Book Club SOS

Regina, Sophie, and Adelaide started a book club ten years ago and bonded over their love of books. They were together for ups and downs and all other life events during that time. But then something happened that changed their friendship. Adelaide speaks to both Sophie and Regina, but the two women do not speak to each other. Why? What happened?

Eight years later (present day), Adelaide has sent a book club SOS to her friends. Her husband is away, and she needs help as she must have surgery and has no one to look after her two-year-old daughter. Thus, the SOS that brings all three of the women together again.

Reunited and it feels so good - NOT

Relationships are complex. Has the past hurt festered? Does time really heal all wounds? There are past hurts and things that have never been fully discussed. As a reader we are in the dark, which led me to make my own assumption. I was in the ballpark but did not quite hit the nail on the head. Can they work through the emotional pain? Will books bring them together again? Can their friendships be saved?

I appreciated how the author titled each section, so you knew what time frame and character is being featured in the chapter. There is no confusion, and it keeps things flowing. As the book progresses, we learn more about each woman but also, I wanted to know what-went-down that caused a rift in their friendship.

If you have been an army spouse or been a member of a military family, you may be able to relate to some of the issue that the women face. Regina is not only a military spouse, but she serves herself.


This was a charming book about female friendship, marriage, relationships, feeling betrayed, guilt, being in a military family, and being a reader.


Thank you to Gallery Books 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.

I really enjoyed this read, even more than I expected to. I loved the perspective into what it's like for Army families while on deployment and after. This book follows the lives of three friends, all Army wives, who connect in a book club. The timeline alternates between the past and the present.

We learn that the friends have a falling out which puts a temporary end to their friendship until they are forced back together years later. I enjoyed watching them navigate their relationship in the present while learning in the past what drove them apart. The sub-stories that navigated parenting, careers, and romance were all fun additions to the focus on friendship.

While there wasn't anything terribly unexpected or jaw-dropping about this book, it was really enjoyable, and I loved reading a book from this perspective. I'm sure that those who do have family who serve would especially enjoy this read.

Thank you to Gallery Books for my advanced copy in exchange fo my honest review.

3.5/5
This book is a journey through friendship. Regina, Adelaide and Sophie met through a military book club created by Adelaide. They all had a true connection from the start and I liked that there was an ease to it, nothing forced. Since they’re all in the military (Regina is enlisted, while Sophie and Adelaide are spouses/significant others) they are very familiar with military life. I think that’s why their friendship blossomed the way it did. After ten years apart and a rift in their friendship, they are still able to be there for each other, even if there is tension between Regina and Sophie.

The thing I liked the most about their friendship is the “SOS” they adopted where one person can call/text “SOS” and the others drop everything and come together to help the person.

One thing that I didn’t really like was the way Adelaide’s daughter, Genevieve, spoke. She was going to turn two but yet the way she spoke didn’t sound like a one/two year old, she spoke like she was older. It would have been nice and more believable if Genevieve spoke in a baby voice.

The book also has issues on marriage and fertility. I think the way the author touched on each subject was good. Regina’s situation with her failed marriage then moving on to dating was an interesting one.

This book was a pleasant read.

I was excited when I read the description of this book. I like stories of strong friendships between women. But this dragged, Regina, Adelaide and Sophie met as military spouses, with Regena being also being active military. You know by the description that there was a disagreement years ago and now Regina and Sophie are not speaking. when we finally find out what the "fight" was about, I almost tossed the book across the room. Really? Then suddenly everything is fine? Didn't live up to the hype in my opinion

I think military spouses are a special breed. They take care of home and children while their partners are deployed and all the time worrying if they are coming home. The Army transfers the soldier every couple of years and the spouse organizes the move and sets up a new home over and over again and no one understands what that is like except another military spouse. At a new posting Adelaide organizes a book club and meets Sophie and Regina. Adelaide's is the wife of the captain longing to have a child, Sophie is a nurse and has twin girls with her partner and Regina is dual military with her husband. After a misunderstanding Regina is no longer friends with Sophie but 10 years later they both receive an SOS from Adelaide and they reunite to help their friend.

