This book literally tore out my heart and then refused to piece it back together again.

Each of the characters were so beautifully developed, and the entire concept of the book was just astonishing. The loyalty of Emmy was unmatched, and all of the characters within this story hit you exactly where they needed to in order to keep you hooked and wanting more! I honestly felt as if I was actually in the story with the characters!

This book hit super close to home with me, and the way addiction was described and portrayed in this book was exactly how I've experienced it with a family member. Sometimes in books that hit upon hard hitting topics, it's difficult to portray it accurately and respectfully but Kathleen Glasgow did exactly that so props to her. It had me hooked from the first page and made it almost impossible to put it down.

Definitely pick up this book if you're into hard hitting, traumatising but beautiful books. Be sure to check the triggers first but this is one book you do not want to miss out on reading!

Five stars!

Ironic that Kathleen Glasgow's first book is called Girl in Pieces because I am now A Girl in Pieces after reading this book x

This book tackles addiction in such a raw, honest, open, and heart wrenching way. It address the impact this has on family relationships, friends, a job, education, and so on. The way the relationship between brother and sister was touched upon in this book was phenomenal and I have never read anything like it.

The authors character development was extraordinary. Each and every character was bought to life as the story went on, especially Emory. I really got to know Emory and felt each of her emotions throughout. The way Joey's parents tackled his return home from rehab was something I found extremely interesting. The way they went about it was completely wrong, but also completely real. How do you tackle your child coming home from rehab? You never know until this is you.

Not once did the author romanticise, glamourise, or make addiction come across as a 'trend'. Addiction is painful, damaging, raw, emotional, and so much more. It was addressed with a lot of sensitivity and it is very clear the author spent a lot of time making sure they made this story real and relatable for those who have been effected by addiction in any way.

Kathleen Glasgow writes remarkably honestly and evokes true emotion while exploring darker themes such as addiction. The story is heartbreaking exploring addiction through a family. It's an important and relatable read. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy YA contemporary fiction.

This read had my heart aching; Kathleen Glasgow is masterful in the way she wields emotional vulnerability and writes such in-depth arcs on mental health.

Emmy is the good one. Not strong-willed like her beautiful older sister Maddie and not difficult like her brother Joey. She takes up as little space as possible. When Joey returns from rehab, her parents ask her to act as his guardian. She’s also expected to keep on top of her grades and hold everything together after the tragic events of that summer. The only person who makes her feel seen is her secret lover Gage, but no one can find out about that. How long can Emmy keep up her careful balancing act before it topples?
This was one of those books that sucked me in from the beginning and didn’t let go until I finished! I thought it was well written, with absolutely flawlessly done characters, and absolutely unputdownable.

Absolutely heartbreaking and gripping novel about addiction and the effects it has in families and loved ones. This book was so raw and human. I loved each of the characters and was absolutely rooting for them all. I absolutely empathise with embryos position being in a similar position myself in past years, so this made this qn even more difficult read for me. Glasgow has such a way with words. Absolutely adored this book and although part of me was left wanting to know how it all panned out I actually loved the realness of the ending. Addiction and recovery is a journey and the ending captured this perfectly.

First of all, thanks to NetGalley and Rock the Boat for approving my request and sending me an eARC in exchange for a honest review.
You have to know English isn’t my first language, so feel free to correct me if I make some mistakes while writing this review.


TRIGGER WARNING: drug use, car accident, death, bullying, slut-shaming.


The author's first book, Girl in Pieces, has been on my shelf even before it was translated into Italian with the title E poi ci sono io. And it's still unread on that shelf because, although I've always wanted to read it from the first time I knew about it, it has a topic in it that is a huge trigger to me - which is why I've always put off waiting for the right moment. .

But Kathleen Glasgow has always intrigued me and so I was really happy when NetGalley gave me the chance to read her most recent novel - and this time the trigger warnings aren't a joke either, but they were more within my reach.


The book opens with a powerful scene: Emory is in the passenger seat of her brother's car, returning from a party. But it's not her brother driving the car - no, Joey is sitting in the back unconscious and she's not even sure he's breathing. With his hands on the wheel is his best friend, Luther - but he drives too fast, it rains and he insists on making a quick stop somewhere instead of taking them home. Emory begs him to slow down and in the back, sitting next to Joey, is Candy - their schoolmate with a throbbing headache who just wanted to go home. And Candy cries and screams, she's afraid and she doesn't want to die ... and it only takes a moment, the car swerves and overturns and the last thing Emmy hears, before she faints, is Candy's breathing and seemingly drowning in her own blood.

