The connection of family and what we try to do to protect them is powerful and covered through these pages. The author created nuanced characters that I found myself wanting to spend more and more time. Cheering for their noble efforts, being hopeful that their decisions wouldn’t hurt each other more than they had potential to do. I found myself rooting for them all and feeling a connection and sympathy for each character. I find when I’m sad to leave characters when the book is done, when I actually hope for a follow up novel - that the author has done a good job of weaving character and story. This book was that great combination.

(I received an advanced copy of this book in return for my review from NetGalley)

I loved this book so much. Tracey Lange penned a perfect family drama, second only to her first book, We Are the Brennans. Tara Connelly is the black sheep of her family, as she is getting out of prison in the beginning. She has to re-build her life with her brother and sister, trying to figure out how thrive on the outside. As we get to know more about the Connellys and their lives, we realize that people cannot just be judged by what they do, but why they do it. The love, loyalty, pain, and hope in this book stabbed me right in the heart and I feel honored to have spent time with the Connellys of County Down, a truly magnificent gem of a book. Thank you to Celadon Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. What a wonderful experience!

I did not read We Are The Brennans, so this was my introduction to Tracey Lange. The Connellys of County Down hits the mark as a story about family and the things we do for the people we love. The novel is completely readable and enjoyable, but I kept waiting for something to happen. I didn’t buy into the chemistry between Tara and Brian’s.

Tara was just released from serving 18 months in prison on drug charges. Now she's out and has to re-acclimate herself to the real world. But how does she do that with no job, no money, no phone, and a record so no one wants to hire her? Her family is strained - her brother is shy about having her back, and her sister is largely verbal about her distaste of the situation. But family stress puts them against each other when things unravel, and we have to read to find out if they can put their family back together. Mix into the family drama an unlikely love interested, and Tara has her hands full trying to figure out her life.

I felt this book. No, I couldn't relate to anything, but the writing, the stress/strain of the story and situations that kept popping up made me feel it in my chest. I didn't want to put this book down. I love TL's style of writing and how she brings out the family drama and emotions, but she doesn't toy with us too much - she wraps things up in a sloppy bow at the end. This was a great read and I'd definitely recommend it.

🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝒶𝓇𝓎𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝔸𝕦𝕘𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝟙, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛

"𝓦𝓮𝓵𝓵, 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼, 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓵𝓵𝔂𝓼. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓪 𝓷𝓸𝓻𝓶𝓪𝓵, 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱𝔂, 𝓼𝓬𝓻𝓮𝔀𝓮𝓭-𝓾𝓹 𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂."

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Tara Connelly is released from
jail after serving 18 months for a drug trafficking charge. She is ready to rebuild her life from scratch and be reunited with her siblings and nephew. Upon her return, she notices that her brother and sister have been struggling with their own problems and have all been keeping secrets of their own. Life becomes more complicated for Tara when the cop that put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced. Once all their secrets start to unravel, it’s time to tell the truth or risk losing one another once again. Can the cop be the one to help put her family back together? A story about love and loyalty and the importance of always asking for help when you need it.

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
I really enjoyed this book. I was connected to the characters immediately and felt like the Connelly Family was so relatable. We can all find some part of our family dynamics in the Connelly Family. They were imperfectly perfect and made for an entertaining read. I loved Connor )”(the nephew) character so much. One of my favorite parts about the book was the jokes that he told. Let me give you one: “ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕕𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕥𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖?” “ℙ𝕦𝕥 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕪 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕥” 🤣

I wish some of the storylines would have been wrapped up with a little more detail but overall it was a great read.

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Binge worthy Family drama
💫Character driven books
💫Orange is the New Black tv show vibes
💫Imperfect real and raw characters
💫Exploration of complicated family dynamics

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: death of parent⚠️

🍀𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾🍀
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E: "𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒶𝓇𝑔𝓊𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑔𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎𝓈. 𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒸𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒'𝓈 𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒹𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅𝓈. 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝑜𝓃𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓀 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂, 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝑒.“

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Tracey Lange for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

Having to hitch a ride home from prison with the detective who put her behind bars is an inauspicious start to Tara Connelly's new life, after serving 18 months on a drug charge. But it gets worse. Neither her sister nor brother is home when she gets there, but a padlock on the door of her room is. As Tara negotiates freedom--with its newfound constraints, such as a parole officer--she is more aware of the deep fissures in her family life. Her brother still struggles with his brain injury and her sister is getting odder. And Brian Nolan, the detective, seems awfully nice for a cop.

