I was so glad to get an advanced copy of Good Company from Netgalley! I loved The Nest by Cyn tj is D’Aprix Sweeney and couldn’t wait to get my hands on her newest book!

Good Company definitely didn’t disappoint. I was hooked from the very beginning. I love the story, I love the way the story was told, I love the characters. I loved it all. I would definitely recommend picking this book up.

This is a story about the bonds and boundaries of marriage and friendship (and how they sometimes overlap). Flora and Julian have been married for years but when she finds his missing wedding ring hidden in an envelope it brings up questions that they need to explore. Flora’s complicated relationship with one of her closest friends becomes entangled in the drama. It was fascinating to see a couple work through old hurts and new insecurities after a lifetime together. I also really enjoy a story that uses flashbacks to fill in details about what is happening in the present. I liked that the story had a satisfying ending but it wasn’t neat and clean. It felt very true-to-life and authentic to the plot. Maude the therapist is my favorite character in the whole book. I need a Maude in my life.

Thanks to Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Ecco, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked The Nest so I was excited to read Sweeney's new book. I was very engaged in this book about a woman finding her husband's wedding ring in the bottom of a file cabinet several years after he claimed to have lost it in a pond while I was reading it. However the story itself isn't overly memorable. There were memorable parts - the summer production that her husband has headed for many years and her best friend who is an actress in a soap opera - but the parts of the book didn't come together in a cohesive way for me that left me satisfied.

Let’s talk domestic fiction. Are you a fan? I usually just kind of skip over them, but I was pleasantly surprised by Good Company.

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney is a wonderful author. I felt almost too “not smart” to not read it. It was just beautiful. Parts of it felt so long winded and verbose that I got lost. Regardless, gorgeous writing that really drew the scene for all to enjoy.

I really enjoyed the characters, no matter how insufferable they were or were not. They were all flawed and brought different levels of complexity. I didn’t really care of the Hollywood acting storyline of their occupations, but it was different and a fresh take. It’s not my favorite kind of story/life, but I think it was executed well.

Overall, I was so conflicted on this book. The writing was so calming and effortless that I felt like I was in a trance reading. However, one of the biggest plot lines or twists just really bothered me. I’m just exhausted of reading that trope. I don’t want to give it away. I will say I did enjoy the female friendships. When I finished, I didn’t feel any time of emotion. No rage, no happiness, no satisfaction. Just finished and moved on. Since there’s no guttural reaction, I can’t really say I liked it or hated it.

Anywho, thanks NetGalley and Ecco for the copy. Good Company is out April 6th.

Good Company by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney was quite a thought provoking book. It really made me stop and think. Does something that happened years ago really define a relationship or is it just a blip on the radar.

When Flora married Julian she thought they had a love that would hold them together forever. Once their daughter graduates and is heading off to college, Flora stumbles a across something that makes her question her marriage and her relationship with her best friend. It made me stop and think about my relationship and what I would do in the same circumstance. I always thought I knew what I would do and now I'm not so sure. I loved this book for that very reason. It made me think and question what I thought I knew. I wasn't able to read this story and just move along to the next book.

Most of the characters were multifaceted. The story was told at times from each characters viewpoint. I loved the symbolism of Julian cutting down the tree. You'll have to read the book to figure that out and as I think about it there were more symbols used throughout the story.

Overall, this was a great book. It is one that will make you think. It is well worth your time to read Good Company because...it is!

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher and Netgalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you!

Good Company is a novel about family, friendships, and growing as an adult. The book follows two couples as they navigate their friendship, careers, and relationships as they tackle big changes in their lives.

While I like a good that is both character and plot-driven, this book only checks the box for character-driven. There really is not a ton of plot. Small changes do occur, and there is some conflict. But it just was not enough for me. I do think the characters were fairly well-developed, but when I consider that the characters were basically the totality of this book, I thought they could have been developed much more. Nearly all of them are also self-absorbed actors, so be warned.

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney is a talented writer who made this book easy to read and breeze through. That being said, if she used "capitulating" one more time, I would have lost it. It felt like she used it at least 3 times per chapter. I think I saw "capitulating" more in this book than I have in the entirety of my life. Other than that, I liked her writing style and am interested in picking up The Nest.

Overall, I liked Good Company and would recommend it to those who enjoy character-driven plots or family dramas.

Good Company is the newest novel by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, the bestselling author of The Nest, and more importantly Good Company is my first five star read of 2021! This novel is about two couples and their relationships, not only in their marriages but also with each other. Three of these characters are in the acting business (theater, voice acting, and television), providing interesting backstory and commentary on what it is like to be in show business.