Emmy wakes up in the hospital with excruciating pain in her leg from a shattered knee. And here is the news about the others: Candy is dead, Luther has lost an eye and will end up in juvie for causing Candy's death and because cops found so much drugs on him that sure wasn't for personal use and Joey's blood analysis reveal he nearly overdosed on heroin. How was it possible to get to this point?


You'd Be Home Now is a coming-of-age novel heavily centered on its protagonist and her family. Emmy has felt invisible all her life: she's not quite as beautiful as her older sister Maddie, but she never complained when her mother tried to make her follow in her footsteps by making her join the dance team and her parents' attentions - when they're home - are all for the troubled Joey. Joey, who clearly has some kind of learning disabilities that have always made him feel inferior to his sisters and never enough in the eyes of his parents (respectively a lawyer and the other doctor), started early with pills: for his behavior first. prescribed when he was only a child, then painkillers after an injury, then weed and heroin in the end. And with Maddie in college, Emmy has always been complicit - the one who helped him with his homework, the one who made excuses for him and his absences and his behavior, the one who covered him for his lateness ... but that was until she believed it was just weed and not heroin.

But Emmy continues to remain invisible in her home because, even now that Joey is back after three months of rehab, perhaps now more than ever she has to babysit him, be with him at all times and make sure Joey sticks strictly to the list of things and steps for him to do that their mother drafted to "fix" Joey.

And Emmy? Isn't she entitled to a life? Doesn't she have the right to be seen, loved, touched, held tight and comforted? Emmy can partly understand Joey's addiction, although hers is not drug related - Emmy has several secrets, secrets that she will go to great lengths to protect. Emmy is the good one, the reliable one, the one who never gives trouble - but because of her secrets and her addiction, she too is willing to lie and steal to get something that's hers alone. And she too, just like her brother, comes to make choices that aren't always right.

It becomes extremely easy to get attached to these characters, especially Emmy and Joey. Joey's path is difficult, tortuous, full of obstacles and temptations, divided between the desire to feel and be good and to fall back into old habits; Emmy starts out as a quiet little girl who accepts everything she is told and dictated to because she was "trained" by her mother to be like this, with never a public act of rebellion, but then she grows a backbone and proves she's ready to do anything to save her brother from his drug addiction and to be her own person.

Their parents are terrible at first: they're never home, they think about making even more money, they care about others and their opinions and apparently not enough about their children, they criticize them for their choices when they are the first to need a sleeping pill at night and have a habit of smoking in the car - especially Abigail, their mother, is unlikeable at first: she denies painkillers to Emmy after the accident out of fear that she's like her brother and she expects Joey to be okay once he gets home, that keeping him busy all the time with a to-do list and getting him away from friends will cure him of his addiction without them having to do something.

You'd Be Home Now is a blow to the stomach for so many reasons.
The theme of drugs, of its abuse and its consequences is written really well: it's initially seen through the eyes of a young girl who perhaps cannot fully understand it if it's not a "pull" she feels within herself, but who then becomes aware of the thing. Then problems relating to people who can't help their addiction and are unable to stop and a system that does nothing to help them are seen through the eyes of her father, who is a doctor.
But it's also a story of lost and found and new friendships, support, courage and above all love between siblings - a relationship that has ups and downs, of blame and then forgiveness, mistakes and shortcomings, but also of arms always ready to welcome you home and keep you safe.

You'd Be Home Now beautifully describes the life of a girl who loves her brother, but who at the same time is also bothered by him because she feels invisible within her own family - as the world calls them killers and drugs seem more important to Joey than anything else, even a family that's just noise to his ears. It's the story of a girl who wants to be seen, heard, accepted, but who is also afraid to ask for all these things - the story of a girl who wants to have a life of her own and find out who she is without the labels someone else put on her.

You'd Be Home Now is a poignant story that moves, one that after a powerful start may take a while to get going, but once you're in it, it's impossible not to get involved in their lives. It's a story of healing, of loss, of little wins and big defeats, of challenges and struggles and obstacles, but also of joy - that joy we can sometimes find where we don't expect to find it.

This was my first Kathleen Glasgow novel, but it will not be my last! I loved Glasgow's writing style and the way she was able to match it to the personality of the main character. There is so much hurt and neglect within the main character, and that shines through in the word choice and writing style. Sometimes the sentences were very long, like Emmy was spiraling and it making her out of breath - it was such a cool effect! I adored the story and the importance of the subject matter, as well as how it was handled. Everything felt very authentic, yet it was done with respect and sensitivity, which is important with such a heavy subject matter. It's amazing that we live in a world where books like this one exists, since addiction is something not many books deal with and when they do, it is not done with this perspective. It was clear that a lot of time and research had been put into this book and it really paid off! The message that Glasgow wanted to express definitely came across and it was done beautifully.

