I was so excited for this book because I loved the Gossip Girl series and couldn't wait to read something new by this author. This is definitely more grown up - focusing on the well-off parents of Cobble Hill rather than the high school Manhattanites we grew to love. I love reading about rich people's lives and how different they are behind the public personas we see. This reminded me a bit of Friends and Strangers!

From the author of Gossip Girl, I was expecting something more salacious. This wasn't that interesting in the drama aspect.

Cute and quick read about four couples and two of their teenage children who are all neighbors in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Cobble Hill. At the start of the book none of them know each other, but their paths cross in various ways as the book goes on. Not all of them are entirely sympathetic, and we see some perspectives more than others, but it all adds up to a quirky and charming read. This author wrote the Gossip Girl books, but I’ve never read those or even watched the show; rather I read it because I saw a blurb comparing it to Emma Straub’s Modern Lovers and Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s The Nest. Not a bad comparison, in that all 3 books are about quirky privileged white characters in NYC. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for something light to read.

A fun and light adult book from the author of gossip girl. It’s very much a character driven book about the residents of a little neighborhood. Their lives all intertwine in an interesting manner and make for a fun group of friends.

Lots of things happen but there’s not much of a plot but I did enjoy the character interactions and development.

did anything even happen in this book??? i’m feeling very confused & conflicted.

not my fave. feels like the most awkward attempt to shed the skin of precious works (which are some of my faves!)

thanks anyway, netgalley!

I had been hearing a lot about this book and heard the author Cecily von Ziegesar interviewed on a podcast recently. As the writer of Gossip Girl, I was interested to see what she called an adult novel, set in Brooklyn. Then came this zany novel. I'm not even sure what I just read. The characters are all crazy and idiosyncratic. One character in particular is one of the least sympathetic I've ever seen. She fakes a very serious illness and it almost put me off the book completely. What kept me reading is that I wanted to see these characters interact. Adults act like teenagers and get into some very outlandish and odd situations. But what keeps this whacky story on course was the zippy writing. It was like a punched up J. Courtney Sullivan or Emma Straub book (or maybe Kevin Wilson?) crossed with a tv show like Schitt's Creek or Succession. Enjoyable and unpredictable and a little weirder than most.

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy for review.

"Cobble Hill" by Cecily von Ziegesar is the much-anticipated new release from the author of the hit Gossip Girl series. Cobble Hill is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, on the outskirts of New York City, and the book centers around a handful of its residents. There's really not much going on among this merry band of misfits, with nary a moral compass in site. Trouble brews and mayhem ensues, while building friendships and a community within this tribe. Meanwhile, illegal substances, thoughts of adultery, pyromania, and head lice all add up to a somewhat entertaining read with very little substance. I do recommend this book as a distraction from the everyday, just don't take it too seriously. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

In addition to the e-copy from Netgalley, I also received an audio copy from Libro.fm. This book wasn't what I was expecting, but it was a good read!

"The problem with having a family at all was that nobody cared if you were dead or alive until dinner went unmade..."

So go the issues for the characters in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar. This book is loaded with funny angst filled comments like the one above.

This story takes place during one year for four married couples who are neighbors in this upscale neighborhood. Peaches is the school nurse with some new age (pot cures all) ideas. Her husband Greg really doesn't want to know about anything so constantly wears noise cancelling headphones. Tupper is the nervous introverted tech geek married to Elizabeth the elusive artist who really is never around.

Then there is Roy the British writer suffering from writer's block married to Wendy who has never read one of his books (WHAT?). Lastly, we have Mandy who is the least likable character faking having MS and stealing food plan boxes from her neighbors just because she can do it. Her husband Stuart made me laugh the most. His name is Stuart Little and he use to be part of a boy band called Three Little Mice (now that is clever)!

There is a lot to unravel at the start but the writer does a great job of making each character very distinct with their offbeat personalities and who they are to the story.

There are some great group scenes especially during karaoke nights at the local bar. There are problems to be resolved in most of the relationships. Unfortunately, I felt there wasn't much growth for any of the characters or consequences for some of their very obnoxious behavior.

