I received a digital ARC of this novel from Penguin Group Dutton through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This novel follows four friends who met in college from the night before their college graduation in June of 2006 through 2019. Each chapter/section is from each friend’s point of view. I appreciated how the reader was shown the character’s thoughts on what was happening, and their maturity. The novel showed how events and life circumstances can change what we think we want in life.

I think readers who enjoy novels by J. Courtney Sullivan, and We Are the Brennans, by Tracey Lange, will enjoy this novel.

(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 #𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.) I love stories of lifelong friendships which is what drew me to 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗪 by Lauryn Chamberlain. The book opens in 2006 as best friends, Dev, Nate, Clarissa and Rachel are about to graduate from Northwestern. All but Clarissa are headed to New York to find their paths and build their careers. ⁣
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While this seemed like a perfect set up for me, at the onset I wasn't so sure. The first quarter of the book read a little YA for my tastes, but perhaps that was just because the characters were so young and lacking in experiences. As they grew older and saw a little more of life, my interest and investment in their lives grew. I wanted to know more, to see how they fared. I began to care. I also really liked the way Chamberlain had her story unfold. Chapters alternated between the four characters’ perspectives while still keeping the others involved. She also moved forward one year per chapter which really kept the book tight. After 15 years, the friends’ story was complete, though perhaps not over. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was such an interisting book to read as someone who is finishing college and losing contact with high school friends and seeing how everyone's life is from afar. It was really nice to read about how relationships can change and envolve

Who We Are Now follows a group of college friends in the years after they graduate. Captures the nostalgia of looking back on your college days and shows how the friendship group face challenges and change as they go through adulthood.

Told from the alternating perspectives of four college friends over fifteen years time. Our story begins on the eve of their college graduation, a time full of hope and anxiety, when it truly feels like your whole life is still ahead of you and your best friends will stay that way forever. Each year is told from a different character’s POV: Rachel, Clarissa, Nate, and Dev. We follow them through professional setbacks and successes, personal triumphs, family events, and loss. Over time their friendships will strain, until an unexpectedly tragic event eventually reunites them.
I wouldn’t say this is particularly plot heavy, but I adored this. I was cheering for all four of them and their relationships through all of their misfortunes and mistakes. I wanted even more of these characters. This felt like the most realistic portrayal of friendship and the most authentic characters I have read in a long time. This one will definitely stick with me!

This book is definitely a fragmented journey of friendship over the years. The story attempts to capture the rise and fall of friendships and lives of 4 college friends who graduate in 2006. There was definitely a unique approach with each chapter/part being narrated by one individual character from 2007-2018 and I believe it is a choice which is meant to give a look in to their individual lives and experiences. Whilst I loved the concept, I do feel like the execution did not capture me and I didn't enjoy it.

The narrative shifts between characters and timelines and I found this confusing, and it was difficult for me to pin point places to stop reading or have a break. The length of chapters did not help this issue either.

I found that I didn't really like any of the characters and I found it hard to be interested in their story. I feel like they weren't developed to the best of their abilities and I was not emotionally invested or connected to the story. Each chapter/part goes in depth on every single one of their experiences whether it be vital to the story or not which I found hard to digest and feel a genuine interest in reading.

Even though there were quite a few things which did not resonate with me. Chamberlain definitely has great potential as a writer and there were many spots within the book that this shined through. The artwork for the book is also beautiful, but I feel as though it is way to bright and happy for the overall story.

While my expectations were not met for this book, the unique exploration of friendships and their evolution is still an interesting concept and may resonate with other readers.

I was asked to review “Who We Are Now” by Laryn Chamberlain. Hence, I began to read the novel without little more than a glance at the premise.

Four close friends (male and female) graduated from college in 2006, and this story focuses on the highs and lows of the fifteen years that follow. Told through each of the friend’s point of view, the reader is given privy to each person’s angst, aspirations and heartbreak. I liked the premise, but I felt as if there was a lot of back and forth between the different points of views. Since the book covers such a large span of time, I also felt as if we were missing moments that could have been note-worthy. Finally, I felt parts of the story were situational versus character driven.

I enjoyed the story, but I did not love it. The writing itself was solid and reading the story reminded me why it’s a good thing those “fragile” years are far behind me.

Three and a half out of five stars.

Thank you the Laryn Chamberlain, NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel

I had a serious case of nostalgia reading this book. This is a coming of age story about four college friends and the years that follow into their thirties. I also graduated college in 2006 and found myself thinking about myself and my friendships over the same period of time. How the people you might meet by chance in a dorm room or hallway freshmen year can be some of your lifelong friends, and then a particular sadness that comes with growth and how those same friendships can change over time.

Rounding up from 3.5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley & Dutton Press for the advanced reader copy.

One of the best contemporary fiction novels coming out this year. Utterly brilliant writing and chapters that followed the years of the friend group, each being told from a different characters perspective made the story incredibly playful, quick and powerfully unique!
If you like the tv show Friends, Gilmore Girls or Virgin River this book is for you!

Thank you for this advanced copy. As a 30-something, I really related to the idea of growing up and how our friendships change and evolve.

While the story didn’t flow as quickly for me as I hope, I was still engaged enough to get to the end and see the culmination.

I really enjoyed this book. Thank you to bet galley for the advanced copy. It really captured the nostalgia one has for your university days and how life just happens and the decisions you make really shape where you end up. I think everyone wonders at some point what their life would have been like had they made a different decision. I definitely recommend this one.

