Wow! This book sucked me in from the very first sentence of the first page! I loved the time frame this novel was set in and the characters were so well developed I had very strong feelings (in both directions) for them all. Its not often an author can pull that off so flawlessly. The twists had me guessing right until the very end. Loved this book and was very entertained!

The is a gem of a debut novel! It's a heartwrenching, emotional, coming of age novel narrated by Bee (Borka) Kocsis and is set in the mid-80's. An atmosphere of nostalgia permeates the book and the beautiful writing shines. There are some tragic occurrences during Bee's childhood and the book digs deep into her emotions and describes the love between sisters, the jealousy, the closeness, the competition, her guilt (warranted or not), and her lack of confidence. The writing is evocative and the characters are memorable. I'm not going to give a synopsis of the story as anyone can read that in the book's description - also, I don't want to give away any of the plot.

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on May 3, 2022.

4.5 * An almost perfect debut by Karen Winn! I went into this without knowing what it is about and couldn't be more pleased with this 1980's throwback. This coming-of-age was the same time period for me and every preteen experience came rushing back. Twelve year old Bee Kocsis exemplifies the conflicts and hope of finding her identity. She is an "A" student, unpopular and envious of her more outgoing, younger and beautiful sister, Audrina. She searches for friendships in the cliques of the school in which her sister finds with ease and they both vie for the attention of the new boy on the block, Max.

The story wraps around the loss of innocence when Max's four year old sister, Sally, goes missing at the beach one day. This New Jersey's small town experiences suspicion and trauma... straining relationships even more. Harsh words are spoken that can't be taken back and the hope of bonding appears impossible and fills the void with regrets. Bee purposely withholds evidence that may have helped in the search for Sally, but chooses not to because of her own selfishness and jealousy that will torture her physically and mentally.

The author creates believable characters and an unforgettable atmospheric story. Clearly painting a picture of each family's home life behind closed doors with descriptive characters you will either love or hate. These families will suffer at different levels in the story with an incredible view of the consequences of our choices into adulthood. Don't miss this one!!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

WOW!! This book hit me in all the feels. I think it being set in 1985 really played a part in that. I grew up during this same era and it brought back so many memories of that time.

Bee and Audrina has such an interesting sister relationship. I loved that we saw and felt Bee hurt and betrayal and then at the same time the snips of Audrina's diary gave us her side. I hurt so much for Bee. She just wanted to be seen and she felt no one saw anyone other than Audrina. Bee experienced so much as a 13 year old. She saw the disappearance of her 4 year old neighbor., she felt the rift in her parent's marriage, she fell for a the boy next door, and tried to navigate middle school and popularity. I can't say enough about how real this book felt to me.

This is a debut novel from Karen Winn, but I promise I will be picking up her next book. I hope it is just as captivating.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Our Little World by Karen Winn

9780593184493

Pages
Publisher: Penguin Group Duton
Release Date: May 3, 2022

Fiction, General Fiction, Family Relationships, Abduction, Diabetes

Fourteen-year-old Bee and her sister Audrina live with their parents in a cul-de-sac neighborhood in the 1980s. Bee is jealous of her younger sister. She is the tomboy in the family while Audrina is pretty with delicate features and makes friends easily.

New neighbors move in next door with teenage Max and four-year-old Sally. The mothers take turns driving the kids to the lake and the club. On one excursion to the lake, Sally goes missing. Bee finds a piece of the charm bracelet that Audrina gave Sally before she went missing but doesn’t report it. This weighs heavy on her but as time goes by, she doesn’t know what to do.

The story is fast paced, the main characters are developed and flawed individuals. It is easy to like and dislike them as the story progresses. It is written in the first-person point of view as a memoir or diary. I did not know where the story was going and was sucked into the twists. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and look forward to reading more from her.

This book was a good read that involved two main girls coming of age. It wasn’t one of my favorite but the plot kept me guessing until the end.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.

