Every character in this book was unlikebale and it made me want to stop reading. I wanted to DNF but because it was an ARC I made myself finish it.
The storyline with the character pretending to have MS was awful and made me no longer want to read books by this author.

This book was not for me. I didn't feel sophisticated enough reading it and I felt awkward for some reason. However, I also appreciated that it was a well written novel with layers and intricate characters. The author deftly transported me from scene to scene - excellent- but I felt like the awkward outsider for many parts of it. I think I was probably *not* the intended target so I don't offer criticism, just the note to say this book deserves its praise - it just won't come from this corner although I appreciated the opportunity to read it.

I absolutely loved this book! I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend reading it! You won’t be disappointed.

Really liked this book with its interesting characters woven together to make a great story. Definitely a book I would recommend to friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this was so good! What happen? Not really sure. It's about the people that live in Cobble Hill, who they are, and how their lives intersect. I loved it

Not really my cup of tea. I found the writing to be awkward. Some of the characters blended together and I got lost very quickly.

I struggled to get to the end of this book

Too many points of view. That totally ruined it for me and while I can see the rationale for why it was done this way, it didn't work for me.

I came close to DNF twice

The writing was good, the concept fell flat

Initially, I wanted to read this book because of the colourful cover. Then, when I realized it was written by the same author who penned Gossip Girl, I cringed. Having only watched one episode, I had passed fast judgement on the show and therefore the author, and wrote this book off for several months. I did finally decide to give this book a go, and I’m glad I gave it a chance!
I always love books that have a vast cast of interconnected characters. It’s always fun to see how everyone is tied together, and Cobble Hill was no different. It was enjoyable to watch the story unfold and the relationships develop, as we go from a completely unconnected community to one who bands together and becomes united.

Wasn't really a fan of this one. It was just okay. I found it took me a while to pick it up and continue reading.

Thank you #Netgalley for the chance to read and review Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar.

I really wanted to like this book. And honestly, it wasn’t terrible and I think it would totally appeal to some. Myself, I just couldn’t connect with this book and it’s characters. Sometimes that’s the way it is with books though. What one person enjoys, others just won’t connect with - and vice versa.

This book was just not for me.

Cobble Hill, by Cecily von Ziegesar (2020)
2021/03/06 MICHELLE MALLETTELEAVE A COMMENT
Fiction | Adult

Cobble Hill, by Cecily von Ziegesar (2020)
First, let me state outright that I’ve never read, nor watched Gossip Girls, the series that made the author a darling with the young adult crowd. This is her first novel for adults, and I think it must be best suited to her now grown-up fans. It sure didn’t do it for me. Cobble Hill is an upscale neighbourhood of Brooklyn, and this novel follows four families. Roy and Wendy, and their daughter Shy, moved here from Britain. He’s an established author, and she’s a magazine editor, originally from New York. Their neighbour Tupper is a rich inventor, and his wife Elizabeth is a truly weird artist, thankfully away most of the time. Stuart Little (really?) is an aging rock musician; his wife Mandy is pretending she has MS (really??) and spends her days in bed, surfing the net, feeling sorry for herself. Stuart finds himself attracted to Peaches, the nurse at the school where his son Ted is a middle school student. Peaches is married to Greg, and their son Liam is in love with Shy. The book shifts perspectives to slowly reveal everyone’s story, and how they all intersect, but really, there’s no plot here, there’s little redeeming value to any of the characters except the kids, and the excesses, indulgences, and nonstop barely-acknowledge privilege make this an exhausting read. There’s some good writing, some creative dialogue, but overall, these are just not my people, and it’s not in the least bit entertaining to read about them. I finished it, but was glad when it was over. I’d be interested to hear from a Gossip Girl fan – clearly I’m not the right reader for this book. My thanks to Atria Books for the digital reading copy provided though NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Grand Forks & District Public Library has a print copy in its adult fiction collection, and you can borrow it in e-format as well.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50892024

When I started this book I honestly thought I was really going to enjoy it. It had me hooked and I was enjoying all of the drama. It kind of felt like a guilty pleasure reality TV show, which I liked. I liked the flawed characters and how they each had a story to tell.