Flora and Julian are both actors and have been married for years. While celebrating their daughter Ruby’s high school graduation, Flora discovers a secret that will upend their happy ever after. Their best friends, Margot and her husband David, have had some struggles in their marriage that are reflected throughout the book. Throughout their adulthood, the four have had overlapping stories where most memories contain the other couple, similar to extended families.

This book was fantastic! I loved the unique writing style. Often, when authors play around with timelines and the story is nonlinear, the writing becomes disjointed and I hit a point where I just want the book to progress. This was never the case in Good Company. I loved learning about the origins of the theater company, the backstories on the relationships, and the characters themselves.

I haven’t yet read The Nest (after reading this it is high up on the list!), so I can’t speak to whether Good Company is better/worse/similar. All I can say is that I truly loved this book. If you’re looking for a page turning plot, this book is not right for you. It is not a fluffy, happy book, considering each of the characters deals with significant struggles. But if you’re looking for incredible character development, check this book out. It had me rooting for every single character through to the end.

Thank you to Ecco and NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for a free review!

“The thing they never really talked about whenever they talked about the summer of the photograph, was how they’d all fallen in love with each other again, with the constellation of Julian and Flora and Margot and David.”

GOOD COMPANY was such a delight to read! I was hooked from the very first chapter when Flora discovers her husband’s wedding ring hidden away in the garage—a ring he supposedly had lost years ago. from there we dive into the friendships and marriages of two couples and all of the history and secrets and regrets that come with lifelong relationships. it’s a novel of friendship and marriage and motherhood, all of which are so well-executed. the relationships and characters and plot are all so interesting and entertaining while remaining realistic. this was a book I just thoroughly enjoyed! 5/5⭐️—I loved it!

Flora and Julian have been married for almost twenty years. They have a marriage that onlookers envy and a beautiful, smart 18 year old daughter.
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Flora is a voice over actress and Julian is an actor on his own television show while also running his theater called #GoodCompany (FYI the story of how Good Company got its name is adorable) Their best friends and family unit are Margot and her husband David. David is a surgeon and Margot is an actress on a super successful hospital show set in Seattle....Um #GreysAnatomy anyone?!
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Their lives are entwined with each other and the highlight of the year is the summer when #GoodCompany puts on their summer show. Their entire lives change the summer Flora and Julian’s daughter Ruby graduates from high school. Searching for a picture to give Ruby for graduation, Flora finds her husband’s “missing” wedding ring. What she soon uncovers is her husband’s years ago infidelity and that her best friend knew.
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What happens when the life you thought you had and gave up everything for isn’t a reality?
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There are certain things I loved about this book and I loved Flora. I get how she was happy to feed company members and her family with Italian food. I love how she laid out snacks and told everyone to “pick” which is something my grandmother said every time she laid out snacks. However, I wanted more out of the ending. I feel like it ended a bit abruptly and would have liked some closure for the characters but all in all it was an enjoyable read!
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Thank you #NetGalley and #Ecco
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This book is available April 6th!

TWENTY Must-Read Books of 2021 that You Need On Your Bookshelf
In 2020, I read a crazy amount of books. I doubt I will ever top the amount I read!

I’m trying to read as much as I can and just plowed through some of the best novels I have ever read. I didn’t think another year could possibly compare, but there is an absolute plethora of books that are SO GOOD coming out now and in the next few months.

I cannot stop reading! As soon as I finish one I pick up another.

Here are TWENTY books that you will want to read as soon as they are published.

These are books that will entertain, make you think, make you laugh, some will have you biting your nails in suspense. Take a look now and let me know what you will be reading!

9. Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, is the new novel from the beloved author of the best-seller, The Nest.
A warm, incisive new novel about the enduring bonds of marriage and friendship from Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Nest

Flora Mancini has been happily married for more than twenty years. But everything she thought she knew about herself, her marriage, and her relationship with her best friend, Margot, is upended when she stumbles upon an envelope containing her husband’s wedding ring—the one he claimed he lost one summer when their daughter, Ruby, was five.

Flora and Julian struggled for years, scraping together just enough acting work to raise Ruby in Manhattan and keep Julian’s small theater company—Good Company—afloat. A move to Los Angeles brought their first real career successes, a chance to breathe easier, and a reunion with Margot, now a bona fide television star. But has their new life been built on lies? What happened that summer all those years ago? And what happens now?

With Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s signature tenderness, humor, and insight, Good Company tells a bighearted story of the lifelong relationships that both wound and heal us.

Coming out on April 6.

