Cobble Hill was such a fun book and really did seem like a Gossip Girl for adults. There's something about reading about wealthy and eccentric New Yorkers that is just so enthralling to me, The characters that Cecily wrote about were so entertaining. I adored reading all the different viewpoints and narrations from the people of Cobble Hill!

When I saw that Cecily von Ziegesar had a new book out. I knew immediately that I had to read it! Cobble Hill is such a fun and unique novel. It follows four families in an upscale neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, who are all figuring out life and forming connections with each other. Such an interesting mix of people and personalities, this story will keep you entertained during your read. I enjoyed these quirky characters, their scandals, and dramatic secrets.

This lovely, entertaining book, by the author of Gossip Girl, follows four families living in the Cobble Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. Cobble Hill is itself an atmospheric character in the book (and I love the nod to Unity, Maine). It’s very well written, and the book would make a good movie or tv show. Recommended.

Just when I was about to give up all hope for the mess that is the year 2020, Taylor Swift and Cecily Von Ziegesar swooped in and saved both this year and me from falling into complete despair. Taylor released a surprise new album and Cecily Von Ziegesar FINALLY RELEASED A NEW BOOK AND I AM STILL SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!

Gossip Girl fans around the world rejoice! It may not be a new Gossip Girl book, but Cecily Von Ziegesar is back in all her sophisticated, entertaining glory!

Seriously, I have been waiting years for a new book by Von Ziegesar and here it finally is AT LAST. And at the perfect time too. Her Gossip Girl series saved me through bouts of depression and anxiety spanning all the way from 7th grade up until even now, adulthood. I’ve reread the Gossip Girl books more times than I can count (seriously, it’s probably one of my most reread series. I reread the first book in the series so many times that it ended up completely falling apart, first the cover, then page by page until eventually it came time for me to replace it with a new copy). Cecily’s writing, her characters, and the world she creates for them makes it so easy to just get lost and forget about all of your worries and problems. Hence why i’ve reread her books so many times. Her characters are so crazy and out there that its impossible to not be absorbed in their lives.

And although I don’t mind my Gossip Girl rereads, I have still been dying for something new by her, and once I heard about Cobble Hill I pretty much screamed and jumped up and down in excitement.

Cobble Hill takes place in NYC, just as the Gossip Girl series did, but instead of the glitzy upper east side, we’re introduced to a charming, eclectic neighborhood called Cobble Hill and some of its eccentric yet charming in their own way, residents.

While I didn’t quite enjoy this book quite as much as the Gossip Girl series, it still had that same essence that I found in the GG series, that signature Cecily Von Ziegesar writing that brings an otherwise dull and stale plot line to life with her larger than life, eccentric characters. It didn’t quite have the same magic and charm that the Gossip Girl novels had, but the characters were still so zany and alive and I very much enjoyed immersing myself into this book.

This is a very character driven novel, as without the eccentrics of the characters and their odd yet hard not to love personalities bringing this storyline to life, there really wouldn’t be much of a storyline. Because really that’s what this book is about: neighboring characters figuring out and living their everyday lives, eventually all forming a connection in one way or another. Its about relationships, friendships, and community, all told in a very entertaining and endearing way.

It’s a bit hard to explain this novel, because its one that you just have to go into and immerse yourself in the lives of the characters, and accept them, oddities and all.

This book revolves around several different characters including an aging rock star, his former model wife who is faking an illness, a famous author, a school nurse, a kooky inventor, and an artist who is even kookier than her kooky inventor husband.

They are all completely different personalities, yet they’re all so weird and wonderful (and yes, even just downright bizarre) that it somehow just works. The neighborhood. The characters. Their interactions with each other. It all comes together to form a very compelling storyline.

I found myself wanting to walk around the community of Cobble Hill, and immerse myself amongst these strange, wonderful characters if only to know more about them. I wanted to sit and have a drink with them at the local bar that they all meet at, just so I could get a deeper glimpse into their personalities and relationships with each other.

This was a tremendously fun book to get into, one that I read in less than a day because it was such a nice distraction from everything currently going on in the world.

I loved having a Cecily Von Ziegesar book to lose myself in once more, and once I was finished reading this book, I was a bit sad, because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters yet. I’m not exactly sure if there was some deeper meaning meant to be taken from the story or not, but I had a lot of fun with these characters and I was satisfied with how Cecily brought their stories to a close. Deeper meaning or not, this book brought a smile to my face and made me laugh out loud several times because the characters are just so out there.

Just as I wasn’t ready to leave The Upper East Side, i’m still not quite ready to leave Cobble Hill and all its eccentricities either.

