Sometimes, a book just doesn't resonate, and that was the case for me with Billie Starr's Book of Sorries. While the premise held promise—a heartfelt exploration of personal growth, motherhood, and redemption—I found myself unable to connect with the story or its characters.

This book had no idea how it should identify and therefore had no idea how to effectively or compellingly tell it's story.

While this book had promise, it ultimately wasn't for me. I found the pacing a bit distracting (at turns too slow, at others, too rushed), and the cast of characters didn't quite deliver on its potential. Ultimately it's a story of a mother's love, and I do appreciate a bond between mother and daughter, but the execution was not all that it could have been.

This story takes place in the small town of Benson, Indiana where everybody knows your business. Billie Starr's mother is sorry for the poor life choices and the story takes off from there. A fun read with quirky characters. Thank you to NetGalley and Flat Iron books for the opportunity to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the electronic review copy of this book. This is a story about Jenny Newberg and her daughter Billie Starr. Jenny made her share of bad decisions and Billie has to live with the consequences of those decisions. Quirky characters make for a more enjoyable read.

Billie Starr's Book of Sorries is a collection of her mother's (Jenny) apologies. Jenny has had a rough time, a big dreamer in a small town who's life has changed since she had Billie. Unfortunately, Billie knows that all too well and once it came out of Jenny's mouth, Billie hasn't let her forget it. Jenny is trying to do the very best that she can, but once she got fired from work because her boss, Bob, took things too far and in order to keep her quiet, has basically blackballed her in town so no one will hire her. Desperate, low on funds, and running out of time, Jenny does something she never would have before. Sleeping with someone for money. But not just anyone, the Candidate, and not for a low amount of money. $5,000!!! Jenny goes ahead with the plan and what happens next is a strange set of events that push Jenny to the edge. Great read!
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

Dear Billie Starr's Book of Sorries,
You were a beautiful family story about how much a mother's love can transform a person. Jenny Newburg was a woman plagued with a life of poor choices and regrets, and she just felt like she couldn't find her way out of her hole. In a moment of desperation, she makes another regretful decision that leads to the greatest tragedy of her life. You had all of the makings of a beautiful story of sacrifice and regret. Unfortunately, for me, you fell short of that mark. Jenny was difficult to relate to and I wanted to know Billie Starr more. I think I would have loved to have some of her perspective, diving deeper into her. For all of the difficulties Jenny faced, she approached people and situations with a frustrating innocence and hope that it would be the thing to save her from her life. Your writing was beautiful, but I struggled with your pacing, the beginning was a slow burn, and the end felt rushed. You were a decent story, but lacked the depth of character I crave.

This was a cute book, and I especially enjoyed the quirky cast of characters. Jenny, a young single mom to the precocious Billie Starr, was fired from her receptionist job after being sexually harassed by her boss. Desperate to make ends meet, she agrees to seduce a politician for a big cash payout. This decision creates a snowball effect that soon has the entire Indiana small town involved.

The story was a little choppy and nonsensical, but it still works as a quick, fun book. If you're in the mood to read about characters with a bunch of problems and an amusing sense of humor, this would be a great choice.

I loved Tornado Weather but this book was not for me. A lot of whining from every character in the book. Full of woe is me and just a lot of unnecessary dialogue. The story felt fake and out of touch.

Jenny Newberg is a high school drop-out and a single mom to her bright and spunky eight year-old daughter Billie Starr. Jenny has been down on her luck her whole life. She is often taken advantage of by others and sexually harassed by men. She spends her days constantly berating herself and apologizing for everything. You couldn't find a woman with lower self-esteem. The one good thing that she believes she did was to have Billie Starr, a young girl so inquisitive about life, looking for the good in it everywhere. Billie befriends those laughed at and scorned by others. She intends to change the world some day.

Life in small town Benson, Indiana where everyone knows (or is related to) everyone else makes it hard to have secrets. People tend to remember what you've done and don't let you forget it. Jenny, with her long record of bad decisions isn't cut much slack by the townspeople, but everyone loves Billie Starr, and when she goes missing, the town comes together to find her.