Unfortunately, it kind of took a turn for me. While I enjoyed the characters and their quirks...there were soooo many of them. And then there were side characters on top of that. It was a lot to keep track of. I don't mind a large cast if it's done right (ex. Each chapter dedicated to a different person) in this book, in one single chapter, every single characters story was touched upon, sometimes switching abruptly with each paragraph. With four separate families, I found it hard to remember who everyone even was. This unfortunately caused me to stop enjoying the story.

There were also some very weird scenes that I didn't understand at all...for example, a scene with an artist and a rebirth in a bar that was so incredibly bizarre and not relevant to the story.

I feel like this book has an audience because I have seen some positive reviews out there. It was just the amount of characters for me, and the way it was written that took away some enjoyment for me. It had potential to be pretty cool, but just wasn't for me.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a whole mush mash of stuff and I’m still not particularly sure what meaning I was supposed to be left with. There are multiple crazy storylines, eccentric and over the top characters, deception, betrayal, secrets, lies, and the writing of a novel set on Mars.

It’s weird, wacky, and fun. It’s very entertaining though like I said, I had a hard time finding a purpose to it. I wasn’t especially fond of the ending but overall this book was ok for me.

I was intrigued by the cover and description of the story and was excited to dewlve into the story. There are a number of different characters in the story, with their own insecurities and quirks.

I liked the fact that it was set in a close community, Cobble Hill and that the neighbous all knew each other.

I found it difficult to get into the story but I continued reading in hopes that things would come together.

Unfortunately I was not able to complete the story as I found it got very confusing and a bit strange.

I want to thank the Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I found this book very entertaining. It reminded of a soap opera and was chalk full of drama. There were a lot of characters to keep track of at times. Sometimes I got some mixed up.
One of the storylines where the character faked an illness, wasn’t really tied up. It was never mentioned why she did it. And to me that would have been interesting to know.
All the adult characters had things happening to them or put themselves in situations that I could picture in my head. All of the characters were quirky and all had their faults. I loved how the author didn’t make them all seem perfect. They all had problems and situations they needed to deal with. The ending to me was why I gave it a 3 star. None of the storylines were tied up. I was left with questions and no answers.
This book would make a great tv show or movie.

I chose to pick up Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesaroto to try something different. The premise looked interesting and the cover caught my eye. I hate saying this but it's not that I wasn't expecting much but I didn't know which way it would go for me. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

It's hard to describe this Cobble Hill as it is not filled with non-stop action or have a rich world-building. What it is though is a story about people. The setting takes place in this Brooklyn neighbourhood where we meet up with a few of its residents and follow them through their lives and mishaps. Our cast consists of four families. First, we have Roy, a British author, looking for inspiration to write his next book. He just moved to America with his wife Wendy who is in search of accomplishment at her new job and their teenage daughter Shy infatuated with her Latin teacher. Next door to them lives Tupper an inventor. Tupper is awaiting the return of his infamous wife Elizabeth, an artist, who flees their home from time to time. Then there's Stuart, ex-rock star turned stay at home father, his wife Mandy who unapologetically steals meal-kit boxes from her neighbours' porches and their young son Teddy. And lastly, Peaches the school nurse underwhelmed with her life, her husband Greg and their teenage son Liam.

You won't find a big intrigue in Cobble Hill. It's really a book about, well about nothing and everything at the same time. The way Cecily von Ziegesar decided to write this story reminds me of the movie Love Actually. If you've seen it you'll see what I mean. Though you don't see it at the beginning, every single character is connected. It is really an introspection in a little community and how they interact with one another. How one's actions will influence another's. I quite enjoyed the story. I thought it was different from what I usually read and that was refreshing. Each chapter is told from a different perspective but it doesn't stop the story from moving. With such a large cast one could think that the story will be hard to follow but the timing in Cobble Hill is just right. The story evolves through all these narratives at just the right tempo and always follows the timeline. At no time was I lost or did I feel behind.

