Underwhelming. The summary sounded interesting but I just lost steam with this book. Not sure if it was the writing style or the pace but it wasn’t for me.

Things aren't going well at the Pleasant Run facility. A building of lower rent apartments for seniors, it is showing signs of age and maintenance suddenly seems to be neglected. The elevator has been out for several weeks which is a major issue for many of the seniors who are still mobile but not up to tackling several flights of stairs multiple times a day. Instead they are basically trapped in their apartments. Trash collection has been lagging since the new manager, Herbie, has appeared. Herbie is a skulker, always around trying to find violations of policies but impossible to locate when something goes wrong that he is responsible for fixing. Worst of all, there are rumors that the building is about to be sold so that high end condominiums can be built and sold.

The residents are a mixed bunch. Rydell is a former professor who is hoping to land one more job at his former college. Viola has tons of stories about an exciting past that most of her friends discount. Cassie is Viola's friend but caught in a sea of depression. Her husband and only child have both died and she wonders what is worth continuing on for. Leo is a quiet man who spends his time painting landscapes. Clayton is a teenager who seems to be hanging around for no discernible reason.

Then there is a fire which starts in manager Herbie's apartment. After it is put out, it becomes apparent that both Herbie and Viola have disappeared. Lander Maki is the fire investigator who must decide if this was a fire caused by carelessness or if it was arson. Is the fire related to the disappearances?

Deidre McNamer is a university creative writing professor. She has written several other highly regarded novels such as My Russian which was a New York Times Notable Book. In this novel, she outlines the issues that those of us lucky enough to become elderly will face. Often lonely and neglected, it is unclear how best to alleviate the issues that beset this age group but it is clear that warehousing is not the answer. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

*Many thanks to Deirdre McNamer, HighBridge Audio, and NetGalley for an advance audiobook in exchange for my honest review.*
A well-developed idea with interesting characters. I did not expect a high-paced thriller and I was rewarded.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 3.5, pretty good, pretty weird, liked how the characters switched with the chapters.

This was the first time I have read Deirdre McNamer. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook.

Perhaps because I listened to the audio, I found that I just could not engage with this novel. The narrator used little inflection to distinguish various characters. Aviary features nearly a dozen characters, all of whom are mentioned so briefly I found that I did not find any of them sympathetic. I struggled with the plot because I was confused by the ever-changing perspective. The plot felt convoluted and underdeveloped, ultimately less of a mystery and more jof a reflection on the end of life. The writing was beautiful and insightful, but just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a literary book about a living facility for the elderly. It had beautiful lyrical writing and very realistic characters but still, it wasn't that good. I feel like the pacing was terrible, NOT slow but just weird (i can't explain it)
and the ending... It was so off

Many thanks to Netgalley and HighBridge Audio for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I first requested this literary fiction novel, I was mesmerized by the cover for some reason, and the fact that it was set around a living facility for the elderly. I also for some reason am interested in reading about this age range.

I could sit here for hours singing this book's praises, how lyrical the writing style was, how realistic the characters were, and how relatable, ect, ect.

But the real thing here is I didn't enjoy it, the pace was weird "I don't mind dlow paced books, infact I prefer them" but this one didn't do it for me, unfortunately, I was bored and detached throughout.

I'm "looking for the point books try to make" kind of person, I guess that's why I had a hard time with ending.

I'm having a hard time coming up with how to start this review, because this book brought me many feelings. The story happens around Pheasant Run, and it's told by multiple points of views.

The narrative is bittersweet, the whole book is permeated by a feeling of loneliness and sadness, and even the good times are infused with the sensation that it's a fleeting moment and it will not stick. What ties all the characters together is the understanding that they all suffered great tragedied at different stages in their lives and it's because of it that they're able to connect and be there for one another when it's needed of them.

The narrative was a bit hard to get used to. At the beginning I was thrown off the story by the narrator, she told the story in a steady pace and I felt like it lacked a bit of soul to it, but by the half of the book, where the pace picks up a bit, I found she was the perfect choice for this book. Her impersonations made all the difference, she gave life to each character in her own unique way.

Another point that's worth noticing is that I couldn't empathise with all the characters. I fell in love with Cassie and her relationship with Viola and Clayton, I wish there was more of Viola's adventures when she was young, and I'd like to take Clayton's hand and guide him the way a mother should, because every adult figure in his life is failing him. Leo is a really interesting character and I related to him very much in some aspects, but I wanted to shake him some times for "wasting his life" while hanging onto his grief of 60 years instead of letting it go and giving himself a chance. The other characters were a bit meh, Maki could be made a bit more interesting considering he's one of the main characters, but his wish for solitude is what makes him "uninteresting" in my eyes, yet it's this trait that makes him fit the book so well.

The narrative is really descriptive, to the point where you spend 5 whole minutes listening to a character contemplate the road and scenary they're driving by. It's important to present us the character, but it gets tiresome, especially because most of the longest descriptions happened while introducing the character, which took my interest from the story that hadn't captivated me yet.

Overall it was a great read. It was heavily focused on characters instead of plot, which is not my usual type of story, but every once in a while I like to connect in a deeper level with the human essence and be shocked by the rawness of emotions a book can cause.

Aviary is a complex story about a senior independent living facility. Something is a bit amiss and the tenants are trying to figure out what is going on. When there is a small fire in the caretakers apartment and suddenly two residents are missing the residents along with the chief fire detective must figure out what exactly is going on at Pheasant Run.

