I had high hopes for this book after reading the description. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I liked the concept of the plot, but couldn’t really get invested or interested in any of the characters. I finished the book, but it really was a struggle.

3.5 stars

I read Jean Hanff Korelitz’s fantastic literary mystery The Plot last year and was very much blown away by how cleverly (and creatively) the story was written (in fact, I would even say it was one of the best literary mysteries I have ever read). Given that context, I was of course super excited to land an early copy of Korelitz’s newest work, The Latecomer — not only that, going into this, my expectations were also extremely high in that I was anticipating another intricate, brilliantly written literary mystery that would give me the same thrilling reading experience as The Plot did. Unfortunately, in the end, that’s not how this one turned out. Instead of giving The Plot vibes, this one ended up hewing closer to Korelitz’s earlier work You Should Have Known (the book that the HBO series The Undoing was based on) in both story and structure. Don’t get me wrong — You Should Have Known was a good book overall, but its biggest problem was that it meandered way too much, making the story way more convoluted and confusing than I felt it needed to be (I go into much more detail in my review of that book).

With The Latecomer, the writing was indeed intricate, with an overabundance of descriptive details that Korelitz lays out in a sophisticated and meticulous, but also incredibly “slow burn” way. In addition, it felt like Korelitz was trying to cram as many recent / contemporary events and complex society issues into the story as possible — for example: the pandemic, the previous administration, identity politics, infertility and reproductive rights, surrogacy, racial discrimination and social justice, PTSD, social media, religious freedom and exploration, politics, parent/child relationships, higher education and academia, love and marriage, fidelity, homosexuality, etc. (believe it or not, I am only scratching the surface here in terms of the tremendous amount of ground covered in the story). And as if that weren’t enough, all of it was woven into a complicated web of drama and dysfunction courtesy of the Oppenheimer family — parents Salo and Johanna, triplets Harrison, Lewyn, Sally, and “the latecomer” fourth child Phoebe. All in all, this made for a tedious, exhaustive read that, in the end, became a chore to get through.

Convoluted story and structure aside though, I felt that Korelitz did a good job in terms of character development (which I also found with the two previous books of hers that I had read). Korelitz takes her time flushing out the characters, giving us detailed insight into their thoughts and motivations as well as how each one evolves throughout the story — to the point that we as readers feel like we know this family intimately. One thing I found interesting with the way the characters were written was that they were all quite unlikable (some more so than others — Harrison, for example, who acted like an arrogant bastard pretty much throughout the entire story), yet instead of loathing them like I normally would with these types of characters, I actually found myself pitying them (which, for the record, doesn’t mean I condone any of their actions — in fact, I had the opposite reaction in that I was frustrated and angered by a lot of the things they did). I’m not sure if I’m explaining this correctly — I guess the closest comparison would be that each character had redeeming qualities that, while far from canceling out their flaws, did make it difficult to completely despise them.

One thing I feel it’s important to mention is that I went into this book thinking it would be either a literary mystery in the same vein as The Plot or a psychological thriller similar to You Should Have Known (the only 2 previous books of Korelitz’s that I had read up to that point) — it turns out I was wrong on both fronts. In fact, this book doesn’t fall into the mystery / thriller / suspense genre at all (if I had to classify it, I would say it falls under contemporary fiction or literary fiction). Normally, this wouldn’t matter much, but in this instance, because I had placed it in the mystery / thriller category, I was anticipating a big reveal / plot twist (maybe even multiple plot twists) somewhere along the line — it wasn’t until I got to almost the end (400+ pages into the story) with no plot twist to be found, that I realized my mistake. I bring this up in case this kind of thing matters to those who decide to pick this up, so you don’t make the same mistake I did.

Overall, I did “enjoy” this one and am glad I read it, but it was definitely unnecessarily long, and also the story was way more convoluted than it needed to be (in my opinion at least). If you decide to pick this one up, just know that it will require quite a bit of patience (which may or may not be worth it in the end). With all that said, I like the way Korelitz writes her characters and I have no doubt that I will continue to read her works, though I will probably need to make sure I plan out the time better given the amount of patience needed to get through her novels.

