Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
After a very sad start, which the rest of the book seeks to explain and explore, the pace goes slowly for quite a long while. However, once it picks up, there is plenty to commend it. I think possibly I wasn't entirely sold on the letter idea, but by the end, it led to the very right place.

What I did find very intriguing was the way that Alice had been so close to her brother, but had, in time, bought into her parents' complete denial, even when she was convinced that she had seen him. He had almost a ghostly quality which never left her, and yet she never actually actively sought him out. As we later learn... and I will say no more, the whole of her life to date has been lived in a less than full way – even if externally one would think otherwise.

At heart, this is a tragedy, but maybe, just maybe, Alice will come out the other side ready for the life she was always meant to lead.

An eerie and emotional read! The writing was very good and evokes a sense of longing for her brother who the main character never really knew.

Not my typical book, but it held my interest all the way through. The story was different and I will look for more books by this author.

I won't lie, it was the title that drew me in completely. You can't miss it. It starts with a suicide, but that's not really the focus. More of a sister unraveling the mystery of who her brother really was and what led him there. Good writing, a bit slow in places but really enjoyed overall. Thank you!

I generally like psychological thrillers because the twists and turns keep me on the edge of my seat. There are characters to root for, characters to hate, characters to be unsure of what we feel. All of those ingredients are here in How to Bury Your Brother by Lindsey Rogers Cook. I didn't necessarily connect with the characters or the story but feel that may be due more to the times in which we are currently living. I think maybe I just need a book that requires less emotion right now. At another time, I believe I would have been able to lose myself in the story and not feel so raw.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of How to Bury Your Brother. Alice’s brother Rob, who had been missing since she was a young girl, has died. Her mother is in a nursing home and Alice finds herself in a troubled marriage. After finding letters written by her brother to several people., she sets off to discover what happened to him, as things about their lives unfold. I enjoyed this book and recommend it.

How to Bury Your Brother starts out with a suicide, but because you don't the character, you don't have immediate feelings about it. That changes. But Rob, who has committed suicide, has left letters for his sister to deliver and she begins to piece together what has happened since he ran away when he was 15. Through this, we learn more about Rob and begin to care about him and his suicide - it's strange because you often have the death of a beloved character at the end of a book; yet this starts with a character you'll never meet but grow to care about. A well written book.

3 ⭐⭐⭐

Alice’s was age eleven when her older brother Rob, aged fifteen ran away from home. They shared a special bond and were so close so she never dreamed that she wouldn’t ever see him again.
Two decades later, she is attending Rob’s funeral following his suicide.

When cleaning out the family home after her mother is in care suffering from dementia, Alice discovers a box filled with letters that Rob had written but never sent. Alice is heartbroken that there is no letter for her.

Alice sets out to deliver the letters to their recipient, hoping to learn along the way why he left and never came back for her. She slowly learns of family secrets and the story of Rob’s life as we are taken through flashback of the years of his life.

While I thought the story had a good plot, there were moments where it just seemed to slow down and I was expecting more from the ending.

Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Lindsay Rogers Cook for the eARC in return for my honest review.

The south is so very interesting. Since moving here over a year ago, I’ve learned about southern culture and etiquette. Every day I hear a new little southernism. A way of life or opinion that isn’t found often up north. In some ways, I could learn a thing or two from some good southern roots. On the other hand, I almost find southern charm to be a bit plastic. I’d rather someone call a scum sucking whore head to head than smile to my face with an entirely insincere, “Oh sweetie, bless your heart.” You aren’t tricking me with that polite insult. Not today, Southerner. Anyways, I think these new lessons in life have encouraged me to seek out more novels from southern settings. Which is exactly what attracted me to How to Bury Your Brother.

Honestly, I didn’t enjoy this novel for a few reasons. The pacing was horribly slow. Like I’m not sure if Cook was trying to slowly bury her readers, but I was bored to death at times. I feel like I’ve landed upon a conspiracy. Death by a slow burning book followed by instructions for the proper burial procedure to avoid getting caught. Suspicious, right? Not only did the pace make this a painful reading experience, I genuinely did not like Alice. She was raised as a southern woman aka a doormat. Even upon finding out incredibly wild information, she stayed quiet and complacent. Why? It is the southern thing to do. Alice had to work through this way of life since it is all she has known and been taught. But Alice be a fucking human. Say something. I can’t really respect this type of woman. Unfortunately by the time she grew as a person, I was too far gone and could not relate. If I had more respect for Alice, I may have been able to find more redeeming qualities about this book. Lastly, I think Cook’s writing needs to mature a bit more with foreshadowing and hints. I was able to connect the dot on Rob’s circumstances pretty quickly. Not to say it was done wrong or poorly, I just found her approach a bit more blatant. I don’t want an author to spell it out for me (metaphorically in this case). I want to get little clues that I may miss so the unfold is epic. Instead, I received validation on my prediction that I pretty easily nailed down from pretty early on.

