I could not get invested in this book. I thought the characters needed more development and more to them. I didn’t connect with them or the atmosphere.

Very surprised by how much I ended up loving this one!! I only requested this because it was a BOTM choice so I figured I’d give it a go without really knowing what it was about. I ended up loving it so so much! I really loved Tara and not only her relationship with Brian, but with her family as well. I do wish there was like one more chapter though so the whole Connelly family could reunite with their dad. I would’ve liked to see that.

Well this book just wrapped up everything I could want in a contemporary family drama and put a lovely (but understated) Irish bow on it. My great-great-great grandparents of County Carlow would be proud!

It’s been a while since I read We Are the Brennans, but I think I enjoyed this one even more. The story centers on Tara, just released from prison on a drug charge, and how she and her family struggle and adapt and protect each other as she rejoins them.

The sibling dynamics here were so interesting and multifaceted — seeing how Tara, Eddie, and Geraldine all push and pull on each other drew me in. Plus, there were so many other great relationships that built throughout — Tara and her little nephew Connor, the local police team (who are an uncle and nephew pair), Tara and new friends she makes along the way…some are brutal at times, but most are so uplifting ❤️ Add in the intrigue around the drug network that got Tara sent to jail in the first place? You’ve got a first-rate mix.

I’ve loved Tracey Lange’s books for the gentle but spot-on way they highlight the hallmarks of Irish American families and communities. Even generations removed from Ireland, the heavily Irish Catholic area I grew up in had many of the same personalities and values on display — a heavy emphasis on loyalty and fighting for your own, an emotional reservedness that later generations sometimes seek to overcome, and a dogged determination to do whatever needs to be done for your family to survive.

Very much enjoyed the Connellys’ story, and look forward to more from Tracey Lange!!

Thanks so much to Celadon, the author, and NetGalley for my gifted digital copy. The Connellys of County Down hits shelves on August 1 (and is available as a Book of the Month pick)!

Okay! Very pleasantly surprised by The Connellys of County Down. This definitely surpassed all of my expectations and I quite enjoyed it!

This is about the three Connelly siblings, each with their fair share of life’s difficulties. The story starts with one of the siblings, Tara, being released from prison. The reason why she was there, what happens upon her release, and her relationship with the cop that helped put her there are the heart of this plot.

Maybe I’m a literary snob, but I expected very little from this book. Instead, what I found inside was a really beautiful sibling story about the lengths we will go for those we grew up alongside. I found a sibling set I grew attached to almost instantly and I could not put this down until I knew their fates. This story of sacrifice and shame and secrets felt so relatable despite some of the not so relatable (for me) circumstances. I don’t have a whole lot else to say about this book. It’s a sibling story, that’s what you need to know. And it went down easily and was all consuming while reading.

The Connellys of County Down is officially my favorite book of the summer. It is a story of family, love, and forgiveness. Tracey Lange is such a phenomenal author. She writes with so much heart and emotion. I wasn’t able to put this book down and finished it in record time! I am such a fan of books that revolve around family and the chaos that surrounds them. It always has me hooked, and the Connellys immediately stole my heart and full attention. Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for this egalley in exchang for an honest review!

THE CONNELLYS OF COUNTY DOWN follows the three Connelly siblings -- Tara, who was recently released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, Eddie, a single dad struggling with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and Geraldine, the bossy older sister harboring secrets and obsessions that are reaching a breaking point . The story centers arounds the individual complexities of each character and how they affect each other.

Typically, literary fiction with a huge focus on character-develop instead of plot is my favorite -- but this one didn't quite hit the mark. I didn't really like any of the characters, so I didn't really feel the need to root for them along the way (other than Connor, loved him).

As a fan of WE ARE THE BRENNANS, I'll definitely read more from Lange in the future -- but probably won't be recommending this one as much as her first.

When Tara Connelly gets out of prison for drug running, she returns home to her brother, sister, and nephew. As she starts to get back into normal life, the cop who put her away reappears in her life. Her brother and sister have their own problems, and Tara finds herself just one step away from being sent back to prison.

This is the second book by the author of We Are the Brennans, which I loved. This book is similar in tone to that one but a completely different family. I really liked this one (although it was a bit weird reading a book where I share the same name as the main character). I liked the characters and thought they were well written, and the action of the book actually moves forward. It was not a perfect book- there were a few things that were repeated too often- her lack of a cell phone and the fairy tale that their mother told them as children about The Connellys of County Down. I found these things too repetitive, and they took me out of the story. However, I really enjoyed this family drama. It reminded me not only of her first book, but also of older Denis Lehane books.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Equal parts cute and frustrating. The whole ex-con and the-cop-who-put-them-there dynamic is a little ick for me, though they do a good job of addressing the power dynamic. The main character’s sister does nothing but lie and keep secrets the whole time, which makes her super unlikeable, and her actions ultimately become the main conflict of the novel. An interesting commentary on keeping secrets and the damage that can do. Points for being self-aware and having cute, flawed, believable family relationships.