Received ARC from Celadon Books via NetGalley

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, lots of backstory and history about the family. The narrator is one of my favorites, and feel like she did a great job telling the story.

After a mix of reading/listening to the story I decided to not finish it now. It’s a very lengthy and descriptive book, with a lot to unpack. As someone who really likes a family drama, I’m hoping I can find a time soon where I can give this book the time and attention it deserves.

This book follows a family that has three children by in vitro fertilization. Much later a fourth child is born with one of the leftover frozen eggs.
I didn’t really care for the way it was written. It was rather slow moving and boring. It just wasn’t for me
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

This ended up being a DNF for me.. & I feel bad about it but I could NOT get into this book. I got to about 18% & just quit. I felt like it wasn't making any sense.. it was a bunch of just rambling & I could not connect to the characters or the beginning of this story at all. I found myself doing anything but wanting to read it. Maybe it was just me and I need to try it again someday, not sure but definitely couldn't do it this time around.

The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz is going to shock many readers who have only read her two popular previous thrillers, The Plot, and You Should Have Known. The reason for the shock is that there is not a thrill in site in this novel. It is a straight-up, character-driven family drama. If marketed well, it will appeal to fans of The Nest, and many other NYC family dramas.

The Oppenheimer family was fascinating. I found them neither very likable nor very dislikable. They were just a family so different from my own experiences with family that I could not tear my eyes away. The marriage between Johanna and Salo was so blah as to be very believable. You have a husband that is never fully engaged and a wife that is content with letting Salo be that way as long as she gets to have the children she so desires. Having children becomes difficult, but because Salo is rich, Johanna can afford the fairly new scientific breakthrough of in vitro fertilization. She has 4 eggs successfully fertilized, implants three and saves one for later. Turns out all three eggs are successful, so in the early to mid-eighties, Johanna has triplets. It is not the picture of familial bliss she imagined. They are not close...at all.

18 years later, for reasons that are not necessarily wise, Johanna goes back for the fourth egg and thus has a 4th child that is the Latecome the book is named after.

I really enjoyed the book. I knew going into it that it was a character-driven, thus I was not disappointed by the fact it didn't have much mystery/thriller to it. The Latecomer was full of characters who were very realistic, which can sometimes translate into boring. However, I was not bored throughout the (somewhat) long novel. I would recommend to anyone who loves family drama, especially those who are into all things NYC.

If you like slow-building, fractured family, character-driven books, I think you will appreciate this one. I'm not a fan myself so I DNF this book. I didn't feel connected to any of them and I felt like it was going nowhere for me. I was slightly interested in the beginning but I thought it took too long to convey a feeling or where the plot was taking me. I'm sorry but this wasn't the book for me.

This was a super wordy, family drama that wasn’t for me. It’s about three siblings who are all awful humans. The premise is great, and I generally love family dramas, but this one I couldn’t connect with and it was way too long for a family drama.

The Latecomer wasn't my cup of tea, BUT I didn't like the Silent Patient or The Goldfinch for the same reasons I didn't like this one. I did like The Plot, though it didn't blow me away. So use that information to determine whether or not your views would match mine. I do actually think this one was ultimately worth the read by the end, though.

This book took me forever to get through and I was frequently bored because all of the characters except the titular latecomer were completely insufferable. By the end things came together, but by that time I was already so checked out, I didn't much care. If it had been about 100 pages shorter, we still would have had good character development and I would have rated it higher. There were certainly a lot of themes covered and the complex family was explored in detail - sometimes excruciatingly so.

Read this one if you like slow burn family dramas.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and @netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately I just did not like this book, I just kept waiting thinking it was going to develop into something more and then it just didn’t. I was bored and depressed reading this very long drawn out story about a family I had no interest in. I do think the writing of the author was spectacular but it just wasn’t a book for me.

