I love a good debut novel and even better I love a family drama.

Natalie hasn’t spoken to her family in 15 years. Since being the root cause her brother and sister spent time in jail and the subsequent fallout with her mother, she has been forging a life for herself in the east coast. She has a good job, good friends, and a budding relationship, until she finds out her mother has passed and in order to inherit the family home she must be present at the house along with her estranged siblings.

The strongest pull of this story is the pacing, shrouded in a bit of mystery, as to why Natalie’s siblings went to jail and what her role in it was. I wanted to see what had happened 15 years ago and Godfrey delivers on holding my intrigue.

The characters aren’t particularly well developed but they are funny, with quirky careers that were fun to learn about.

A sprinkling of romance and some heavier light topics like drug use and domestic abuse made the story interesting and gave room for some emotions.

The big reveal and the kind of resentment and anger Natalie’s siblings had towards her I found a bit harsh, if anything I thought Natalie was completely in the right and I don’t think they gave enough thought to the fact she was only 17, it all felt a bit overdone.

A family drama with some extra substance always makes for an entertaining read and I think for a debut this was great. Check this one out September 12!


Thank you to NetGalley and Source Books for an advanced readers copy, all opinions are my own.

I did not want this story to end. I could happily keep reading on and on. It was so engrossing. A family is rent apart when a tragedy occurs and a brother and sister go to prison, blaming their little sister Natalie for it. Fifteen years later they are supposed to meet again, in accordance with their mother's will. Natalie drives crosscountry, hoping for their forgiveness, expecting their hate. To add to the stress she has to make some decisions about her professional life and her love life.

Admittedly I don’t get the title or cover here, they seem to be unrelated to the story. Overall this was a decent family drama filled read but the main character was a total idiot. What kind of person has their cat go missing in a new area and just runs about mooning over a man and doing mundane chores? I would be a total mess until my cat was found. It’s worth noting too that she took her cat on a cross country road trip and lost him in the woods for hours in national parks as she couldn’t be bothered to put a harness or leash on the poor cat. A simple harness would have saved a lot of trouble. I feel like this says a lot about Natalie as a character, just a terrible person. The choices she makes throughout her life are all bad starting with the police call.

The writing flowed well here and seemed natural. Except for the problems with Natalie the story was good.

Thank you #Netgalley and #Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review. The book had "We are the Brennans" and "If Only I Could Tell You" vibes. It's definitely a family drama (with some romance thrown in) that makes you laugh and tugs at the heart. As someone with estranged family relationships, I found myself emotional at several points while reading. Overall, I enjoyed the book. It kept me engaged and I found the characters to be likeable. It did feel like a Hallmark movie at times - family emergency calls protagonist back home, less than desirable (ex)boyfriend, new love interest that is disrupted by miscommunication, and a final dilemma about where she truly belongs. Despite this, I did enjoy the book (and maybe it's because I also like Hallmark movies).

Family dynamics can be challenging and we get so stuck in our own head and feelings too often. Jumping to conclusions regarding grudges or reading into worst case scenarios forgetting how powerful l forgiveness can be. This book was moving to me as I don’t have a positive relationship with my sibling, although nothing to the extreme of sending my brother to prison. Maybe it’s time for a reconciliation?

I’m an outlier on this one, but it was not good. Great premise but poorly executed. This felt like a YA book (not a very good one), not a book about 30-something characters. No depth to the life changing decisions made (she was mad at her siblings—that’s it) and continued silly decision making through out. I finally bailed with 10 percent to go.

Not as dark as I thought it would be, but a super quick read & a great family story. I loved how it ending, and overall a very enjoyable story.

Natalie has been estranged from her family for 15 years. She and her brother and sister are forced to reunite when their mom dies. But can they actually get past the fact that Natalie is responsible for both of her siblings being sent to prison all those years ago?

I like the author’s writing style, and I would definitely pick up another one of her books. The drama and dysfunction in this family was pretty benign. Parts of the storyline were just a bit too contrived, convenient and predictable. I don’t read romance novels; however, I expect the romance in this book would appeal to those who do.