Tara Connelly returns home after serving time in prison. She moves back in with her brother, Eddie, and sister, Geraldine. As she settles in at home, she notices her siblings acting differently than she remembers. Eddie looks pretty nervous around her and Geraldine has become a "collector" of things. The only family member happy to see her is her nephew, Conor, Eddie's son. Tara knows she has to get a job, one of her parole criteria. It is not easy since she has to divulge her time in prison or it is discovered during the background check. To further complicate her life, she keeps running into one of the officers that put her in prison, to begin with! There is a spark between them. How can Tara step back into her life? What is going on with her siblings? The Connelly's dysfunctional family has descended to an entirely new level.

On the surface, this book is about a parolee trying to acclimate back into society. There are other layers to this story, however. Eddie and Geraldine are nervous around Tara, why? Tara needs to build a relationship of trust with her parole officer but Tara keeps finding herself in one kind of trouble or another. Will the interesting policeman help Tara? Is he using her to further his career? There are so many questions. Tracey Lange answers all of these questions in due time. The Connellys have truly hit a rough patch and need each other to regroup and repair all that has gone astray. Family dynamics, drugs, prison, revenge, and redemption are powerful themes that Tracey Lange combines into a vividly interesting story.

I really loved this wonderfully written, complex, and heartfelt family drama. It felt a little slow to start, we have to wait a little bit for the action to shake down, which I was anxious to find out about, but I think the purpose of that down time was to flesh out each character and get us truly invested in and rooting for Tara, Eddie, and even the rigid and often unlikeable Geraldine - which paid off. I was completely invested in the siblings and their secrets.

This is a story about family (with a little forbidden romance in the mix). The Connelly family is a complicated one, in which each member has made poor decisions and is flawed in his or her own way, but is doing the best they can with what they've got. The thing that binds them is their unwavering love and loyalty to one another... even if it's messy and dysfunctional. Relatable? Yep!

Sidenote: I 1,000% thought this was going to be a story that took place in Ireland, and I even imagined that the audiobook would be narrated in an Irish Brogue (no such luck, but Barrie Kreinik did a great job!). It actually takes place in the same town (in New York.. not Ireland) as Lange's debut novel, The Brennans, though the books stand alone.

Thank you to Tracy Lange and Celadon books for the advanced copy (and the audiobook! I loved switching off between kindle and audio for this, depending on what I was doing!). I would love to see these characters again in a sequel!

This will be out on August 1st! I hope you add it to your TBR!

“The most honest words didn’t have to be loud or dramatic to cut deep.”

Is it presumptuous of me that I just assumed this would be a five star read because of how much I loved We Are The Brennans? Whatever the answer, I was not wrong.

Tracey Lange’s writing is just so engrossing. She writes family and family dynamics like almost no other author. So much so that sometimes, when I read her books, I feel like I’m peeking inside someone’s house and watching their lives unfold without their knowledge. I LOVED the Connelly family. I loved their rawness and their dysfunction, but also their overwhelming loyalty to each other and underneath that…the love. This is a family riddled with hardships but that always perseveres.

The audiobook was awesome and I am so glad I had it because I just couldn’t put this one down! So I listened when I couldn’t physically read and that just helped me to get even more lost in this family. The narrator did an amazing job of giving each character their own voice and really capturing their essence. I feel like I just watched a movie! I will thoroughly miss this family.

Going forward I will read anything this woman writes, knowing that as the book finishes I will be reading or listening thinking noooo I’m just not ready to say goodbye yet. Now THAT. That is the sign of a great book, and what I hope will happen every time I open a new one but, unfortunately, usually doesn’t.

Thank you SO much to Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and Celadon Books for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

The Connellys of County Down pulled me right out of a reading slump and kept me furiously flipping pages until the very last word. I tend to gravitate towards romance and thrillers...pretty much anything with grand romantic gestures or crazy plot twists. But a good book is a good book and this is a good book! More of a contemporary fiction, there are hints of romance, crime, mystery, and all the family dysfunction you can handle! These characters feel as honest and real as they do dysfunctional. At the end of the day family is family, no matter how many secrets they carry or quirks they have. I love Tracey Lange's writing style and find it similar to Ethan Joella, who I love!

Thank you to Celadon & Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. 4.5 stars

I absolutely loved this story! Once again, Tracey Lange hit it out of the park.

