Seeing this referenced as being similar to Ask Again, Yes should have been a red flag for me. I wasn't a fan of that one (it was just slow). But I wanted to give family dramas another shot. I got about 1/3 of the way through and realized I wasn't in it. I didn't care what was happening or what would happen. I should have known.

I received a copy of the audiobook from NetGalley - as far as the audio, it’s fantastic. The narrator is fantastic and does well with different voices for the different characters. If an audiobook doesn’t have a full cast, a narrator capable of voices is amazing - especially for a book like this that has different characters narrating different chapters.

As for the story, I come from a large Irish Catholic Family myself and this book resonates with that so much. Family first, hide everything that isn’t positive, food, beer, church weddings - it’s sort of nostalgic.

The story starts when Sunday Brennan gets into a car accident in California and her brother in New York is notified as her emergency contact. He convinces her to return home with him, at least until she heals from her accident. When they get home, everything she missed hits her in the face and old feelings resurface.

This is a story about family. The things that’ll tear you apart if you let it. Things that build a family - blood or not. Things that make a family stronger.

I loved this book. It was fantastic. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I listened to the audiobook of We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange. It was narrated by Barrie Kreinik who I have had the pleasure of listening to several times before. Her narration was brilliant once again. Tracey Lange’s talent shone bright in her debut book. Having shared the fact that she had grown up in a large Irish family herself with plenty of their own secrets, her debut novel borrowed from her experiences and produced a book that was both captivating and believable. It was most definitely character driven but had a complex plot that held my attention from the very beginning until the very end.

Sunday Brennan grew up in a town in Westchester County in New York. Her family were Irish Catholics and proud of their heritage. Sunday lived in a big home with her mother and father, older brothers Denny and Jackie and her youngest brother, Shaun, who was intellectually challenged. Her father’s construction company allowed her family to lead a very comfortable life. Sunday was the only daughter and as she got older her mother made sure that Sunday knew right from wrong and never made others question her choices. Appearances and good reputations were very important to her mother. When Sunday was in high school, she began dating her brother Denny’s best friend, Kale. Kale had practically grown up in the Brennan house. As Sunday and Kale matured, there was no denying that they were meant to be with each other. They slowly accepted their fate and fell deeply in love with each other but were determined to keep it a secret for the time being. Around this time, the Brennans family and Kale were planning a trip to Ireland. Sunday was excited about it and Kale was too but Sunday’s mother prevented Sunday from going. Her mother had recently been diagnosed with cancer and claimed she needed Sunday to stay home and help her get to her appointments and take care of her. After the family and Kale had left, Sunday started to feel lonely and resentful. One night she went to a pub with her cousin and made some very bad decisions. That night and the decisions she made changed Sunday’s life in ways she could never had expected. That harrowing night led Sunday to leave the people she loved with no plausible explanation and resettle in California.

Five years later, Sunday, now twenty-nine years old, found herself in a hospital room with bruises, a broken arm and injuries from a car accident. Driving while intoxicated, Sunday had crashed into a barricade and with little memory of what had happened woke up in a hospital room as she stared into her oldest brother Denny’s eyes. Somehow, with much coaxing, Denny was able to persuade Sunday to return home with him to New York. Sunday had not been home since her mother’s funeral. To Sunday’s relief, everyone welcomed her home with open and loving arms. Lots had changed though since Sunday had left all those years before. Denny and Kale had remained best friends and but were now business partners getting ready to open a second pub in Mamaroneck. Denny was harboring lots of secrets himself about the financial status of the new pub. A burst pipe had compromised the structure of the new pub and instead of communicating with Kale, his wife or anyone else, Denny assumed responsibility for fixing it single handedly. With no else’s knowledge, Denny secretively found a solution for getting the extra cash they needed to fix the pub’s structure and get it ready for the big opening It proved to be a very unconventional and dangerous way that would end up putting Denny’s and Kale’s friendship in jeopardy as well as Denny’s marriage. Kale was now married and had a young son. That was probably the hardest thing for Sunday to swallow and see. Then a man from Sunday’s past reappeared and threatened her family’s business with financial ruin. Could Sunday just sit by and let that happen or could she muster up all her courage and strength and confess to the secrets that she had harbored for all the years since she had disappeared years ago? Could she save her family from ruination and mend old wounds at the same time?

