We Are the Brennans

Sunday left her home in new York 5 years ago and became estranged to her family. After DUI and getting into a horrible accident, her brother Denny goes to L.A. to check on her and convinces her to go back to New York with him. There are a lot of secrets in this family that are being covered up. Especially why Sunday just picked up and left her New York life leaving her family and then boyfriend, Kale, in the dark. The family has a pretty popular bar called Brennans. Now, Denny and Kale are trying to open up a second bar, but Denny can’t get this place to pass inspection. He starts having a massive amount of financial troubles that can cause the family to loose everything! He decides to borrow money from a shady high school friend that without him knowing brings up a dark past history with his sibling. Kale, is now married and with kids, but having her back home is stirring up all the old emotions he had for her and causing a rift in his marriage. His wife is not happy at all with her coming back. This is a big family and everyone has a secret and confronting the past is the only way they can start moving forward. There are so many ties and secrets holding this family together, it’s hard not to get caught up in all the drama. I loved how it all wrapped up. I highly recommend this book!

Such a great family drama. I think it had a bit of a slow start and took a minute to get into it but then i really felt for the characters and rooted for them. Pretty solid debut

I really really enjoyed this audiobook! The characters were enjoyable, the secrets kept me interested and I wanted to spend time with the Brennans.

This debut novel was so good and I can't wait to read whatever this author writes next. My heart went out to each siblings troubles and I was rooting for them to be there for each other.

I would definitely recommend this audiobook!

I wanted to like this book. I had high hopes but it just didn’t deliver. I DNF’d it about halfway through the first time, but I tried again when I had some time to really sit and listen. Unfortunately, it didn’t get any better for me. There was just too much happening at once and I had to go back a few times.

Sadly, I lost access to this audiobook because my I had to get a new phone before I had a chance to listen to it and therefore lost the download. However, I have heard lovely things about the book and hope to get the chance to read it someday.

I enjoyed the audiobook so very much. It was my companion on my daily walks. I loved the narration and the flow of the story and how it covers the flawed and raw aspects of a family, of humans. Can it be relatable to some? Perhaps but what I think is so captivating about this book is just how each person has such a heart wrenching tale to tell.

Narration was fantastic and I would read this author again!

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this. It was an interesting look at a big Irish family and their dynamics and issues that have come up. I liked all the relationships and how the family looks out for each other.

We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange is a family drama centered around the Brennan family.
I requested an advance copy of this book because I was intrigued by the description of this Irish family in New York that are reunited when the estranged sister Sunday returns home after a car accident.
The story is told from alternating point of views and I enjoyed getting the perspective (and secrets) of the different family members.
There are many aspects of the story I enjoyed, especially the youngest brother Shaun and the family's caring relationship with him.
I only wished that there was a bit more detail to the story. I felt like it could have been fleshed out more fully. On the other hand, the shorter length made this feel faster paced and easy to read.

I received an advance audiobook copy from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and I appreciate the chance to give an honest review.
I highly recommend the audiobook narrated by Barrie Kreinik. It was a.pleasure to listen to.

This book about Sunday Brennan suddenly returning home to her very Irish American family in New York reminds me of a tv show. This read had it all, exaggerated characters, a Pub, family secrets, sibling rivalries, romances gone wrong. I loved the characters and thought that the story flowed really well, the way each chapter transitioned to a different character was really interesting and well written.

Unfortunately for me, it didn't hit all of the right notes. I got a little muddled down in the last half of the book, I wished there wasn't an overarching plot driving at explaining why Sunday had left and the story had just been one of understanding this family's dynamics and getting a little view into their lives.

All in all it was well worth the read and I loved the narration and the audiobook, I didn't want to turn it off!

This was such a great family drama! One of the best ones that I have read in awhile. As soon as I started reading the book, I knew I was going to love it. I was invested in this book the whole time, and I didn’t want it to end.

I really enjoyed how the book alternated between multiple POVs. I found it easy to keep track of who was who. I really enjoyed most of the characters in the book, a few I found a little annoying. But, I still enjoyed the story. Overall, it was a really great debut story, and I hope to read more by this author soon. If you’re into family dramas, I highly recommend checking this one out!

I did not love We Are the Brennan’s. 😬 I know many people did and I appreciate that everyone has different tastes in books. I didn’t dislike it, I am just not a big fan. I found it predictable and it reminded me of an older story, We Were the Mulvaney’s. The characters were okay and I did like the loyalty of the family but hoped they had trusted each other more.
I cant even say exactly what I did not like, apart from the predictability of the entire story line. I received this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. And I always struggle to leave a review for a book I didn’t enjoy. TW: miscarriage

This was a book out of my usuals genres of choice. I was hesitant to read it with all of the hype. But my husbands name is Brennan and I was like, okay let’s give it a try.

