If you've read Girl in Pieces or How to Make Friends with the Dark, you know the depth and emotion of Kathleen Glasgow's stories. Kathleen has the distinct ability to wrap each word in emotion and care. This story is not only a beautiful and heartbreaking portrayal of loving someone who is struggling with addiction, but it also depicts the isolation and loneliness of being a teenager in the world, the struggle to be heard, seen, and understood by adults. Emory is a brilliant narrator, and the cast of characters is so well-developed throughout the story. I am absolutely in awe of Kathleen Glasgow's writing.
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Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House for the e-ARC!
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CW: addiction and recovery, car accident (graphic) resulting in the death of a minor, drug use, bullying, abandonment

Thank you so much @NetGalley and @delacortepress for gifting me a copy of You’d Be Home Now in exchange for an honest review.

💊 Mini Review ❤️
Y’all, I have no words. This book was amazing. I seriously cried throughout the last hour of the book, maybe even longer. @misskathleenglasgow really knows how to tear your heart out.

Emory is the good girl of her siblings, but also feels very invisible. Her older sister Maddie is the beautiful one, and her brother is the hard to deal with one. Joey has an addiction problem and Emory didn’t know about it until a fatal car accident kills Candy MontClaire and injures Emory badly. The car accident reveals just how bad Joey is struggling and needs help. This breathtaking story is about suffering, healing, and the joys that come with an imperfect family.

I absolutely loved this book. It’s definitely one of my top reads of the year so far. I know I’ve said that a few times now, but for real, I couldn’t put this book down. I expected this because I felt the same exact way when I read How to Make Friends with the Dark. Kathleen does a superb job at creating and writing about real characters with real issues.

I loved everyone in this book. Emory, Joey, Maddie, Liz, Daniel, Jeremy, and Simon. I can’t even imagine how hard it is to watch someone you love deal with addiction. I personally don’t know anyone with this struggle, but I feel like I understand it a smidge after reading You’d Be Home Now.

I am not very familiar with Our Town. The little bit I know is from Wonder. I really need to read it. I also learned about Lolita, which made me look it up and read reviews. I’m still shocked about it.

If you like reading stories that break your heart, read this book now. If you like crying your eyes out while reading, read this book now. If you like reading books with familial issues, read this book now. If you are reading this review, read it now!

I gave this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ And don’t forget to read the acknowledgments!

Kathleen Glasgow's YOU'D BE HOME NOW is her best work to date -- and I say that having loved her debut GIRL IN PIECES. I was hooked from page one and now intend to use the beginning of this book as an exemplar story opening with my students. I cared deeply about Emory and both of her siblings; the dynamics between the three also felt very real and had great depth. If I were to have one quibble with the book, it would be that I didn't think the use of "Our Town" was necessary; however, it didn't take away from my enjoyment of this story.

Wow, not sure I have processed this book yet. It was one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It was one that I cannot adequately put into words how this book made me feel. It was heartbreaking, honest and emotional. It is a must read and one I know I will most likely NEVER stop thinking about.

“That’s the thing about loving an addict. You don’t want to lose them. You’ll do anything to keep them with you.”

Wow. This book is incredibly powerful. I don’t even have words. EVERYONE needs to read this.

𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠

❄️Thank you to @random house children for providing me with an eARC via @NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Synopsis: One party. One car ride. One friend. That’s all it took. That’s all it took for Emory Ward’s life to do a complete 360 turn. Joey always did have a a drug issue but Emmy didn’t know it would go that far. Now that Emmys lost her brother to some rehab far far away she really doesn’t know what to do with her life. Her sisters the extraordinary outgoing child, and her brothers the misbehaving one. So where does she fit in? Sometimes being just “the good kid” isn’t enough for her. Now that schools starting Emmy has to see so many people, so many people that blame her for Candy’s death. But don’t they know that she blames herself too? That every time she goes to sleep she’s afraid she’ll have a nightmare or every time she gets in a car it’ll be a repeat of last time. So many people are trying to Emory how to feel, who to be and how to act. And for once in her life she won’t listen. As Emory goes on the path of finding herself she also discovers new friends and a new way of life that fits the new Emory.

