I loved this story of the lady getting a divorce and moving to the beach. She encounters many problems and gets mixed up with some quacky neighbors that wind up becoming true friends. Eventually her husband returns and lives in the driveway in a trailer until he has an accident. They finally reconcile and have a grand baby. This book was full of fun and drama. A great read.

Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me. I hoped for a humorful book about a divorcee finding herself in a better place. It had its funny moments, but the story went on much longer than it should have and seemed a bit repetitive.

Save what's left seemed like a fun story based on the short content and at first it was certainly entertaining and amusingly written. After a while you notice that the story is really just a big lament from the main character and you don't see much character development. I had hoped that the ending would make up for the lack of an interesting plot, but unfortunately that was not the case for me.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an arc of this book.

Thank you #Netgalley for the copy!

When Kathleen's husband suddenly tells her out of nowhere that he doesn't want to be married anymore, she is left in a tailspin. She opts to purchase a beach home without seeing it. When she arrives, she sees large amounts of construction right next to her home and it unveils many levels of local drama. Kathleen tries to embrace the beach community but is so frustrated with what is going on around her. We see her write letters to the local leadership consistently and gets so focused on the negatives rather than embracing the positives around her. There are some interesting moments, especially with her ex Tom, but overall I felt this book was focused on the negatives and did not enjoy the overall ranting.

Save What's Left is a beach read of a slightly different stripe. This debut novel reminds me a little of the first Olive Kitteridge and a lot more of Barbara Kingsolver's Unsheltered. The book is a keen insight into the throes of life's challenges. I adored the inserted chapters of emails and letters to the powers that be that bedecked this alternate retirement yarn. Speaking of retirement,, everyone seemed VERY young but I can only hope I am so active in my retirement years.
Highly recommended as a beach read. Stick with the slightly slow start, it's worth it.

Save What's Left by Elizabeth Castellano is wonderful! The characters were so fun to get to know - hapy reading!

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

Kathleen and Tom just got divorced after many years. Tom takes off on an around the world cruise, and Kathleen decides to buy and house in a small beach town in New York. Buying the property sight unseen ends up not being the best idea. When Kathleen arrives, she realizes why she got such a good deal… there is a glass monstrosity being built next door. The book is strangely written and jumps around quite a bit. Mostly it is about Kathleen writing emails to the project supervisor complaining about all the building codes that are broken. She’s not a super likable character, and even talks about how she’s negative and never finds friends that are upbeat. I didn’t love this book, but I didn’t hate it. It was just ok. I did run out of time before I could finish the last 25 pages, so maybe the ending would have made me like it more?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I was given the eARC in exchange for a review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I chose to read Save What’s Left, as I grew up near the beach and hoped it would be a fun read. However, I found the timeline hard to follow, as there were gaps with presumptive understanding of the plot. The writing style didn’t work for me either. So not the book for me, but I think there are readers who will enjoy the story, the town politics, and the shenanigans.

I received a copy from Net Galley and have written an objective review.

What was the point of this book???

I wanted to read Elizabeth Castellano’s debut book, Save What’s Left, after hearing it was picked for Good Morning America’s Book Club and People Magazine named it one of the best books of the summer.

While this book had funny moments, it is basically 300 pages of a privileged white woman picking fights with her neighbors and the city. I don’t get the hype and wish I would have just DNFd it.

Special thanks to Netgalley, Elizabeth Castellano, and Vintage Anchor for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

The book blurb hooked me immediately. Unfortunately, the story itself was not very compelling. Thank you NetGalley for the advance ecopy.

There was so much buzz about this book that I was sure I would love it. Unfortunately I didn't love it and I found it to be just ok. This story had a lot of potential but the overall problems/complaining/negativity that started out as funny ultimately became to much.

Parts of this book -- the first half especially -- were laugh-out-loud funny, putting me in mind of some of my favorite other shrewdly witty midlife-crisis stories (think Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Agatha Arch Is Afraid of Everything). Elizabeth Castellano does a beautiful job of capturing the essence of the old lyrical adage that life is what happens when we're busy making other plans, so we can't help but cheer for our heroine as she at last starts making plans of her own. At the end of the day, it turns out we can only feel so sorry for someone who lives in a gorgeous beach town, but what a fun ride this book was. A good read for the off-season when you're landlocked at home.