I commend the author for including resources for victims of domestic abuse at the end of the book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about three estranged siblings and their journey to finding understanding and forgiveness. Natalie Walker fled her Santa Cruz home and has had little contact with her family for the past 15 years after "That Night" when a house party got out of hand and she called the police, ultimately resulting in her older brother and sister going to jail. Natalie loses a promotion at work which goes to her boyfriend instead, and then learns her mother has died. The will stipulated that she and her siblings can only claim their inheritance if they come together to jointly claim it. (Side note: this seems to be a common plot device in novels and I don't know if this is really something that people can or do put in wills and it's kind of a contrived way to force characters together, but whatever). So Natalie journeys across the country to her family home and reconnects with her sister but then she and her nephew need to search for her brother who hasn't yet showed up because the inheritance must be claimed within a certain time frame.

I enjoyed this character-driven story about adult siblings re-establishing a relationship and the use of dark humor to get past resentments and tough issues. As someone who has had to interact with adult siblings after the death of a parent, it felt very true to life even if the level of estrangement and the events in the novel are quite a bit deeper than most people's.

Firstly, I love how this book has its trigger warnings on the first page, I know a lot of readers wish more books had this. Now on to the review! This was such a fun read! I was expecting a family drama, but this book ended up being lighter than expected with a little mystery, thrill, and romance!
I loved the characters, especially Natalie and her nephew Kit’s relationship.
This was a super easy and fun read, it satisfied and checked off a lot of boxes. The description implies it will be a darker, family drama, but it really isn’t, so some readers may be surprised.
It was better written than a lot of those chick-lit thriller/romance titles, so I really liked that aspect.
Great debut novel by Sierra Godfrey!
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance copy.

A very engaging novel of the family dynamics in the relationships of siblings Natalie, Jake, and Lynn. When Natalie was a teen, her actions led to prison terms for Jake and Lynn. Upon the death of their mother years of estrangement later, the siblings are all to regroup at their ancestral home to satisfy the terms of the trust. It is a trying time of wanting to rebuild their relationships in a sea of misunderstandings and lost time.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The title is misleading. The family is anything but typical. At the age of fourteen Natalie called the police when she found her brother and sister at a party where they were all high on drugs and one teenager actually died. They were both sent to prison and neither of them had forgiven her though they are both out of prison now. Years have gone by, the family has split up, no communication between the mother and Natalie either.

Natalie faces obstacles of her own at her job in New York. Ear marked for the top job, she is ousted at the very last minute by her boyfriend of whom she had such high hopes of making the relationship permanent. Heart broken mainly by what she feels as betrayal at work, Natalie is then faced with a letter from a lawyer, saying her mother has died and left the ancestral home to the three children who can inherit provided they actually come together to the house. The lawyer says there is no acknowledgement to the letters sent to her siblings upto date.

This is how the story starts. Natalie undertakes the long journey back home, hoping to get some space from her relationship and her heart break and try to overcome the break up with her brother and sister as well. The story goes through several hiccups at every stage before a reunion of any kind can happen.

Trying to put a dysfunctional and deeply hurt family together again is never going to be easy. The story is emotional, draining but a very good
one.

"A Very Typical Family" had the perfect mix of humor, mystery, and unique family drama to keep me engaged from beginning to end! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

The Walker family in Sierra Godfrey’s debut novel, A Very Typical Family, are the victims of “One False Step.” That step you take with assurance, but the instant your foot hits the ground, you know with cold, spine-tingling certainty that it was a bad move. A move with repercussions that will adversely affect your life from that moment on. For the Walkers, that false step was That Night At The House. Two of the three siblings went to prison. The third, Natalie, isolated herself on the other side of the country. The family was broken.