A wonderfully-written coming-of-age story set in New Jersey in 1985, when life was simpler - no cells phones, kids played outside in the streets, and we hadn't heard of serial killers or children who went missing in the blink of an eye. It's hard to believe this is a debut because it's so rich with both details and nuanced characterizations of the family. Bee is the older sister and we know from the beginning that her younger sister Audrina, who is beautiful, vivacious, and gets all the attention, will die. The inciting incident is the disappearance of a 4-year old child from the beach, seemingly in plain sight and the subsequent paranoia and distrust that begins to spread through this isolated community. This is a nuanced portrait of not only Bee's growing into adulthood but also the people around her - coming into the modern world where people are not what they seem and everything is much more complex than we see as children.

Our Little World by Karen Winn was an utterly compelling work of fiction that took on sisterhood, loss, fitting in, tragedy, coming of age, marriage, small town life, and parenting. All these topics were woven into a meaningful story that felt realistic.

I loved that it took place in the 80s, before cell phones, the internet and when times seemed simpler. Winn made this small town in New Jersey come alive with her vivid descriptions. The two sisters in the book were a duo I’ll long remember. Borka (Bee), a year older than her sister Audrina, were completely different. While Borka excels in school, with very few friends, Audrina was a natural beauty and attracted friends like magnets. There was tension between the two that deepened after a tragedy occurs in their neighborhood.

The mystery surrounding the tragedy kept the reader invested as other complicated relationships ensued. Some were surprising and some were expected, but all were well crafted and worked into the storyline seamlessly. The secrets kept in this story were wrenching, especially when held by the kids. Not just Bee and Audrina, but also the neighborhood kids.

I was caught off guard when a character was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I’ve lived with disease for 36 years, so I usually prepare myself to be disappointed in how it’s portrayed. Thankfully, Winn did a darn good job. Had she not, as much as I liked this book, I would’ve bailed.

I highly recommend this book to readers of all types. It felt raw and real.

This story was a great trip down memory lane! It takes place in the mid 80’s at a time we did not worry about locking our doors, and kids could be out till all hours quite safely. Bee is the older sister by one year but Audrina is the one who shines, the one everyone gravitates to. This is a story of family, siblings, growing up and love.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sisterhood is a complicated relationship and there is no exception to this for Bee and Audrina. This book is a story of tragedy and growing up. I love that this story is told through Bee’s perspective as a young girl and how she grows and changes over years and circumstance. A common theme for this book for Bee is guilt and how that shapes the person Bee becomes. While the mystery of what happened to Sally finally wraps up in the epilogue, it was no happy ending for these characters. I enjoyed the story and watching the characters grow and evolve but struggled with the tragedies like any other story of this kind.

This coming of age novel is beautifully written and engrossing. I feel like I’m still reeling from the ending!

Borka, or “Bee” as she likes to be called, is a teen who often feels like she lives in the shadow of her younger, popular sister. Audrina is a person others are drawn to and who always seems to know the right things to say and do. The small town where the sisters live is shaken by the disappearance of their young neighbor during a swimming trip to the lake. This powerful story describes the aftermath of a tragedy and the way it affected a family.

This novel sucked me in. I felt like I was right there alongside the characters. Winn does a fantastic job of character building. Each person in the story felt so real to me. The writing was moving and had me in tears at times. I loved to follow Bee through the trials she faced growing up—changes in her body, interest in boys, worries about popularity—and woven throughout her personal story was the mystery of what happened to little Sally. The description of sisterhood was so real—the bond between Bee and Audrina was so true to life, as were the descriptions of their arguments.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads this year! I am looking forward to reading more work from this author in the future.

Pub date: 5/3/22
Genre: literary fiction, coming of age
In one sentence: Bee's life growing up in New Jersey is colored by tragedy - the disappearance of a young neighbor - and the feeling that she'll never live up to her beautiful sister Audrina.

I enjoyed the premise of this book, as I love coming of age stories. I loved getting to know Bee and seeing her grow up. Her complicated relationship with her sister and the rest of her family was a highlight. Winn's writing is beautiful and atmospheric - I felt transported back to 1985 New Jersey.

I struggled a bit with wanting this book to get going - it's more character-driven than I expected and a bit of a slow read with an abrupt conclusion. The second half of the book veered into melodrama, and I found myself questioning the plausibility of the story. That being said, this is a debut novel, and I think Winn shows a lot of promise.

