A book about family and the failings of human connection that is ultimately overwhelmingly hopeful about said human connection. A stunning protrail of how at times a book can be laughed at loud funny and other times quiet and tender

If you like a good family drama fiction, full of secrets, you'll like this one.

A family is reunited for a member's funeral. This funeral turns out to be a disaster, and secrets are revealed.

I was more interested in some plots and characters than others. Overall, it was good.

I’m very sorry to say that, though the subject of this book is fascinating to me, I simply cannot keep up with any of the characters enough to care. The character narrator switches so quickly and so often, 75% of the time I was just trying figure out who was who. It’s not a sustainable way through even the best story. I think I would have loved this author’s writing if I had a grip of the characters. Maybe it should come with a visual family tree?

This is such a wonderful story examining family dynamics and relationships. It's filled with so much heart and complexity. I loved how realistic these characters were, and I found them to be loveable dispite their (sometimes many) flaws. The family tree was a little difficult to follow at first, but each character is so distinct that I was quickly able to pick up on it. I would highly recommend this book, especially to any reader who likes character-driven stories.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

A family drama spawned from the homosexual outing of the patriarch (Gerry) at his own funeral. Well written, traveling the (many) dramas spanning the branches of the family tree — divorces, marital strain, mutual suspicions, out of wedlock pregnancies — and the many (sometimes quite irritating) personalities of the three generations brought to Eulalia, Georgia by Gerry’s passing.

I would suggest reading, rather than listening. While the prose is detailed enough to make listening worth while, the general pace of the story (and definitely the hesitating pace of the reader) is too slow for my taste. That and the fact that none of the drama felt that shocking or devastating to my own personal sensibilities (Gerry was a good husband, father, and grandfather despite the fact that he apparently had had a secret aspect to his life) made this book less interesting to me. While people went through their dramas and did learn and grow from them, I didn’t get to experience anything insightful, inspiring, or particularly enjoyable. I doubt I would have enjoyed a friendship with any of these people, though I certainly wouldn’t have had a problem with them either. I simply did not relate. You might!

I loved this book! There are a lot of characters to keep up with, but that is what makes this book so special. A huge family that brings a lot of drama, love, and laughter. It is one of those books that you do not want to end. Another 2023 release that I cannot believe is a debut. Congrats to the author for an amazing first novel. I also thought the narrator did an excellent job.

Take note, family drama fans! Cat Shook’s debut novel, If We’re Being Honest releases next month, and it’s one that you gotta add to your TBR list. The novel opens to a rather somber scene. The patriarch of the family, Gerry suddenly dies, and his loved ones are attending his funeral. Some information is shared about Gerry that leaves everyone in the building reeling and completely shocked. The novel acts as a tribute or memorial of sorts to Gerry, as each family member processes this new revelation, his death, and navigates their own grief. Lots of memories are shared, along with a lot of new drama, surprises, and entertaining moments! I found myself snickering quite often. Just an FYI, the Williams family has a LOT of members. Perhaps a little too many for my liking. Right off the bat, the author introduces the parents, siblings, their significant others, and then all the grandchildren. I gotta say, I was a tad overwhelmed. I took me a long time to keep everyone straight. Due to the abundance of characters, I felt that the character development was lacking. And if I’m being honest, (see what I did there?) I would not recommend the audio version of this novel. I’m not entirely sure if it was the actual narrator, or the production of the audiobook itself, but the narration sounded rather stiff, and almost robotic at times. It was pretty distracting. Overall, I enjoyed this one, and thought it was a solid debut. I just really craved a deeper connection with at least a few of the characters, which sadly, I didn’t get. But I’d still check out the author’s novels in the future. If We’re Being Honest comes out on April 18th, and it gets 3.5/5 stars from me!

The Williams family comes together sadly for the funeral of their patriarch, Gerry. With a family this size, some drama is anticipated at the funeral, but there is a surprise so big it leaves the family stunned and wondering who really knew Gerry at all.

This book has a LOT of characters over a few generations, but I felt we got to know each one enough to get invested in their stories.

There are storylines of different family members with their own drama or situations, which I found all interesting and engaging. I found the grandchildren especially engaging.

We watch them all deal with their grief, all while dealing with what is going on in their own life, which to me was very realistic.

There is some full circle from the surprise at the funeral to the ending that left me satisifed in the storyline.

I flipped from the audio to the paperback, and found the audio especially engaging with so many different characters. All in all a great debut and I look forward to more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC, and Bookish First for a paperback galley in eexchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars
We jump right into meeting the Williams family by learning why each one is not suitable to give the eulogy for Gerry, the family patriarch. . It’s decided Gerrys best friend , Fred will give it instead and then we get to enjoy the shit show that follows
I love a large cast of characters done well. Cat does it well. This large, slightly dysfunctional yet charming family is dealing with the death of Gerry (husband, dad, grandfather). They are also going through their own dramas and dealing with being stuck with their family for a full week. They are all just messed up enough that you can either love them or love to hate them.
The characters definitely read younger than they are meant to be. I kept having to remind myself that they weren’t teenage grandkids but were late 20s to 30s. Maybe this is intentional? Like you’re never really grown when you’re back together with your family. I can’t decide what was missing to make this book really special but I definitely enjoyed it.
If you liked movies like The family Stone or This is Where I Leave You then you should definitely pick up this one.

If We’re Being Honest, I think this was a problem of me not being a huge fan of the genre so I struggled to connect to this story. But that is just a personal preference thing. The writing was well done & I enjoyed the family. I liked that there was so many stories going on at the same time, but I just never fell into the story.