Overall, this novel was very obviously not for me. But I would encourage any interested to read it for themselves.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a copy of How to Bury Your Brother.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this was a fascinating book that was part drama and part mystery.
It involved family secrets that were revealed when a sister tries to uncover why her brother disappeared when he was 15 and how he died 9 years ago.
I would definitely read another book by this author.

A story about a brother's suicide and a sister trying to find out more about her brother's life. It was an interesting read and the feelings showcased in the book were very thought provoking. Would recommend to someone who is in the mood to read a dark contemporary setting.

Oh my! This is an amazing and unique debut! The novel follows the emotional journey of Alice, and her search to understand the life of her deceased brother who ran away and disappeared from her family's life when he was 15 years old. Her journey begins some 30 years later, years after his funeral, when, while preparing her family home for demolition, she finds a box containing letters Rob (her brother) wrote and had mailed to the family home after he died.. Shocked that there is not a letter for her, she is determined to deliver the letters and talk with the recipients to learn more about her brother's life whose absence left a hole that she mostly fails to acknowledge. This reads a bit like a mystery as you follow along as she tries to solve the puzzle, but what is most memorable is the emotion with which the story is told. The conclusion is spot on in my opinion, although I had a hunch earlier on as to what might have caused his disappearance. This is worth your time. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digitial ARC for review..

Alice finds out the truth about her estranged brother's life only after his death and through letters he left behind for his loved ones. The story was very engaging. Alice discovers so many things she didn't know about her brother while coming to terms with her marriage that is falling apart. I liked Alice as a character. Strong, driven and at the same time has regrets. Would definitely pick up the next book this author writes.

This book is one that will have you thinking. You will want your book friends to read it so you can talk about it. I felt like Alice could be someone I knew and we were sitting at her kitchen table having a glass of tea as she told me her story. Long lost friends brought together by circumstance and she's telling me how her life has changed so very much. I'm not sure if that how Lindsey Rogers Cook meant for it to be read, but each reader takes something different away from a story. Especially one with so much pain and sorrow. As you read of Alice's brother Rob's death, you can feel her desire to tell someone her best memories of him. The story flows from there. A truly great read that will tug on one or two of your emotions as you read.

So. This was a fascinating book. It starts with a suicide and the rest of the book is the impact from that one event. Alice's brother, the brother she'd idolized but had lost when he ran away at 15 and never made contact again, dies. Seven years later, she's cleaning out her parents house and finds a box of letters from her brother. So she delivers them all and tries to learn about who her brother had become in the years since she had known him.

It sounds interesting on paper and, honestly, it is. The basic ~story of this book is fascinating. However, in execution, I found it left a little to be desired. For one thing, I struggled with the pacing of this book. It felt a little too slow (there are a lot of years between the suicide & funeral and Alice's delivering the letters and I don't really think that serviced the story) and honestly a lot of the plot details were bypassed for other things. Not a lot of detail is put into Alice's parents and Jamie where I think there should've been? It felt like this book told us that Alice had a bad childhood but never really ~showed us. At least not in the detail I think it should've. And in other details as well. (For example: For a good chunk of the book, I thought Jake was Caitlin's father, not Walker??) So it felt like this book just hit the high points in some areas and dragged out others.

The basic story, however, was fascinating. For anyone who has ever lost someone close, this will definitely resonate. The emotion and passion in the writing is powerful and thought provoking. There are so many aspects of this novel that I have found myself continuing to think about, even after I've finished. And Rob's character was definitely what kept me going in this book. Even though we never truly ~meet him and his story is told only secondhand or through flashbacks, he's the character I connected with most.

The last hundred pages were my favorite and the part that I truly connected with. I loved the New Orleans setting and Alice's ~finding the things she'd lost while there. And that's definitely where I felt the most powerful emotional connection to this story.

But. The ending itself felt a little flat? There were a few loose ends I wanted to be tied up that weren't. And all of the ~action (I guess?) felt like it was packed into the ending. The book felt like it dragged until there. So. I liked it? But I definitely think the pacing was off and it could've been trimmed in some places and expanded in others. I liked what this book was ~trying to do but for something marketed as a mystery/suspense novel, it doesn't really feel like it's either of those things until the end. (I guess??? I don't know what genre this book is supposed to be and that's even after reading it. NetGalley is saying General Fiction? I don't even know.)

So. Definitely interesting and I do recommend if you're looking for an emotionally charged story of family and loss. It definitely delivers in those areas!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me the chance to read and review this book!

How to Bury Your Brother, a novel by Lindsey Rogers Cook. Sourcebooks Landmark. General Fiction (Adult). Women’s Fiction. ISBN: 9781728205373. Pre-publication digital copy. Publication date 12 May 2020. 5 Stars.

Southern and by turns heartwarming and tragic, this story keeps you turning the pages with glimpses of deep sibling love as seen through the often foggy, haunting lens of loss.

With determination, Alice struggles to balance her own family while pursuing leads to learn the truth about her runaway brother, Rob, by sorting through memories and the letters he left behind. Alice can either destroy or reimagine herself—bringing the reader along with her to its soulful resolution. Highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing a digital edition of this book for review.