We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange was about an Irish Catholic family that was torn apart by secrets. It was told from the POV of the many diverse characters. The plot captured me and the characters kept me engaged. It was about family, secrets, trust, shame, appearances, second chances and healing. I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook and recommend it very highly. I rated this book with 4.5 very strong stars that I rounded up to 5. If you enjoy family dramas with a bit of romance thrown in, then I think you will enjoy reading or listening to We Are the Brennans. I can’t wait to see what Tracey Lange writes next.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio through Netgalley for allowing me to listen to this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

4.5 - A well written story following a family of Irish-American pub owners as they make mistakes, screw up, but ultimate find, and support eachother.

Not at all what I expected of this highly anticipated release, but in a great way! Lange has a unique way of writing scenes from multiple perspectives, and then coloring it in with character backstoey that really makes you feel what each person is going thru, and what has led them to the decisions they make.

Very solid read!

Thank you to Celadon Books and MacMillan Audio for an ARC and ALC of We Are the Brennans.

The Brennans are an Irish Catholic family and each member has their own secret. While trying to protect each other, those secrets begin to come to the surface, even those buried many years ago. Can the truth bring them closer together and save what they have all worked so hard for?

Told from multiple POV’s, this debut novel is wonderfully done. Tracey Lange seamlessly weaves the story together, which could get very tricky with the amount of POV’s presented. The audiobook was well done, also. I loved the Irish accent given to some characters.

Sunday Brennan crashes her car into a barrier after drinking too much at a birthday party for a coworker she barely even knows., It isn't like Sunday to decide to drive after drinking,. But Sunday has made quite a few decisions that are not like her in the last 5 years. It was then that she abruptly left her dysfunctional but close Irish Catholic family in New York to head out to Los Angeles for a writing job, She also left her longtime boyfriend, Kale. He never saw it coming, .
Sunday returns to New York to recover and to help out the financially struggling family pub which is co-owned by Kale. They are trying to open a second location, but everything seems to be going wrong and the financial hole seems to be bottomless. Sunday's brother, Denny keeps telling the family that he has things under control and it will be all right.. They don't know who he is getting his money from and Denny does not know why this is the last person he should have accepted money from. The secrets the family has kept from one another were meant to prevent any harm. Now these very secrets are bringing destruction to the Brennans..
Tracey Lange looks at familial bonds - parent/child, sibling/sibling. - and how they make us who we are, even if that is not the person we want to be, The ending was a little too quickly resolved, in my opinion, but I did enjoy the story. THe narrator did a lovely job conveying the feelings and characters of the story, My thanks to NetGalley for the ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review

This book had been on my wish list for some time and I was excited to receive an advanced copy of the Audio version narrated by Barrie Kreinik. I finished the book in less than 48 hours and am now sad to leave the Brennans behind. My favourite book of the year thus far. Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review an advanced copy.

Secrets and more secrets. A traditional Irish family that has found themselves back together again. The narrator does a great job revealing these secrets. Great read.

Overall Impression: I was going to wait to post a review until can process it more, but I couldn’t wait. I loved this book so much! I had been in a reading slump where everything was good but not great, and this one was better than great! 🙌🏻

We Are The Brennans follows the Brennan family (duh) after Sunday gets in a drunken car crash in LA and decides to come back home to New York to be with her Irish family 5 years after suddenly leaving both them and fiancé Kale.

(I’d say more, but I don’t want to give anything away, it’s best to read this one without expectations. DM me for TWs if needed.)

It’s told in alternating points of view in a way that pulls you deep into the story. I about threw the book across the room in solidarity with the brothers’ and Kale’s anger and cried with Sunday throughout her journey. Ok, so I might have always cried with/for Kale and Denny and Jackie too. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I am astonished that this is a debut novel for Tracey and can’t wait to read more from her. Honestly my only complaint is that it was too short and I want more. I could literally keep talking about this book, but insta said it was already too long 😂🤦🏻‍♀️.

I started this one on audio thanks to a free advanced copy from @netgalley (in exchange for an unbiased review) and went back and forth between audio and hardback for a while. By the last 80 pages, though, I was too sucked in and had to pick up the book to finish it off. I highly recommend the audio though. I maybe preferred to read this one, but I think that @barriebarriepix did a wonderful job of narrating the different characters and brought a realness to their stories.