Seeing as I had no expectations this exceed everything 🤣 The characters were interesting and their circumstances were funny, but also well thought out and emotional.

I will say there were some parts that made me laugh out loud and others made my heart hurt.

We are the Brennans..... What an interesting book. Just a family saga of secrets!

I really liked the characters of this book. I also felt the author did a really good job of character development. However, I felt the book could have been a bit longer. The book was a good read, I did enjoy it. But it was like climbing a huge mountain and then riding a mine-cart down the other side. with a little over 200 pages, I felt the author did a good job with the book for the amount they gave us, But I feel like it could have been lets say 100 pages longer and I probably would've gave the book a higher rating. I felt the end was rushed. Even though, I felt the character building was good, I still would've liked more from them. Especially one in particular (name not included to not give the book away).

Book Summary according to me:
Sunday is a transplant to LA from New York. She has not seen family in a long time after she abruptly up and left her family. One day, Sunday wakes up in a hospital as a result of a car accident. Her emergency contact is no other than her brother, Who she hasn't had any contact with in years. After, Hospital evaluation, and no family in LA, Sunday knows it is best to travel back home for her recovery.

With a business on the line and family secrets. Her family is still wondering why Sunday left all those years ago. There is such thing as a small world after all!

We Are the Brennans is a entertaining and engrossing story. Part family drama, part mystery. I enjoyed it very much and came very close to giving it five stars.

As the story opens we meet Sunday Brennan who wakes up in a hospital in Los Angeles after she was in an accident that was her fault. We quickly learn that her family is in New York and that she hasn't been in communication with them for five years. She reluctantly realizes that she needs to go home and knows that there will be many questions. She left her big, close family and a fiancé without any explanation.

She soon realizes that some of them have big secrets too.

Sunday is the only daughter. Her brothers are Denny who owns a pub with her former love and his best friend Kale. He is planning to expand to a second location, but are the finances as they need to be? Jackie is a painter and former convict, who is desperately trying to rebuild his life. And the baby is Shaun. He has a severe intellectual disability, and works at a grocery store. All of the siblings dote on him and he is a wonderful, sweet and lovable character. I loved him as much as they did. Their mother passed away years ago, and their dad is trying to keep the family in-line. He came to the US in the 1980s from Northern Ireland. It is apparent that he was affected by The Troubles.

The books chapters are told from the various members of the family and Kale. I loved the alternating perspectives and the way it enhanced the slowly unfolding backstory. Each chapter seemed to pick up where the previous left, and gave more depth to the story being told. It allowed each character to develop more fully, but also the family as a unit was better illustrated.

I liked all of them. I cared about what happened to them. And I was sad to see the story end.

Thank you Netgalley and Celadon books for the gifted audiobook, in exchange for my honest review.

This was pretty meh for me.
I kept waiting for something unpredictable to happen, or a big twist, but it just never came.

The characters are flawed (which was very promising) and there certainly are family secrets and drama, again something that usually draws me in, but I just felt pretty bored and exasperated by the whole story and the ending just didn't do anything for me.

I think most people would probably enjoy this one enough to rate it higher than I have.

Audiobook narration from Barrie Kreinik was good, and definitely helped me keep listening even when I was rolling my eyes.

I wanted so bad to enjoy this one. I tried several times to listen and read it again. However, it just fell flat for me and I couldn’t keep focused on the characters. It was more background noise to me.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* much better than i thought it would be, i figured this could be a hit or miss and it was well worth the read

Family drama unfolds as an incident impacts them all, and their individual problems bleed into family life. I enjoyed the multi-character perspectives in each chapter, so the reader/listener can get a well-rounded viewpoint of the family dynamic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC audiobook to review! I loved listening to this story, and the audiobook narration was great!

A gripping Irish-Catholic family drama with a cast of unlikeable but redeemable characters with excellent narration. The story lost some of my respect at the reveal of the unconvincing big secret that came in between Sunday and Kale.

Although this book is not my usual genre, the synopsis intrigued me and I knew I had to read it. I am so glad I did. I have always been drawn to books and tv shows that center around a family with a lot of siblings even though I only have 1. This book had all of the secrets, drama and love that you would expect from siblings.

The unique way the chapters switched between characters was my favorite transition I have ever read. I would recommend everyone read this book for that alone!! I can’t wait to see what else this author has in the future and I will definitely be picking it up.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced ALC in exchange for my honest review.