I think this book works as a fun look at how people often create their own problems when they feel incomplete, insecure or just plain bored.

I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I had really high hopes for this book because I have read some of Ziegesar's Gossip Girl novels, and enjoyed them. In a way, Roy reminded me of the author--they haven't written in awhile, and then they completely branch out in a different direction writing style wise than they are known for.

Don't get me wrong--I love following multiple families, and seeing their different dynamics and interactions. In the end though, nothing really happened in this novel.

I was also reminded of a cross between Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and the show Californication, especially when it came to Roy's character. A struggling writer who has no idea what he wants to write, and then when he starts to write, he isn't sure if he should continue to pursue the subject. But yet he does, and then he publishes another novel.

I enjoyed the way that at the end of the novel, everyone came to know everyone in Cobble Hill-especially among the characters that we read about. I especially liked that they all came together for Roy's book reading at the end.

I think this book could be a great concept for a show, but it fell a little flat for me in terms of reading.

It is exactly what you'd expect from a Cecily von Ziegesar book- an intimate look at a small, wealthy New York enclave filled with artist types and juicy encounters that, while not exactly deep, do fulfill a thirst for frothy gossip. The characters are wealthy and wandering, given ever opportunity but unsure what to do with them. They're like the Gossip Girl set all grown up- with kids and without the angst. The book lacks a compelling plot, but if you want to disappear for a bit into a beautiful but absurd Brooklyn culture, then this is your book.

I had high hopes for this novel because I was a raging Gossip Girl fan in my teen days, and it still brings me back and overwhelms me with a sense of nostalgia when I hear Kristin Bell's intro from the show or see 'xoxo.' The synopsis appealed to me because I love character-driven explorations of wealth and the concept happiness as an adult, specifically if we get what we want or if we don't and how that affects us.

I thought the writing in this story was interesting, but I didn't feel gripped. I enjoyed the characters but was left wanting more. I recommend for New Yorkers, fans of Gossip Girl, and people who like slow burns. This isn't a plot-driven novel, so I wouldn't recommend it if someone is looking for a strong plot. Cobble Hill is more of a character study and examination of adults navigating lives they didn't expect.

Cobble Hill’s description (and I’ll be honest, the lovely cover), had me excited to read this novel, but it was a mixed reading experience. It’s definitely an entertaining and fun read, but parts of the plot dragged on for too long and there were a few scenes that felt really jarring.

The book is definitely character driven so if you’re looking for a fast paced plot this book isn’t for you. The chapters move between the different families’ story lines, so some were more engaging than others. Stuart and Mandy were a fascinating couple, as were Roy and Wendy. But other characters weren’t believable and some were just boring.


The book is definitely well-written and overall a fun read, but I was disappointed that it was a bit uneven and that made it less enjoyable than I’d anticipated.

As a huge Gossip Girl fan, I immediately requested this book when I saw who the author was. I truly didn't even read the synopsis of it until I picked it up to read. At which point I immediately asked myself 'what the ...' because my brain couldn't comprehend what I had just read. This book is a hot mess. And I'm not sure if it's a hot mess in a good way or just a straight up mess way.

Cobble Hill is a upscale Brooklyn neighbourhood, following the lives of four families and their dramas. Without going into details, everyone has their own problems, their own issues and their own secrets that all end up mingling together into one giant party of a mess.

I can't think of a character I thoroughly liked. Maybe Shy. Otherwise, they were all nuts. A character that pretends to have an awful disease because they're lazy? The constant use of 'fat' as a description for a female character? A pyromaniac child? What in the world did I read? A book about teenagers getting pregnant on Mars? It just kept getting more and more ridiculous to be honest. The writing did feel similar to the Gossip Girl series, with a bunch of stories all tying back into one, and the ending really saved it for me here. I felt like things settled down a bit in the end, for a proper story and finale. While this was not a hit for me, I'm sure others might enjoy it, but it won't be my first to recommend.

4.5 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 17 November 2020.