I really enjoyed this story. The camaraderie of the women and the promises they made to help whenever they were needed never went away as they try to find their place in the world. Each section of the book focused on what the book club was reading and I think I added a couple to my TBR. The characters were well developed and I had a real sense of who they were. The men were kind of secondary characters but I particularly wished I knew more about Henry and also Regina's business venture.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery books for providing me a copy of this book.

Adelaide has issued an SOS to her friends Sophie and Regina- a call they agreed 10 years ago they would always answer- and now they're back together after a schism to care for her and her daughter after surgery. They met as military spouses when their husbands served together (and Reggie was also an officer) and bonded over a book club started by Adelaide, who was also an military kid. The story moves back and forth in time between 10 years ago and the present, and Marcelo wisely doesn't tell the reader up front what caused the split between Reggie and Sophie. All three women feel quite real. Minus points, though, for the inexplicable plot point that Sophie wouldn't marry her husband because he was serving, even though they have twin girls (among other things) which means in the book that she can't live on base and in reality means that she has no health insurance for herself since she is nor working and this is pre-ACA. And no benefits for herself or the girls if he dies. AND, Maecelo's Alexandria Virginia and the military hospital/district bear absolutely no connection to reality and both are both well known and easily researchable. All this aside, it's compulsively readable. Thanks for the ARC.

“Books were Adelaide’s escape. She read to experience. And she was tired of keeping her love of books incognito.”
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In A Book Club Far Away, in short, is a story about friendship but honestly it’s so much more. Told in 3 viewpoints over a dual timeline you really grow up with Regina, Adelaide, and Sophie. Regina is struggling to keep her catering business alive and Sophie is struggling in a new season of life when suddenly, Adelaide sends out an SOS. An SOS among these friends means you go and there’s no such thing as saying no. Once all back together the tensions rise, a new book club book is picked, memories are replayed, and forgiveness is on the line. Will these 3 ever be as close as they were 10 years ago? Will they be able to put the past behind them and move on? I definitely recommend reading this one if you’re a fan of women’s fiction -specifically books about female friendships!

Tif Marcelo’s IN A BOOK CLUB FAR AWAY will surround you like a warm cozy blanket an. What did I love about this book? The friendship of three quite different women who became inseparable and each other’s support as they navigate their lives as Army wives, especially during their spouse’s deployment. When they try to navigate the betrayal of one of their family, speaking the truth divides their friendship. Years later, Adelaide, who has remained friends with both, sends out the SOS to both, bringing them together to help as she faces surgery. She also hopes to have another book club meeting and try to mend Sophie and Reggie’s friendship.
I enjoyed the way Marcelo structured the novel, alternating between present and the past, and through each character’s point of view. The transitions between narrators and times were seamless and the timeline changes helped to understand how they became so close and why the break in the friendship was so decisive and painful to each woman. It also enjoyed the insight into the lives of military families, as I have always wondered how they handle the regular changes to routine. Marcelo has created characters that I want to know, I would love to be a part of not only their book club, but their lives. Her writing is rich, her characters well-developed, and the story shows how strong women are and how tough and important friendships with other women are, as well as how difficult they can be to maintain when life is throwing curveballs at every turn.
I have read several of Tif Marcelo’s novels now, and I really enjoy how she creates real people in everyday situations that make you wish you were there with them, in their lives. Her characters have the flaws of real people and I love that I can relate to each of them. IN A BOOK CLUB FAR AWAY is a great story and the addition of the book club and its books adds another layer of depth to the already rich story. I recommend this one for anyone who enjoys a great read.
Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#InABookClubFarAway #TIfMarcelo #TallPoppyWriters #BloomReads #TallPoppyBloggers

This is a heartwarming book about friendships, misunderstandings and a book club that brings three friends together. Told in alternating timelines by alternating characters, I appreciated the peak into the lives of military partners at home after their partners are deployed. Three very strong women tell their version of events that lead to a falling out but they are reunited when one of them sends out an SOS call. I think that’s what I liked best about this book, a depiction of how very important and personal the relationships are within a book club. My book clubs guarantee that I’ll see some of my very best friends at least once a month. I’ll never admit how much (or how little) time we actually spend discussing the book but it’s the reason we carve out the time to see each other and there’s nothing I let get in the way of those “meetings”.

