I feel like, at this point, I don't need to add too much praise since this book has won all the awards! And rightly so. I will note that it took me a long time to get into this book. I'm not sure I would have followed through without the buzz. But I'm very glad I did. This cast of characters will stick with me for a long, long time.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one as I have not read the previous book. This book is a series of interconnected stories and that is something that I usually find interesting. With this book however, I was thrown off by the different writing styles and overall could not get engaged.

It’s been said that it’s not necessary to read the first book to enjoy this one, but I disagree. If I hadn’t just reread A Visit from the Goon Squad, I don’t think I would have liked this book as much. References to characters from the previous book were the beating heart of this one. While I did enjoy reading this, I would consider it a true sequel that would be quite dry read on its own.

Couldn't get into this one, despite being a fan of the author's previous work, but in terms of potential purchase for a library it would be an unqualified "yes". Not every book is for every reader but Egan's reputation has earned her new titles automatic inclusion in a robust collection.

The Candy House is effectively a companion/sequel to Egan's 2011 Pulitzer-winning A Visit From the Goon Squad. It follows the same style of long chapters that tell individual, yet interconnected stories, so if you liked the style of Goon Squad, you’ll probably enjoy this one as well. In this novel, the thing that somewhat tenuously ties the stories together is a semi-dystopian-yet-still-something-that-could-happen-in-our-lifetime technology called Own Your Unconscious, a kind of cloud where people can upload their memories and view those of others.
While the premise seems flashy, the book is actually a series of deep and thoughtful character studies set against an intellectual backdrop of big ideas evoked by the new technology (social media, memory, privacy, etc.). This book felt less cohesive to me than Goon Squad—more like a series of vaguely linked short stories than a novel. As with a short story collection, I found the chapters/characters to be hit-or-miss, with some gems and some duds, but I still found the overall book thought-provoking and always appreciate Egan’s willingness to experiment.

I was very excited about this book, but struggled as I had not read Egan's previous work. I put this aside until I finish her other work and will revisit. This was a novel which felt a bit like work and was difficult to fully fall into. Again, I think much of that was timing and the lack of background knowledge from the author's previous work

The Candy House has taken me a while to get through. The disjointed chapters, especially those that were all texts or emails, were frustrating reading for me. I don’t know why authors thinks texts and emails are so fascinating to read? Egan an excellent author and perhaps I would have enjoyed this if I had read The Goon Squad for a second time. However, time is getting shorter and the book pile is getting longer, so few books are read twice.
Recommended for Egan fans.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. Jennifer Egan does it again - this book is *chef's kiss*. I actually went back and read A Visit from The Goon Squad in preparation for this novel, as it had been over 10 years since I'd read it. I highly recommend doing that - there is a ton of character crossover. I actually kept a copy of the Goon Squad on my Kindle so I could search for character names and make connections. I'm not sure if that was overkill, but it worked for me. Regardless of the connections, this isn't necessarily a sequel in the traditional sense, as the plot centers around a new technology that allows people to upload their memories to a collective for themselves and others to relive. The plot centers around this and all its repercussions. It's extremely well done and thought-provoking. There's a large list of characters, all who were intriguing and fresh. This book has rocketed Egan up on my list of favorite authors - need to go back and read her backlist now.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This book was very hard to keep track of characters and what was happening. I’m not sure if it’s just the authors style since I haven’t read and of her other books or if this book was just different but it missed the mark for me. I thought the story was interesting enough but literally had to start jotting down notes about characters to remember what was going on. I would still try a different book from this author as I’m always open to all literature.

Another literary book that I should have read rather than listened to. When will I learn? Perhaps never. I did enjoy some of the breaks in form, including the vast store of emails going back and forth about a potential documentary. I imagine if I read the book, I would have noticed more of the connections between the stories.

What an incredible sequel to Goon Squad. I loved revisiting the characters and seeing their lives change. So good.

This was not marketed in any way as part of series?! Why did I not know that going in? It made the book incredibly confusing.

As much as I admire the ambition here, I found this time and space jumper too cool, too intellectual, for me to become emotionally involved. Impressive work, to be held at arm’s length.

This hits better than Goon Squad

There was an element, a piece of magic, missing from my reading of Goon Squad that kept me from falling into it. But The Candy House has that magic. I think it's the speculative fiction element of sharing your unconscious with the world and how that ribbon weaves in and out of all the character's stories. It grounds the disconnected pieces.

We don't get much time with the characters since each chapter is like a short story where you're trying to find connections to the other characters from other chapters. Maybe it's because I just finished French Braid which had a similar format, but here it really worked for me. In each chapter, as I read, I asked myself, "why is this specific moment the one the author picked to include?" And it was clear each time. Then there was the added dimension of the Own Your Unconscious, which forces each character to make some kind of choice on whether they use it, contribute to making it, hide from it, to try to bring it down.

I really delayed reading this after seeing really mixed reviews. I don’t think this is one for everyone but I actually really enjoyed it. There are seemingly many different stories/perspectives that eventually make sense all together but I enjoyed each separate “story”. Some of the stories were more compelling than others but Egan has such a unique perspective and I enjoyed her writing and observations. I’ll def check out goon squad now!

Jennifer Egan's The Candy House is a magnificent novel that fully exploits Egan's virtuosity as a writer. And it does this while managing to be a reader's delight. The best book I've read this year by far and the most relevant without being "instructive."

Some critics have called The Candy House a story cycle or even a concept album, but this reader asserts it to be a big swing of a novel using multiple narrators and a variety of stylistic tools that mirror our current means of communication. In other words, there are fewer conversations between characters than there are text exchanges, letters, and even visits into the collective unconscious or the personal memory cube of another character to forward the story. Not that the plot is linear, but it makes emotional sense and comes full circle from our initial way into the tale via the character of Bix -- a far cooler, more conscience-driven seeker who invents the mechanism by which we share our memories, a real uber-Internet. We return to Bix through his son at the end then, in a sort of literary coda, we take one more step in the journey through an outsider, an analog, and, as they say on a film set, it's back to one.

At times the experience of reading Candy House is of looking at a pointillist painting. At other times, it's an Escher. And then there are moments that put us in the midst of a sci-fi thriller. All that is to say that Egan's novel is a deeply satisfying ride by one of our greatest novelists of the moment. READ THIS BOOK.

Jennifer Egan does it again! I love how she works multiple characters and narratives, weaving them together with fine threads. This is a book I know I'll come back to again.

I tried this one several times but it did not work for me. The writing seemed strong but neither the characters nor the storylines were engaging. Parts almost read like a philosophy text. I had trouble seeing how the stories would fit together. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

https://www.tiktok.com/@bettysbooklist/video/7096590692784327978?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=en

I physically could not comprehend this book, I think this felt so Meta that after COVID Burnout there was no way for me to enjoy it.