THE GOOD:
A minimalist read with happy endings for all.
Clean fiction with no coarse language or sex scenes.
The characters learn and grow and resolve their struggles.

THE BAD:
As a shorter read, the story arcs will feel too fast for some readers.
Della and Darby do come off much younger, as early 20-somethings instead of almost thirty.

CONCLUSION:
Great for a day at the beach or by the pool. And for those who like a peppering of Christian fiction with their tales.

Della and Darby reminded me so much of my relationship with my sister. Brought up in the same house, but with such different ideas about life, love, family, and so many other things. I truly enjoyed this book and even got a little emotional over it. I can't wait to read more from Susannah Lewis!

“Della and Darby” by Susannah B. Lewis is a heartwarming tale that delves into the complexities of sisterhood, the weight of family legacies, and the search for acceptance in a small Southern town. The story unfolds in Clay Station, Mississippi, where twins Della and Darby Redd live with their grandmother, Birdie. Despite their identical looks, the sisters are polar opposites: Della is vibrant and craves social acceptance, while Darby is reserved and content with her own company.

The plot centers around the twins’ upcoming thirtieth birthday, for which Della, obsessed with the color purple and desperate for approval, plans an extravagant party. She hopes to bring her boss, Dr. Brian Faulkner, as her date, believing it will cement her social standing. Meanwhile, Darby forms a bond with Cliff, a quirky coworker, and stumbles upon a scandalous secret about Dr. Faulkner that could spell disaster.

The characters are well-crafted, with Della’s and Darby’s contrasting personalities driving the story forward. Della’s chapters are filled with her relentless pursuit of acceptance, sometimes to the point of secondhand embarrassment, while Darby’s growth and introspection offer a refreshing counterbalance.

“Della and Darby” is a sweet and poignant novel that celebrates the bonds of family and the beauty of embracing one’s true self. It’s an enjoyable contemporary Southern fiction with a touch of romance and inspiration.

My thoughts





Narrative and Plot



Della and Darby is told from three points of view, the title characters and their grandmother Birdey who raised them both. Della and Darby are turning thirty and the whole plot is their coming of age story, where they reconcile with their past selves and are hopeful for a future.



More than the plot, this book is a hangout story about the events that start from when they turn twenty-nine to their thirtieth birthday bash. How they navigate life while fighting their own inner demons.









Characters and Conflicts







Since this is a character driven story, you can only enjoy it if the three central characters are appealing enough. Della, Darby and Birdey are quite interesting characters. They each have their own flaws and strengths. However, there is something about the story that held me back from connecting with them as much as I would have liked to.





It has layered characters and emotions that go back decades over their lifetime. Even so, it held back at some points, making you want your characters to be more active and take control of their situation in a better way. There were some strong religious themes in there, which was fine. It is more about how one finds inner strength through faith while going through a tough time.




The story spent a lot of time setting up Della and Darby's fears and apprehensions. But the way it was all resolved felt a bit rushed. It all happened in the last two chapters rather than gradually over time. Other than that, it was an emotional coming of age story.



Conclusion


Della and Darby is a book that you can pick up if you've ever felt like you were meandering in life and suddenly one day you look back and realise that despite what happened you are exactly where you should have been even if it wasn't part of your plan. This one was a one time read for me.

This story is told from three points of view … Della and Darby (who are twins) and their grandmother, Birdie. I went into this book expecting something a little lighter and with more humor. While I enjoyed getting to know the characters, Della just got on my last nerve. Her immaturity and behavior were a little irritating. The story seemed to crawl so that made it difficult for me to stay invested. However, I appreciated getting to experience Della and Darby maturing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

For more reviews, please visit my blog at: https://www.msladybugsbookreviews.com/. Over 1000 reviews posted!

I had a hard time getting into this book because the sisters were just not very likable at first. As the story progressed, I was glad I had kept reading. The change in each sister can definitely be described as dynamic. I will say that the grandmother and her budding relationship was my favorite part of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for a review.