I would love to be reunited with these characters again. But if their stories are indeed done, then how about an adult version of Gossip Girl? *hint hint Cecily Von Ziegesar* I would love to revisit the characters from The Gossip Girl series in adulthood! But if not, i’ll take anything I can get from Cecily Von Ziegesar. Perhaps a new NYC zip code with a whole different cast of characters? I’m ready and waiting for anything!

But in the meantime, when I need my dose of Cecily’s writing, at least I now have another book of hers to reread along with the GG series!

For anyone who is a fan of the Gossip Girl series, or anyone who just needs a distraction from the stresses and hardships of life, please do yourselves a favor and pick this book up! If anybody can cheer you up, it’s this cast of wonderful, zany characters!

most of you will recognize cecily von ziegesar from being the author of our beloved gossip girl series. this book is nothing like that.

cobble hill (fiction): ★★★½

one of the coolest parts about being in new york at night is being able to see into the apartments of everyone in the buildings surrounding you, which easily leads you to wonder what’s going on in all those apartments. it’s a city of being alone together.

this book, set in cobble hill, brooklyn, is the tale of the day-to-day lives of residents in the neighborhood. there’s a lot of characters to keep up with, but each family has such an interesting and unique story that become intertwined. it’s not one of those books you can’t put down, but it’s certainly never boring.

not many books place you inside the minds of adults, teenagers, and children alike. not the type of book I usually read, but an enjoyable one!

thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the e-galley in exchange for an honest review! this one comes out in october!

This book was a little too out there for me. I tried to like the characters and get involved with them - an odd group from Cobble Hill, but I just couldn't get interested. This wasn't the book for me but others may enjoy it. Thanks for the copy!

This novel is a quirky, entertaining, and beautiful disaster. It is filled with a number of flawed characters, including a novelist, an artist, a former rockstar, a school nurse, and many others, who all live in the trendy neighborhood of Cobble Hill in Brooklyn. The lives of these characters and their children converge in a very bizarre but satisfying manner. Although the plot is primarily character-driven, there are plenty of outrageous occurrences that kept me fully engaged in the story. My only complaint is that many of the characters and their issues come across as superficial so the book did not leave a profound impact on me. That being said, if you’re looking for a light-hearted and fun read that leaves you wondering what on earth you just read, this one is for you. Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

First off thanks to the publishers via NetGalley for this free copy for my honest review.

The first words that come to mind are weird and wonderful! From the start, I wasn't sure where the story was going. There were so many characters all with their odd quirks and dysfunctional lives. Then the more I read, the more I really started to like all these odd people grouped into this wonderful little neighbourhood of Cobble Hill. I devoured this book, taking time to read when ever I could. I felt like I was right along with nurse Peaches and Stuart, Roy, Mandy, Shy, Wendy, and all the others, living out their odd, yet somehow totally real, little lives. This was a truly great little read!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. As I finished this book, I just wonder what did I read? There didn’t seem to be a real plot, just a lot of random things happening. I wanted to like it more.

This was a fast read and I really enjoyed it.. This is about a upscale neighborhood in Brooklyn called Cobble Hill and chronicles a year in the life of four families that live there, which consists of four married couples and their children. You have ex-groupie Mandy who fakes an illness to get the attention of her ex rocker husband Stuart, Their's Peaches the hot school nurse who everyone has a crush on and her boring husband Greg who wears noise-cancelling headphones everywhere. There is Roy who is recent transplant and a British Author that hasn't written anything in a really long time, his american wife Wendy who is works at a magazine and then there is Tupper and his weird artist wife who runs off all the time Elizabeth. Peaches has a son named Liam who is in high School along with Roy's youngest daughter Shy who is his classmate and then Ted who is in kindergarten and Mandy and Stuarts kid and a pyromaniac. And then Liam who has a crush on Shy and they end up together and there is so much going on in this book and everyone is hiding secrets from each other that eventually end up in the open. All in all a really good read and interesting to have the alternating povs of all these characters with the multiple story lines that all tied together at the end and getting to read a year in their lives.

Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

This book follows the lives of four families who live in Cobble Hill in New York as their lives intersect going through the daily grind of life. You will get to know Roy and Wendy. Roy is an author and Wendy works for a magazine. Then, you have Stuart and Mandy. Stuart used to play in a rock band and Mandy is faking the disease of MS. Tupper and Elizabeth are quirky artists. And, Peaches is the hot school nurse who everyone has a crush on. Liam, Peaches son develops a relationship with Shy who is the daughter of Roy and Wendy. Are you still with me? There are so many things happening in this book. Each couple is hiding secrets from one another which eventually surface. It’s a train wreck in the best possible way.