In a Book Club Far Away is a book that I thought would hit my heart just right. I am a military spouse and I met my best friends through a book club. It sounded like exactly the kind of story that would speak to me.

Unfortunately, I expected a tale of friendship, the struggles of military life, deployments, relationships, all mixed in with the bonding over their love of reading. What I got was a very immature set of women who fail to communicate with each other and who's friendships end over this lack of communication for an entire decade.

The parts of the military lifestyle we got during the past time line did feel pretty realistic and a lot of the sentiments the women shared were true to my own experiences. The chaotic time before your spouse leaves when you're almost just ready for them to go instead of hanging in limbo, the honeymoon period upon return combined with learning to readjust to life with each other, filling up your time while they're gone to distract yourself. The friendships formed during this time period should be strong, trust filled. These women are supposed to be there for each other, leaning on each other, and the conflict that drove them apart was something that just simple and honest communication would have solved. I hated that they fell apart for ten years and then after all of that time, still had petty squabbles with no growth at all.

It took a long time to get to the break up of their friendship and the entire problem seemed to be resolved instantly, which is crazy because they'd been holding onto this for so long, why now were they okay to just let it all go? I don't feel like the character development, especially on Regina's part, was there to justify this resolution. They were still being immature and ridiculous just a couple of chapters before this, throwing petty insults at each other like they were never friends at all.

The writing was very clunky and a lot of details felt inconsistent. At one point, Sophie's boyfriend (not husband because she doesn't want to marry someone in the military yet stays with him for his entire career, receiving no health care benefits, having no military id, not being able to shop or do anything on post.... but I digress) is said to be in the Navy during one of the first book club meetings, but later on is said to have retired from the Army.

So many of the actions of the characters made me irrationally angry. I just struggled to read this because no body made decisions with their brains. Regina gets mad that Adelaide invites her and Sophie without telling her then throws a part after Adelaide's surgery, invites all her friends to her house, doesn't even ask, and is surprised Adelaide is mad about it. Just no logic at all.

Had this book been solely from the past time line and focused on the friendships between the women as they went through deployment and Army life, I think this would have been a much more pleasant read. I understand there needs to be conflict but I think having these friends hold each other up in times of struggle instead of having them fall apart for a decade would have been a stronger story.

I enjoyed this book far more than anticipated! I have no experience with the military and so I worried I wouldn't be able to relate to the characters' experience, but was I was still drawn to the book because of its literary sensibility (who doesn't love a good book club?)... and it did not disappoint! This was a feel good novel focused on female-relationships and found family. It was a window into the experiences of military spouses -- it taught me about their lives, and also invited me to think more deeply about the role geography, transition, and community play in my own. I appreciated the multiple perspectives, how fully-developed the characters came to the page, and the honesty and humor about the messy and beautiful nature of relationships. It was a delight to read, and I will definitely be recommending it to a few friends - both those with military backgrounds and those without!

Thank you to the publisher, Gallery Books, and to NetGalley for the ARC!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3935642339

Military friendships are more than friendship, as, at times, they are your lifelines. As the men have a brotherhood, the ones left home have similar bonds. A book club is the bond in this story. The author has done an excellent job relating the feelings of friendship, separation, and betrayal and told over time in flashbacks and the current day.

After ten years, Adelaide issues an SOS, and without hesitation, they are back together. Fractures are mended. I recommend this heartwarming book, and I enjoyed some of the book recommendations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the advanced copy; this is my voluntary review.

2 stars
I had such high hopes for this book. This premise is good but the follow through is not.
I don't think I will read this author again.

There’s a lot to like in this book. I think it would interest anyone who is interested in reading books about books/books clubs or military wives, books about friendship, and generally any chic lit fan. I liked the three main characters but found myself a little frustrated at times with their lack of communication. This also felt a little long for what it is. Overall this was enjoyable and a feel good book where everything gets wrapped up at the end.

Received a copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for my review.

A book club is formed at an Army base in upstate New York for spouses and dependents of Army soldiers. From this group three women form a close bond. Each has her own unique personality and relationships to bring to the friendship table. Something goes very wrong between the women when their husbands/partners are away on deployment for 9 months. The friendship is damaged. Now 10 years has gone by and the friend left in the middle is trying to bring her friends back together.

