doing adult things now, while Casey is stuck. The men she meets are writers, her best friend is a writer, yet none seem as poor or unhappy as Casey.

Lots of humor in this book despite the sadness, a couple of adorable little boys, and great conversations about books, about words, about the writing process, and emotions. I just ate it up.

Lily King's new novel spoke to me. Casey is a struggling novelist, 31 years old, at the end of her coming of age and the beginning of real adulthood and independence. Casy lives in Boston, writes every day, she has for six years. She works as a waitress at a popular upscale restaurant near Harvard Square. Casey's struggles include grieving for her recently departed mother, finishing her novel, and trying to find true love.

I remember those years of the early thirties when the whole world was open to me, and I needed to know, really know, what I wanted. Casey suffers from anxiety attacks. These kinds of physical reactions to stress are different for everyone, but all come from a place of fear and dread, hidden deep inside. Casey calls her physical symptoms, "the bees." The episodes can occur frequently and are always terrifying. I got what the author was describing, and I felt genuine empathy for Casey.

Casey has too much to deal with, and no one besides Muriel, her best friend, to help. Various men come in and out of Casey's life, but she keeps looking for the one who makes her feel still and calm. Even her cheap rent in a detached shed is a miserable place to go home to every night. I remember those days and rejoice when she has small victories and sit on the edge of my seat, hoping for the brass ring to come around. Lily King knows writers, deep in their souls, and this novel is a gift to them and to us readers who love them as well.

Thank you to the author, Grove Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC (March 3).

This is the story of an aspiring writer who is struggling through the recent and unexpected passing of her mother and the strong sense that life is passing her by as she continues to pursue her writing. Although the central character is 31, in many ways this is a coming of age story. In a less capable writer's hand, the central character and her journey could have come off as unsympathetic. But this author creates rich interior and exterior worlds that make the reader understand and empathize with the central character's situation and path, as she navigates her jobs, relationships, and writing. I was fully engaged from beginning to end. Recommended.

Interesting story. I honestly didn’t know what to expect since I decided to go in blind for the read.

Unlike previous titles by this author, this was set in a contemporary time period. The story follows an aspiring author through the trials of trying to get her book published and navigate the dating scene of artistic people in her area. It doesn't sound very fascinating, but King does an incredible job of creating a character arc for Casey that surprisingly touched me in ways that I did not expect. Having lost my mother, I really related to the emotions that the character was feeling and how she dealt with her grief. It was a clearly very well researched and well executed plot for this wonderful read. A great read for anyone looking for something to touch your heart.

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A must read book for the contemporary times and the struggles a young adult has to go through nowadays. I enjoyed it more than expected and I’m looking forward to read more by the author.

I’ve never totally understood what makes a genre. But I have always counted “Novelists Writing about Writing” to be a genre. From my earliest memories, I can’t get enough. “Little Women”, “Democracy”, “Orlando”, “The World According to Garp”, “The Wonder Boys” and on and on.

And here comes “Writers & Lovers” by Lily King. It’s just wonderful! It perfectly captures the world of the modern pure, true writer. Casey has mountains of Student Loan debt, but not because she had to get an MFA. She can’t stand workshops. Her mother went off twice, and the last time she didn’t make it back alive. Her father is a pervert. She has no money and can not sleep. Yet Casey powers on. She is lovable, strong, and resilient.
I’m not sure where Lily King “found” Casey, but she sure knows her protagonist. I have previously read and enjoyed “Father of the Rain”. I skipped “Euphoria”, but now know that was a mistake. Back to the top of the list.

Thanks to Grover Atlantic and NetGalley for the eARC. Much appreciated.

I loved this so much! Of course I was eager to read the next from Lily King: this story was nothing like I expected but I inhaled it, reading it in one blissful afternoon. I can't wait to recommend it to every reader—and writer!—I know.

Casey is an interesting character that I believe many will relate to. This was her interesting story and the author has a way of putting us inside Casey so that we may experience her thoughts and feelings.
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am not a romance fan, but I found myself enjoying this book. Casey is a 31 year old with a masters in creative writing, a novel she wants to finish and a huge debt. She works as a waitress so she can write during the day. Her love life seems to be in shambles and her anxiety gets the better of her. But she is strong and gets encouragement from her friends and learns more about herself from having to decide between the two men who are interested in her.

As I said, I don't really gravitate toward romances, but this one looked interesting. I enjoyed it as it focused more on the protagonist than it did on the romance. The author did a great job in her descriptions of Casey's emotions and the struggles she was going through. I enjoyed the journey she went through to find her happiness. It is a lovely, quick read.

I really enjoyed this story. From the very beginning I was intrigued while she was walking the dog and intimating the owner.

The title is so superficial while there is sooo much introspection in the story. Dealing with grief is never easy but this story definitely spoke to me. The writing was spot on. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for letting me read and review this book. I loved this book SO. VERY. MUCH!!! I heard about this on the podcast What should I Read Next and it sounded somewhat interesting. But once I started reading, I literally could NOT put it down. I am a lover of stories that feature a character who is struggling with their life but then overcome their obstacles through hard work and sheer determination. And this is definitely one of those characters. But it wasn’t just the story. It was the way it was told so beautifully. Such wonderful description that made me feel like I was right there. It was so visceral. I loved every minute of it and plan on going back to read the authors back list. Thank you Lily King! #writerslovers

This book was seriously great writing. It's simple but not at all simplistic -- just the opposite, actually. The complexities that King is able to capture in regard to Casey's situation in life and relationships is boggling. I don't want to write much of a summary as I believe the beauty in this one was much in the unfolding of the characters and situations.
One of my favorite aspects of this novel is that no one is 100% perfect or likeable -- no Mary Sues here. I love Roxane Gay's essay in "Bad Feminist" that explores how meaningless and basic it is of readers to dismiss authors' work when they "can't relate" to a character or find them "unlikeable."
Who the hell am I to write a review of Lily King's work?! I have read every novel she's published. I *love* Lily King. Her writing is always genuine and heart wrenching.
I am grateful to NetGalley for providing me an opportunity to get my hands on King's work before the common plebeian.