The latecomer is a Jewish family drama, spanning decades. We follow the Oppenheimers, a wealthy family in New York City. Salo and Joanna meet after a tumultuous start of Salo’s young life. Our main character duo is welcoming triplets through IVF, and toward the end of the pregnancy, decide to have an embryo sibling implanted in a surrogate, bringing forth the namesake “latecomer.”

This book alternates the stories of the family members, sharing a slice of life from inception to the journey through Ivy League, through the latecomer’s birth and need to tie the disconnectedness of the family together.

This book challenged me, partly through the unfavorable lens of the triplets, but also in a cerebral, prose focused way. Gorgeous writing, lots of intricacies.

Expected publication date: May 31st 2022
Thank you to Celadon Books for the digital version of this ARC!

Underneath all the art and education and political stands and causes and society and social mores, The Latecomer is just about a family. A very, very, very dysfunctional family. A family with no apparent, reciprocated love whatsoever among them. No consideration, no concern of how their actions might affect any of the others, no remorse when they see the terrible hurt and humiliation they have caused. Johanna loved her husband Salo and dreamed of rescuing him emotionally from the tragedy of the automobile accident he caused and which she believed had ruined his life. In fact, ruined or not by the results of the auto accident, Johanna was little more than an afterthought to Salo. He didn’t treat her badly; he didn’t seem to care enough to treat her any way at all. He had his art and he drifted further and further away. A provider for the family but not part of it. Johanna’s other dream was to have that family, and her dream was full of vignettes of happy times together, sibling loving sibling, good natured rivalries, vacations and happy events to photograph and paste in the memory book. But the test tube triplets seem to have been born with a grudge, an inherent dislike of their siblings, and an aversion to spending any time with each other, or with their parents. Salo didn’t even seem to notice. Johanna tried time after time and method after method to bring them together, to realize her dream of that close, warm, loving family, but it was not to be.

The Latecomer, Phoebe, is the fourth baby from the test tube. The triplets – Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally - don’t even take notice of her. She’s just some stupid, pathetic idea their mother had. They don’t want the siblings they have. Why would they want another one?

The family is enmeshed in deceit. By chance, Salo meets the other survivor of the accident and embarks on a long-term affair and fathers a child, eventually deciding to leave the marriage on the same night Sally has decided to untangle the web of lies between her, Lewyn and her roommate/his girlfriend Rochelle. It’s all ugly. And sad. Very, very sad. Tragedy occurs. These tragic events would break most families, but this family is already broken. Always has been.

Jean Hanff Korelitz’s books are not light, easy reading but the reward is excellent writing and a story full of literary and real-life references, clever wordplay, and complex, deep, well-developed, intriguing characters that make you cringe at their behavior and their seemingly inexhaustible capacity to hurt, to demean, to denigrate, to ignore.

The first two-thirds of the book give us a lot of background and information about the parents and the triplets and what happened to them, or more importantly what did not happen, how their lives didn’t evolve as they might have wished. But, unfortunately, while you might work up a little sympathy for one or another character now and then, overall they are unlikable and create as much of their own hardship as what fate heaps on them. The emotion I mostly felt to this point was frustration, frustration with their behavior and frustration with the overwhelming amount of information to absorb. I began to wonder if all that art, history, politics, and social information was crucial to the story or just interesting surrounding or background material.

However, “Part Three – The Latecomer” picks up the pace and makes this book too absorbing to put down and well worth sticking with the bit of detail overload. Secrets are discovered, interactions and relationships explored and there is more than one big, satisfying reveal. Everything is neatly and skillfully explained and tied together and the ending was perfect. Unexpected but perfect. Korelitz is a very talented author whose work I always enjoy. Thanks to Celadon Books for allowing me to be a Celadon Reader and providing an advance copy of The Latecomer via NetGalley for my reading pleasure and honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, recommend it without hesitation and look forward to the next read by this author. All opinions are my own.
#TheLatecomerBook #CeladonReads

I tried really hard on this one I think though one should not force themselves to read a book that isn't working for them. I know other reviewers mentioned the amount of wordage you hadn't get through for a story they felt could be shorter a I thought was probably ridiculous but after actually reading I would agree. Nothing kept me engaged

This book immediately caught my attention based on the topic of IVF. As someone who underwent the long process involved in the infertility journey, this hit home 100%. The dynamic between the siblings was absolutely a worry that I had, if we had had multiples.