What I liked about the book: What attracted me to the book was the story of military dependents working through a deployment of their service member, one of the wives being an Army officer herself (all things I can relate to). Wanted to see how the author treated these things in the light of a book club and friendship. So that part I really enjoyed. The three women all strong in their own right, were a good threesome. They embodied what you need to do for each other while the service men are away. Also liked the alternating timelines to tell the story.

What was not as great: the story dragged for me from about 60-80% of the book. The secret that broke them up was hanging there for too long. I thought it could have come out sooner and more time could have been spent on healing the bond between them instead of dragging it out so long.
Otherwise I enjoyed this book, my rating 4 ⭐

Tif Marcelo wrote a captivating contemporary story about three women who met in an Army book club. The story goes between their time together from when they first met to present day when they come back together for Adelaide's SOS. Each woman is a strong character in their own story and I found myself connecting with each throughout the story. I loved the idea of books connecting them through life's trials and tribulations especially deployment and enjoyed the book quotes shared between the chapter breaks. Thank you to Gallery Books, Tif Marcelo and Netgalley for an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm such a huge fan of Tif Marcelo's books. Her stories are the comfort I need whenever I'm searching for a good laugh or cry. They are the stories that warm my heart and bring me a lot of hope whether it's through the friendships, romance, or family relationships in them. 'In a Book Club Far Away' was absolutely beautiful. A story about both the difficulties and joy we have in friendships and how they can grow as we get older. I loved every bit of this story and found a little of myself in it, too! Highly recommend. <3

I have read a couple of Tif Marcelo’s books and I have to say that my favorite has been The Key to Happily Ever After. Her books are always so great and written with so much heart and perspective not to mention rich with family relationship complexities. I have really enjoyed reading them and when I saw that her latest novel In a Book Club Far Away, was a Book of the Month pick, I was even more excited to get my hands on it!

Even though I had a digital copy of the book to read, I did make this one my BOTM pick not just because the book sounded good, but I also thought the cover was elegant and rich with fun bookish details! I knew that I would read the book one way or the other, but there was something about the cover and title of this one that just seemed to say ‘read me as a hard copy!’ that I simply couldn’t ignore!

Besides the author reputation and elegant cover art, this one sounded like such a great read for book clubs or maybe even a buddy read with your BFF. It’s a story about friendships and for me, it was just the book that I needed right now. It was like curling up with a good friend and a glass of wine to gossip about life and laugh about all the things that life throws at you.

Summary
From the author of Once Upon a Sunset and The Key to Happily Ever Aftercomes a heartwarming and moving novel following three Army wives—estranged friends—who must overcome their differences when one of them is desperate for help.

Regina Castro, Adelaide Wilson-Chang, and Sophie Walden used to be best friends. As Army wives at Fort East, they bonded during their book club and soon became inseparable. But when an unimaginable betrayal happened amongst the group, the friendship abruptly ended, and they haven’t spoken since.

That’s why, eight years later, Regina and Sophie are shocked when they get a call for help from Adelaide. Adelaide’s husband is stationed abroad, and without any friends or family near her new home of Alexandria, Virginia, she has no one to help take care of her young daughter when she has to undergo emergency surgery. For the sake of an innocent child, Regina and Sophie reluctantly put their differences aside to help an old friend.

As the three women reunite, they must overcome past hurts and see if there’s any future for their friendship. Featuring Tif Marcelo’s signature “enchanting prose” (Amy E. Reichert, author of The Coincidence of Coconut Cake) and the books that brought them together in the first place, In a Book Club Far Awayhonors the immense power of female friendship and how love can defy time, distance, and all old wounds. (summary from Goodreads)

Review
One of the things that I liked about this one right away was the structure of the friendships. Marcelo is an Army nurse and I liked the idea of these girlfriends bring former Army wife BFFs. I thought this gave me a different perspective on what some of these military families go through—it’s just not a normal existence and I think this book really capitalized on that and I loved that part of this on. My sister in-law’s husband will likely be a career military man. He has been on numerous tours and deployments and during their marriage he has missed the birth of both of their children. Since her family is all in Arizona, she does not travel with him instead he is gone so much and when he’s home they try and maximize their time together. I have seen first hand how lonely an existence it is for her and how much of a strain it can be especially now that they have kids. So I thought that was one of the most interesting things about this book! I loved the nuances and glimpse into the world of military wives and I thought that Marcelo did a magnificent job highlighting the struggles these women faced.

