I didn’t get the hype surrounding this book. It doesn’t seem like anything happens. The plot is all over the place and the writing was sloppy. I was not a fan.

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, author of the 2016 bestseller The Nest, returns with her sophomore novel, Good Company, a book about marital issues among acting couples. Having not read The Nest, I primarily picked up Good Company because I was seeing this book everywhere and wanted to discover why everyone was so buzzy about this novel and author. Honestly, I was also attracted to Good Company's vibrant and beautiful cover, which interestingly enough, doesn't have any meaningful connection to the novel's content.

The premise of Good Company is entirely spun around wife and voice actress Flora Mancini finding her husband Julian's wedding ring that he supposedly lost over a decade ago hidden away in a drawer. What is his wedding ring doing in an envelope and not on his finger? While you may assume that Good Company fast forwards from this pivotal point, it doesn't. Rather the past and present swirl around this discovery of the wedding ring, and readers learn about Flora and Julian's marriage in the early days and how it is affected after the truth comes out.

I personally expected there to be something more gripping and startling about this novel, but rather, it is standard marital fare. Couples come together, couples fall apart ... usually for the expected reasons. So anyone going into this novel should view it mostly as a study of a failing marriage set against the backdrop of the New York and Los Angeles acting scenes. Julian's acting company, aptly titled Good Company, is a focus of the book, and Flora's best friend Margot is also a major interest point, as she is a star on a hit hospital television series. Told from multiple POVs, Good Company's biggest draw for me was Margot and her life as a celebrity, and how that changes the ways she relates to the people in her life. I personally didn't get much from the marital bits, although I did find Flora and Julian's teenager daughter Ruby to also be of some interest.

In all, Good Company is a solidly average novel. It is not bad, but it's not great either. Instead, it kind of just wades there in the middle with nothing entirely unique or outstanding about it.

I received a complimentary audiobook of Good Company narrated by Marin Ireland, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite readers for adult literary fiction. I previously listened to her work on The Push, and she sold that novel for me, much like she also does on Good Company. I do not think I would have liked this novel as much if I had read it as a physical book. Ireland adds a little something to the story and makes it more interesting than it is.

I loved this author’s previous book so I had high hopes for this one but unfortunately I just wasn’t as big a fan of this one. It’s a very slow burn character study and I’ve discovered that I definitely need a book to be more plot driven in order to hold my interest.
I didn’t find any of the characters to be very likeable and so I struggled to root for them.
The narrators however were excellent.

When I first started reading, I wasn't quite sure I liked it or what to expect, but the author kept pulling me in. It's about friends and marriages and success and failure. It was wonderful reading about Flora and Julian and Margot. It's about characters and their everyday lives - but unfortunately, it didn't leave a lasting impression after I finished reading - books like this rarely do for me. So good book to read and it definitely has a place when you're just looking for uncomplicated - and if you haven't read The Nest also by D'Aprix - please do!

The story sounds familiar enough, encompassing everyday lives of the sort we all live. Mostly told by Flora, a voice actor; Margot, a television actress, and Julian, the founder of a theater group called Good Company, we learn of friendships, infidelity, betrayal, and the difficulty of sending a child off into the world.

With a backdrop of stage and screen productions, the plot becomes far more interesting. Because the story is book ended by two photographs, the information seems to be revealed in pixels gathered to create a picture of the past twenty years. You have to hope these good but flawed people will have the happy ending they deserve.

"Good Company" was a happy read for me. The writing made me immediately comfortable. I enjoyed the dialogue and sense of humor the author infused.

Read the book or better yet, listen to Marin Ireland read the audio book, as I did. When it ends you will miss her voice telling you about the lives of these interesting people. Adept at characterizations and different voices, she making it look easy.

Highly Recommended!

A copy of was provided to me by HarperAudio /Net Galley for an honest review.

Good Company weaves the reader through a mid-life realization in which Flora discovers a secret her husband has kept from her for many, many years. The book takes you through the discovery of an item, all the way through to the fork in the road for Flora and her husband Julien, but in typical Literary Fiction fashion, stops there.