This book explores the depths we'd go to protect our families, the resilience of damaged families after trauma, and the ripple effects of our choices on our lives and our loved one’s lives. There’s also a captivating forbidden romance and thought-provoking questions about morality and ethics that were so well done.

Another aspect of this book I appreciated was how the author addressed the challenges faced by individuals with criminal backgrounds reintegrating into society. It shed light on society's unforgiving nature, even after someone has served their time. The story powerfully conveyed the ongoing punishment people endure long after their release.

Though somewhat predictable, the writing and characters truly tug at your heartstrings. Tara's connection with her nephew and the growth among her siblings are particularly endearing. I’d be remiss not to say how much I loved the love story, too. This is the kind of story that steals your heart and leaves a lasting imprint.

The New York setting also hits home with me and scores points since I’m a New Yorker. 🙃

In short, this was a fantastic read that combines themes of family, romance, morality, and resilience and I adored it!

Thank you so much NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Tracey Lange for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Read if you like:
🥈 Second Chances
🏡 Stories about Family
❤️ Romance
✨ Magical Stories
🥰 All the Feels

Tara Connelly knows all about the messiness of life and family. We first meet her as she is being released from prison after serving an 18 month drug sentence.

We see the mess of her family immediately as we learn all about the dynamics where her siblings didn’t really visit her in prison and her sister is clearly ashamed of her and her brother is just struggling to be a dad and live with a life altering disability from when his dad wrecked the car he was in leaving him with a TBI and then leaving the oldest Geraldine to finish raising her two younger siblings at only 19 years old.

We see the truths start to unfold of how Tara ended up in prison and why she wouldn’t flip on the drug dealer to save her own skin and truly learn the value that family holds for Tara and how much she is willing to sacrifice for her siblings.

This one while I wanted to slap characters at times, also felt so raw and real and loved every second of getting to read about the messy lives of The Connelly’s and how important family and protecting the people she loves is to Tara.

I also loved the subtle but nuanced discussion on the prejudice and biases against those that have been perceived to have broken the law and really hope that others come out of reading this book with another perspective on those with criminal records and how we treat those individuals in society.

If you are looking for your next story about family dynamics I highly recommend checking this one out. Thanks so much to Celadon books for my ARC of this one!

Tracey Lange has such a great talent for developing very real, flawed, characters and sibling relationships that you just can't help but root for and love. I think I loved this one even more than the first. I can't wait to see what she does next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

4. 5 stars
As much as I loved Lange’s debut, 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘴,
I love her sophomore book even more. She took everything that was likable in her first book (sibling relationships, building a business together, family tradition) and then dug even deeper, showcasing the writing chops this author owns.

The Connellys are your normal, dysfunctional family. No, really - if your family is perfect, yay. Mine was not, far from it, and I was always made to feel like that was abnormal, thanks to the television and movie families i watched. Thanks to Tracey Lange for acknowledging that screwed up families are the norm.

Tara Connelly just got out of a two year stint in prison for running drugs, Eddie is raising a son on his own after a traumatic brain injury has left with him with massive fall out, and Geraldine, the oldest, has some serious anxiety issues, manifesting in addictive collecting. And this is all on top of their car-stealing father running away following the early death of their mother, leaving the kids to basically raise themselves on their own. Yep, there’s some deep issues in this family.

But the one constant in their life is the sibling’s love and loyalty to one another. I was utterly engrossed with this family, staying up way too late to see where life takes them next. Love Love Love and Love!

⭐️⭐️ “I miss Sunday and Kale,” -Me, wishing I was still reading We are the Brennans.

🥂𝒫𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓈 𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽: Hofbräu from the German bar across the street from the Irish pub you just left.

✍️ Whenever my friends want to go to an Irish pub, a little leprechaun inside my head says, “but we can go somewhere more fun?” yet every now and then there’s a pot of gold at these dive bars and I’m glad someone nudged me out of my comfort zone. 🇮🇪 Before you know it, I’m taking a purposeful sip of Guinness in hopes that the liquid line will land in between the words and the symbol. (No small feat…)

Such is the story of me picking up We are the Brennans for a book club back in pandemic-four-book-clubs-a-month days. (RIP 💔) I loved that story so much and could not wait until Tracey Lange tried to convince me again that maybe an afternoon at Petey O’Doyle’s isn’t all that bad.

No such luck. 🍀 The leprechaun that led me to the pot of gold that was the Brennans decided to unleash his mischievous side and bring me the Connellys. Feeling pretty duped right now, and not in a good way like skincare for 1/10th of the price.