Who We Are Now follows the lives of four college friends as they make their way in the world post graduation. The book opens at a funeral, its unclear who has died and the reader is led to believe that its one of the friends. But then quickly the book goes 15 years back to college and takes place in the days surrounding graduation. We then follow Dev, Nate, Rachel and Clarissa as the book takes them navigating adulthood, the real world, and all that comes along with life in your 20s. Each chapter is told by a different character and yet it reads quite cohesively. It was a quick read and held my interest. I wasn't a huge fan of some of the characters but the book worked well and I overall found it enjoyable. 3.5 stars that I'll round up to 4.
Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group and the author for access to this ARC.

📖 Contemporary Fiction
⭐4/5

➡ Who We Are Now follows four college friends and roommates in the fifteen years following their graduation from Northwestern. Each year is told from one character’s point of view, and through the eyes of Dev, Rachel, Nate and Clarissa, readers experience professional growth, success and failures and personal love, loss and connection. It's the powerful story of a lasting bond that follows the ebb and flow of relationships, the choices we make (big and small) and what it takes to pull together what has been driven apart.
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💭"People always talked about timing in romantic relationships, but how much of friendship was down to timing, too? Clarissa had always believed in forming closeness through ideals and personality, but maybe adult friendship was more about circumstance."
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🙏 Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group, Dutton for the advanced copy of Who We Are Now. All opinions are my own.
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🎯 What I loved: This book was raw and emotional and everything about it felt so incredibly relatable. Centered around four friends ebbing and flowing through the phases of their lives as they grow and change after college, sometimes together, sometimes apart, Who We Are Now is perfect for anyone in their 20s or 30s...or anyone who has ever been in their 20s and 30s. I really connected with parts of all four of the main characters. Dev, Nate, Rachel and Clarissa were best friends who celebrated and rooted for each of their friends while simultaneously comparing and measuring themselves against each other, experiencing a contrasting push and pull of love and resentment, something I think is really present in most friendships.

🙅‍♀️ What I didn't: Because this story was so relatable and followed four friends in fifteen years after their college graduation, it didn't feel super gratifying or like there was a concrete end. It was told in alternating years and perspectives (which I loved), so expect gaps and holes in character stories as you only get a full chapter of character perspective every four years. These really aren't gripes, just acknowledgments of the way the book functions that are worth noting for future readers.
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Read if you love:
* relatable chronicles of friendship
* alternating POVs and lives woven together
* books set during post college/early career life
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See also: The Celebrants, Adelaide, The One that Got Away

This story follows four close friends for the fifteen years through college and beyond. Decisions and choices are made and things happen and circumstances change. The friends think their closeness will last forever but things change as their twenties and thirties fly by. Over the years , they celebrate successes and experience grief and loss together and apart. I loved reading their story. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this wonderful book. I highly recommend it.

A beautiful serendipitous story of life told through 10+ years of friendship. It's a sliding doors story that digs into the "what if" questions we all ask ourselves at some point in our lives. Readers, this book is the Ross to our Rachel. Get it on your must read list.

"To no endings."

As a person now in their thirties, I really appreciated how this book covers the evolution of friendships over time, and the challenges that arise as we grow and make choices in adulthood. I bookmarked a lot of "oh." moments felt so relevant to my own thoughts and feelings.

But overall, this book wasn't plot-driven enough to keep me engaged. It felt monotous in a lot of ways. I liked the depth of the characters and the ways we could see them make mistakes and evolve. But I would have like more a a balance between character and plot to keep things moving.

A thank you to Dutton and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. WHO WE ARE NOW is out now!

Graduating from college, starting your first job, making those first important choices, negotiating friendships—all that and more waits for you between the pages of Who We Are Now by Lauryn Chamberlain. Well written and told from multiple points of view, the book stretches over fifteen years, beginning in 2006.

I especially liked the nostalgic atmosphere and the nuanced relationships Chamberlain created. While it was fascinating to get inside the heads of these four friends, I stayed a little disconnected because I didn’t relate to any of them personally. Maybe my age (I’m 63) or my personality or my preferences in friendships contributed to my disconnect. I do think the author did a good job of giving each a distinct personality. But their flaws—which all good characters have—made them a tad more dislikable than I would have preferred. I’m not sure I really rooted for anyone.

In the end, I give it four stars because I think Chamberlain pulled off the heart of the story—the subtle changes that occur in early adulthood and the tension of close friendship groups. While these weren’t “my” people, I enjoyed the honest portraits and the reminder of those early adult years when it was common to question everything and endlessly wonder if you were doing it “right.”

I appreciated the advance copy to review from NetGalley and Dutton Books.

This book told the story of four college housemates from graduation and at intervals in the future. The story starts with a death and so of course you want to read to find out which character it was. I feel like there was more of two characters and the other two were less important to the overall story. This was an ok read for me.

The Evolution of a Friendship

Four friends, Dev, Nate, Rachael, and Clarissa, are on the eve of college graduation when the novel opens. The world is unfolding before them. It’s exciting and a little frightening. One of the questions is whether they will remain friends. As the years pass, the story of each character is told from his or her viewpoint. From 2010 through 2018 we have a view of each character's life with successes and failures and interactions with old friends. They grow apart, but in the end tragedy brings them back together.

I thought the author did a good job of making each character distinct. They come to life through the successes, failures, happiness, and disappointment that are part of every life. I particularly liked that we had male as well as female characters. Too many books I’ve read about friendship concentrate on female characters. I kept reading because I wanted to know more about these people

The story takes place between New York and Chicago. However, I think readers from other parts of the country can relate to the characters. If you enjoy character based novels, this is a good one.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for this review copy.

the characters really felt like real people to me, which can be hard to find in books. the plot twist near the end really got me, so unexpected and sad