I absolutely loved this book. Books about families and relationships are my favorite and this one delivered such great, in depth character development with all of their characters and their interweaving relationships. It included parents and child, best friends, family friends, husband and wife, and even professional relationships! It was a well written and expansive look at a period in these people's lives and the choices they were going to have to make.

The narration for the audiobook was really wonderful. Marin Ireland captured her character's voice splendidly and delivered a wonderful performance. I will be on the look out for other audiobooks with her as the narrator.

Two families with intertwining stories, secrets, and struggles, converge in this delightful tale by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney. Audiobooks can often times be hit or miss for me, depending on the narrator - but this one was an easy, easy listen. I was hooked from the opening chapter!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio for advance access to this title!

This one was just okay. If I read it in print, I think I would have abandoned it because it was pretty boring for the first 60% or so. Even when things got interesting, it was very predictable.

Thanks to HarperAudio and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

The audiobook of 'Good Company' lived up to all the accolades I had heard about Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. This story about best friends, marriage, family and secrets was right up my alley. I loved it!

The books follows a group of friends and is told in flashbacks. To the author's credit, she sets up the novel's main conflict early on: Flora discovers her husband Julian's wedding band hidden away in a drawer, years after he claimed to have lost it. We first meet Flora, a successful voiceover actress and Julian, also an actor, the day of their daughter Ruby's graduation party, hosted by Flora's best friend Margot. Margot has always been like a surrogate parent to Ruby, and is everything Flora is not. Margot is a glamorous and well-known television actress who is married to David, a surgeon.

Margot is now the star of a Grey's Anatomy-like show and the author has a very sly way of describing the often cut-throat world of celebrity. Margot is always looking over her shoulder for the younger, prettier actress who might take her place. Against this background, the story of how Flora an Julian and Margot and David met is told in flashback form. Julian was always tentative about marrying Flora, so how will he explain the wedding band? As he told her early on in their relationship, “I don’t know why I’m so ambivalent about you.”

From the shocking discovery of the wedding ring, the book details the history of the characters, all coming back to the present day of Ruby's party. The novel explores how Flora and Julian met and then dated, all set against the backdrop of the acting world. Margot had invited Flora all those years before to a party with other struggling young actors, and Flora and Julian met and were instantly taken with each other. But while Margot meets David and they then marry, Flora and Julian didn't seem to move forward in their relationship. Several breakups later, Julian proposes.

“I learned my lesson. There’s nobody else for me, Flora.”
“It’s the one thing I won’t ever forgive,” she told him. “I know,” he said.

Julian had started out as a playwright in New York City which is where they all first met. Flora and Julian struggled at first but then moved to Los Angeles and found some success. I absolutely loved the description of theatre life and of the colorful and almost magical way in which the author describes the life of a working actor. Fast forward to the present and Flora and Julia now must deal with the often superficial world of Hollywood and with raising their daughter in that rarefied environment.

The discussion of celebrity culture and the intricately detailed backstories of the main characters was fascinating and I was completely immersed in this book. Marin Ireland is one of my favorite audiobook narrators and was fantastic at giving life to all the characters in a very believable way.

The exploration of friendship and loyalty is wonderful. How Flora deals with the discovery of Julian's wedding ring all unfolds as they all are dealing with Ruby leaving for college. This is a wonderfully-paced novel about adult relationships and the baggage we all carry. No one is perfect in this story and there is no neat, "Hollywood" ending. I found this book to be incredibly relatable and engaging. Highly recommend!

This book tells the story of a family from different perspectives-the wife, the husband, their daughter, their best friend, the other woman. A secret is discovered many years later but the hurt is fresh and the couple must decide what the future looks like for their family. Not to build it up too much, but the end was everything to me! The symbolism and the characters actions, and that’s all that I can say without spoiling it! I loved the attention to the different perspectives of the same event and their reactions and how all of it was true and real. The author also gives the reader a look inside Hollywood acting and theater acting which was interesting. Neither was what I expected..