I know Susannah B. Lewis first & foremost for her social media presence - I've followed her on Facebook for several years and love her humor and her distinctly Southern viewpoint on life. This is the second of her books I've read, and while this one is a bit different from Bless Your Heart, Rae Sutton, again I enjoyed it. Della and Darby are twins who are very, very different from each other and who, at least on the surface, seem to struggle to understand each other. Della's an extrovert whose life has turned out quite differently from where it seemed to be going. Having had to move back home after thriving as a young adult establishing herself in a new town, she's reverted a bit and seems to have gotten stuck in her past. Darby's an introvert, and overall seems to be satisfied with her life as it is, uninterested in new experiences or relationships. We watch them trying to understand each other and the people and events in their lives, and as the planning of their landmark 30th birthday party conspires to draw them closer to each other. It's an interesting character study. I mostly listened to the audiobook, and listening to Lewis narrate herself definitely added to my enjoyment.
Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

An unusual sibling relationship and small town complications sets up the latest novel by Susannah B. Lewis, an award-winning author and well-known social media presence. She’s known for clean storytelling with a shout-out to Christian fiction.

“Della and Darby” is the fictional story of twins growing up in Clay Station, Mississippi. While they look alike, they are very different in their approaches to life. Della is outspoken, loves the color purple and yearns to be accepted by others. Darby is shy, loves to write and will only begrudgingly speak to anyone other than her sister or grandmother Birdie.

The twins, now grown women, have only known the love of their grandmother. Their mom, Birdie’s daughter, was the town drunk before she died, as well as several others, in a fatal DUI crash. From then on, the town has looked down on, talked about and pointed fingers at Birdie, Della and Darby. Birdie can’t forgive herself for her mistakes as a parent and wants nothing more than for Della and Darby to find happiness. But it looks like a losing battle.

As an adult, Della escapes for a time to Chattanooga and a circle of friends. But when Birdie has health issues, she returns to Clay’s Station and takes up a dead-end job as a receptionist at a doctor’s office. Darby works at a pill bottle factory, keeping to herself until a co-worker forces her to break her silence.
As the sisters approach their 30th birthday, Birdie and Della make plans for a fancy celebration. Della envisions a grand entrance on the arm of her boss, a handsome doctor. Darby would rather spend the evening in her room alone with a pen and paper.

Nothing goes as planned. The doctor snubs Della, and Darby finally makes a friend. The bond between the sisters is stretched thin as they begin to face the past, present and future. They finally must acknowledge how their adult journey has been impacted by their childhoods.

What sets this novel apart from others is the tenderness shown by Lewis for her characters and their relationships. As a native of the South, she understands how colloquialisms are part of the regional vocabulary, often carrying a deeper meaning than just the words spoken.

At times, the novel is funny; it’s easy to picture the characters as people you might have encountered in your life. It’s also sad; dealing with age and failing health is never easy. In the end, it’s a positive message of growth, healing and being open to true love.

Technically speaking, this novel is not lacking. It is clear that Lewis can structure a story. In terms of the content, this sucked.

One of the main characters is insufferable. I can appreciate a hard to like character but this was not it. I really tried to enjoy this novel, hoping the payoff would come at the end, but it never did. I was left bored and wanting.

I loved this book and its southern charm. I loved the faith element and it was a heartwarming story. The characters were likable with realistic backgrounds.
Many thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

After loving "Bless You Heart, Rae Sutton" by Susannah; last year, I was very excited for this new book from her. Unfortunately, this one missed the mark for me. I never connected with Della as a character, to be honest she irritated me greatly. She was immature and didn't come off at all as a character to be sympathetic to given her backstory. I really wanted to shake some sense into her and yell at her to grow up and don't be so stupid. I also hated her reactions to Darby later in the story. Della was a very unlikable character for close to 80% of the story. Overall, the story for me, was sad and utterly depressing. The ending chapters were good and were most of what I liked about the book-although I did like Darby and Birdie and I thought Cliff was perfect for Darby. Darby was a cool character. I liked her growth in the novel. While this book didn't work for me-I do recommend "Bless Your Heart, Rae Sutton" as it was a fantastic read.

A character driven Southern fiction novel about twin sisters on the brink of 30 years old, working through their troubled past with the help of their grandmother in the small town of Clay Station, Mississippi.

Della and Darby are twin sisters that couldn't be more different. Della has always longed to fit in with the popular crowd, whittling herself to fit what she believes will make others like her. Darby is introverted and prefers to keep to herself. My favorite was probably Birdie, I liked the chapters from her perspective with her old fashioned Southern sayings and insight into Della and Darby.

It was a quick read, but hard to read at times because of all the secondhand embarrassment that I caught from Della's cringe-worthy moments. I liked that Darby was comfortable in her own skin, but also learned to shine. I liked the faith elements, and the message of friendship, finding oneself and forgiveness.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Della and Darby are twins who were raised by their grandmother, Birdie, after their single, alcoholic mom got into a deadly car accident and killed the family of the police chief. The three of them are shunned by the town for the mother's awful deed. But Birdie gets the idea in her head that they should have a 30th birthday party for the twins. What follows is the year they great up for the party, as told from each of the women's POVs.