Now you may think this sounds like a thriller but it definitely is not. There is a mystery but that still is not quite the right categorization either. Really this one falls in to the generic literary fiction genre.

This is a character driven story where you are introduced to several individuals from troubled teens on the cusp of dangerous decisions to the quirky residents to the fire chief with a special knack for scent. We get a glimpse into each character’s history as the story weaves and winds to its conclusion. It is beautifully written and I give it 4.5 stars

Aviary tells the stories of several residents of an ill-fated nursing home. It primarily delves into the individual psyche of the aging and infirm, as well as some who are otherwise connected to the Pheasant Run residential senior facility. An interesting read, although the audiobook narration seemed a bit out of sync with the tone of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, author, narrator, and publisher for the opportunity to listen to Aviary. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.

The description of this book makes it sound like more of a mystery/thriller than it is. Yes, there is an investigation of an unexplained fire and several disappearances, but this certainly isn’t a police procedural. Instead it is a very detailed character study of several elderly residents of the Pheasant Run condominium. It was an accurate and poignant depiction of people who have no choice but to soldier on in the face of the normal losses, ill health and economic insecurity of old age. In this book they also have to deal with exploitation and overt threats by people whose only interest in them is financial. The book isn’t grim though, and I thought that the writing was very good. Although I felt that the book jumped around too much among too many characters, I would be willing to read more by this author. The narration by Christina Delaine of the audiobook was very good.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

There was something very likable about this book. It wasn't so much a story if you define 'story' as something with a beginning, middle, and end.

Instead, it was more like opening a window into someone's life for just a brief little moment. Even so, I enjoyed it.

I went back and forth on whether I was going to rate this three or four stars, but in the end I went with four because it was an enjoyable read.

It's interesting to see how lives intertwine. And I felt that it was really true to life because the relationships we build with people often happen so unexpectedly. Because life is unexpected. There's not always a logical progression in how we meet people or behave. I don't know.

This definitely isn't one of the best reviews that I've ever written because this book is hard to describe. I just know that I really liked it. It was odd and different and unique and good.

It started out a little slow, and I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy it, but by about the third chapter in, I was really invested.

It's genre-defying. It's not really a mystery, although there's a mysterious element to it. It's also not a romance, although there are romantic elements.

I guess you just call it fiction. Maybe that's why the category of literary fiction exists... so that it can catch all the other non-genre books that don't fit anywhere else. Still, I liked it, and I'm glad I read it.

Aviary was the first book that I have ever read by Deirdre McNamer. She was an author that I was unfamiliar with. Her writing was quite good and her character development was complex and well developed. It took a while to fully grasp where the plot of Aviary was going and how all these characters were going to fit together. I have to admit that I was confused at times. Just when I thought I saw the connections, another character was introduced and threw me off base once again. By the end of the story it was clear how all the characters fit into the plot. I just wish it hadn’t taken that long.

Aviary took place in a deteriorating senior living facility in Montana. The residence was called Pheasant Run. There were a cast of mismatched residents living there. Among them were Cassie McMackin who had lost her husband and only child within months of each other, Rydell Clovis who was a retired professor, Leo Umberti who was a retired insurance agent and amateur painter of landscapes and Viola Six who was a friend to Cassie and was contemplating suicide. The building manager had recently been replaced. The new manager was less than capable of handling the necessary and basic repairs the residents might have needed. He appeared to have a rather sketchy background. His popularity with the residents of Pheasant Run was non-existent. There was not one resident at Pheasant Run that thought highly of him. His name was Herbie Bonebright. He was even suspected to have threatened renters in the building enough that they willingly moved out. Some of the residents believed that the owners of the building wanted to sell the building so they hired Herbie, an ex-convict type of person, to carry out their dirty work.

One night, well after the residents had retired, the fire alarm at Pheasant Run blared loud and shrill. A fire had broken out in Herbie Bonebright’s apartment. All the residents were forced to evacuate the building. Most of them were forced outside and had to stand there in their pajamas for quite a while. They stood outside and waited for the firemen to extinguish the fire. Lander Maki, the chief fire inspector, showed up and began to investigate the cause of the fire. Two things were discovered that night. Herbie Bonebright and Viola Six were missing and a teenage boy had been seen running from the building when the residents had been evacuated.. Lander Maki was suspicious about the circumstances surrounding the fire. Could Herbie or Vioa’s disappearance have had anything to do with the fire? Or could the sighting of the mysterious teenage boy wearing a Star Wars t-shirt seen running away from the building have something to do with the cause of the fire? Lander Maki had his work cut out for himself.

Aviary was beautifully written. It had parts that were tender and heartbreaking. Aviary explored the uniqueness of the characters and how they fit together as well. It was partly a mystery but not in the traditional sense. It explored love, grief, hope and the challenges of growing older. Aviary was good but not one of my favorites. Perhaps if it had not been so confusing from the start I might have liked it more.

I listened to the audiobook that was read by Christina Delaine. Her performance was pleasing. The audiobook ran for 8 hours and 23 minutes. Thank you to HighBridge Audio for allowing me to listen to this ARC of Aviary through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book didn't sit well with me. I don't think the book was as problematic as I found the reading. The pace was too slow and I couldn't stay focused. As for the plot, it seemed to mixed and jumbled for me.