When it comes to The Connellys of County Down, I guess you could say the Guinness had been kicked.

⚠️May cause readers to look forward to Pi Day in March over St. Patrick’s Day.

Sometimes I think a book’s rating is entirely dependent on how it makes you feel, IF it makes you feel anything particularly strongly. And let me tell YOU, this one made me feel a MESS of emotions. Particularly frustration at their sheer lack of communication. But that’s what made it so good! It moved along specifically because of those frustrations.

Just wish the chapters weren’t so freaking long!

Thanks to Celadon for including me in the #celadonreadstogether campaign for this title in April to read this early with new-to-me bookstagrammers! It was awesome to be paired up with a small group of similar readers to read and discuss the title and get to know each other. I appreciated getting a NetGalley copy, too, so I could read it on my travels.
For me, this read started out really well - I was engaged in the story from the beginning and excited for the first quarter, but then I paused to meet the reading schedule. This unfortunately led to me losing momentum and setting the book aside, and I didn’t finish the book until well after we were supposed to discuss it.
Lange does a great job crafting a beautifully flawed family. Their struggles felt realistic and able to be identified with. I wasn’t as much of a fan of the romance that developed - it felt problematic and unstable. Overall, I liked this family drama, and I obviously loved that the main characters went to dinner at Brennan’s (from the author’s previous book) for a dinner date. I think fans of family dramas will enjoy this one, and I also recommend the author’s debut, We Are the Brennan’s.

It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on Hoarding Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, parental abandonment, the death of a loved one, grief, terminal illness, substance abuse, & others.

North of New York & south of the city, to the west of the centre, & east of the middle vagrants a subtle Irish diaspora intermingling in a fulsome lineage of burdens. Lange has introduced the reader to this part of the State before via the Brennans; a dynamic family unit ripe with secrets & mysteries, both of which might have been resolved with a bit of gumption & a salivated tongue. However, that is not how families are run. That is not to say that all units have their weak point, yet, this would remain an accurate statement. I mean to say that Lange writes about families that are quite similar to the one you might have heard about from a friend, or, maybe they are like your own.

With the boastful delight of a welcomed breached birth, Lange has offered the reader a new family to ponder & possess. The Connelly family is quite unfortunately in utter disrepair. The youngest sibling, Tara, is on the brink of release from a stint in the penitentiary where she served a sentence for being charged with transporting drugs. Here, the reader is immediately required to forgive the New York State legislation that indicates that this is actually classified as a Major Felony—resulting in between eight (8) & twenty (20) years of served time—rather than a crime that might allow Tara the two (2) year sentence she was granted. Indeed, we may note that Tara is a first-time offender which might mean the law would be gentle—2.5 years maximum.

However, Tara is accused of being in an intimate relationship with a known drug lord, she has been charged with battery after physically assaulting her sister-in-law; she has a history of disregarding the legal system, including in school, & others. Perhaps we have come to this hard stance rather quickly. You will forgive my lack of a smooth introduction in this case. I feel inclined to delve into this story & its logistics rather harshly because I feel let down.

When Lange released her debut novel, “We Are The Brennans” (2021), I was lucky enough to be granted an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC). At this time, I was still new to the game—I have been a reader all the days of my life; via the narration of a parent & guardian until I was literate all by myself. I appreciate the nuance that exists in reading. Sometimes, we find ourselves in a place in our lives wherein the story clicks & we fill the page with colourful words of praise. While, other times, we are disappointed & morose as a consequence of what we had hoped would be a grand adventure. In the year 2021, I was at a place where audiobooks were greatly appreciated. I had been dealing rather heavily with a health condition—one that tenderly remains with me to this day—& found myself able to immerse my brain in the world of the Brennans.

This time around, without the narration of a dedicated professional or the atmosphere of belief that I was in for a real treat, I found myself wrinkled & confused at the quirky language & superfluous plot of this book. That being said, this book will be appreciated by the same crowd that adored Lange’s first book. I am rather inclined to believe that, in this age of social sharing, many of the more platformed folks will find themselves with their ideal book in hand. The premise of this story will offer them the ease of a conclusion they can find comfort in & a story that presents some of the more unseemly aspects of life without the trauma that decimates the carrier.