Over the years their friendships between the three women have been strained and now in 2021 they are brought back together in hopes of resolving their past hurts. This book is told over the course of a ten year period by alternating between 2011 to 2021. I normally don’t really care for ‘modern’ flashbacks like that but in this case I thought that it worked. I liked the idea of time influencing and impacting their friendships. I thought that it gave the sense of perspective in a new way. Normally I like the ‘flashback’ style of storytelling in historical novels but as I said, for this one I thought it worked in a unique way and I enjoyed it.

I felt fully invested in all three of the women’s stories. Sometimes I tend to gravitate toward one or the other but in this book, I felt invested more or less equally in all their stories. This book hit quite a few deeper and emotional topics like miscarriage and divorce but yet I didn’t feel like I was put through an emotional wringer. It felt like the story had some great balance, serious topics mixed with some fluff. It made the story feel like an escape with heart if that makes sense. I really enjoyed my time with Sophie, Regina, and Adelaide. Their triumphs, hurts, and failures were all realistic and thought out. Each of the women was fully realized and written with such clarity. I didn’t feel like I could legitimately meet one of these women and be friends with them.

This was a great read full of women’s issues and friendship. It had heart but also managed to remain balanced in its emotional impact. I loved how the story unfolded and ultimately resolved. If you love women’s fiction and are looking for something fresh for spring, I highly recommend picking this one up! It was a BOTM pick for a reason!

Book Info and Rating
Format hardback 400 pages,

PublishedApril 6, 2021 by Gallery Books

ISBN9781982148096 (ISBN10: 1982148098)

Free review copy provided by publisher in partnership with the Tall Poppy Writers/Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: womens fiction, chick lit

In a Book Club Far Away by Tif Marcelo is a delightful story about three women friends, Regina, Adelaide and Sophie. The women became close when their Army spouses were deployed and they joined a book club in an effort to stay connected to others who faced the same stressors.
The story begins when Regina and Sophie each receive an SOS from Adelaide. The women gather to help their friend, but tensions arise as they must contend with old wounds that have fractured some relationships seemingly beyond repair.
As the story unfolds, each woman deals with relationships, career, independence, family and of course, their complicated friendship.
The book club thread throughout was minor, but lovely. The books they read were often quite relevant to their own struggles.
The author also did a great job of revealing the joys and struggles of Army families.
Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery books and the author for this ARC of In a Book Club Far Away.

You may be particularly drawn to Tif Marcelo - Author’s new book IN A BOOK CLUB FAR AWAY if you are in or love a good book club, have ties to or are in the military *bonus points if you are a military spouse*, and if you have friends that would drop everything to be there for you if you called a friends “SOS”. You would also perhaps fit right in with Marcelo’s main character trio of Adelaide, Sophie, and Regina who check all three of those previous boxes.

In Tif’s latest book, a new book club brings these three “milspouses” together in a time where they all have settled in a new duty station and are not only trying to meet new friends, but are also trying to get through another deployment of their spouses overseas. The women and other book club members bond over reading and doing activities related to their monthly book club selections, some of which include The Hunger Games, Room, Bossypants, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The trio become so close they are “framily” - friends who are like family, until something occurs that threatens to tear and fracture their group apart forever. Fast forward ten years when one of the ladies calls a SOS, needing not only her two friends to help her in her time of need, but also in hopes to mend the chasm that has separated the other two ever since their previous fallout. The reader is a spectator to the trio’s bumpy ride of finding their way back to each other and navigating their current life crossroad decisions.

Tif Marcelo’s background as a veteran US Army Nurse, a military spouse, a Filipino-American, and an avid reader gives her a unique perspective to author this new release IN A BOOK CLUB FAR AWAY, in the ultimate culmination of her personal experience and past military and book club relationships.
Gallery Books Tall Poppy Writers Simon & Schuster #TifMarcelo #Inabookclubfaraway