Just like all families the Brennans aren’t perfect, but they do love each other in their own way. Tracey Lange is an amazing storyteller, weaving the lives of a big Irish family, lost young love, and a bit of twist at the very end. I listened to the audiobook and usually listen to audio books only when I'm doing something active like exercising, but this audiobook had me up until the middle of the night. I couldn't wait to find out how it ended. The narrator was great. A really good heartfelt story about the power of family.

We are the Brennans is a fantastic epic family drama with great flawed characters and theatrics throughout the story! Everyone in the Brennan family has secrets, from Sunday, who left her family restaurant in New York to become a writer in Los Angeles, to her ex-fiancé who is now married and has an adorable young son. Her father moved suddenly to the US from Ireland decades ago, and her 3 brothers have their own challenges. I was intrigued from the first chapter when Sunday crashed her car in what seemed like a series of accidental bad decisions, wound up in hospital, lost her license, and then returned home to recover with her family. The push and pull of family tensions throughout the story kept things interesting and I was touched by how they always stuck up for each other. Barrie Kreinik is a fantastic narrator and this was such a fascinating story to listen to, I didn't want it to end!

After seeing this book all over Book of the Month, I couldn’t wait to get the opportunity to read it myself.

And I am so glad I did get the opportunity.

Right away the author jumps into the storyline, having all the siblings banter and sling commentary towards each other that seems to be welcoming you into their family as you read on.

Having three other siblings myself, I loved the relationship between Sunday and Jackie as it reminded me of the closeness to one of my own.
I think my favorite part of the story, is how the parents choices whether they were out in the open, or kept Hidden from their children, really set into motion the tragedy and celebrations at the store siblings had to navigate. I know that as a parent we say we try our best for our children, and we do the best we can, but there’s a little bit of ownership that we forget to take that our choices as adults will eventually catch up to us whether that’s with privilege or consequence, and sometimes our kids will be left to clean up the mess.

As each Brennan family member dealt with their own personal situation throughout the story, you can’t help but notice the endearing camaraderie that they had in the family and it reminds me that sometimes you can grow up in the same family and be completely different adults, but what people do well is show up for their family celebrate the easy and to support the hard.

This drama filled story was a perfect reminder of how lies and family secrets are never kept buried for long.

We are the Brennans includes
- Family drama
- Irish Catholic family
- New York
- Poor decisions
- Dysfunctional family


Family is the main plot point In this book which I really loved. Every character has their own secrets and reasons why they did what they did. In We Are the Brennans you will see a lot of apologizing, things that make you mad, things you understand, and things you don't. However, it all comes together at the end. I really enjoyed the switching of points of view between the characters. You know which character is which during the transition, I found no need to look back at the beginning of the chapter to figure out who was telling the story.

The beginning was slow to me however, it is very well written and an easy read. The book does pick up of course, to the point where a lot of things are happening back to back!

The audiobook for this was great! I enjoyed the narration!

A beautiful debut., I will be buying a copy.

Thank You publishers for the early copy!

Oh, I really liked this novel! A lot of it was relatable. American/Irish Catholic family dynamics and a small town where everyone knows you are just a couple of ways I could relate. The Brennan family is vibrant on the outside but inside, they have their secrets, indiscretions, shame. No matter, family is family and they will always be there for each other. Imagine the story possibilities. It's one of my favorite books so far of 2021 and I can't wait to see what author Tracey Lange writes next.
The book was narrated by Barrie Kreinik - her performance was perfect and lovely.
4.5 stars

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for allowing me an early listener copy via the NetGalley app.

WE ARE THE BRENNANS by Tracey Lange resonated loud and clear with me. It felt so familiar just like being at home. This is a story about the Brennans siblings and the dynamic of their relationships. The Brennans is an Irish Catholic family from New York. The story follows the siblings as they each face the consequences of the past and the challenges of the present. Although they have their differences, they also have common history that will either mend them or break them. Which one will it be?

WE ARE THE BRENNANS is Ms. Lange’s debut novel. She is an author to watch. Her writing style is intelligent, moving, and thought-provoking. I absolutely loved how she used the end of one chapter to start the next. Each chapter offered a different POV which enhanced the story. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author. In the meantime, pick up a copy of this book and enjoy!