This is the first book that I have read by this author. The audio was excellent and I want to thank NetGalley for the advance audio. Please keep adding more audio books. They are great for people who run and take long walks.
I enjoyed the writing of this book. This is a story about marriage, friends and relationships. Flora finds her husband’s wedding ring when she thought he had lost it and starts to question her marriage, friendships and life. I liked that the various chapters go back into their relationships to give you a background for what leads up to present day.

Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney is back following her instant bestseller, The Nest!
In Good Company Cynthia explores the many facets of self one carries for themselves, their family, children, husbands, friends and society as a whole and the juxtaposition that each holds as they tend not always align. For Flora and Margot, best friends from school thought they knew everything about one another, about themselves and held a sense of knowing begins to fracture when Flora stumbles upon her husband's wedding ring - which was lost many years ago in a pond, or so she was told. Flora is forced to confront her marriage with a new lens which impacts them, their daughter Ruby, Margot and their beloved yet begrudged theatre company - Good Company.

Literary fiction is a difficult genre to style to craft well. Cynthia sculpts characters and relationships that are believable and completely relatable in all their strengths and flaws. Good Company is a heart wrenching tale of family and personage with thought provoking insight and a tenderness that made me laugh, sigh with connection, and shed a tear..

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Audio and Ecco books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review..

Good Company explores the themes of marriage, motherhood, family and the ways that secrets and lies creep in and their effects.
Great storyline and character development. Loved the narrator. Definitely recommend.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley and Harper Audio in exchange for my honest review

This was a great novel about a married couple involved in the acting industry. Flora finds Julian;s wedding ring in an envelope in a drawer, the same ring he claimed he lost at the bottom of a pond. The book goes back and forth in time from when Flora and Julian first met to their confrontation over the ring and the aftermath. Ever-present is her best friend who is everything Flora is not (wealthy, cool, chic, etc). Unfortunately, her friend cannot help her through this crisis..

4.5 for an ambiguous ending.

What an interesting perspective on friendship. This book describes how secrets, even if good-intentioned, can harm love and trust. Even if the theme is one that has been explored so much, the author created a fun, stimulating environment for it.
Everyone is curious about Hollywood, Broadway and the mystique of acting. Two couples, united by an all-encompassing bond, are drawn together by just that. We were able to peek inside what happens to a soap opera star when kicked off a show and the machinations of live acting.
I often wonder if an ending left undefined and open to the reader's own interpretation is an easy way out. Yet, I think we each were privileged to decide their fate on our own.

Overall, enjoyable book. I got the audio book version and had a hard time keeping track of the different timelines. Definitely think it would have been better in paperback, to truly follow along with the different back stories.

A story of family, money and following in the path that is set out for you. Aiming to diversify from what is expected of you and allowing your family to follow their own paths. when history has a way of pulling you in.

3.5 stars. I did a combination book/audiobook on Good Company (the narration was very good) and I did enjoy this tale of the friendship of two couples over the years. The novel goes back and forth in time, as we follow friends and fellow actresses Flora and Margot, as roommates in New York City, young married couples, and then their diverging paths as Flora devotes herself to mothering daughter Ruby, while Margot becomes a television star on a middling medical drama.
This novel is lacking the satirical bite of The Nest, the author's previous novel. And I can't quite put my finger on it yet, but something feels somewhat incomplete in both the plot and the characterization. But all in all, a pleasant diversion.
Thanks to HarperAudio and NetGalley for the advance

This week I was able to download and listen to the audiobook of Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's newest release Good Company. I enjoyed the narrator who was able to do voices for multiple characters but kept them all sounding unique. The story is about two middle-aged couples who have been lifelong friends. They're navigating their marriages and friendships as they mature. They're also all somehow involved in a there group that meets annually in the summer to put on a for fun performance. Overall, I recommend this audiobook for a good weekend listen. Read and enjoy!

I loved this book! I had really loved the first half of her first book and then was disappointed by the last half but this one was strong all the way through. I really got sucked into these characters world. I like how you really heard from everyone but not too much. It was such a well rounded view of their world. I listened to the audio book and the narrator was fantastic.