Quirky, unique beach-style read. Kinda repetitive, with lots of words, and lots of descriptions. Overall kind of a light read.

In "Save What's Left", Kathleen thinks she and her husband are drifting "as happily as can be expected" into retirement, after thirty years of marriage. Their life in Kansas City is predictable, but that's not bad, is it? Until her husband Tom tells her he is unhappy and will be leaving her to depart on a four month around-the-world cruise. Kathleen decides that she will also pick up her life and move to a town where an old friend from her past lives, so she buys a beach shack on the Florida coastline, sight unseen.

When she arrives at the house, she is unhappy to find that a huge house is being built next door to her, to be utilized as an holiday home. So her dreams of residing in a relaxing beach cottage are shattered by the relentless sound of drills and hammers. A letter writing campaign ensues, with Kathleen writing to the city planner complaining about her noisy neighbors who are breaking all sorts of zoning laws.

So how did I like the book? First, I have to commend the writer for keeping me chuckling pretty much all throughout the book. It wasn't just the occasional funny line, but much of the dialogue was in this tone. Now, you will either like this or you won't. I, personally, was amused by it. I will say, however, that I think that this book may be more enjoyed by an audience of older age. As a person in retirement I could find more to relate to in the story, than say, a twenty year old would. I would also like to take exception to reviewers calling Kathleen "the ultimate Karen". First, what a tired, overused insult that has become in record time. Some people think that anyone who complains about anything is a "Karen". Sometimes there are actually things to complain about! Is Kathleen over the top in this department? Yes, but that's what we call "humor", something some of these reviewers might try look up in their dictionary.

So if you are at an age where you can imagine retiring one day, and then could see the humor when everything goes sideways; if you are looking for a light and happy read which is not super deep, but is heartwarming, and if you would like a book that may make you laugh out loud, then you may be the audience for "Save What's Left"!

Thank you to the author Elizabeth Castellano, NetGalley and publisher Vintage Anchor for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this started out SO strong—I found myself laughing out loud and finding absolute delight in the protagonists internal monologue. Unfortunately the story never really took off—it was very repetitive and nothing really happened. What started off as funny ended up being irritating because there was no character evolution, on the part of anyone in the novel. I gave it 3 stars because of the strong start.

A hilarious look into life in a beach town. When Kathleen's husband of thirty years, Tom, unexpectedly says he wants a divorce and plans to cruise around the world and find himself, Kathleen is thrown for a loop. She decides a change is in order for herself as well, and moves across the country to a small home on the beach in the town of Whitbey. She soon realizes that life in a beach town is not what she had always dreamed of. Her next door neighbors are in the process of building a giant new home, and disregarding all city codes and ordinances along the way. Not fun. Kathleen becomes quick friends with Rosemary across the street, who is also frustrated with this new development, and they dedicate themselves to questioning the process and any of the town's officials who seem to supporting it. Something stinks in this town, and it's not the clams.

A witty summer read. I definitely don't want a beach house after reading this novel. Ha. What a nightmare. Kathleen and Rosemary are cantankerous for sure, but you can't help but love them. Plenty of fun antics and an interesting setting. I enjoyed the over the top nature of the characters, though I do see how some could be frustrated with the repetition.

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

Save What's Left by Elizabeth Castellano is a book that by the description would be a book that I loved. I have tried to pinpoint what fell short for me and the only thing I can say is the story felt like there were parts missing. There are moments that were laugh out loud funny but there were too few of these moments. Kathleen fell flat for me. Rosemary wasn't much better.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bottom line, I live in a small touristy beach town and I thought this would be a fun read.. The premise is good and the author's lead up to the big beach move is well written that you develop empathy for the characters. The format of emails written to complain about various town issues is ok. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is almost a caricature of people from away complaining. For me, the book was a rehash of people from away complaining about every thing wrong in their new home town without doing more than attending a few meetings and whining out loud.

I enjoyed the first half of the book. I understood where Kathleen was coming from in terms of moving away to really start living her best life after her husband told her he was unhappy in their marriage. However, the constant bickering and complaining with the town over the McMansion just made the book more of a chore than a real escape for me.

I really loved this. At first I wasn't sure because it reads as a steady stream of consciousness, and it weaves between past and present pretty quickly (if you're not paying attention you'll get lost) but I ended up loving Kathleen. I laughed so may times at her dry humor, and I ended up loving the writing style.

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.