An ok read, it seemed overly long, and had a huge cast of quirky characters that became difficult to keep straight at times.

My thanks to Flatiron Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this book via NetGalley. Publication is set for 10/4/22. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.

This book wasn’t for me but I can see the talent on display and the desire to present this story. I wish you and the author the best of luck!

Jenny Newberg has made a series of bad choices and walked all over by too many people.

After being fired by a sexually harassing boss, she’s desperate for money and makes yet another bad choice.

This snowballs into what seems like a good opportunity until her daughter, the precocious Billie Starr goes missing.

I definitely should have read the synopsis on this one. I was not into this at all and it has nothing to do with the writing style or the storytelling but just not my genre/storyline. I couldn't get into it and when I did pick it up, I would read 10 pages and then put it back down. I really feel bad writing a low review when it's based on personal choice. But I didn't finish this novel.

Thank you for allowing me to read and review this novel honestly!

Billie Starr’s mom has made a lot of mistakes in her life. She's always saying she's sorry. She's trying to make better choices but keeps getting caught up in things she doesn't mean to. There was parts of this book that I really enjoyed. I liked Billie Starr and wish there was a bit more of her in the story. I liked the best friend and the next door neighbor. But some of the story didn't make sense to me. Why would she not have gone back for her raincoat this whole time? Even though I understood how that circled back in the end, I couldn't understand someone who wouldn't go back to get her things. She just seemed to be jumping from one unwise decision to another. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and many of them didn't feel as fleshed out as they could have been. Similarly the sub-plot lines came and went and didn't all feel relevant. I still enjoyed the time I spent with it.

with gratitude to netgalley and Flatiron Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was pretty sad. Not what I expected. I thought it would be a light read with funny anecdotes seen from a child's point of view.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before its publication date in exchange for an honest review.

I was drawn to this book because of its beautiful cover. I didn't know anything about it before I started reading. I really found myself wanting to read more about Billie Starr than about her mom. I don't mean that to take away from the story being told, but I found myself drawn to that spunky, intelligent little girl. The main story followed Jenny and her tragic life as she struggles to make a life for her daughter and herself.

A beautiful novel about a mothers love and how to find meaning in a harsh world.

Jenny is a single mom to 8 year old Billie Star. Living in the town she grew up in, she is judged by everyone she knew. Struggling to make ends meet and provide for her daughter, she agrees to a deal that she knows will either help her or cost her everything. A small town in Indiananwhere everyone is related or knows each others secrets, things are bound to go bad.

Jenny is a one of kind heroine who you empathize with and grow to respect.

The main character of this book, Jenny, has certainly made some poor decisions in her life and she can’t seem to stop making them. Her daughter Billie Starr has had to live with the consequences of her mother’s decisions. Billie Starr has even made a book that contains all of the sorries she has heard from her mother and in it relates how she feels about her mother. This book is only a small part of the story though. Jenny’s situation just goes from bad to worse because of the choices she makes. She doesn’t have a job, her mortgage is past due, and she is rarely able to get her daughter to school on time. The worst decision that she makes is agreeing to sleep with a local politician for the promise of money. This sets off a series of events that not only have an impact on her but her daughter as well.
I wanted Jenny to do better, be a better mother, make the right decisions, but she was just never able to do it. I continued reading in the hope that she would. I really wanted to like this book, but came away from reading it just glad to be finished. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.

3.75 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a fun book, not quite what I was expecting but in a good way! I docked it .50 star because there were a lot of side characters, and it was fairly hard to keep track of them all.

Billie Starr’s mom is always saying sorry. Mostly, she’s sorry for all the bad choices she has made in her past, although she does feel that one of her best choices was having Billie Starr. In her early thirties, she realizes that maybe she can make better choices. Of course in a small town, everyone knows your business. This book is chock full of wondrous characters, along with a mystery and lots of hope for the future. While it was a good read I had difficulty remembering the specifics of each character. This resulted in some frustration and caused me to only rate it three stars. A fun book, otherwise. Thank you to NetGalley and Flat Iron books for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.