From Perfectly Impossible author Elizabeth Topp comes an unforgettably searing novel about a band of mothers who are forced to reckon with themselves after the unexpected loss of one of their own.When beautiful and successful Susan Harris jumps from the roof of her apartment building, she sets a tremor through her New York City mothers’ group that forces them all to look at one another with new How could this have happened right under their noses? To one of them? Between her death and the harrowing private school admission season on the horizon, these women are forced to explore the hard truths about themselves.Vic, a single mom with literary aspirations, is shocked and confused by the unexpected death of her best friend.Bhavna, a makeup executive, tries to process Susan’s death while sacrificing everything to get her son into the school of his dreams.Kara’s sister died by suicide years earlier, so she’s been down this road before—or so it seems.Penelope and Amy are navigating a business deal when Susan dies, but is it worth the toll on their families?And how will Chandice, battling cancer, come to terms with Susan’s death?For these women, the loss of a fellow mother forces them to reexamine who they really are while the futures of their children hang in the balance.


Love this story. So wonderfully written.

City People is not a book to enter into if you are looking for something hopeful or light. Elizabeth Topp explores so many rich, deep topics, but she does so from multiple POV's, and in a truly beautiful way.

This book will not be for every one, but those who are brave enough will find something wonderful mixed into the depressing tone. A piece of it will live with me for a long time.

I did this one as an audiobook and I think that was both a great way to enjoy it but also a slightly confusing one.

First, there are a lot of POV. The audiobook has different voices for each one, so that was helpful but it got really confusing, at times, to remember and figure out which POV I was with. Plus, the moms had some little things that made them unique but WOW, they had a lot that made them hard to distinguish.

It was also really awful to listen to each mom judge the one mom who is gone. It was hard - and just heartbreaking. Listening to Kara gape at the family from the building across the street, the others judge the mom when they themselves were struggle.

And I know this was the point of the story - the way they make their lives seems so put together, so perfect - when each of them had struggles and hard times, just like the mom who was gone. But, ugh, that did not make it easier to listen to it.

It was an okay story but I'm pretty glad I'm done.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I thought this book would be totally different than what I expected from the blurb. I just couldn’t really tell any of the characters and it was very slow and a little bit boring for me 2 1/2 stars.

Hated the characters and it felt like a slog with no resolution. I can do crappy people but I need more to tie it up at the end. Need to be in the right mood for this one!

City People by Elizabeth Topp was a great story with very entertaining characters who keep you flipping the pages. These characters are strong women who flawed, realistic and trying to navigate life. Topp did an excellent job at making the main characters seem relatable, and it kept me wanting more of the story and pushed me to keep reading to find out.
The plot and writing are very well done and I was eager to keep reading.
I was fully invested in the story and characters.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Little A for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️2.5 rounded up to 3 stars. Just not for me. So dark. So depressing. Money driven NYC parents going to extreme lengths to get their children into the Kent private school. It was just hard to read. The story is told from the point of view of 6 different characters and it became hard to keep up with who was who. Six different points of view and I didn’t care about a one of them. All I could think of while reading this one was the 50 other things I needed to be doing around my house. It just didn’t hold my attention.

You, like me, might recognize some of these women but then struggle to keep everyone straight. Set in upper income Manhattan it's the story of what happens after Susan leaps from the roof. Six other women- at least three too many- give their own POV on the event and their own lives. It's as trope-y as can be for this mileu (school admissions, career concerns, marital problems, addiction and so on) and every one of the characters has an issue. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This would have been far better with fewer characters and another edit.

What even is this? It has a promising start but it moves way too slowly. I don't even know anyone yet and I've already witnessed a suicide and heard about the racial percentages and DEI programs at a preschool! No thanks.

Haunting and dark this book will make you second guess yourself. I loved how it highlights what isolation can do. I couldn't put it down.

The premise of this sounded so good but I just couldn't get into it. The characters fell flat for me. Sadly, this was a DNF.