Tracey Lange crafts compelling novels with families who love each other but are deeply flawed. I cared deeply about everyone in this book, even (and especially) Brian Nolan. As interesting as the primary and secondary story lines are, this is above all a story about family relationships. #TheConnellysofCountyDown #NetGalley

Well-written, engaging family drama with a bit too tidy of an ending for my cynical taste. This would make a great bookclub selection.

3.5 rounded down

**Thanks to Celadon books for a copy to review. All opinions expressed are my own**

I loved this book from the first chapter. I thought the characters were so flawed. so real, and you felt like they were your own family or friends -- watching them struggle, feeling frustrated with them, yet wanting them to succeed, rooting for them at the same time. I saw a couple of the "twists" coming, but I didn't even care, I wanted to see how the characters reacted to them, how they interacted with each other through them. Especially moving was the scene with Tara's father. Most people in the world are neither wholly "good" nor wholly "bad" and the writing does a good job of portraying that.

That being said...I didn't like the ending. It just ENDED. I wanted so much more, 40 pages more. I did not want to imagine the relationship between the siblings and with their father in a few months time, nor Tara's romantic relationship, or Eddie's. What about Geraldine?? I wanted redemption for Andrea and I wanted to know that they took down Roland, who was a huge focus for most of the book (albeit mostly off camera). I wanted sooo much more and after being so invested in these characters, I felt really flat after the book ended, like I was missing several chapters at the end. It could have been a truly amazing, knock it out of the park story but it just ended at a really strange time and gave us absolutely no resolution to all the threads it had pulled. I had so many questions and really disliked that I got basically no answers and had to make up the endings for myself.

Perhaps that wouldn't bother some people, but it always seems lazy to me for authors to invest so much in their characters, to make readers care about them too, and then to leave it up to your imagination how it ends. Did they not care enough to give anyone their redemption (or not) arc? To finish off vital elements of a very character driven and emotional journey? It would certainly put me off the author in the future.

I really hope my e-ARC was just missing two chapters at the end.

I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed the first novel that Tracey Lange wrote. So when I saw this book available on Netgalley I asked for it right away and really really hoped I got picked to read it in advance. I am so glad I did. I loved the book, the characters were great, They weren't perfect which I always appreciate. The romance in this was cute. The family relationship was realistic. Her older sister drove me a bit batty but I understand why that happened. Overall I will continue to read all of her books.

I went into this not quite knowing what I was getting myself into, but knew a few others who had read either this book, or others by this author and it came highly recommended.
As the grandchild of Irish immigrants, I was immediately drawn to the family, knowing their struggles. It was a little strange for one of the villains in the book to share the same last name as me, but I got past it.

This book was... strange for sure. I tend to go with books that have a clear plot to follow rather than a book that follows character growth as a plot, but I did enjoy the writing style and the characters in the book. I enjoyed the book a lot more than I originally thought, and would love to read more works by this author.

Thank you to Celadon Books and Net Galley for the advanced reader's copy of The Connelly's of County Down. The characters of this book are all human and flawed, and yet Lange makes them lovable and you root for all of them to find happiness. While the story about their ancestry of County Down is a small part of the story, it brings everything together at the end. The power of a story, the roles we play in our family unit, and the challenge to break out and grow are central themes to this book. Highly recommend it!

Thank you Celadon books for giving me an opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Connellys of County Down. I had not heard of this book until you emailed me the widget. This was a very good family drama surrounding 3 siblings Eddie, Tara and Geraldine. The story opens with Tara being released from prison for drug trafficking after serving 18 months. As you get into the story we learn a lot about Tara. She loves her family and will do anything to protect them. This book has a little bit of everything in it - family secrets, romance, and just plain family drama. Although I could pretty much predict what was going to happen, I still enjoyed getting immersed into the lives of the Connelly's. This is the first book I have read by this author and look forward to reading more.

Having enjoyed a previous story from this author I was really looking forward to this story. Don’t let the three stars fool you, it was good and well written but my problem was it didn’t hold my attention well. I found my mind wandering frequently while listening to the audiobook and I couldn’t concentrate on the ebook at all.

The story itself has solid bones and it should have worked for me but it didn’t. With the type of books and writing styles I enjoy, this should have hit the mark but I can’t place my finger on what exactly didn’t.