This excellent novel by Kathleen Glasgow come out September 28 2021. Make sure to preorder this breathtaking novel and feel the roller coaster of a lifetime.

✨Wow. This book is exceptional. From the writing, to the plot and the characters it is absolute perfection. Kathleen Glasgow executed her ideas in such a way that one has to go back and read it again just to fully process it(a sign of a great author).This book talks about such heavy subjects that so many people go through, and Kathleens ability to talk about these subjects with such delicacy and sensitivity makes the book an even more heartfelt read. I loved how the ending proved that not all things can be solved so quickly, and sometimes a solution isn’t what you always need. I genuinely don’t have anything bad to say about this book, and already now that I’m going to be reading it a million more times. While reading this I felt so many feelings and was really able to put myself in Emorys shoes, I understood why everything happened the way it happened but also that there are some things we can’t control and there can be beauty in that too. This book is definitely a heavy read and will leave you thinking about the problems that occur in our world today and how common they are. This book opened up my eyes and I hope that by this writing review someone else will pick up this book and learn a little but more about the cause and effect of everything we do.

Please read tigger warnings before reading this book as some topics may be sensitive to certain readers.

Author: Kathleen Glasgow
Genre: Contemporary
Age rating: 15+
Trigger warnings: Drug abuse, car accidents, leaked photos and death.(for more TW search up before reading)
Stars:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Date published: September 28 2021

OH. MY. GOD.

I. AM. NOT. OK.

I REPEAT: I AM NOT OKAY. I am a broken, shattered, unconsolable mess.

Kathleen Glasgow once again completely shattered my heart and left me ugly crying. (I’m talking both tears and snot dribbling down my face because i was sobbing so damn hard, okay).

I read this book in one nearly sitting. Started at the beginning of the night, fell asleep for a few hours, and once it was clear I wasn’t going back to sleep any time soon, I picked this book right back up and finished it into the wee early hours of morning. By approximately 5:30 a.m., I finished the last words, and then immediately sobbed into my pillow.

I knew, even before delving into this story, that I would be left emotionally devastated and picking up the broken pieces of my heart. Why? Because it’s a Kathleen Glasgow book. I had just barely recovered from her prior two books (both of which also shattered me) and then this one comes along, and bam! I’m emotionally wrecked all over again. I’m wondering if I even have a heart left, because each of Kathleen’s books has taken a huge chunk of it away. (Thanks for the tears, emotionally damaged state, and broken heart, Kathleen.)

You’d Be Home By Now is a story of drug addiction, the exhausting impact it has on those around you, and the devastation it leaves in its wake for all involved. The sad truth about drug addiction is that it doesn’t just impact the addict themselves, but takes a huge toll on all involved. It’s a tsunami that leaves massive destruction in its wake, no one left untouched.

This book revolves, essentially, around a family in crisis. At the very start, we are thrown right smack into a tornado of emotions as we are introduced to the main character, Emory, who wakes up in a hospital after a car accident, to discover not only did one of the other passengers of the car is dead, but also that her brother, Joey, (who had also been in the car) is addicted to heroin. What follows is a devastating series of events. Sadness and the turmoil of addiction aside, we are also given a glimpse into the fierce love and bond that can exist between siblings, as is displayed between Emory and Joey as she navigates her way through his addiction and recovery. It’s a heartbreakingly beautiful thing to read, as many of us can relate to that deep love and devotion. That feeling of wanting to do whatever it takes to help someone you love, no matter the toll it takes on you in the process.