Welcome to Cobble Hill, a charming neighborhood in Brooklyn. Here live a bunch of rather interesting characters whose lives are intertwined in ways you could never imagine. There’s Stuart Little, lead singer for the Three Blind Mice, along with his wife Mandy, former teen model, and son Ted.

Tupper Paulsen lives round the corner with his wife Elizabeth, an artist. Elizabeth isn’t around much, as she’s always off creating another piece of wild art. Tupper invents things. His claim to fame is a macaw that hides recording equipment.

Then there is Nurse Peaches. She is the school nurse at the elementary in Cobble Hill, but she’s a rather reluctant nurse. She’d much rather be banging the drums in a rock band. Her husband is the music teacher at the posh high school, where her son Liam attends on scholarship.

And let’s not forget Roy Clarke, famed author of the Rainbow Collection of books. He’s British but relocated to the States when his wife, Wendy, an expat, was hired as a senior editor for a famous magazine. They came to the states with their daughter Shy, who attends the same school as Liam.

Absolutely nothing really in common, but Ziegesar does an incredible job of weaving all these characters into a cohesive story about live in a small, upper middle class neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn. Each one has a story and a back story that is somewhat riveting. Their secrets bind them, and their lives intersect in the most common ways. The beauty is how the little things that you can’t imagine turn these very different people into friends. It’s a wonderful story that only took me a bit of time to read. I just couldn’t put it down. Loved this one.

It took me a few tries to finally get into this book. But, when I set my mind to it, I was very glad that I did. The antics that take place are beyond the realm of "most" people's imagination, and I do not want to spoil any of the fun. Cecily von Ziegesar has put together an entire cast of "dysfunctional" characters, and I was laughing out loud at several points in the book. Read this for the laughs!

Thank you #netgalley and @atriabooks for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one was so weird. I enjoyed it, and I think anyone who loves quirky or character-driven books would enjoy it, but I was kind of anticipating something more along the lines of Gossip Girl, which this definitely was not. I think I just went into it with the wrong expectations, so I didn't love it as much as I could have. It's strange and very quirky with off-the-wall, highly original characters and really interesting family dynamics. Super fun, but not a favorite.

Thank you to @netgalley @atriabooks and @cesvonz for the complimentary copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review. Just released this week (11/10), there has been a lot of buzz about this book which was written by NY Times bestselling author of Gossip Girl. This book was a tilt a whirl ride of quirky characters all residing in the Cobble Hill section of Brooklyn. Secrets abound in the marriages in Cobble Hill. Some of the couples seem mismatched. Several individuals appear to be certifiable. There is a stolen kiss, some unrequited crushes, two awkward teens falling in love for the first time and many other glimpses into the lives of what we come to know as Cobble Hill. Grab this one if you are on the lookout for a fun and eccentric read. 4 ⭐️ out of 5 ⭐️ #netgalley #cecilyvonziegasar #atriabooks #cobblehill #bookstagrammer #bookreviewer #booksandmrdarcy #withhernosestuckinabook❤️📚

This was a book full of satire, unlikable characters and no plot. I think this type of book will appeal to a specific type audience.

[ARC Review] This book starts off strong, but ultimately left me wanting more. I’d call it Seinfeld for the Gossip Girl generation, but I’m not sure whether the GG generation is actually interested in Seinfeld.
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Cobble Hill is a very particular vibe. I love the way Cecily von Ziegesar captures New York. It’s one of the things I loved most about the Gossip Girl series, and it continues to be one of her great skills. The cast of characters is at times overwhelmingly large, and with unannounced perspective jumps from paragraph to paragraph, the book unapologetically expects the reader to keep up. By the end I had settled into the rhythm, but it took a little getting used to.
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Cobble Hill starts strong, but begins to wander in the middle toward a surprisingly predictable end. The “Bernadette” and author characters in particular were intriguing, but ended up a bit too on the nose. Overall, this wasn’t a winner for me, but I think a very particular audience will enjoy it. ⭐️⭐️
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Cobble Hill is available now. Thank you to Atria Books for sharing an e-ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.