okay my feelings are very all over the place, much like this book.

I was HOOKED in the beginning like a neighborhood child gone missing and a town full of suspects? excellent, right up my alley. but this was more of a coming of age in a terrifying time type of story.

so, cool, I’m on board with that.

I loved hearing about bee and drina’s experiences as sisters when their friend was taken right under their noses. it was a scary experience that we hear way too much of, and especially during the 80s, the police work didn’t have the technology and resources that it does now.

however, it quickly morphed again from a coming of age story to a depressive my sister’s keeper type of story. like did I want to read about bee and drina wishing each other were dead and then having medical emergencies? not really.

the ending was just so anticlimactic and depressing that I seriously sat there and wondered what kind of story I just forced myself to read. I didn’t even understand what the point was trying to be.

as I mentioned, I really wanted to like this one, and the entire first third captured my attention so quickly. it just completely fell off the rails after that …

the epilogue though confirmed everything I suspected and tried to tie up loose ends, but it was too late by that point.

on a positive note, the writing itself was absolutely beautiful, and I would definitely read another book by this author.

rating: 3 stars
wine pairing: california sauvignon blanc

This remarkable debut novel really tugged at my heartstrings. Set mostly in the mid- 80s in New Jersey, we meet sisters Bee and Audrina one summer. They spend days at the lake or the club with other neighborhood kids. The author really brought me back to this time and made me nostalgic.

As you might guess, Bee and Audrina have the usual sibling squabbles but are mostly best friends. There’s a tragedy that summer when a neighborhood girl goes missing at the lake.
As families keep their kids behind closed and locked doors for the rest of the summer, secrets come out in the open.

The author does an excellent job writing about the angst of middle/high school days, trying to be popular, and dealing with hormones. When a medical situation crops up for Audrina, the girls grow closer again.

The writing in this one is gorgeous filled with memorable characters, hard to believe it’s a debut! Can’t wait to read what this author writes next.

Wow!
I could not believe that this book was a debut. It was a delicate and soft coming of age story with a twist of dark suspense. Bee was 12 and her sister Audrina was just a year younger. It was set in 1985. The sisters lives were changed when a new neighbor moved in. Sally was so fascinated with Audrina from the very start and much to everybody’s horror, Sally went missing, this the story unfolds to a stunning suspense and thrilling plot.
I enjoyed this boom, it start slow and sure had hit dragging parts but that never took away the beauty of the writing.

Special thanks to Netgally and PRHAudio for the complimentary copies for reviw.

Our Little World was an outstanding novel about a complex relationship between sister. It is set in the 80's and in New Jersey which was so nostalgic! I thought that this was going to be a traditional detective story but it was so much more. Karen Winn wrote an amazing book with our Little World and I look forward to read more!

This is a coming of age novel set in a small town in New Jersey during the 1980’s. I enjoyed the nostalgia from that time period and the references to it. It dealt with family issues, sisters, tragic deaths. It was slow moving but interesting but it did not seem to pull me in the way some novels do. It was often sad to me, so maybe that was some of it. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Our Little World is an outstanding debut coming of age novel exploring a complicated sister relationship in the mid-80s. You will feel like you are in small town New Jersey in 1985 as you read Winn's vivid descriptions and lyrical writing. There is a missing child mystery within the plot, but the real star of the story is the sister relationship throughout the novel where you can feel the jealousy and secrets lurking beneath the surface. If you enjoy dark coming of age stories with beautiful writing, Our Little World is an excellent book to check out!

Thank you so much to the publisher for a digital arc. Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I couldn’t get invested in the plot nor did I care about the characters. Maybe it’s a case of right book, wrong time, but I don’t see myself giving this book another chance. Sorry.

OK so I thought this was going to be more of a murder mystery, and it was actually more about the relationship between the sisters. And how complicated that can be. I kept waiting for a shoe to drop, and that was my own misconception about what this book was about. As a murder mystery book this book sucked. But as a book dissecting relationships between sisters there a traumatic experience this was amazing.. I suspect that if I had read the description closer or maybe had a better understanding about what I was reading this would’ve been a five star book. This book really looked at how an event changes a small town, and everybody involved. And more specifically how Bee and Drina‘s relationship was affected and changed. I found all of the characters really relatable even through the complicatedness. There were some times I really had a hard time putting the book down to go to sleep. Overall this was a great read, I was just left wanting more because of my own misconception.

When you are witness to a tragedy it will irreparably change your life in ways that you might never understand. Unfortunately, this is what Bee experiences during the summer of 1985. While that might be the defining event for the community, it is what happens a year later that has the longer effects on her.

As a child who grew up in the 80s and often spent summer days anywhere but home, I can only imagine the impact a missing child would have had on our carefree days of childhood. It would have changed the amount of autonomy we had. Parents would have circled around the kids, just like Bee's parents did.