This book took me awhile to get into unfortunately, as the writing style is very detailed and the story is a complicated one from all aspects. I really enjoyed how it was written from the POV of the "Latecomer". It's definitely something new and different from what I usually read, but overall I enjoyed the book.

I would say this is a 4/5 for me, just because it was a bit slow moving until the last part. Worth the read however, especially if you've gone thru IVF or have ever wondered about how children may react to finding out they were conceived using the process.

Thank you Celadon Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC. Very much appreciated!

So much family dysfunction packed into one novel! This was an engrossing read about a family that, although they have wealth, do not seem to have each other. That is, until the end of the story. I could not stop reading this book, each chapter gave me more information about each member of the fictional Oppenheimer family. Great character study and much more as this family grows up. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

The writing style of The Latecomer is amazing. I loved the sentences that Jean Hanff Korelitz crafted. I also liked the
impact that the last sibling had on her family.

Unfortunately, the plot meandered and the family dynamic was odd, bordering on unbelievable. Most of the characters are so unlikeable that it is difficult to keep reading. There are also some random historical inaccuracies that stuck out to me.

Thank you Celadon and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A family drama that i mostly enjoyed although found it to drag at times. The story was able to keep me intrigued by the dysfunction of the family. Loved the dramatic tense moments, the writing was very impressive and might just be my favorite by this author duo far

Dear The Latecomer,
I am not going to lie, you started slow. Like, really sllllllllloooooooowwwwww. There was so much history and back story that was in the first 2/3 of you, but not a lot happened. You were a deep dive and an intense character study into this small family. The dynamics between the triples was so hard at times. To read about siblings who should have the closest type of relationship to not want anything to do with each other was hard on my soul. This whole family was so separate from each other, despite Johanna's best efforts to force them closer together. My heart broke for her. Each one of her children were so distinct and separate from each other with no desire to share any part of each other's lives. I can't blame her for her decision to try again, her absolute desperation for a closer family. Once the triplets 19th birthday happened, you were a compelling read that made all of the history make sense. Your ending was such a payoff for all of the slow burn, and you are one of my favorite reads this month. I will keep thinking about the Oppenheimer family and the journey that they went through.

Jean Hanff Korelitz has become an interesting novelist for me. Her books hold the readers' attention and The Latecomer is no exception. The development of the story, particularly the characters was well done. By the end, I felt as though I knew the four children very well. As someone who loves contemporary art, I loved her using art as a part of the plot and enticed me into the story.
I recommend this book.

3.5 stars (I think? It waffles day by day, maybe a solid 3?)

This is a really hard review to write. There were parts of this book that were so interesting and I was fully engaged, and parts where I just wanted to get to the end. This novel is written by the author of The Plot, but this book is nothing like that one. I love a character based story, and that is certainly what I got in this one. This is probably one of the best family character studies I've read. The writing and descriptions of these family members and their growth through the years was superb! The problem was that I was interested in some parts of their lives, but not in others. None of the characters are very likable (although I don't base my love for a book on that alone), so I think that made the uninteresting (for me) parts more difficult to get through. I'm not sure what I would have changed to correct this. There were not any sections that I could pick out and say I didn't feel they were necessary for the character development, because every interaction and journey does effect the family dynamic. My favorite part was the beginning, before the triplets went off in separate directions. I don't feel that the title is very apt as there is not nearly as much about the latecomer child as it implies (not that this is a negative, just an observation). I loved the relationship (or lack thereof) between the triplet siblings, it was such an interesting take on how we usually view multiples. Overall there were parts where this book shines, but ultimately I wish it could have been cut down somehow. I'll be interested to see what comes next from this author because her character development is some of the best I've seen!

I cannot stress enough that this is a character based novel! If those type of books are not your thing I would advise that you pass on this one. However if you are like me and prefer them, I would give it a go with the caveat that you may find some parts interesting and others not so much.