A family, a normal screwed up family doing normal screwed up things. Like her first novel, I found myself very engaged in the beginning, with that pestering out by the end.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

This it not normally my kind of book, but my last name is a variation of Connelly so I felt like I had to. And I'm so glad I did! I loved this group of siblings. They had great character development. Despite trials and tribulations there was love and family at the core of this book and that always gets me.

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange kept catching my eye whenever I read the description, and it was my first novel from the author. In it we meet Tara on the day she is being released from prison and going to live with her sister, brother, and nephew. Each of them is going through their own issues and their family dynamics are messy. Layer in that she is trying to navigate work and relationships after prison and the family drama unfolds.

I love complicated family stories, so this was right up my alley in that sense. The way the siblings navigated each other’s issues with love was well written and had me invested. The plot around Tara having to navigate work and parole after serving time was so interesting to me, but at times felt unrealistic. She was just given so many chances despite messing up repeatedly, I had to suspend reality and focus on the family drama components of the story.

I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys sinking into a family of flawed people who are working to accept each other and love each other. It’s a touching sibling story and even with a few stretches on the post-prison storyline, it was an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Celadon Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for sending the digital and audio editions – I loved switching between them, and I appreciate you!

Content warnings: drug addiction, drug use, mental illness, parent death

[arc review]
Thank you to Celadon Books for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Connellys of County Down releases August 1, 2023

Lange’s newest novel, much like her debut, is centered around family dynamics and what lengths you would go to in order to protect and support them. Though I will say, this one felt vastly different in terms of writing style.

This is told in multi-pov (4), from Tara, her two siblings Geraldine and Eddie, and the detective that had a hand in putting Tara in prison.

Tara has been in a medium security leveled prison for the past year and a half on drug charges, and has just recently gotten out. The main conflict is figuring out who she took the fall for and kept quiet about this entire time.

I really liked Tara as a character, but me being an only child, I can’t imagine how shitty it would be to be in Tara’s position with siblings like hers. At a certain point you have to say enough is enough and stop enabling others just because they’re blood related.
I found that her relationship with Brian was a little weird and forced given their situation and past history.

Despite the clear indications that Geraldine was struggling with her mental health, I could not warm up to her at any point in this story.
The redeeming factor really was in the nephew who brought relief with all of his jokes and innocence.

The title of this book originates from a fairy tale their mother would tell them as children, and while I can see the greater meanings behind it, the whole superpowers thing felt cheesy.


cw: mental health, hoarding, TBI (brain injury), childhood trauma, absent parents, therapy

This is a story about fierce family loyalty, good intentions gone awry, and the consequences of improbable love. Tara Connelly is 30 years old and being released from prison after serving 18 months for drugs. She knows she has to return home and help her disabled brother and his 3 year old daughter and a sister that is slowly driving herself crazy hiding the family secrets. An emotional story that will have you reaching for a tissue.

Tracey Lange is back with another complicated, messy and moving family drama. In The Connellys of County Down, we meet Tara on her last day of prison, restarting her life after serving an 18 month sentence for drug trafficking. Tara is returning home to her big sister and brother, who are juggling their own past and current problems. The reader sees her trying to navigate finding a job, being an aunt, dealing with her parole officer and settling the debts of her past.

Lange is incredibly talented with character development. Over 28 engrossing chapters, the reader gets to truly know and feel for the Connelly family--including the impossible situations they create for themselves and each other. They are flawed and foolish, but full of love and good intentions.

But what I loved most was the attention to detail woven throughout, specifically the fairy tale and finally finding out their superpowers. I also looked forward to each and every one of Conor's jokes.

I read this in less than 24 hours and couldn't wait to see how things worked out, while also not wanting it to end. Have your tissues handy because this one moved me to tears more than once.

The audiobook is narrated by Barrie Kreinik, who is fantastic. Avid audiobook listeners will likely be familiar with her as I've listened to her many times and she's truly enjoyable, bringing the characters to life.

Thank you to Net Galley, Celadon Books and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to get to know the Connellys. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you so much for the advance copy to read and listen too before the publish date. This is my introduction to this author, and I have already added a previous book to my to be read shelf. I like the ride this story took me on. Being incarcerated for any reason can be detrimental to someone and their family. I like how this family rode the waves so they could be there for each other. Is this book going to be part of a series?