I loved the cast. It was so cool to see flawed people portrayed in this way. It added to the authenticity of the story and you couldn't help but feel for them. I didn't expect to be so moved by this book, but in the end of it I was a teary mess. I have already ordered Glasgows other books and cannot wait to get started!

Trigger warning for drug use, addiction and abuse.

I flew through this book and every emotion possible whilst reading.
The book begins in the aftermath of a fatal car crash involving brother and sister, Emory and Joey. The entire town of Mill Haven is shaken by the events of that night but not all of the repercussions are really seen until months later.
Joey returns home to his disjointed family after a summer in rehab and Emory must face up to a new school year whilst she must take on the responsibilities of everyone around her and the guilt of being a survivor. At times I wanted to shake Emory and at others I sympathised at how she takes on so much to protect and care for others. The truth is this book is far more than a book about a picturesque town with a dark drug problem, it is more than a YA book focusing on trauma and addiction. For me this book is about how everyone has their own battles, addictions and coping mechanisms; healthy or not they help in the moment and it is not until the characters truly talk that their individual journeys towards healing can truly be realised.
I loved this book for so many reasons and became so invested in all of the characters which shows just how amazing Glasgow is at creating rich individuals and multilayered plots that reach out across the entire book. I cannot wait for her next release!

Let me just say one thing... This book reduced me to tears. I dare anyone to read this and not become invested in the characters.

I'm not really sure how to sum this book up, it's achingly beautiful and yet sad at the same time. I am not a teen and I've never been to America, but reading this felt so real. The author has the power to drop you right into the setting and leave you there, floundering like the characters. One minute it had that kind of "never have I ever " vibe with the geeky teen and secret affair and the boy waiting patiently in the background, hut next minute your totally thrown into this world of heartache and confusion. Parents that don't see, teens who are lost and a society which turns a blind eye.

This book raises so many issues and is genuinely clever. The whole invisibility thing but then Emmy not seeing that Daniel was there all along. The parents trying to wrap their kid in bubble wrap and make them who they want them to be, right down to the teacher and his book choices, (nice tie up there btw).

This book has so much to offer. The writing style is perfect, the addition of the social media pages was great, I knew Carly would appear, although I'm left to decide for myself what happens next for her. And the shame element and social norms. Really thus book is a just read. I don't care where you live, or how old you are, we can all learn something from this.

📖Review: You’d Be Home Now📖
By: Kathleen Glasgow
Genre: YA contemporary
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ / 5
Publishing date: 14th of October 2021
Provided by: NetGalley and OneWorld Publications
[TW: drug use and abuse, overdose, suicide, addiction, car accident, death of a friend, PTSD, rehabilitation, cyberbullying, non-censual distribution of a private photo, cancer]

🟢 What I liked:
↪️ Honesty: Glasgow is an extraordinarily honest writer, and I appreciated that she didn’t “dumb” the theme down because it was a YA book. She brings awareness to addiction without glamorising it, which made the book more impactful
↪️ Characters: the creation of the characters was done well; they were unique, filled with flaws but weren’t written condescendingly. The character development was one of my favourite aspects of the book as their journeys were written to be powerful; they will stick with me for a long time

🔴 What I didn’t like:
↪️ Dialogue: the characters had inconsistent dialogue for their age; sometimes they sounded their own age whereas other times they sounded much older which was confusing and did hold back my ability to, for the lack of a better word, “enjoy” the characters
↪️ Pacing: this was another aspect that I felt to be inconsistent. The first half was much slower than the second half, which went almost too quickly without time for me to process the major events before everything had moved on

🟡 Summary:
↪️ I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. The writing never fully clicked for me, which took away the “wow” which makes a 4 or even 5 star read, however it raised very important themes

This is a good read. It's intense and deep and is an emotional rollercoaster of a book. It tackles a lot of important, moving subjects and features well-developed complicated characters who are facing a range of different struggles and perspectives. Parts of it were absolutely incredible and blew me away. However, it was so long. Or at least, longer than I felt it should have been. It just kept going on and on and I felt like if it had been more succinct, it would have hit harder and I would have been able to stay invested. There was also just so much going on at all times and although Emory was very well developed, I didn't connect to her a character that well and I didn't like her, which definitely affected my enjoyment of the book.