The narration was beautiful. The narrator was able to portrait the characters' feelings. She also was good at reproducing accents. Well done!

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced audiobook copy and Tracy Lange.

The narrator was great. I’ve listened to several books that she has narrated and enjoyed her voice.

As for the book it was good. Great family drama filled with secrets.

If you like to read a dysfunctional Irish American family, you’ll love this book like I did. It reminded me a bit of Maine by J Courtney Sullivan. We have the Catholic religion, the pub, the visits to the old country, the cups of tea and the messy, complex family dynamic. I listened to the audio and I highly commend the narrator on an amazing job of all the accents, especially the Northern ones. (I was born in Ireland and visit my family there often)

I was surprised to learn that this is a debut novel for Tracey Lange; I found her writing confident, smooth, smart and well-paced. The repetition of a line from the previous chapter was a nice touch. I enjoyed the plot – it became more twisty than I anticipated. The characters were very well developed and vulnerable; that Irish mother was scary real! Only Viv seemed one dimensional and stereotypical to me. They were flawed humans, but all were people I could relate to.

This is a family saga that includes four siblings, their relationships to each other and the outside world. It covers the danger of keeping secrets over the years and the far-reaching consequences, foreseeable and not. Universal questions are considered. Is it possible to go home and reinvent yourself? Is there only one true love? What is sacrificed for true love? How the position in the family can influence one’s relationships with other. This is a family that is envied by others but has lots of imperfections. The Brennans seemed real to me.

My only criticism would be that I found the focal “event” (no spoilers) was revisited too often for this reader. I understand the author was showing us the event from different perspectives, but I think use of first person might have achieved a better understanding of each character. The outside third person meant a retelling without a lot of new detail each time.

This is an entertaining book and I finished it in two days. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author. Thanks, NetGalley and MacMillan audio.

’Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.’
- Leo Tolstoy

The Brennans are a tightly-knit Irish family, living close to the parental family home in West Manor, NY. All except the only daughter, Sunday, who left years before to move to California, pursuing her dreams of becoming a writer, while at the same time leaving the man she loved behind with no explanation. She is forced to return when she wrecks her car, driving drunk, and ends up in the hospital. Denny, her oldest brother, is the one who gets the phone call notifying him of her circumstances, after which she returns - something she never wanted to do. Returning means not only facing her family, but facing Kale, the man she once loved, and still has feelings for.

Kale has married since then, and is also now a father, but is also almost considered family, since he is partners with her brother Denny on the family’s pub. It is impossible to avoid seeing him, and when she does all those old feelings come flooding back.

Each character, save one, in this story has their own secrets and stories, which all eventually come to the surface a little bit at a time. Some more scandalous than others, but only the youngest of her siblings seems to escape from being involved in the drama.

This is a family drama that feels both realistic, while slowly revealing drama upon drama as the story unveils over time. Each character, from the mother and father, the brothers and Sunday, the wives all have their own drama to add to it. In other hands, this could have just been too much, too unbelievable, but the way this was unveiled felt authentically real. It’s rare that I read a book, or as in this case listen to it, and come away thinking that it would make an excellent movie or series, but I could so easily visualize this one being adapted into a movie by someone like Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine.

Narrated by Barrie Kreinik, this is Tracey Lange’s debut novel, although it doesn’t feel like a debut. As she comes from a large Irish Catholic family herself, it is easy to feel the warmth she feels for this family she’s created. The way this story was woven throughout seems so authentic, and you can’t help but root for these characters she’s brought to life, hoping they find happiness.


Pub Date: 03 Aug 2021

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Macmillan Audio / Celadon Books

That one family in the neighborhood that everyone is so jealous of because everyone thinks their life is just so perfect.

If you’re into dramas surrounding family and friends then this is the book for you. From multiple viewpoints, it follows an Irish Catholic family from Long Island through their dark secrets, misunderstandings and mistakes. I found it to be a little slow at times, but picked up around 50%. The characters and their POV were all realistic, it pulled you in. The Brennans and their friends are close with an unbreakable bond. The narrator did a great job.

This reminded me of We’re All Adults here. I thought this was a great spin on the perfect American family that is anything but perfect. The characters are believable and you learn to care for them. The plot was not fast paced, but I found myself pouring through this book because I actually cared about the characters.