I loved The Nest....and after reading Good Company, am happy to report that it also displays Ms. Sweeney’s talent for creating interesting and believable families and enveloping the reader in their lives.
In Good Company, the family consists of the people you’re related to (Julian, Flora and Ruby) and the people you choose to be part of your family (David and Margo). Their lives have been intertwined for many years...back to when Margo and Flora were roommates in NYC during their early twenties. They’ve all been living in California for many years and living very different lives from when they were all struggling to succeed.
Flora and Julian have been married for more than 20 years. Their seemingly happy life takes a radical turn after Flora discovers something that was hidden for many years (and opens a can of worms, to say the least). In the middle is their daughter, Ruby, who has been an integral part of both couples lives.
Ms. Sweeney does a great job also of capturing the essence of the book’s three locations: Los Angeles, NYC, and the camp/theater compound, Stoneham, in NY State. If you’re a theater buff, you’ll also enjoy the insights into the world of Broadway/Off Broadway.
While the overall story wasn’t as compelling for me as The Nest, Good Company was still a 4-ish star read for me and I look forward to Ms. Sweeney’s next book.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read Good Company in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good family drama and Good Company delivers. The story follows two couples whose lives are intertwined through acting and friendship and we follow them over the course of twenty years. A betrayal, a secret, and in turn lots of emotional fallout. What is a good marriage? What is a good friendship? "The only way through is through."

I really enjoy stories in which theater and Shakespeare play a part. I enjoyed Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's novel The Nest and thought this was a great follow up.

Thank you to Ecco Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Flora Mancini has been happily married for twenty years. But that foundation crumbles when she finds her husband's wedding ring--the one he claimed he lost when their daughter was five--in the back of a drawer. Now she wonders what exactly Julian has kept hidden from her all these years. Is their whole marriage, their whole life, based on a lie?

This is such a hard book to review, because I loved Sweeney's THE NEST so very much. And GOOD COMPANY, while a nice book, is just not THE NEST. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book, it just did not move me as much as THE NEST.

GOOD COMPANY offers a thoughtful look into marriage and relationships. It's one of those interesting novels where it feels like not much happens, yet it truly covers the span of an entire relationship--a whole marriage. But there is a lot of ruminating, a lot of speculation, and a lot of angst. It's a very New York sort of book, even if Flora and Julian move to Los Angeles when their daughter, Ruby, is young.

This book is well-written, of course. Sweeney is a wonderful writer. It switches between time periods (the present, and going back in Flora and Julian's relationship) and various points of view, which include Flora, Julian, Ruby, and Flora's best friend, famous actress Margot Ledder. I probably felt the most for Ruby--it's hard to really sympathize much for the adults here. And this is a very "theater" book, with Flora, Julian, and Margot all being in the business. If that's not your thing (it's not mine), it's a little harder to feel engaged in some of the story.

Overall, this is an interesting read, but it can be slow going at times and hard to feel engaged with all the characters. If you like introspective, character-driven reads or you're a theater geek, GOOD COMPANY may be for you.

Sweeney can so perfectly capture the human nature of people. Her characters are realistic and believable and relatable. So quickly into Good Company I felt as though I was truly getting to know Margot and Flora. Sweeney's writing fully captures the story from all angles. One of the aspects of Good Company I loved most was that you'd never quite know who you'd be hearing from next or when you'd be hearing about it. It's such a complex story full of different timelines, memories, experiences, and people.

Both charming and gritty, you ultimately get to know two women: Flora and Margot. Flora is the girl that is driven. She's the women who doesn't see herself as bringing much to the table. She is almost always trying to live up to expectations she projects on herself. Her husband, Julien, is someone people are envious of. They have a marriage that others comment on, regularly. They are the lucky ones, they are the ones who have "the real deal." And Flora, she knows that, she knows just how lucky she has been with her husband, and their lives, and then their daughter, Ruby. She's never quite sure if she deserves all the good she's been granted.

And you can't forget Flora's best friend, Margot. Another shining star in Flora's universe, Margot is a legitimate celebrity. She's starred on a hit medical drama, Cedar, for years. She's gifted, talented, she's generous.

Margot's life looks easy. It looks enchanted. She's from an affluent family. She's a working actress who has talent. She has money. She has a smart and loving husband. But, it isn't always easy. Especially after her husband's stroke.

This is a tale of two friends and their lives that are woven together by the main characters as well as all the minor characters, from Flora's daughter Ruby, to Margot's husband, to an old therapist. It added such a unique element to the story. It is a poignant story about the realities of life and relationships.

<b>The Short of It:</b>

Marriage for some, is like walking a tightrope without a net.