I really enjoyed this book. I was invested in each of the characters and their personal struggles. I look forward to reading more from this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

idk about this one tbh. the vibe just didn't sit right with me.

a couple things:
1. the relentless focus on how "selfish" susan was to commit suicide? the way how every character in the story is AWFUL when it comes to actually letting her family and loved ones grieve? i mean, sure, i get it if it was done intentionally, but i didn't clock this book at one of the "everyone here is awful and should be treated as unreliable narrator" types (but by the end it was DEFINITELY feeling that way) because we had SIX VIEWPOINTS so i was sure at least one of them would be tolerable. right? wrong lmao

2. about the six viewpoints. six is too many unless you're writing a 1000+ page fantasy epic, and even that's stretching it most times. it was just too scattered tbh

3. i just didn't have it in me to like a single character i'll be honest and while i don't mind unlikeable characters per se, i DO mind reading 300+ pages about ONLY unlikeable characters. well, actually, i liked isaac, but everyone treated him terribly soooo....yeah. unlikeable characters, the lot of them.

This story looks like a mystery story on its face. Several families are at a private school tour when one family doesn't show. They all find out later that the mom died under mysterious circumstances. It sounded to me like it was going to be a drama around what happened.

And it maybe a little bit is. But it's much more about how this death impacts all the other moms in the circle and a peek at their lives and a detailed study around how what you see is not the truth. And how every person, every marriage has secrets that aren't visible from the outside.

And sometimes the richer the person, the bigger the secrets and scandals.

This book mostly read like a character study of the rich to me and I enjoyed it. It was fast paced and hard to put down.

with gratitude to netgalley and Little A for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

This book was so interestingly unique. The subject matter is one I'd never read about before and the multiple points of view on a single situation was fascinating. Well done with excellent detail. Fantastic unique topic.

As someone who loves NYC and is fascinated by the world of the elite, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked getting to know these women and their secrets. I would recommend this to fans of contemporary women’s fiction.

Elizabeth Topps's new novel, City People, grabbed my attention from the first page. I love New York books, and this one hit all the high points of money, prestige, success, and secret sorrows. Susan Harris, one of the mothers of a group of prestigious preschool moms, kills herself, and off we go! Each of the women in this group has their chapter, and the book kept me glued as I wanted to know about the secrets they were trying to keep out of sight.

I was especially intrigued by Amy and Ming, who, while running a very high-end hedge fund, kept their secrets in public behind the language barrier of Mandarin. Their private lives unfolded beautifully as well. Kara is the mother of two and trying desperately to appear rich. Penelope is the frustrated daughter of a wealthy family who wants to be seen. Her secrets are the most realistic and sad to read. Each mother suffers in some unique hell, but they all have one goal, to get their children into the illustrious private school, Kent. Even the staff of the Kent School are players in a make-believe perfect world.

I loved this novel for the reality of wealth put on display by ET. I recommend this for everyone who follows the rich and famous, wondering about the real story of all that wealth and power.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book. The publication date is September 12, 2023

I've read other novels that use private school admissions as a metaphor for life, but this book was different in a really good five. Five mothers who all send their children to the same nursery are trying to get their kids into the prestigious Kent school, and their efforts are all colored by the important issues that they face in their personal lives--illness, marital issues, money issues. These are all issues that readers can relate to. What makes this different is that the book begins with the death of the sixth mother--Susan--and the five women search for the meaning in her death to try to make sense of their own lives. I really liked these women--they weren't the spoiled society women that other books present. They're just trying to figure things out, like we all are. The five women are expertly drawn, and kept me engaged throughout the book. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book before publication in exchange for my honest review.

Six mothers each want their preschool-aged child to receive an acceptance into the most prestigious school in Manhattan, but the sudden death of one of their own reveals uncomfortable truths in each of their lives. City People was an exciting read even for someone like me who has no connection to private schools. The glimpse into each woman's life was a lot of fun, and I wouldn't be surprised if the characters aren't too far off the mark of an actual attendee of a school like this. I did struggle with the ending however, as the last chapter was written in a perspective previously unexplored, and I feel like it just didn't land. Some other loose ends tied too fast as well, making the final parts a bit of a letdown. Still definitely worth the read though, and I'll be keeping an eye out for more by the author.

Note: I received a free ebook copy of City People from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a lot of characters. At times I would confuse who was who but overall it was a great read!