Overall 'You'd Be Home Now' is a complicated important book that portrays addiction and teenage trauma with grace and it is beautifully written. Unfortunately, I just didn't love it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow is a powerful and emotional story of addiction and the devastation it can wreak on a family.
Emory has always been the quiet, reliable one in her family, not as beautiful as her big sister Maggie. not as difficult as her brother Joey, she keeps her head down at tries not to make trouble for her busy parents. When she and Joey are involved in a car accident that claims the life of a fellow student, and Joey is sent to rehab for his drug problem, home life is more stressful than ever, so when her next door neighbour, one of the coolest guys at school seems to be showing an interest in her , she can hardly believe her luck. As Summer break draws to a close and Joey returns from rehab, both he and Emory are dreading returning to school where they will be the focus of gossip. The situation at home is not much better, their parents have put a list of restrictive rules in place for Joey and made Emory his de facto babysitter, putting her in charge of helping him to maintain his sobriety, As pressure and stress builds something will have to give, and when it does, it seems like Emory's carefully curated life will be the first to topple.
This was a vividly descriptive and incredibly realistic account of how addiction can impact on a person and indeed on their whole family, no matter how perfect or easy their lives may seem from the outside. Emory is such a wonderful character, so believable and vulnerable that it is impossible not to root for her despite knowing how fruitless it is for her to try to take charge of her brother's problem. The book tackles many heavy topics in a very frank and honest way, so at times it is a difficult and emotional read, but I feel like it is an important story that many people would benefit from reading. While Emory is the focus of the story, all of the characters feel well developed, particularly Joey, and his struggles are so well depicted in the book..
This is a powerful book and a story that will unfortunately resonate with far too many people.
I read a review copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Honestly wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this but I LOVED it.
The characters felt so real and imperfect and I really found myself warming to Emory the more I read. I loved all of the different relationships in this book, and seeing them evolve and develop. I genuinely feel like I've been on such a journey with them all.
I will definitely be looking for more by this author.

For some very tough and intense subjects, this book is a well pitched and all round outstanding YA read!

Wow! This was an utterly breathtaking incredible read. Read it, read it now!
Beautifully written and perfectly observed for YA

Wow, I had to take a minute to process this book before I wrote my review. I must say, I was affected by this book!

The relationships in this story are second to none. They are relatable even if you take away some aspects of the story (drugs). I know a lot of people that experience similar family dynamics and this was displayed beautifully!

I literally couldn’t put this book down - I read from the second I woke up until I had to leave for work and then the second I got home until I eventually finished it.

It was gripping from the first chapter and the character development is phenomenal. There are so many small details that if you miss make a big difference to the story.

I really enjoyed this book and would give it a 5 star rating. Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Buy it guys, buy it now!

I enjoyed this novel very much. I haven't read many young adult novels from the POV of a sibling of an addict, and the premise worked well. I think I had expected a darker story, given the previous novel I read by this author, but this was hopeful and at times heart warming.

When I finished Girl in Pieces for the first time I remember feeling a similar sense of dumfoundedness as I do now. Kathleen Glasgow is unparalleled in conveying gritty and realistic narratives and characters, making it very hard for me to review her books. How do you review a story as raw and prevelant as this?

Emory is a very relatable character, narrating this harrowing story in a naive and introspective way. However, this in no way takes away from her complexity and agency; Emory is definitely not a self-insert. Joey is a fully realised and tangible character, at times consumed by his illness but still given a voice. The beautiful moments of fierce sibling love throughout this story tugged on my heartstrings every time. There's nothing Emory wouldn't do for her brother and this shone spectacularly through her narrative.

You'd Be Home Now is definitely more moralizing than Girl in Pieces, but still as intentionally nuanced, refusing to romanticise heartbreaking topics. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone. I would implore readers to look up any specific trigger warnings they may be sensitive to before reading You'd Be Home Now. That said, if you enjoy reading hard-hitting YA contemporary, with minimal romance, introspection and lots of angst, pick this book up.

Thank you to Oneworld and NetGalley for this e-arc!

Important note: please check the trigger warnings before you decide to read this book, as it deals with very heavy subjects like suicide, drug use and abuse, and addiction.

Emory is a girl just trying to survive high school by staying in other people’s shadows and trying to fix other people. That’s not how life works. You can’t “fix” other people. You can’t live your life constantly thinking of others first and putting yourself in second place. Yet, she tries. Her brother is suffering from addiction and she wants to fix him, to help him, so he doesn’t relapse.

This book absolutely blew me away. I had a very hard time reading the last few chapters because I had tears in my eyes the entire time. I also had to put the book down after the first view chapters because the topic is so heavy and just reading it made me hurt. This story is a very important story that definitely needs to be told. I could relate to Emory very very much, in a way that made me ache and hurt and think about my own life. I would highly recommend this book to literally anyone and everyone.

I would like to thank Kathleen Glasgow for writing this amazing and incredible book. It’s raw, it’s real, and this story — like I said before — needs to be told. Secondly, I would like to thank NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.