This is a good recommendation for literary fiction & family drama fans that want to explore a family after the lost of the grandfather patriarch of a big family with lots of secrets ready to unravel amidst the grief.

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Celadon for the free book, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

I absolutely loved this audiobook! Every family has secrets, even the Williams family - when the patriarch of the family, Gerry dies, secrets are revealed (in a shocking manner!). I love the way that this story is written, I found myself wanting to hang out with the cousins. This book shows the power of family and the bond that is there.

I definitely recommend this read to anyone who wants a good story about family, love, understanding, and forgiveness.

Opening line…

“Gerry William’s funeral was a shit show”

& I was like Tell me more… haha!

LOVE! Capital LOVE! You first meet the William’s family at Gerry’s funeral. All the family has traveled from all over to grieve the sudden loss. When his best friend delivers the eulogy the family is let in on a secret about Gerry. You then follow the family following the funeral as they go about the day to days of returning back to life after loss.

One of my all time favorite books is All Adults Here… I crave the vibes that book gave off and and this phenomenal debut by Cat Shook gave it to me! It shows a normal family and that normal can be dysfunctional and not cookie cutter. I would gladly take a sequel or a Netflix series about this family.

Thank you MacMillan audio for the review copy of If We're Being Honest, a thoughtfully and effectively narrated debut novel from Cat Shook, narrated by Kathleen McInerney. I enjoy a good family drama and this really has a lot of drama and internal family and character stories to dive into. This is a great option for fans of We are the Brennans, Last Summer at the Golden Hotel, and similar family themed stories. My one comment that as a listener I found it hard to get the characters straight, perhaps because they were all introduced at once at a family funeral and I would have liked some characters that introduced me to each character earlier, helping me organize them better as a listener; this limited my engagement with the characters early on and as I felt this was a largely character focused story, I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I suspect this might work better as a physical book (Celadon Publishing).

If We’re Being Honest reminded me of the Netflix show Grace & Frankie and I *mostly* really enjoyed it. Though the audio narration made some of characters hard to identify since there was no differentiation when a new character was introduced or focused on, once I got most of them figured out, I liked all their stories. Eulalia, Georgia seems like a cute, quirky town and the Williams family is quite intertwined with the community as they come together to mourn their patriarch and celebrate their neighbor’s marriage.
There were quite a few miscommunication tropes where the drama could have been avoided had people simple listened or addressed topics, which always irritates me. The whole mystery magnolia trees popping up around the neighborhood was cracking me up.l, too.
Overall, I felt like maybe too many characters and plot points were introduced cause some stuff seemed to be left unresolved and too open-ended for me. It’s quirky and cute but some of the details could have been cut to make room for more completion with others.

I ended up stopping this book because of some jokes about religion and Jesus that rubbed me the wrong way. But up to that point, I really enjoyed the diverse cast of characters and the storyline overall!

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this to read.

I think I just was not in the mood for this book at this time. Family drama was not in the cards for me and therefore I just overall didn’t enjoy myself. It’s nothing to do with the writing or the story. Maybe one day I’ll circle back to it

I really enjoyed Cat Shooks debut novel. If We’re Being Honest starts off at Grandpa Gerry’s funeral which had a eulogy that rocked the family and town with a confession no on expected. Cat did a great job of intertwining emotional moments with down right funny ones. The banter between the cousins was great. I will be honest that there were so many relatives that it was hard at times to keep track of who was who. I still am not totally sure which cousins belonged to which of Gerry and Ellen’s children. This is a very promising debut and has me looking forward to what Cat will come out with next. Thank you NetGalley, Cat Shooks and Celedon Books for this Audiobook Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This audiobook was just ok. It was hard to get into at first because there are just so many characters and storylines to follow.
Everything did merge together ultimately.
I wish there was something done to distinguish the different characters as the narrator read. Maybe the characters name said first. Otherwise it all kind of merged in together like one big lump. One minute we are listening about Red and the next we are listening about Wilma and then Emma. It was very confusing the way it was laid out.

I received a gifted advanced copy of IF WE’RE BEING HONEST by Cat Shook from Celadon Books! Thank you also to Macmillan Audio for the gifted ALC.

IF WE’RE BEING HONEST begins with the funeral of Gerry, husband, father and grandfather of the Williams family. This brings the entire large family together to grieve and remember the man they so loved. The funeral is disrupted by Gerry’s best friend who delivers an eulogy that no one expected and it leaves the entire family wondering if they really knew Gerry at all.

This story follows multiple members of the family over the space of a week between Gerry’s funeral and a wedding in the neighborhood the next weekend. It allows time for the siblings and cousins to reconnect and to question their relationships with Gerry and with each other. They all grew up idolizing their father and his marriage with their mother and now they must face that nothing is perfect.

Each of main characters has relationship and life drama going on and it did take me a while to really connect to any of the characters. We are following quite a few with the rest of the family moving in and out of each POV such that it is a bit hard to keep the characters straight. I enjoyed the setting and I think the author did well at creating a logical space for this story and to keep the family in close proximity to figure things out. That said, I did think that a lot was dealt with and resolved in the space of only a week after losing a key figurehead in the characters’ lives.

Overall I was glad to have read this one and once I did finally get the characters more straight in my mind partway into the book, I was invested in wanting a happy ending. I think the author brought about some reveals in the end well to help bring closure.

IF WE’RE BEING HONEST is out on April 18!

Wanted to love this book but I found it very confusing with so many characters- this may have been solved by reading rather than listening to the book. As a result, I found myself not really caring about the characters and was bored.