Maybe it’s because I have siblings that I love more than anything, and maybe it’s also the fact that i’ve dabbled in drugs during my teenage years (not to compare myself to someone who has a full blown addiction, especially a heroin addiction), been around and known people who have more than dabbled in drugs, and have actually lost an aunt to heroin addiction, that this story was able to touch me so damn much. It even brought me back to a time that I was in a mental health facility that doubled as a detox center, where I met a charming, extremely good lucking young guy (I can’t really remember because it’s been so long, but I don’t think he was any older than 19), who was going through detox from heroin for his umpteenth time. Even though I didn’t get the chance to really know him, I sometimes find myself still thinking about him at the most random of times, wondering if he finally triumphed in his recovery, or if he went back to his addiction, and ended up taking that one final, fatal hit. I would like to be optimistic and hope that this powerful drug didn’t take his life, but because so many people lose their lives to the needle, I can’t help but be saddened thinking it eventually killed him. This book (ugh, damn this book!) definitely hit close to home in many ways, and made me reflect not only on my own real life losses and experiences, but I also found myself thinking of my brother and sister. Neither, thankfully, have ever had a drug addiction, but I know that if they did, I would be much like Emory and do everything in my power to drag them back from the depths of hell and into recovery no matter what I had to do or if it took an eternity. Just thinking about anything happening to either one of them is enough to send me into a panic stricken spiral.

So yes. This is an extremely powerful story. Even if you can’t relate to what the characters are going through, I can’t imagine that their story and what they are experiencing won’t affect you in someway. If anything, this book will affect you due to the fact that our country is currently in the throes of a full blown Opioid epidemic, and it will have you reflecting on those people stuck in the throes of an addiction. Aside from the family in the center of this story, Kathleen also showcases those who end up on the streets, not caring about anything but their next fix. The people who are ignored and frowned down upon by society, looked at as disgusting and worthless because of their addiction. I’ve always had a fierce hatred of people looking down upon addictions like they are nothing but trash. THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS IN NEED OF HELP AND LOVE.

I don’t even know if I am making sense anymore, this story not only broke my heart but took away my words as well because it’s so hard to actually describe just how powerful this story is and why it’s such an important read.

This story could be yours. Your brother’s. Your sister’s. Your mother’s. Your neighbor’s. Your coworker’s. So many people struggle with not only addiction, but any number of other issues that are present in this book, such as anxiety.

Pick this book up. Let it open your eyes to what other people may be struggling with in this world, whether it be addiction or something else. Let it tear you apart but also put you back together with the hope it offers.

Thanks again for all the tears, Kathleen Glasgow! Now excuse me why I go cry again.

I recieved a copy of this through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

This book absolutely blew me away.
It follows the ups and downs of brother and sister, Joey and Emory, after an OD and Terrible car accident resulting in the death of a fellow high school student.
Summer is now over and Joey and Emory are faced with the trials and tribulations of high school, Along with whispers and rumors about the fatal accident involving them.
Joey is fresh from rehab and has strict guidelines set in place, an even stricter schedule, and parents who don't trust a word you say.
Emory, who has always felt invisible in her family, now has the task of "babysitting" joey in hopes of keeping him from a relapse.
Along the way Emory establishes new friendships, rekindles old ones, and begins to find herself and her voice. But nothing is every easy..
With new opportunity comes old ghosts to haunt them.
Will they let their demons win or find a new way of life that might not be so bad?

I really felt for both Emory and Joey. As a daughter of and addict and a recovering addict myself, I felt the pain and hopelessness that Joey felt trying to change his life.
As a girl who never quite fit in, I felt the lonliness Emory felt when abandoned by everyone she thought cared about her.
I even felt the pain of their parents, Trying to do right for their kids, but not knowing what right is.
This book is such a eye opener for the person who hasnt expirienced this, and like a warm blanket to those who have. Addiction isnt easy on ANYONE involved.
This book really hit the nail on the head from multiple perspecitves on the truth about addiction and the toll it takes on families.

I personally have never read one of Kathleen Glasgow’s novels but have heard that she is a hard-hitting author. She writes about sensitive subjects that are meant to pull at your heart strings, which has always made me interested in picking up her novels. I was so excited to see that I got accepted for an E-ARC on NetGalley and would be able to pick up her new novel and see how I felt about her writing style.

This novel had me immediately drawn in with the beginning of the story talking about what happened to cause these characters so much turmoil and how they must work through it to make it in life and how as a family they are able to handle not only those around them in their small town but their relationships with one another. I connected on a personal level with Emory and always being seen as the good, and rule following child who doesn’t measure up to her star of a sister or get the attention of her drug-addicted troublemaker of a brother. This novel follows Emory and her brother, Joey, after a major car accident where Joey OD’d on heroin, Emory hurt her leg, a well-loved girl from Emory’s school lost her life, and Joey’s drug dealing best friend was driving the car chaotically.