To begin at the start, this story is about Tara as she adapts to life outside of prison. Both of her parents are absent from her life. Her mother died from cancer & her father is a deadbeat. Rather than explore the repercussions of this reality Lange presents the orphaned children in a mystic mirrored fashion. The trauma that each of the characters carries is reflected in very specific ways though there is no real exploration as to the root cause. By this I mean, Geraldine suffers from a Hoarding Disorder, Eddie has a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), & Tara remains coffined in a perpetual state of fight or flight—which might be attributed to Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

I have a rather well-rounded experience in a significant portion of the subject matter explored in this book. Therefore, while getting to know each of the characters & their “quirks” I felt encouraged to give more leeway than was perhaps necessary. After all, these are grown adults—the choices they make are their own. On the other hand, the consequences of traumatic events on the brain of a child remain present for the rest of the person’s life. It would be a crude oversimplification to claim that because Geraldine was habituated to being responsible she could clock her own disorder for the repercussion to trauma that it was.

As the story progresses the turbulence of the narrative veers from one thing to another. At first, the antagonist is Roland, the lowly kingpin. The local police have their sights set on him & have been badgering everyone in town in the hopes of being granted some form of intel that would allow them to lock Roland away for life. Then, when it’s apparent that Tara is not romantically involved with Roland, the local Detective jointly responsible for her imprisonment feels that this is the appropriate time to begin an intimate & romantic relationship with her. To the great confusion of many readers, this relationship becomes the focal point of the narrative.

As Tara struggles to regain her place in the family home, tries to find herself employment, & advocates for her libidinous desires; the world of the Connelly family stalls. This book is not very long, clocking in at around 288 pages. However, near the middle point, right after the cast of characters has been presented & tepidly explored; the author seems to lose her way. Nothing of note happens & though one could certainly argue that the tedium of the middle adds to the reality of the subject matter, I do not believe this to be the case.

Rather than encourage the material to spider itself into webs that the reader will need to untangle, the plot remains dull. Tara has sexual encounters with the Detective (whose name I have all but forgotten); Geraldine steals from her place of work instead of admitting that she fell behind; Eddie is doing nothing but going to work & kissing his coworker; & that’s all there is to say about the middle. Because the middle bits of stories are often where the marrow is found, the disappointment that arises due to the sluggish centre of this book is rather unfortunate.

It would not be wrong to feel disgust towards the apparent “romantic” relationship that is blossoming between Tara & the Detective. Why did this need to happen at all? If one can cast aside the absolute poverty of morals that overshadows this story, one is still left with questions. If the intent was for Tara to learn to try & overcome her coping mechanisms as she learns that they do not serve her & in fact cause harm to those around her, why does the story spend so much time with her lallygagging around town with the man who was & is leading the case against her? Tara is never actually granted the ability to work through her own trauma. In the place of self-efforts & coming to terms with the past we witness a romance that is severely misplaced.

This story would have benefitted from the inclusion of realism. One can certainly hope to find a tender version of the more crass reality of the human world. I do not fault readers for seeking out a story that might allow them to escape their reality. However, the apparent aspect that remains lacking throughout the twists & turns of the straight-lane Saskatchewan highway is the truth. One single moment in which Tara came to terms with how difficult it might be to be in Geraldine's shoes; one moment to appreciate that headaches were the cherry coating on a mold-ridden sundae of issues associated with a TBI; time to appreciate that people hurt each other even when they are trying very hard not to.

The depth of the relationships that the characters shared was all but non-existent. Due to this fact, the chapters on end wherein the same situation was repeated—over & over again—felt insulting. In all of this, there is a child that is suffering the silence of adults. It would not have been too much to hope to see consequences be met with actions. The ending of this book all but swept everything under the rug in a Cinderella style-maneuver. Though I can appreciate that Tara wasn’t going to have the heart-to-heart she deserved to have with her father in the few pages they shared, it mattered to see them awkwardly sitting together vying for the first word after years of solitude from each other.

Overall, this was not the book for me. I wanted the story to offer further opportunities to the characters; for them to be seen as tangible, well-rounded, entities in the world. What was given instead was very surface-level. Everyone felt like a caricature of themselves. I return to my original point which is to say that I know other people will love this book. If you find yourself with similar reading tendencies to me you may row your boat onwards to fuller waters.

Ultimately, I found the language crass & cringe-worthy; the obstacles anthills alongside the dunes. The blockade of suspense never reaches its full potential & yet I appreciated the mention of the Brennans & their bar. The story maneuvers itself well in the universe of families in New York State who long for proximity to a home they have never known. Whereas the essence of this story hints at folklore & fairytale stories of old, little of this transpires within the story. Instead, these imaginings remain locked in the childhood mind of the Connelly children & are rather absent from the narrative altogether.

For readers who enjoyed the first book by this author, the Connelly crew will undoubtedly present a new aspect of the realm of fiction they came to enjoy. As for myself, I disembark from the boat that led me here to make way for easy readers who won’t scoff at the corroded fiction they seek to behold.

Thank you to NetGalley, Celadon Books, & Tracey Lange for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!