I honestly could not finish this. I've been trying for almost a month to get through this book, and now, at halfway through the book, only one person is only vaguely likeable in any way.

Della is absolutely delusional and immature, solely focused on how the man girls from high school are still mean girls as adults, and then starts imagining a relationship with her boss. Birdie keeps trying to make her granddaughters socialize with the people that shun them (thereby perpetuating Della's immaturity) even though she knows the whole town hates them. Darby is PAINFULLY introverted, but instead of just not wanting to speak to others, she blows up at people who try to start conversations and treats others like they're jerks for daring to speak to her. And the whole town (save maybe 3 people?) treats them like pariahs for being related to someone who made a terrible mistake.

There is no forward progress for either Della or Birdie, and they seem to revel in their stuck-ness. Darby is the only one that seems to make any progress for herself, but it takes about 125 pages for her to even start the progress, which makes it a slog.

The way the summary reads, this sounds like it's supposed to be light hearted and fun. But 160 pages into this, I just could not deal with them anymore. I have too many other books I would rather spend my time with.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

I have enjoyed Susannah B. Lewis' writing in the past, so I was eagerly awaiting the release of Della and Darby. However, it didn't live up to the charm of Bless Your Heart, Rae Sutton for me. I liked the concept of a story about identical twin sisters, but I couldn't relate at all to Della. She was stuck in the past, still trying to impress the girls who bullied her in school so many years ago, and treated her sister very poorly. Things did start to turn around towards the end of the book as the character growth was evident in both girls. Overall, this was still a good story that highlighted the power of friendship and forgiveness.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoyed another book by Susannah so I was excited to read this book.

Overall, this was an interesting story with a good message but I definitely didn’t like it as much as the other book I read.

The twins kind of annoyed me at first. But I honestly wondered if it was because I saw my weaknesses in them and I didn’t like what I saw. By the end they both had redeeming qualities and had grown a bit more mature.

I liked too, how the twins found men that aren’t perfect but perfect for them.

By the end I did enjoy the book but it was a little slow.

A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Sometimes as a reader, there are books that just don't click for you. The writing can be fantastic and the story good, but for whatever reason, there's just no connection. Perhaps it's the mood I'm in, or other distractions getting in the way...who knows! I couldn't really say for sure. Unfortunately, I found that this book was like that for me.

The writing was good and the story was interesting, but I just couldn't get drawn into it as I wished I could have. The story switches POV between Della and Darby and their grandmother. I felt like we got a lot of detail about their everyday life, and while that can certainly be nice in some stories, I felt for me it just slowed down the pace a bit and made it harder for me to get into the story. Prior to reading this, I'd been reading several much faster-paced stories, so perhaps it was just the contrast between the two. I did enjoy the southern sayings. While this may not have connected well with me, many others have enjoyed it, so I'd definitely recommend checking it out for yourself if you enjoy southern fiction.

**I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All thoughts are my own.

This is the second book I've read by this author and I will happily read every one she puts out because they're great books. The first was Bless Your Heart, Rae Sutton. I like Ms. Lewis' books because they feature strong Southern women who are both wise and funny. Southern humor fiction is one of my favorite genres to read.

Meet Della and Darby, identical twins but opposite in every way. They live with Birdie, their grandmother, who raised them since their mother died when they were children. Their lives have not been easy. All three women have been judged since that death and people have not been kind. We meet the twins and Birdie on the girls' 29th birthday, and a whole lot happens between then and a year later, at their big 30th bash.

Quite a lot of this book is very funny, especially Della's secret thoughts towards her nasty coworkers and her swoon-worthy boss, Dr. Brian Faulkner, but this book is going to hit you in all the feels, especially if you have ever been the target of school bullies. It'll make you laugh, and cry, and yell and cheer.

Read this book. It's a perfect beach read. Read all her books.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are mine and given freely.

This was a funny and endearing read. It felt like a YA coming of age book, but for two sisters that had a reality check about different paths they took in their lives, and that maybe things need to change. The sisters relationship is relatable and I loved all the characters. It was such a lovely and easy read. I will definitely be buying this book to gift to friends.

This book was well written and overall a pretty good book. I didn’t love the characters though and found it a little predicable. It was an easy read, and enjoyable enough.