I started this novel unsure of how I would feel about the novel and how it covered the themes of grief, sexual awakening, friendship, drug use, and family relationships. There was a lot of possibilities that things could go wrong, and the emotions could be explained negatively but Glasgow was able to portray the emotions and actions beautifully. I fully recommend this novel if you like hard-hitting contemporaries that focus on themes of family, addiction, and grief.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Press for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review on this novel.

A beautifully written book that is intense and filled with drama, and heartache. It was definitely a page-turner, I read it in one sitting and didn't put it down until I finished. I kept wanting to know more about what was happening. A lot of the problems faced by the characters are relatable to everyone every day, giving the story a personal touch. I definitely think this is worth the read for everyone!

After car accident that killed a classmate, a teen and her newly-sober brother struggle to fit back into their community.

Gorgeous prose and an infusion of classic literature elevate this story of a community's coming-of-age into something truly exquisite. The suspenseful plot pushes readers along while authentic and complex emotions pull us deeper into the characters' world. Though the novel takes on two mammoth social problems (the opioid crisis crisis and slut-shaming culture), Glasgow anchors them both in her protagonist's struggle to be both noticed and respected by her family and community and also in the subplots of the parents and school community struggling to see outcasts as human beings. This novel is a must-buy for any YA collection!

This book deals with many subjects. The opioid pandemic, guilt, tough families, and many other topics. I think this book does a tremendous job dealing with the opioid topic (if y’all didn’t know this is something very dear to my heart and I CAN go on a tangent about it).

In this book, Emory Ward tries to be the perfect daughter. Wracked with trying to live up for her sister Mary’s legacy and take care of her drug addicted brother, Joey, Emory only has one good thing in her life. The Boy Next Door. When a crash kills a fellow student, injures her and another, and gets her brother sent to rehab.

Like I said, this book hit me so hard (and I totally finished it in a day) so I give it a 5/5! If you are ever looking for a good boohoo book I’d definitely recommend. I cannot wait to buy a hard copy of this one

Emory just wants everything to be okay. She worries constantly about disappointing her parents, who are so busy that she is always the one looking after about her older brother Joey. Joey, with whom she's always gotten along and shared secrets, is addicted to opioids and Emory finds herself covering for him more and more often. One night, when they go to a party and get in a car accident, Emory can't cover up for him anymore. Joey wasn't driving, but a classmate dies in the accident and his drug addiction is discovered. he's sent off to rehab while Emory recovers from her injuries.

When Joey returns home, will Emory still be able to help him, will they still be close? What about Gage, the boy next door that Emmy crushes on? What about school where everyone blames Emmy and Joey for the accident that killed one of their friends?

This book hooked me from the first page. Well-written and well-paced, the characters were believable and sympathetic. The events and resolution were realistic. I appreciated that everything wasn't tied up in a pretty bow at the end - life is never tied up in a pretty bow.

I recommend this book to everyone - ultimately, this story is hopeful and a testament to the power of love and humanity.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Honestly, I don't even know how to start this review. I finished reading it yesterday and it's still sitting with me. I have so many emotions swirling around in my head that it's dizzying. I connected with Emory and Joey's story not because I have personal experience with addiction, but because I live in a small town that has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. I work with at-risk teenagers at our local high school and I know that addiction is a real issue in their lives, either for themselves or their parents or siblings or friends. I don't think there is one student that I've worked with in the 14 years I have been doing this job that couldn't give you a heartbreaking story of how this crisis has personally affected them. This book is important for our young people to read, so that they know they are not alone.

I've read other books with characters dealing with drug addiction, but in You'd Be Home Now, Katherine Glasgow give a realistic and heartbreaking portrayal of the devastating effects of addiction on not just the addict, but their families and friends and the whole community. Real-life addiction stories don't always, or even usually, have a "they came out of rehab and lived happily ever after" ending, and I'm glad the author gives us an honest look at life after rehab. A look at Joey trying to deal with the issues that led him to drug use in the first place, issues that are still very present in his mind and in his life. A look at Emory trying to navigate high school being That Girl, the one whose brother almost OD'd, the one people blame for the death of a beloved classmate, the one with her own secrets. And a look at their parents, just trying to do what they believe is the right thing, just trying to keep their child alive. As a parent of young adults myself, I can understand their struggle, second-guessing every choice they make.