Cobble Hill follows the lives of all of these people throughout the course of one year. It’s a delightful and entertaining read. Did I mention it’s written by the author of Gossip Girls?

Cobble Hill releases on October 20, 2020. It’s right around the corner!!!!!!

An alternating point of view book that follows a wide cast of characters in a Brooklyn neighborhood, including a famous author, a washed up musician, an ill wife and mother, high schoolers, and an elementary school nurse. As you keep reading, all of their paths end up crossing. I found that some of the storylines were more intriguing than others, but I kept reading to find out what would happen, especially with my favorites. A really good book for people who love slice-of-life stories, as well as stories about the day-to-day issues of the upper middle class.

Readable with interesting characters and secondary plot. Good for a light read. Quirky people in an eclectic neighborhood.

Weird and wonderful with so so many characters it was almost hard to wrap my head around all of them but probably the largest role in this story was Cobble Hill itself. This book was graciously provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a Gossip Girl fan, I was excited to get a chance to review this book. But, unfortunately, it left me confused. Throughout the book, I kept on wondering if there was a bigger picture I was just missing (similar to Roy writing his novel), or if this was one of those books that just is what it is-an eclectic mix of strange and not-so-responsible adults living in Brooklyn. There weren't any characters that I could connect with, or envy, or respect, or even like. They were all just odd. That being said, the writing was super strong (as one would expect from such an accomplished author).

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria books for the eARC of Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar in exchange for an honest review. I just adored this novel! This book follows the lives of four different families who live in Cobble Hill,, New York as their lives intersect while they go through the motions of day to day life. You will get to know Roy and Wendy Clarke. Roy is an author and Wendy works for a magazine in New York. Then you have Stuart and Mandy. Stuart used to play in a rock band and his wife is faking MS. Tupper and Elizabeth are quirky artists. Let's not forget Peaches; the hot school nurse. You will also meet Liam; Peaches son and Shy; who is the daughter of Roy and Wendy. Liam and Shy develop a teen romance. There are so many things happening in this book. Each couple is keeping secrets from one another which eventually surface. Cobble Hill follows the lives of all these people through the course of a year. I found it to be a delightful and entertaining read. It reminds us that what may seem abnormal is normal after all! Cobble Hill releases on October 20, 2020. Mark your calendars now!

I was a huge fan of the Gossip Girl and It Girls novels so I jumped at the chance to read this one. I liked it but it didnt have the same kind of pizzazz as the Gossip Girl books. I'd still recommend checking this one out though. Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy.

I loved gossip girl books so I had high expectations for this new book. Unfortunately, I just could not get into this one. I found it to be all over the place and couldn’t even finish it.

Welcome to Cobble Hill, a Brooklyn neighborhood that is definitely never boring. From the elusive artist couple, the weed dealer pretending to be a “doctor”, the British author trying to write his next novel, the musician dad who’s wife has a mysterious illness, to the flirty school nurse named after a fruit who is beloved by everyone, there is always something going on in the neighborhood. Marriages are tested and life choices are questioned as the parents and children of four families collide as they navigate life and constantly evaluate the decisions they’ve made in their life that got them to where they are today.

When I saw this was written by the same person that wrote the Gossip Girl series, I was hoping it would be equally as juicy. This one...was just okay. It depicts different families and their challenges very well, there were some hilarious parts when all the neighbors would get together (Elizabeth’s “rebirth” for example and Mandy stealing her neighbors’ food subscription boxes was hilarious). I felt like I knew the characters, but not deep enough to connect with them, but maybe the point was to show a snapshot of life in Cobble Hill from an outside perspective. There were some juicy parts that happened, but the buildup was minimal and after they happened, no one really had their conflicts “resolved.”

🍷to sum it up: light and fun read, Brooklyn hipster vibes, multiple perspectives, some love interests, I would recommend to someone that wants a light and fun read

Dysfunctional character driven films are my go to genre and this book read just like a Noah Baumbach production; which was totally unexpected for the author of the sophisticated Gossip Girl series. If you've ever been to Cobble Hill in Brooklyn, you will instantly recognize the feel of this small/hip community, filled with coffee shops, small store fronts, rows and rows of beautiful brownstone houses, and the best independent bookstore in BKNY - Books Are Magic (the bookstore isn't named in the opening scene, but surely it was the one imagined). I loved the community built in the story and I feel like these characters (although not all likable) were so dynamic. Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Cenily vonZiegersar for an advanced copy of this book - it's definitely in my fave books of 2020 list.