Ms. Winn does a fantastic job of telling the story through Bee's eyes as a young girl and then as an adult/mom.

Bee and Audrina’s story covers the complexity of sisterhood. Both the pain and the beauty. Everything seems to come easy for Audrina, while Bee (the older of the two) struggles for everything except grades. The summer of 1985 brought about change, to the neighborhood, to the sleepy New Jersey town and to the relationship between the two sisters. Things will never be the same again when the Baker’s move in across the street and their 4 year old daughter, Sally, goes missing at the lake. Bee has a secret and when it comes out it divides the sisters. Filled with guilt and shame, Bee separates her self further from Audrina. When tragedy strikes, Bee can’t help but wonder if everything would have just turned out differently if the Baker’s had never come to town and if Audrina and Sally had not become so intertwined. Karen Winn is a masterful story teller as she sweeps the reader away in this heartbreakingly beautiful coming of age story.

“Our Little World” by Karen Winn is a sad, slow burn that’s so good 💔⁣
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Thank you to Dutton Books and Netgalley for my gifted eARC of “Our Little World,” which came out 5/3 🎉⁣
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⭐️ rating: 4.25⁣
📚 genre: literary fiction ⁣
#️⃣ pages: 352⁣
🗓 pub date: 5/3⁣
⏳pace: slow burn ⁣
👯‍♀️the vibe: at its core, this book is really about sisterhood ⁣
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The publisher describes this one as a “lyrical coming-of-age novel that examines the complicated bond of sisterhood, the corrosive power of envy, and how the traumas of our youths can shape our identities for a lifetime” and I think that’s a perfect summary. ⁣
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Plot: “July 1985. It's a normal, sweltering New Jersey summer for soon-to-be seventh grader Bee Kocsis. Her thoughts center only on sunny days spent at Deer Chase Lake, on evenings chasing fireflies around her cul-de-sac with the neighborhood kids, and on Max, the boy who just moved in across the street. There's also the burgeoning worry that she'll never be as special as her younger sister, Audrina, who seems to effortlessly dazzle wherever she goes.⁣
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“But when Max's little sister, Sally, goes missing at the lake, Bee's long-held illusion of stability is shattered in an instant. As the families in her close-knit community turn inward, suspicious and protective, things in Bee's own home become increasingly strained, most of all with Audrina, when a shameful secret surfaces. With everything changed, Bee and Audrina's already-fraught sisterhood is pushed to the limit as they grow up--and apart--in the wake of an innocence lost too soon.”⁣
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This is really a gorgeously told sad tale. I really was hooked on the story line, but I’d caution you to pick it up when you’re in the mood for something a bit slower and deeper. I was getting worried there wouldn’t be a satisfying resolution for me, but I never should have doubted the author. The ending is incredible. It’s perfection.

Our Little World is an engrossing tale of two sisters in the 1980s. The main character, Bee, shares her every thought and feeling throughout a few years of traumatic events as well as common sisterly interactions. The story started a little slowly for me, but it sucked me in to their "Little World" after a few chapters.

This novel is not really a detective story, but more a drama of a family unfolding through beautiful writing. It is some of the best writing I've read in years.

I would recommend this as a beach read (to savor and enjoy) as well as a book club pick.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

A stunning debut, Karin Winn impresses with her vivid description and excellent storytelling. This book reminded me of when the world was a bit slower, safer, where kids could be kids in the 80s. An 80s kid myself, I really connected with the feeling of no worries when out in the pool, riding bikes or going to the beach. The characters in the book were very developed and I could feel the bond between sisters. The setting is in NJ, in a quiet cul de sac, which reminded me of my hometown. This is an exceptionally well written story, and I look forward to reading more by Karin Winn in the future!

Our Little World by Karen Winn was a delight to read. The setting of 1985 hooked me, as I was about the same age as the main character in 1985. The nostalgia factor was a plus, and the premise of a child going missing with the other child/teenage characters feeling guilt was intriguing to me.

The sisters Bee and Audrina had a fraught relationship that swung between love, hate, envy, sympathy and more. I found their relationship believable, and it formed the backbone of the whole book. Next door neighbor Max, who was also big brother to the missing girl, was not fleshed out as well, but he was important in Bee's life.

I found the plot to be evenly paced, and while not exactly full of action, it moved along as a slow burner. The suspense was built and foreshadowing kept me interested without giving away the secrets to be revealed later. The conclusion was satisfying, too.

I will highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories about kids that are told from an adult perspective looking back on their childhood.

The feeling I got while reading this reminded me a lot of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, which I recently read. That is a compliment, as these were both five star reads!

Thanks to the publisher Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Our Little World, Karen Winn’s debut novel, is strangely comforting with its nostalgic reminders of my childhood growing up in the mid-1980s. I say strangely because this is primarily a mystery novel that revolves around the disappearance of a four-year old girl. But Winn has done such a good job of placing the reader in the carefree summer days of 1985 as this novel opens, I felt at home despite the fearful nature of the subject matter. I found myself engrossed in the story, eager to uncover the secrets the pages held.

