Housebreaking
by Colleen Hubbard
Pub Date: April 19, 2022
Berkely
Debut author! Thanks to Colleen Hubbard, Berkely, and Net Galley for this ARC. It was not an easy read for me. Actually, the summary makes the book sound more interesting than it was. I could not wrap my mind around this one. I will not be recommending it.
2 stars

(Review will be posted soon, when it is published)
A well-written coming -of-age story about a woman in her mid 20s. This book is for anyone who has ever been an outsider, anyone who has had to empty a childhood home, or anyone dealing with unfinished business with deceased parents. That should take in a lot of people.

Housebreaking by Colleen Hubbard

Twenty four year old Del had a difficult childhood. Her mom was the black sheep of the family and a scandal led to her parents splitting up and her mom's family despising Del's family even more than they had before the scandal. Despite Del's Uncle Chuck making out big with the family inheritance he's mad because the family house was left to Del's mom. But Del's mom died and she went to live with her dad until he died and her dad's friend Tym took her in. But now Tym wants her gone, in the most friendly of ways, because he's finally ready to start living with one of his many guy hookups.

Del's Uncle Chuck wants her to come back to her hometown so he can pay her for her house. He's building housing developments and her land is right smack in the middle of his latest endeavor. But Del, who has made a life of underachieving and self sabotage, can't stand Uncle Chuck and his family and rebels at taking the house money and running. Instead she decides to dismantle the house and place it on the tiny lot of land that Chuck provides her. Not dismantle the house in a way that it can be put back together again, not move it so that it can ever be lived in again. She's going to destroy the house but pile up the pieces in sight of the new development. Del goes long periods of time without washing herself, she stinks, she doesn't comb her hair, she's unfriendly to everyone, and she has no other plan but to move the pieces of the house to the other lot before her March deadline is up.

Del reluctantly makes friends whether she wants them or not and they even help her with her project although they do tell her she stinks and get her to occasionally take a shower. By the end of the story Del has acquired a sort of friends and family group of people who care about her, she is certainly not alone, but I'm not sure she won't continue her destructive and self sabotaging behavior in the future. For me, this story was difficult to read, not as funny as it might be for others, and I really couldn't connect with Del's journey in life so far.

Thank you to Elisha at Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC.

Housebreaking by Colleen Hubbard was at once oddly soothing and would then jarringly jump to my not understanding where the novel was taking me. I’m still stuck on whether this was pure brilliance and I missed something, or it is what it is, an unusual story about a young woman trying to fix her life, in the craziest way possible.

Del, an adrift soul, lost both her parents and lives with one of her dad’s much older friends. She doesn’t brush her hair, often smells and gets by through inconsistent employment. I am someone who roots for the underdog, in fiction and in real life, so I started this book, rooting for Del. She’s pit against her narcissistic uncle and his family who want to scrap her family home to use the land for their own benefit. She agrees with a few important caveats, which leads her to deconstruct her house and move it to a track of land on the edge of the property. This is not metaphoric; she literally does this, pipe by pipe, beam by beam, wire by wire. This was exhausting for her and frankly, for the reader as well.

As much as I started with an affinity towards Del, it wasn’t long before I just wanted to slap her into shape. But alas, just in time she did start to get it together. I began to understand her goal more clearly and more importantly, got to watch her put herself out there.

Her relationship with Tym (her father’s friend) added a bit of humor that the book needed for some levity. And her taking a chance with Billy was also a wonderful addition.

I requested this book as background reading for a First Impressions Program booked by Jessica in marketing. It proved a success with the BookBrowse members who reviewed it with an average 4.4 star rating. We will feature the book from on sale April 19, both on BookBrowse and in newsletters -- links/captures etc. will be sent to Jessica at the time.

Here is a link to the member reviews on BookBrowse. Many members review elsewhere or post on social media -- and are encouraged to do so by BookBrowse, both at the time they submit their review, and with a reminder email just before publication.

https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/16127

This sounded much more interesting than it turned out and I’ve been trying to figure out why. The metaphor of the child dismantling the family home and physically moving it sounded like a great story. I was expecting lots of introspection from Del and her extended family, maybe a reckoning between them and some deeper understanding of Del’s parents. Instead, we got what was promised - a narrative about a girl physically moving a house. I expected some kind of revelation at the end - maybe the cousin and Del’s friends coming together to build a new house. Maybe that’s just too mainstream.

