I found this book to be rather boring. I didn't relate to the characters and the story was ho-hum. The writing isn't bad, the story just didn't appeal to me.

I thought the description sounded enticing, and the plot held my attention, but I'm clearly not the right audience for this particular sense of humor, which felt awkward and a little cringe-inducing.

I found Private Means, by Cree LeFavour, to be a bit boring at times. The characters were hard to connect with and the story never really drew me in. I put the book aside a few times but did complete it in order to give it a fair review. Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an ARC of Private Means in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the style of writing but the story didn't keep my attention and it fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This is the story of Peter, a psychotherapist, and his spouse Alice, a scientist, parents of twin daughters who left NY for CA to continue their studies. The story evolves over a full summer: are they experiencing empty-nest syndrome? Have they grown out of love with each other? Is there just something missing in their couple and will they be able to reconnect?

What I enjoyed most about this book is the extensive psychoanalysis of both characters, due to Peter's profession. It is also interesting to see the dynamics and the contradictory feelings. Why a partner is acting a certain way, how it is perceived by the other, and yet the partner is feeling the exact opposite of the perception given.

If you enjoy marital stories, psychology, cheating, wealthy lifestyles, you will enjoy this one.

My only objection: the lack of the quotation marks in dialogues. It was not always clear whether the writing was an oral statement or a thought.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting idea about a couple that started out with specific aggressive live goals. Those goals change as the woman let's go of her career to raise their twins. Now the children are gone form the home and the couple must redetermine there bond, if there is any. The tensions are heightened by the loss of the family dog, to which the woman is very attached, and the husband's inappropriate behavior in his psychiatry practice.

Lovely prose, I really enjoyed the writing. The plot however grew dull. I read the first third or so, then skipped to the end and read the last 20%.

This story was interesting and told about a tired marriage. However I never engaged with the characters and that is important to me. I really did not like either one of them and did not care if they worked things out. However I feel that this was intended by the author. Interesting
Many thanks to Grove Atlantic and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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

A long married couple goes through challenges in their marriage and their individual lives.

I really enjoyed this interesting novel about a mid-life intellectual couple in the Upper West Side of New York that takes place over the course of a summer.

Alice and Peter, married for over twenty years, are estranged emotionally from each other and the recent departure of their twin daughters to college in California, plus the loss of Alice's beloved little dog, affects them both. However, we mostly see Alice's inner workings about how she is affected, while Peter seems to mostly be affected by Alice's responses. Neither of them talk about it, or anything else very deep, with each other.

Infidelities, both real and imagined, occur. What I loved most about this book is the detailed interior insight into both people, as they reflected on their relationship and their selves.

The only part that seemed to bog down a bit was towards the middle when I felt a bit impatient at the continual rehashing of inner doubts by both Alice (a biochemist who had left the field to be a mother and is now contemplating return) and Peter, a psychoanalyst who debates his effectiveness while also dealing with a fierce attraction to a troubled young patient.

The author illustrates the settings in the book (NY city and several destinations to visit wealthy friends in the Hamptons, the Berkshires and Cape Cod) magnificently. I could feel myself inhabiting the stifling heat and gritty of summer in New York as well as the sandy seashores and lush vegetation outside of it.

While we don't find any crystal-clear resolutions at the end of this story, I think that's real life and in spite of the absence of any huge 'break-through' moments, I was left with a sense of hopefulness. Life goes on and tomorrow is a new day.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I will be posting my review on Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram, and B&N.

This book was just ok for me I was able to finish it but found it boring and bit hard a to follow and can't really recommend it

I really enjoyed this interesting novel about a mid-life intellectual couple in the Upper West Side of New York that takes place over the course of a summer.

Alice and Peter, married for over twenty years, are estranged emotionally from each other and the recent departure of their twin daughters to college in California, plus the loss of Alice's beloved little dog, affects them both. However, we mostly see Alice's inner workings about how she is affected, while Peter seems to mostly be affected by Alice's responses. Neither of them talk about it, or anything else very deep, with each other.

Infidelities, both real and imagined, occur. What I loved most about this book is the detailed interior insight into both people, as they reflected on their relationship and their selves.

The only part that seemed to bog down a bit was towards the middle when I felt a bit impatient at the continual rehashing of inner doubts by both Alice (a biochemist who had left the field to be a mother and is now contemplating return) and Peter, a psychoanalyst who debates his effectiveness while also dealing with a fierce attraction to a troubled young patient.

The author illustrates the settings in the book (NY city and several destinations to visit wealthy friends in the Hamptons, the Berkshires and Cape Cod) magnificently. I could feel myself inhabiting the stifling heat and gritty of summer in New York as well as the sandy seashores and lush vegetation outside of it.

While we don't find any crystal-clear resolutions at the end of this story, I think that's real life and in spite of the absence of any huge 'break-through' moments, I was left with a sense of hopefulness. Life goes on and tomorrow is a new day.

Thanks to NetGalley, Grove Atlantic and Cree LaFavour for providing me with an eArc of this wonderful book. It was a well-written delight.

2.5 stars

I was initially intrigued by the blurb presented on netgalley of this story. It was presented as a book about a marriage where both parties are looking to bring some well-needed oomph back to their marriage. The actual writing was insightful an interesting. The narrative was well done. But I felt as if the main characters were detached from their marriage, speaking almost clinically as if they were analyzing it from afar and not being personally involved. It didn't feel emotionally charged. Therefore I myself didn't feel attached to the story. I finished it, but it left me feeling meh.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

There's a lot to like in this highly original novel...but that is undermined by the characters' uninvolving self-obsession. It's difficult to connect emotionally with these protagonists--but you might find yourself turning pages to find out if the dog is recovered!

I simply could not relate to the characters, their obsessions or their lifestyle choices. After several starts and stops I could not relate or become involved.

Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity.

Although the book was well written, the only thing I kept thinking was how self absorb these people were and how little they were willing to do for each other. Maybe that’s marriage, but with both intelligent people you would think they would know that talking about what’s going on in there heads would help. I also thought with all the money they have, they weren’t happy, but just did the same thing every day and ever season.
I definitely didn’t understand the ending, was it trying to say that they were trying something new or letting themselves have fun. I don’t know.

Alice and Peter have been married for over twenty years. Peter is a successful psychiatrist with a thriving practice. Alice has just lost her dog and she feels like her life is doomed from that point on. The couple go though the motions in their loveless relationship, hanging on to illicit passion from others. I found the story to be strangely written, very slow with dull, emotionless characters. Sorry, this book is not for me.

This was the kind of story that, in spite of some dull stretches, I felt compelled to finish to know whether the lost dog would be found. As an animal lover and dog mom, myself, I really related to Alice's grief and obsession with not giving up hope, exploring every avenue, even the ones that lead her off life's path. I have to admit skimming a bit during the semi-long forays into quantum mechanics and psychiatric philosophy i.e. "physically disconnected non-diffusible cell to cell signaling" .... I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. All in all I was entertained.

This book was such a good read, I couldn't put it down! The story and the characters were so well written it felt as if you were actually in the story!