You'd Be Home Now is an important book for our young people. I hope that teachers use it in their classrooms and develop supportive lesson plans around it. I have already recommended it to one of my students and will continue to do so. It's a tough read in places, and it made me cry – especially when I got to the part that the title comes from – but this subject needs to be talked about more openly and this book is a great jumping-off point for honest discussions with our teens.

This is not my normal genre, but in saying that I will also say I could hardly put it down. Beautifully written in a way that absolutely invokes emotion. It kept me on an emotional roller coaster throughout the entire story. The character development was perfection, in that it was impossible not to connect to them, as it was very realistic! It’s a hard one to review, because it’s just so dang emotional! But if you’re a fan of the author, new to her, don’t mind being in emotional turmoil, then you need to grab it and read it! Fantastic!

I've been a long time fan of Kathleen's specifically her second book, HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE DARK. I thought that book was exquisitely written, with a painfully realistic look at grief. I was very excited to read this new one and while the writing is just as beautiful as ever, I felt the storyline beard more towards the bleak for me. I found myself struggling to want to continue reading simply because I knew how sad everything would be. That's not to say that sad books can't be wonderful and often times they are, this one just felt like everything that was happening was awful and you could see that it was just going to get worse. Maybe at a different time and place I would have a different perspective, but right now it was just a little too heavy and down for me to really love. Again, Kathleen's writing is gorgeous and this book is easy to read and become invested in the characters, I just can't go there with them right now.

Emory feels invisible. With a perfect older sister and an addict brother, she just goes along with what is expected to her and never stands up for herself. So when her brother comes back from rehab, she resumes her place as his keeper. But what will it take for Emory to go after what she wants? And will it backfire? As she navigates high school and crushes and lost friendships, on top of social media, she also has to navigate her brothers addiction. A compelling story about life, and love, and going after what you want.

Rating: 4.75/5 stars (rounded up to 5)

I was so excited to read another Kathleen Glasgow book after having just read Girl in Pieces, which I liked. However, I loved this book in comparison. I found myself constantly thinking about how similar I am, always being “good” so my parents didn’t have to worry about me in addition to my brother. The idea of feeling like you’re always in someone’s shadow, and everything you’re doing is for other people, not yourself. I loved the character development we saw in Emory as she slowly began letting herself be her true self.

This book was heartbreaking, yet refreshing to read. I felt so thankful to be reading about a character I felt I related to a lot. I felt for Emory’s family as they did everything they could to keep Joey from relapsing, and I felt for Joey as he did everything he could to stay clean for his family. This book targeted a heavy topic, showing the impact of having a close relative that is a drug addict, in a way that was not too heavy, but also did not downplay the seriousness of the situation.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC of Kathleen’s newest book!

This was way outside of my usual genre, so it was an interesting change to try something new.
The writing was very emotional, and the story did feel realistic. It didn’t follow as strict of a plot as in some fantasy I have read, but instead had several subplots that tied together for the resolution, and was left without a concrete finish, which I can appreciate because it felt natural.
That said, I did not find myself enjoying the realistic depictions of addiction and recovery, toxic relationships and manipulation, fights and loneliness. Objectively I think this was a good book, but I think it would be hard to have ‘fun’ reading it, and I disagreed with many of the MC’s choices, so that’s why I chose to rate it three stars.
This reminded me of both Little Fires Everywhere and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, even though it was very different from either of them.
Release on September 28, 2021.

You'd Be Home Now By Kathleen Glasglow is a beautiful story about the struggles and addiction to drugs. When Emorys brother is released from rehab after a fatal accident that put him there Emory does everything she can to make Joey feel normal. But everything is not normal. Her family, school even her friends are a struggle. Then thinks go bad to worse. Kathleen Glasglow writes to make you feel every struggle and hard ache. I loved this book.

Thank You Netgally for providing a copy of this book for an honest review.