You can sense that Cecily von Ziegesar loves the city of New York as it plays not only as the backdrop of the Cobble Hill but feels almost like a character. You could feel the life of this place through the storytelling. It felt alive. And by the end was probably the only one unchanged.

If you are in the mood for a light quirky book about a bunch of neighbours and their drama then Cobble Hill might just be what you need.

I was in a reading rut again and this took me so long to read because it just was boring. This is the same author that wrote gossip girl (justice for dair!!!) and I loved her in high school, but I guess I just have grown. The ever changing narrator made it a little confusing to read sometimes as well. It was honestly just meh.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I've been a Cecily von Ziegesar fan since obsessing over Gossip Girl back in middle school, so I was excited to see her take on a more mature character group. Cobble Hill gives readers a look into the imperfect lives of four families in this wealthy Brooklyn neighborhood. I'll admit, it took me a while to get into this book. At first none of the characters really struck me as that relatable, but that changed as the story progressed. In fact, I found that I particularly enjoyed the way that von Ziegesar allowed us to form first impressions of these characters before adding depth. This alone stuck with me as an example that at the core of us all we are human and we have more in common than we might initially believe. Fair warning, despite the character development, some of the characters are still difficult to like. Usually by the end of a novel I have developed at least some desire to root for each character but there are a couple here that make that pretty difficult. I think being able to paint characters that have depth and are still not easily endearing is a skill and shows strength as an author. I loved the imagery used to explain the neighborhood--it made me feel as if I were taking a trip to New York in the middle of this COVID quarantine. At its heart, I felt that this novel was an interesting character study. While maybe not for everyone, I can see many readers enjoying the novel.

I loved the Gossip Girl series when I was teenager so when I saw the author was coming out with an adult novel, I could barely contain my excitement. Cobble Hill follows several families who live in the neighborhood of Cobble Hill in New York City (clearly von Ziegesar’s favourite setting). Roy and his wife and teenage daughter move to the city from London, England where is known as a famous author that has been suffering from writer’s block for several years. Stuart is a musician that was part of a popular band several years ago who has developed the hots for his son’s school nurse (Peaches) after his wife has been refusing to get out of bed for months. Peaches is bored with her life of mundane duties that include being a wife, a mother to a teenage son who is a nerd and a school nurse. Thanks to @simonandschusterca and @atriabooks for my review copy.

As you can see, this novel has an eclectic mix of characters. The story is entirely character driven with very little plot development. The reader gets a glimpse into each character’s motives and thoughts from each family member. There isn’t really any main conflict, more so just insights into the residents of Cobble Hill and their everyday lives. The writing style would definitely not be for everyone as it is a bit peculiar. It kind of worked for me because I was familiar with the author’s focus on quirky attributes and character development from her other series. I liked how weird some of them were and found myself laughing along with some of their antics. If you are looking for a slower paced contemporary fiction piece, this could work for you.

The premise of Cobble Hill appeared straightforward and promising, four families who live in Cobble Hill, a part of Brooklyn, New York. The families’ lives intersect because of the small neighborhood they live in. So, I expected that I was going to read a chick-lit book with interesting characters. Instead, I ended up reading a really weird book with characters I didn’t really care for.
The writing is what allowed me to finish the book as quickly as I did. I liked the narration style a lot. The storyline, which is the most important part of the book, was just plain weird. Without giving the major plot points away, all I can say is that there’s a weird artist who stages her own birthing ceremony in a bar. Instead of making me laugh, all I could do is scratch my head.
At first, I thought that I was going to have trouble remembering all the characters names. When I read the premise, it was tough to get the characters’ names sorted out in my head. Luckily this was no problem at all once I got reading.
I believe that Cobble Hill was trying to be quirky and edgy, but really ended up being strange. Once I came to the end of the book, I asked myself “what did I just spend my time reading?” With that said, I would love to read another book by von Ziegesar because her writing style appeals to me.
I wouldn’t recommend reading Cobble Hill unless you like books that are just plain bizarre.