Then fifteen years later, their mother dies and leaves them her house. The three of them must collect their inheritance together. Somehow, they must do the impossible, overcome that false step and all its repercussions. If this sounds sad and heavy, it isn’t. Sierra Godfrey deftly reweaves the threads from this tragic backstory into a relatable, enjoyable novel that keeps you glued to the pages to the very satisfying end. Even though the book deals with issues of pain, regret, and remorse it is a remarkably happy story that will leave you with a smile. I don’t know how the author did this, but I’m eager to see her do it again! Thanks to Netgally for providing an ARC.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I cannot believe this is a debut author! This book was so well written and kept me interested from the start. Perfect amount of family drama, but also amazing character development. Characters were easy to connect with and root for as well. Looking forward to more from this author!!!

I was lucky enough to see the author in a Zoom interview and was offered an eARC from.the publisher and netgalley.
I believe this is a debut novel, and I did enjoy the writing style,so I will watch for her next book.
The title is very ironic, as this family is in no way typical. Set in Santa Cruz, CA the book seems very true to the setting.
Three siblings had a very traumatic childhood, and THAT NIGHT, lives in Natalie's memory so deeply that she leaves for college in Boston and doesn't return home for 15 years.
An inheritance sets the story in motion,but I thought the outcome was predictable. Every step I predicted came to pass.
One very good thing about this book is that there are several instances of domestic abuse (that is not the good part). The book has resources for victims at the end of the book. The victim in this book had a supportive family at the end. Not everyone does.
The views and opinions are mine alone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “A Very Typical Family” in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book. The plot was so well paced, and I loved the ending. From the protagonist to her pet each character was well developed. I felt invested in the characters’ lives. While the main conflict in the novel drove it forward, I felt like I was also invested in the portrait or an imperfect family. This is one of those books that you will find yourself thinking about later and wondering what the characters are up to now. Lovely.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of A Very Typical Family by Sierra Godfrey.

Natalie hasn't spoken to anyone in her family for fifteen years. It's hard to reconcile a relationship with siblings who you are responsible for sending to prison at a young age. But now Natalie's mother has passed, and she needs to return to her childhood home to reclaim the home, as well as her sibling's forgiveness.

But, unsurprisingly, Natalie is going to have to work for it. Her sister Lynn, is prickly and clearly holding close her own secrets and trauma, and her brother, Jake. is nowhere to be found. Will these estranged siblings find their way back to each other? Or will this family stay fractured forever.

I do love a good dysfunctional family saga. This was pretty middle of the road as far as those go. I thought that there were quite a few issues that were brushed over, as well as some big plot points that were really unbelievable. I also just wasn't that sold on the romance, or the conclusion of the story. It was definitely an enjoyable read, but it wasn't quite that gritty family reunification that I was hoping for.

I want to say thank you so much for the opportunity to read the ARC of A Very Typical Family written by Sierra Godfrey. I couldn’t put this down, reading it over the span of a day. I love the way the author includes so many controversial topics in her writing like: incarceration, murder, drugs, family, forgiveness, domestic abuse, etc. Godfrey’s use of dark humor and the complicated character relationships she created made this book easy to want to read more and find out what happened in the end. I loved the way Godfrey was able to weave one of her main characters, Natalie, self-discovery journey throughout the whole story. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good dysfunctional family story about forgiveness and growth and is able to understand no one is perfect.

I enjoyed the book. It was well written with a constant flow and great dialogue. Natalie hasn't spoken to her siblings for 15 years and only scarcely to her mom. Natalie and her brother and sister are forced to reunite as a condition of inheritance upon their mother's death. Natalie, her cat and her sister and son arrive in Santa Cruz and are forced to live under the same (falling down in disrepair) roof while waiting for their brother to show up. Ultimately, Natalie goes looking for him as they have a time limit to reunite, per the will. My only problem, which kept me from giving the book 4 stars was that the reason for the break in the family was not completely realistic to me. I don't think there was anyway to avoid calling the police on the night in question and that was never addressed.
My rating is 3.5 stars. The book contains family angst, reunion, forgiveness, substance abuse, mystery and romance. Thank you to NetGalley and Source Books for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.