<b>The Rest of It:</b>

When Julian and Flora first met, they were both struggling artists in the process of finding themselves. Scraping to get by was never enjoyable but there was something to be said for blood, sweat and tears and being able to build something together meant something. Good Company, a small theatre group born out of Julian’s dreams to run his own theatre took center stage for many years but when they each started to have their own successes with acting and then had a beautiful daughter of their own, they moved to Los Angeles and there, the romantic lure of acting wasn’t as shiny as it was when they were newly married yet still an important part of who they were.

The benefit to being in Los Angeles is that Flora is once again close to her dear friends Margo and David. Margo, also an actress but much more recognizable than Flora had ever been, is the friend that always grounds Flora no matter what is going on. Years and years of friendship and Margot’s own challenges with her husband who suffered a stroke, do nothing but bond them tighter together. That’s why Flora finds herself completely lost when a secret comes out and she’s not sure if she can turn to Margot for support.

This is one of those dishy reads that you zip through. There is a lot of mature drama. Marriage difficulties, insecurities, trying to keep up appearances for your adult child, the threat of an empty nest, success and what happens to a relationship when it’s been strained. Flora and Julian’s story is intermingled with that of Margot’s and I found it to be a good balance. This isn’t an “escape” read because it’s too rooted in real life for that feeling to overcome you but I didn’t mind spending time with these characters and felt that the ending was appropriately realistic.

I think I felt the same way about Sweeney’s previous book, The Nest. A good read but probably not one that will stick with me. I would have liked the story to go a bit deeper into Flora’s character. She had a lot going on and was presented with some very difficult choices. I would have appreciated more of her.

For more reviews, visit my blog: <a href="http://bookchatter.net">Book Chatter</a>.

Happy Sunday, y’all! I spent my day working, cleaning my apartment, and finishing my latest really good book for a review.

💍 Good Company 💍 by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is a sweet and beautifully intimate look at marriage, adult friendships, and parenting. There isn’t much plot to it: Flora and Julian, married actors, and their old friend Margot, a more successful and famous actress, find themselves reevaluating their relationships when a secret about their past comes to light. The story is told through flashbacks to their days in New York, contrasted with their current LA life.

I liked this book for its refusal to get too dramatic and showy. You would expect a book whose main characters are all actors to have big, melodramatic scenes and loud moments, but the beauty of this book was in its understatement. Its characters, are all expertly sketched, as are their relationships. Like in actual life, each character has a unique relationship with the others. I really liked how much time readers are given to sit with each character and see into their thoughts. It helped them feel real and helped make every one someone you feel compassion for. It was just right in the section of life Sweeney chose to share - though I could easily imagine these characters existing before and after this book.

I really enjoyed Good Company - thanks to @netgalley for my e-ARC! Check it out when it comes out on April 6!

I didn't dislike this novel but I didn't like it either. The beginning is strong: while digging through an old filing cabinet, Flora finds her husband's wedding ring in an envelope at the bottom of a drawer. He supposedly lost his ring years ago. So where did it come from?! I was intrigued.

This start had me expecting a suspenseful storyline. Instead it dragged on and on, hopping around in time. I suspect the author was trying to build suspense. Instead, I was left confused and ultimately not caring about where the ring had been.

The characters alternated between interesting and annoying. They're a bunch of actors who are a bit full of themselves. At the core of the story are the concepts of family, friendships, marriage, and loyalty. These could have been explored in a better way so that I actually cared about the decisions the characters we're making.

I'm surprised this was written by the author of The Nest. I found that novel to be rich and well written. This one missed the mark for me.

A richly tangled tale of friends and friendship, densely peopled by intriguing characters. Somehow not as instantly enticing as THE NEST, but a rewarding and intelligent read which will linger in the reader's memory.

This was just maybe not my kind of story. I'm not a huge fan of the main plot point in this story but I was willing to tuck in and try to see what this one was all about. It's a gorgeous cover and I was really hoping to love it.

But it's a bit of a tangled story. At first, there's a lot of characters and I wasn't sure how they all fit. Julian, Flora, Ruby, Margot, Bess, Charles....there were just so many casually thrown at me that I was struggling to see how they all connected. There's also a lot of POV's and a lot of time hopping past to present to try to understand what happened and how they all got to where they are now.

I was hoping for a story that punched. Something that would move me so that I would feel the sting of betrayal or the sadness or even the renewed love - anything. But with the multiple POV and the jumping around, I never got to know a character enough to really get emotionally involved.

All in all, the cover is gorgeous but I think this story just maybe wasn't for me.

Even better than "The Nest." When you have friends that are like family, there are great times and some not so great times. "Good Company" shares relationships between husband and wife Julian and Flora, best friends Margot and Flora, and mother and daughter Flora and Ruby. And you'll wonder if everyone will remain in good company.