Our narrator is Bee, who is twelve years old in the summer of 1985, which is two years older than I was that year. I could easily relate to Bee, her younger sister Audrina, and their neighborhood friends. Unending hours playing outdoors, a childhood free of restrictions and expectations. It was a time like no other.

But for Bee this idyllic time is brought to an abrupt end when Max’s four year old sister Sally, Bee’s new neighbors who moved in across the street, disappears while Bee, Audrina, Max, and Sally are spending the day together at the local lake. The events of this traumatic day spark a change in Bee’s life that ripples through her family, her neighborhood, and her town.

Bee is a complicated character with her own set of problems. She’s very jealous of her sister, who she feels is more popular, prettier, and their father’s favorite. Bee and Audrina have supportive parents, but they aren’t very affectionate with the sisters, and they also seem to have problems in their marriage. Like many siblings, Bee and Audrina can be very close at times and very cruel to each other, as well. And as the next year unfolds after the disappearance of Sally, we see how Bee’s life is intertwined with this event, how she internalizes all her fears, makes poor decisions, and finds herself closely observing the people that inhabit her little cul-de-sac.

Our Little World is a quick read, and while I was entranced with the story, I found myself mostly enjoying the setting of a close neighborhood in the 1980s. This one is very well-written, and the mystery remained unsolved for me until the reveal, which always enhances the experience. If you’re a fan of mysteries, stories about sisters, or getting lost in nostalgia, be sure to add this one to your summer reading!

This is the type of murder mystery book that keeps you guessing the entire time and questioning if it is real or not. This book takes place in a small New Jersey Town in the 1980's and the author does an amazing job of painting a vivid picture that makes you feel like you are there. This story follows Bee and Audrina who have not been as close as they once were, so they are going back to their home town to hang out with Max and his sister sally. Sally goes missing, and you see how even through tragedy it can bring everyone close together. I loved this coming of age story mixed with a mystery. So incredibly well done!

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This is a nostalgic debut from Karen Winn. It takes the reader back to the 1980s, when things were both simpler and more complicated. The novel is told from the perspective of Bee, looking back on her life as a seventh grader and the things that happened in 1985. Bee and her one year younger sister Audrina live in a small New Jersey town, and that year, Max, who is Bee's age, and his four-year-old sister Sally move in across the street. Tragedy strikes, and everyone involved tries to make sense of the events.

Part coming-of-age story, this book is also deeply about the relationship between sisters: both the good and the bad. The jealousy, the interpretation of things through our own lenses, hidden secrets, and ultimately the love. As I grew up in the 80s and had a younger sister, I could identify so much with these experiences. It was a very nostalgic look back for me, and the emotions were portrayed in a very real and visceral way.

This is also fairly melancholy, because many sad things occur. This book is overall a true reflection of life, as not all situations turn out happily ever after in a neat package. I appreciated that, yet I'd warn readers to be in the right frame of mind in order to appreciate the story. For those who are wondering, everything does get resolved in the end. I worried for a while that we might not ever get closure with Sally, but it does happen.

I can't quite define the genre of this book either. It's definitely an adult novel, but the protagonists throughout the story are children and come at things with the perspective of a child. Situations viewed as an adult reflect an entirely different set of dilemmas and thought processes. This is where I think the author missed a little bit--Bee's point of view is very limited as a child and the author limits her adult reflections (likely to avoid spoiling the story) and I felt cheated of that adult perspective.

This is a book worth reading, especially if you grew up in the 1980s, because it will be a familiar, nostalgic look back.

More 3.5. A coming of age tale with quite serious threads woven in.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review

A Coming Of Age story based in the 80's with a present dark element.

The synopsis of this book immediately had me intrigued and I knew this would be a book I would absolutely devour.

This book focuses on our main character Bee who is a daughter, an older sister and a 12 year old trying to figure out who she is when shes not in her younger sisters shadow. Audrina is Bees younger sister and seems to be a child who can do no wrong.

One hot summer in 1985 their neighbors 4 year old daughter goes missing after a fun day at the beach. This shakes up the small town as its not used to such crime. We get to see Bee and Audrinas reaction to such a event and how they process the underlying darkness that is evident in their everyday lives.

AS the story unfolds we follow bee as she tries to digest how such a horrific thing can happen while also following her in her adolescence and seeing her go through having a crush and sibling fights and more.

This was such a beautiful story. The sibling relationship between Bee and Audrina was so beautifully written as it showed the ups and downs of siblings. Im an only child so it was very interesting eye opening thing to read about such a sibling relationship.

This book delivered everything it needed too and it left me processing the beauty of what I had just read.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Penguin Group-Dutton for my advance electronic copy of "Our Little World" in exchange for an honest review.