There is likely an audience for this that will analyze everything from Eleanor’s fur coats to the snapping turtle at the end. This one was just not for me.

This isn't my cup of tea except for the fact that I'm very into books about unhappy people making friends.

And no, don't use that to read into me psychologically. This is a one way transactional relationship, in which I put out a ton of content and overshare constantly and somehow manage to remain mysterious and unknown, okay??

But anyway, otherwise, this book: Weird!

It is very odd that this woman is exclusively friends with gay men and much older women!

I get the metaphor of a woman physically dismantling her familial home but this was just strange!

Really I think if this had veered more toward literary fiction (less obvious, a more difficult read) I would have liked it more!

Del is living with a friend of her Fathers with the understanding that she keeps a job. Her job history isn’t very good, she never lasts long at any job, she ends up losing her current job thru actions of her own. Del soon finds out she has inherited a house. This book didn’t catch my interest. The main characters actions weren’t logical and were sometimes against her best interests. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This book sounded much more interesting than it was. A young woman inherits a house. Her uncle is willing to buy it off her because he wants the land for his construction company. Due to a family squabble (which needed to have been better fleshed out) she decides to move the house instead and just sell the land. He gives her a deadline to have the house off the property. While doing this, she lives in the house, which is ramshackle and lacks all utilities. But I just didn’t get it. I truly felt it was a case of biting off your nose to spite your face. Del makes some really stupid decisions and I never understood her motives. I struggled to envision how she planned to live in a house she was disassembling. And as the story went on, I struggled to see the scenes where she actually works on the house play out in my head. They just didn’t come across as believable.
I did appreciate the ending and found Jeanne the most relatable character.
My thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for an advance copy of this book.

I read this book because it was under a “Family Drama” category. While it certainly was a family drama, it was pretty different from what I thought it would be.

Del, a young woman, has lost both her parents separately and is currently living/crashing with a friend of her father’s. She gets word that she inherited the house she grew up in and needed to settle some affairs.
Her background is complicated because of her mother’s drinking and her father’s choices. So Del is not welcomed back with open arms. Instead, she quickly learns that her family home will be demolished. So she chooses to dismantle the house and move the pieces. This is the part I didn’t understand.

The story takes us through Del’s memories of her parents, family members, and people she knows from town. We learn of the difficulties she has faced and why she has the attitude and personality that she does.
This book was a steady simmer. I wouldn’t say there were climaxes, but rather it was an even pace. The author’s descriptive writing style added to a confusing story at times. However, I am glad that the ending felt optimistic.

I was excited to read this one based on the description, but unfortunately it was not for me. I didn’t jive with the writing style and found the plot very slow moving.

Housebreaking
by Colleen Hubbard
When Elizabeth Strout and Ottessa Moshfegh are referenced in media reviews - as in "if you like ..." I have possibly unrealistically high expectations. Which were met! The requisite off kilter, unlikable yet believable family members, the impossible task ... I couldn't even clean out my closets given an entire year hidden at home. I'm looking forward to more from this first-time author. (less)

Del, a strong, female protagonist in her 20s, decides to take apart her deceased parents dilapidated house with the hope of finding clues to find out who her parents were. Del faces the cold of a New England winter to meet her uncle’s deadline to have the family home removed from the property he plans to develop into an upscale subdivision. Del works often with her bare hands to deconstruct the house, all while learning more about the small town, her high school friends, and her relatives. A recommended story reminiscent of Mildred Walker’s Winter Wheat (1944).

Interesting fact about this book you read a random dysfunctional family story about a random character and you truly enjoyed every second of it!

24 years old girl Del who spends an aimless life, working at random, shout-lived jobs, living with deceased father’s old friend as roommate, smoking pot, watching old musicals on Tv, then she finds out she got inherited her family house she’s left behind.

Her mother’s black sheep of the family, who is shunned and died at young age because of unhappiness. Del blames on her greedy uncle Chuck and his family ( especially two menace cousins and one stupid cousin Greg who does their dirty jobs) for her mother’s difficult and struggling life! Now the uncle Chuck is rich but he’s still resentful because their family gave the house to his sister to the house: the very same sister who was drunk all time and had an unsuccessful marriage that ruined their family reputation!

But the reason behind her mom’s humiliation and her relatives’ speaking ill about her father is completely different.

When Del goes to hometown, she thinks she’ll take her check and starts a new chapter in her life, moving to Florida or Nevada. But as soon as she arrives to the town, tripping down memory lane, seeing a nemesis who ruined her life, she decides to fight with her uncle and tear the place apart!

