I am so sorry to say, but this one was just not for me. I read the first 60 pages and decided to dnf! I felt like when they went back in time I just was as invested and couldn't wait to be back in the current time. I never really felt pulled into the story enough.

Thank you so much to the publisher and netgalley for letting me read this copy!

Thanks to Atria + NetGalley for the advance copy of "What Could Be Saved" by Liese O'Halloran Schwarz.

"What Could Be Saved" is my favorite kind of family saga - one that deals with the complex and complicated relationship between siblings over the years, the secrets we keep + what we think we know, the lives our parents live that have nothing to do with us and everything with who they are, and who we are because of the ways in which life unfolds.

I implore you to put this gorgeously written book on your TBR list, because the story will stay with you long after you finish the last page.

At first glance this had everything I love in a book, most specifically a character-driven saga. However, despite the excellent writing, I struggled and couldn't maintain interest in the unlikable characters. The story didn't warrant nearly 500 pages.

Another time and I may have felt differently, so I will simply say it's me not the book as it seems to be getting plenty of stellar reviews.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

There is nothing I love more than discovering new-to-me authors and even though this is not this author's debut novel, it's the first time I've read anything by her. And what a fantastic book it was!

I am such a fan of books that deal with family dramas of any kind, but when you add in a missing kid that returns to the family decades later, a family that has lived abroad and because of the child that goes missing becomes broken, I am all in. This book completely captivated me from the beginning and told using a dual timeline, I was equally invested in both time frames as there was just so much to be found out in each.

One thing that I found so remarkable was the author's ability to really give us such a sense of place, especially when the characters are in Bangkok. This is a place I have never been, yet I found I could easily picture it through the beautifully descriptive writing. It wasn't too verbose, yet it was written with just enough description that I was able to picture the sights and sounds of where these characters were.

This book shows how just like the ripple effect of a butterfly wing, the little truths we hold back can have devastating effects later on. And that sometimes the lengths we go to protect those we love end up hurting them more than we realize. This book takes you on quite an emotional journey and I could not have loved it more! It is heartbreaking at times, yet also full of redemption and hope, and I definitely recommend it!

What a masterpiece! This was such a beautifully written family saga and I was immediately captured by this book in the first chapter and could not put it down.

In 1972, the Preston family is living in Bangkok when their 8-year old son disappears. In 2019, Laura Preston receives an email from a woman claiming to have her missing brother and asking her to come pick him up in Thailand. Though her sister warns her it is a hoax, Laura immediately flies to Thailand to find out for herself if her brother is still alive. Alternating between past and present, we learn of the Preston family, their secrets, their relationships, and their grief all while wondering whatever happened to Phillip Preston.

This book is perfection. It is a slow burn mystery, a rich historical fiction, and a captivating family saga. I highly recommend this book. Yes, it moves slow at times, but stay with it, I was swept away in this world of complex characters and storylines.

What Could Be Saved is a family saga set over the course of four decades. Alternating between Bangkok in 1972 and Washington DC in 2019, we follow the Preston family and their life abroad, a family tragedy, and a return to the States that finds the family broken and hiding many secrets. The ending leaves you questioning if all secrets should ever be told. Sadness, stress, and ultimately hope and salvation are the themes running through this compelling story - I found it hard to put down. Highly recommend!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Absolutely loved this wonderful sibling story !
“She walked up the path toward her family. Imperfect and damaged and hopeful. A work in progress, like everything.”
Absolutely loved this wonderful sibling story !

What Could Be Saved tells a gripping and engaging family story. While it's not a happy book, it does contain happiness. Schwarz transports the reader to 1970s Bangkok---illuminating the stark contrast between the privileged Americans and their Thai servants amid the backdrop of the Vietnam War. And contrasts it with Washington DC 2019, the reader moves back and forth with the chapters.

I was so impressed with how well this novel is written. Schwarz is making all the words count. Even though it alternates between time periods and point of views, I was never confused. Each character felt necessary and vital to the story. While several of the characters are unlikable, Schwarz still makes them human--forcing the reader to acknowledge their good qualities along with their flaws.

The book centers on Laura, the youngest Preston sibling, and an artist. The disappearance of her brother Philip when they were children in Bangkok has defined every aspect of the rest of Laura's life.

Go into this one prepared to step back in time and have your heart broken and mended over a lost boy and the steadfast love of sisters.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy.

This book is sure to be a bestseller - it was immediately engaging and engrossing. I will be recommending it to patrons!

Family moves to Thailand for what they believe to be a year. You would think they are one of those expat families living a good life on company's money where the husband functions as a country manager or some role similar to it and the wife sets up a club with all other wives to keep their bubble intact. But it's not what it seems.

Only the husband knows the real reason why they moved to Thailand and he anticipates that their stay will be longer than a year. The wife is getting bored of her life and wants to go back the US as soon as possible. Kids... Two sisters and a brother on the other hand are enjoying themselves as much as they could but they also see that they are different than most of the kids around them.

Fast forward 47 years.... Family is back in the US, but they are burdened by a great loss. Two sisters are fighting over a brother who disappeared in Thailand. Mother is fighting dementia and heartbreak. Then, they receive a note that opened Pandora's box for everyone....

You are going to say "no way" million times before you come to the last page and see how one decision made in isolation wrecked the whole family

In the 1970s, the Preston family lived in Bangkok — Robert and Genevieve and their three children Bea, Laura and Philip. One day Philip disappears at the age of eight, never to be heard from again. A few later years, Robert’s dam building project ends and the family must return to the US, sans Philip. Some 35 years later, someone contacts Laura claiming she knows Philip’s whereabouts. Laura goes to Thailand to see what she can discover and eventually does locate her brother. Where was he all these years? How will he fit in with his newfound (dysfunctional) family? With American culture? The whole story is fascinating as it slowly unfolds.