Sorry, but it is just too depressing for me and doesn't seem to be progressing anywhere. I have picked it up twice, read a total of 30% and can't pick it up a third time.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Casey has moved to Massachusetts after the death of her mother has blindsided her. She is working to be a writer while working as a waitress to pay the bills. Adulthood with all of its hangups and missteps isn't what she thought it would be.

Casey's grief for her mother and her trials and tribulations while becoming an adult is very relatable for anyone who has lost a loved one or struggled with becoming an adult. However, I don't feel like the romance between her and the guy she ends up with is too rushed. Also, the ending was too clean, something life as King depicted with Casey, never turns out to be.

In Writers & Lovers, Casey is living the expected life of a writer in that she's drowning in debt, she's working as a waitress, living in a garden shed, and doesn't quite know how she's ever going to finish a novel and query it. But throughout this book, Casey also has to deal with her mother's recent death, her nonexistent relationship with her father, and multiple relationships with men that often leave her with the choice of settling or risking what could be.

I think this paints a relatively accurate picture of the post-college writing life. There is no easy or right way to get things done. If you want to survive, you have to spend your time at a job other than writing. If you want to make it as a writer, you have to push the rest of your life aside to get the words on the paper. Casey isn't the first person that gets a career off the ground in fits and starts, and she certainly doesn't let the fate of her book dictate what the rest of her life looks like.

The most interesting thing about this novel is that by the end, Casey's life is tied up in a neat little bow. Yes, the reader can see where there will be huge obstacles to come after they are done reading, but for a literary novel, it's as if the ending is almost too nice. Nothing really happened in Casey's life while we were reading, and she only made a few small decisions with any certainty, yet her hopes and wishes are answered in the span of a chapter or two. You want to be happy for her, but you want to question how quickly everything fell into place.

I have been waiting for Lily King to deliver a new novel and Writers and Lovers proved the wait was worth it. A gorgeous picture of a talented 20-something young woman, who is still figuring things out. King describes the restaurant world with delightful accuracy. As with so many good books, I left satisfied but wanting more.

3.5 {not quite up to par with Euphoria and Father of the Rain, which were both 4* for me] This is a tough one as I found the book quite uneven--read or not? Very slow to get into, but then momentum picked up--about halfway through. And, for me, a disappointing ending.

Casey has a debt-ridden life as waitress at a high-end restaurant while trying to make it as a struggling writer. She is challenged by relationships--especially with her mother--whose sudden death leaves a huge void and unanswered questions. And, on the romance front--she's conflicted/torn between Silas and Oscar.

I never connected with Çasey--I neither liked nor disliked her. And so many characters in the restaurant--all fairly well drawn, but sometimes confusing. I quite liked Muriel--who I saw as a foil.

How autobiographical is this? Certainly the parts about a struggling writer. This must have rung true-- "...a good story is both an allegory and a slice of life. Most writers are good at one, not the other."

Question: was King ever a waitress? These parts [and there is a lot taking place at the restaurant, Iris, seemed very authentic. [I was a waitress, very briefly--for a summer--long ago, but NOT at a high end restaurant]

Some of the language was fabulous. A description I never thought of:
...arguing about Ronald Reagan's legacy... he was a Howdy Doody manquė..."

and humor "Behind the counter a stout woman is working around her breasts, which rest on the counter, in the way of everything she does."

"...three oak trees on the far side of the park. Their limbs are enormous, ribbed with muscles and veins..."

I loved the storyline of Casey's time with Oscar's children; it felt very real. This might have been my favorite part of the book.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45289222-writers-lovers

First off, if you haven’t read Lily King’s astonishing last novel, EUPHORIA, I couldn’t recommend it more highly. It may be my very favorite historical novel, in that it creates a whole world, but in a way so visceral and immediate that you don’t feel the heaviness of the research.

Her new novel, WRITERS & LOVERS, could not be more different in subject or setting. Yet King demonstrates the same power for creating identification with a deeply sympathetic character. In this case, we follow young aspiring writer (and ex-golfer) Casey as she waitresses, frets about her student loans, frets over some medical problems, tries to finish a novel, and dates a series of men—all of them fellow writers with varying levels of success. It’s a wonderful portrait of literary ambition: the solitude, the insecurities, the jubilance when things go right.

Along the way, as she did with EUPHORIA, King has a lot to say about the problems of succeeding as a woman. Her last protagonist was an anthropologist, but the same kinds of double standards and barriers exist for Casey. One of her lovers is a famous novelist, and Casey shrewdly assesses his petulance about his literary career. All of the novel’s feminist messages are delivered subtly.

Lily King is an amazing chronicler of women’s lives. At this point I’d place her in a category with Alice Munro—not a comparison I offer lightly.

I received an advanced copy without knowing much about the author, and enjoyed the read! The book begins by pulling you in with references to some life events for the narrator (who is also working on a novel). Intrigued, I jumped in and the chapters flew by. It's a bit like a beach read, one of those books you can enjoy over a long afternoon or weekend and can keep your thesaurus in the other room :-) I appreciated that the author had a note at the beginning encouraging you to read the book in your own time.