Thank you to Dutton for providing a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is Karen Winn's debut novel, but I would've never guessed it. The writing brings up a lot of emotions - as many have already mentioned, nostalgia is a big one! - and characters are well developed as we evolve with them through childhood and into adulthood. Sometimes it feels like extended timelines are added to get the plot moving, but in this case, it felt really natural.

This book is complicated and sad. Yet the story is engaging and original. I read lots of mysteries and thrillers and this book is a real stand out. It’s a coming of age story that centers on two sisters who live in the 1980s. In some ways it’s more like the 1960s in its innocence. I had children in the later 80s and no way would I have let them be this unsupervised. But that aside, it’s a great story and unfortunately very believable. No spoilers, but get those tissues ready! Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the arc. I enjoyed the book tremendously.

✨BOOK REVIEW✨

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: May 3, 2022
Author: @kbookwriter

✨Synopsis✨
It’s the summer of 1985. The days are hot and the water is refreshing at Deer Chase Lake. Sisters, Bee and Audrina (who everyone loves and adores) and their new neighbors Max and Sally spend endless hours together at the lake and pool, until Sally goes missing at the lake one day. This sets the town on edge and is the beginning of many secrets, some deadly, between the two sisters.

💭Thoughts💭
I am a huge fan of books that give me a nostalgic feel. There’s nothing better than being transported to a simpler, idyllic time in your life. If you are the same, Our Little World by is a gem that will send you down memory lane full of Twinkies, riding around your neighborhood on your 10 speed bike, and wives gossiping on the landline to the 1980s. As a coming of age mega fan I was beyond impressed with this debut. It had interesting characters, sisters Bee and Audrina, a tragedy that rocks their small little town, and an emotional rollercoaster. The story highly character driven and is a thorough look into sisterhood and sibling rivalries, your awkward childhood years, grief, and finding you way. I don’t have a sister, but the dialogue whispered between them in their shared room, the secrets, and their unconditional love for each other made me long for a sister. This prologue will hook you from the start, the characters will keep you invested during the middle, and the shocking twist and reveal at the end will wrap it up like a perfect present! If you love books that are full of complex characters, lyrical words that grip your heart, and transport you to the good ol’ days this one is for you!

Thank you @netgalley and @duttonbooks for this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so simplistic but in such a good way. It was a true storytelling novel that holds your attention well and takes you through all the feels of “back in the day” ways. Sure there were moments that were a bit drawn out and I didn’t need all that nostalgia continuing on and on but overall I really enjoyed it.

Small town in New Jersey in the year of 1985 you have two sisters who couldn’t be any more different. The narration comes from the older sister Borka, or Bee as she prefers and she has a younger sister named Audrina. They get new neighbors with a boy named Max who is Bee’s age and he has a little sister named Sally who is 4. One day during the summer they are all at the lake and Sally disappears. You are then taken on a road of the hardships between the families and the sisters mainly. The growing pains the rivalry the true essence of having a sister so close in age but so different and innocent in so many ways than the times we have now. There are traumas and tenderness expressed so well. I will say towards the end it felt a bit redundant but it all came full circle and was a good chicken soup for the soul kind of read. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This book was a slow but often deep and moving book about two sisters, the complicated relationship between them and the effect of a missing child had on them. We know early on how things will end but it was still a disturbing look at the secrets in families and in neighborhoods.

A heartbreaking debut novel about a young girl who goes missing, a community reeling in the aftermath, one family who’s learning to cope with their loss, and another family who’s figuring out how to move on. I liked how the story developed, but found it to be a slower burn than I typically enjoy. I was happy with how things concluded and came full circle.

A touching novel about sisters, but one that pales in comparison to Celeste Ng's wonderful Everything I Never Told You. Worth the read for those who loved that title.

This slow-moving debut started off well, but soon became bogged down in details, and characters which were all pretty unlikable. A missing child early on in the book would lead you to believe this was a mystery type story, but for most of the book the missing child took a backseat to the exploration of childhood/adolescence during the 80’s, with themes of innocence and guilt, the bonds of sisterhood, and what it was like growing up in a small town.
The writing was uneven, and the pacing was slow, and ultimately, this was a did-not-finish, and a bit of a let-down.