I absolutely love family dramas, but this one missed the mark for me. I found the writing to be bland and the characters weren't very memorable.

Alright so I’m disappointed and definitely in the minority. I’m all for literary fiction but there was something I couldn’t get into about this book. It’s told in present day and past day, explaining how Laura and Bea’s brother went missing. A stranger in Thailand contacts Laura claiming to be their brother and she flies off to go meet with him. The premise is interesting enough but there are so many unnecessary details through out the book. It’s almost 500 pages and really did not need to be this long. I think it would’ve benefited shaved off 100 pages but maybe that’s just me since again, I’m in the minority. I enjoyed reading some parts of the story but for the most part I was a little bored.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Atria books, and Goodreads for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was pulled to this book because of the setting. I went to Thailand in 2016 and absolutely loved it. I rarely, if ever, read fiction based in Thailand so I was excited for this!

What Could Be Saved is a slow burning family story, which alternates between the 1970s and present day. It follows an expat family that lived in Bangkok in the 1970s. There is a lot of mystery here despite it being a more slow burning family story.

I enjoyed this novel because it is in general a genre that I love - a more slowly moving character portrait about families, which spans decades. The one downside of this book is that it didn't have quite enough character development for me. I liked the characters, but I didn't feel connected to them. I think better development of these characters would have pushed this to 5 stars.

Overall I enjoyed this and I would recommend it to a reader who enjoys character-driven family stories or alternating timelines!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very compelling read, #whatcouldbesaved drew me in and wound me around the lives of an ex-pat family in Thailand who seemed to be unfortunate despite their good fortune, or were they? This book took many twists and turns and the nonlinear timeline added to the disorientation in a good way. It concluded in a very satisfactory way and I recommend this novel. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for this copy to read and review.

This book sucked me in from the beginning. I love family dramas and the duel story lines was executed very well. The story and characters meshed rather well and this book would be great to discuss. I genuinely enjoyed this book and felt the need to read it slowly to absorb the brilliance of the story.

A portrayal of a multi-layered family that spans from 1972-2019? Sign me up! Add the setting of Bangkok, Thailand and I'm even more intrigued. This book had everything I love in a book. Well-developed characters, some more likable than others. As I often do, I felt myself empathizing with the three Preston children (as both children and adults) more than the Preston parents and other adults in this magnificent novel. Each one broke my heart a little at some point in the book; a feeling similar to that of breaking glass. I found it to be an unflinchingly honest tale of what siblings can mean to one another and how each one's memories can be true, yet different. I also enjoyed learning about Thailand; the customs, the people, the language. There was an air of mystery throughout the book, tragedy, a good amount of nostalgia and so much beauty that as the book neared it's conclusion, I felt as if I were looking at a painting, the colors vivid and dazzling. Thank you to @netgalley @atriabooks and the author for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review. This book was recently published on 1/12/21. #whatcouldbesaved #lieseohalloranschwarz #netgalley #goodreads #bookreviewer #bookstagrammer #booksandmrdarcy #withhernosestuckinabook ❤️📚

Enjoyed the perspectives and characterization in this Lazarus story new title and happy to feature it in January’s Novel Encounters, my monthly roundup column of notable new fiction titles for Zoomer magazine’s Books section. Full feature at link below.

I absolutely loved this book. The Bangkok setting was fascinating and the mystery kept me reading well past my bedtime several nights. Highly recommend.

Family dramas make up some of my very favorite books of all time(The Most Fun We Ever Had and The Dearly Beloved for example), but like many readers, I had a hard time getting into these types of deeper dive novels during the past year.

When a glimmer of much-needed hope finally felt like it was indeed on the horizon, I decided it was time to try again. And then I saw some raving reviews from some of my most trusted book sources for What Could Be Saved, I knew it was a sign.

I decided to do my tried and true reading approach of alternating reading and listening to this title, and wow. If you want to get completely engrossed in a genre like this, this is the way to go. While this book is hard to describe in a sentence or two, What Could Be Saved gives us a deeper look into a family that looks beautiful on the outside but when the curtains are pulled back, layers of turmoil are exposed.

Told through dual timelines, present-day in Washington D.C. and Bangkok in the 1970s, this novel quickly immerses you in the Preston family and their many layers. Laura, the main character is the youngest sibling and every part of her life has been shaped by the disappearance of her brother, Phillip, 40+ years ago.

While there is a mystery to this story, the unraveling of these multifaceted and imperfect family members is just as fascinating. The story of a family torn apart and the burdens they still carry today highlighted one of my favorite parts of reading, the complexities of being human, and the ever-present question, is there ever really just one person at fault?

The classicism, of the women living and working with the Preston family in Thailand, added a whole other dimension to this storyline and was one of the most powerful parts of the storyline for me. This story is just beautifully written, utterly absorbing and one I will never forget.

Thank you to Atria Books for my gifted copy. I purchased my audiobook copy through LibroFM and highly recommended the narrator Lisa Flannagan if you decide to go that reading route. You can read my full review at genthebookworm.com

What Could Be Saved is indescribable but in the best way. It is a story about a family beautiful from the outside but dealing with so much turmoil on the inside. Losing Philip was just the peak of that turmoil. Every character is so fully developed I really felt like I was part of this family. The best takeaway from this story is that family members should talk to each other more. Especially about your childhood memories. I could not put this book down until I heard what had happened to Philip. Bravo.