Of course in the middle of the winter, completing her mission without utilities, enough money can challenge her a lot. But she’s stubborn and determined enough even though everyone warns her she’s acting insane!

Well, her mission to destroy her own childhood house brings out family secrets and unexpected revelations that truly surprise her!

I was neutral about Del, interestingly I want to cheer for Eleanor and Tym who were absolutely outstanding supporting characters. Eleanor may be my future self ( she’s exactly like my grandma) made me laugh so hard! And Tym was peculiar, definitely interesting, one of a kind guy: I adored him.

I lost my interest in the middle of the book. Thankfully its pace picked up at the last third and I enjoyed the ending!

Because of the remarkable characterization and genuine story telling skills, I have to congratulate this lovely debut author! She’s promising and I’m looking forward to read her future works!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

This debut novel is a Bildungsroman with a twist. Spurred by a family feud, young, rude, aimless loner Del challenges herself to demolish the childhood home she has inherited. The twist is that she begins building her sense of self as she deconstructs the old building and goes through her family's stuff. Upon finding an old penny in the couch: "She imagined herself at the bank, sliding a penny across the counter, and having a nickel returned to her." Her expectations for the deconstruction project change over the course of the novel. Hoping to learn one thing, she learns many other unexpected things instead.

This book grew on me, it definitely started slowly where I couldn't understand Del's life or mindset whatsoever. She seemed very random to me, but I'd guess that her character was written that way on purpose, as more and more was revealed about her background as the story progressed. I still wouldn't say I liked her by the end, but I definitely got a kick out of her behavior. I still would have liked more understanding of who she was and why but I think sometimes we all have behaviors or quirks that are unexplainable even to ourselves.

The process of taking apart the house was inane yet satisfying as she continued to make progress. In the meantime her health and hygiene suffered. Is it somewhat unrealistic to assume one could survive through a Winter that way? Unsure but I would wonder that she didn't suffer more ill effects. Del still manages to pick up/keep a few friends and family despite her curmudgeonly persona. The supporting characters really made the book enjoyable for me. All said, I enjoyed this book. It was an odd premise, and it was refreshing to read something slightly absurd!

I loved the premise of HOUSEBREAKING, but I'm sorry to say the novel fell short for me. I'm wondering who the target audience is. The novel seems too quiet and slow-moving to be considered commercial/upmarket, but then the writing doesn't seem very literary.

In addition, I had a really difficult time connecting with Del or her project. I am 100% okay with protagonists who don't have their life all figured out. After all, it would be a boring story if they did. I like watching a character grow and develop. But Del is immature and selfish and snobbish and has very few redeeming qualities. And the narrative is paced pretty slowly so that I became impatient for any sign of growth and frustrated to come up short.

The supporting characters, especially Jeanne, were more entertaining and charismatic for me.

Hubbard is a very talented author and I look forward to her next book. I'm sure many readers will enjoy this one.

Del is a 24 years old, soon to be 25, who can not get her life on track. After her mother's death at age 17, she left everything behind, including the house her mother owned in a small New England town. She lives with her father until his death, only a few years later. One day she receives a phone call from an estranged cousin about the property she left behind years ago. Although she has no desire to return this place and family members she wants no contact with, she does so to finalize her ties with said family and place. This starts an adventure of huge interactions and seemingly insurmountable events that at times are humorous and at times heartbreaking. Most of the people she is forced to interact with are irritating, frustrating, and annoying to her. But as time goes on she learns a lot about herself and these others as she goes about trying to prove a point.

The story has a wonderful set of wonderful characters, all with messy lives. The landscape also provides a backdrop that is central to story. I found the book very enjoyable and had to put down always wondering what could happen next and what could go wrong.

I didn't like this book or Del to begin with but then I got sucked in and spent the rest of the evening finishing the book just to see how she would get out of the life she had made for herself. It just got better and better and I commend Colleen Hubbard for writing one of the best books I have read this year.

When I started this book I thought it was going to be a story of a big loser. She had not had much guidance from her parents, her mother died when she was 17 and she quit going to school. Her Dad’d friend, Tym, helped her a lot, but kicking her out was the push she needed.

Del is stubborn and wants to get what she can from her despised uncle, but it then turns into a type of revenge.

It’s well written and a really good story. I LOVED the ending!!!