The description of this book had me intrigued. A brother and sister relationship.
Trigger warning - drug abuse, overdose and dementia (which got me)

So the book starts off with Rob's death. I wish we knew more about it but the book was more about his sister Alice. Alice has always felt that her family kept a lot of secrets. They were all about the image and never aired dirty laundry. There was a lot going on that not even Alice knew about. All she knew was that Rob ran away from home years ago. She knew what her parents told her. She missed her brother, that you can tell. They had a envious almost too good to be true relationship. They never fought, there was never any jealously. THey were thick as thieves . Alice was considerably upset when he left, but held on to the hope she would see him again. Through this is how we come to learn about Rob.
So, now Alice is cleaning out her parenta
Through the letters and her delivering them, she learns the brutal truth about Rob and why he ran away. Its such a powerful story about sibling love and family that I couldnt put it down. I finished this in two days. Alice with all that she has lost, is a strong and determined lead character. As the story goes on we learn more about Rob, but I wish I could go back and reread it knowing what I know about him. His death in the beginning just fell flat to me. Other than that one small thing, this was a fantastic book!
Thank you so much to #netgalley and Landmark Source books for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Alice's older brother ran away when he was fifteen years old. Alice always thought that she would see him again, she even thinks from time to time that she sees him on the street....

After his funeral, Alice cleans out her family home and finds a box of letters addressed to various people, some she knows and some she does not. One question she wants to know is why there was no letter for her. Alice begins to deliver the letters and begins to slowly learn certain truths about her brother, her family, and even herself.

Although we really do not see Rob much in this story - apart from the very beginning, the Author does a great job of giving us a glimpse into his life, his thoughts, and actions. As Alice begins to deliver the letters, she learns her brother's reasons for running away, truths about his death and some family secrets.


I found this to be a thought provoking and well written book. Like Alice, I was curious about the letters and why he chose to write to the people he did. I also enjoyed watching as Alice became more determined and made some important decisions about her life as well. A gripping tale about relationships, family, secrets, illness, love and death..

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Engrossing and gripping. Goes to show you that you never know your family as well as you think. That there are secrets and pickets of darkness you weren't aware of. Will it break you or will it set you free? Read this awesomely stellar book to find the answer. Definitely a must read. Happy reading!

How to Bury Your Brother is a book of secrets. And it starts with one that we, the reader, get to know that none of the other characters ever seem to learn. We begin with the death of Alice's brother. We jump to his funeral. Alice has to give a eulogy to the man who left as a 15 year old boy and never returned. Over the course of the book we learn just what that abandonment did to her life and how it shaped her decisions. Form the decision to lose the love of her life to her own obsession with finding her bother to how the lie she told her husband on their first date was really an allegory for her entire marriage.

9 years later Alice's father is already dead, her oldest child is ready to go off to college, and her mother is decaying in a home. Her childhood family is being torn down and Alice is all that is left to take care of everything that remains within before that happens. This isn't a story of that. This is a story of how that task leads her to follow her brother's footsteps, meet the people form his adult life, and learn the truth behind his leaving all those years before.

What did I love about this book?

Rob. Rob was the big brother every wishes they had. He was 4 years older but never treated his sister like a pest. He was her best friend, her champion, her protector, and her guide. It's very clear from the beginning that he is troubled. But it never was to the little girl that looked up to him.

Athens. OK, my soft spot for Athens, Georgia, that cute little college town with all of its musical history was a big lure. Her brother played The 40 Watt Club? One of the same ones REM played? Probably not. That placed moved around all of the time (when I was there I swear I went to a dozen places that had once housed it.)

Caitlin. Though not central to the plot, a very important motive for Alice's search. It wasn't just about her past, but about her future. And she was everything Rob was without the circumstances that lead to his leaving, smart, talented, self-assured.

Alice, to an extent. I liked her more as the book went on and she stopped being what she was supposed to be and started being who she should have become. She made mistakes, but she was looking to make up for them and she wasn't afraid to admit to herself that she may have been wrong. It was a hard journey.

What if? The what ifs that come with a turning point. What if ...then would? There are so many moments in this book that you feel were times in which everything could have changed and maybe Rob would have lived if this or that had been slightly different.

So what did I not like? Not much. I remember being slight annoyed at some things while reading, but I cannot remember, upon completion, what those were. Sure, I hated Walker from the first scene he was in. Who gets mad over these things. I wasn't fond of Jamie. These characters were necessary. Perfectly unlikeable, though in the case of Walker, I guess, to perfectly unlikeable. It's really hard to know what she had ever seen in him and he doesn't have a single redeeming scene. Which leads to the only thing I can think of that I may not have like. Some of the characters were not well developed. Most, in fact. We were squarely in Alice's mind. And that is OK. I would have liked a few more rounded characters. It doesn't reduce the stars, though.

Thank you to Netgalley, Lindsey Rogers Cook, and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced copy.