If We're Being Honest was a great novel to add to the list of "dysfunctional family stories." It reminded me of Lynn Steger Strong's "Flight". I appreciated the humor brought to the writing.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was a pretty good read. I really was unsure how much i was going to like this book and since it took me a few chapters to get into the book i was even more worried but knew i'd finish it eventually lol. Luckily after reading a few chapters i found it was really hard to put this book down! I really liked the story and the characters more than i thought i would. I received the audiobook and i really liked the narrators as well! They really added to the story and charaters!

I was expecting this book to be a lot more romance oriented or even sitcom like but it wasn't and i really liked it. I probably wouldn't reread this book anytime soon but i would certainly be more likely to recommend it!! The cover of this book is super cute too, i really feel it fits the story too! Really enjoyed reading this, would be a great summer read!

Thanks to NetGalley & MacMillan for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This little book is cute enough, and certainly seeks to be a little more inclusive than the usual small-town ensemble novel with a happy ending. Still, it was a bit on the dull side for me, and if I heard one more mention of magnolia trees, I was going to plotz (seriously, just title the book "Mystery Magnolia" and be done with it).

The opening chapters introduce us to the Williams family, a large Southern clan, who has just lost their patriarch, Gerry. Intimate, secret details of Gerry's life are revealed at his eulogy, throwing the family into turmoil. I had a really hard time keeping track of all the characters, and I think it might have worked better if Shook hadn't tried to cram so much into a week in small-town Georgia.

It was hard to feel connected to these characters, and we only get the inside dirt on a couple of them. We generally get more on the female characters, and a little from Red, whose story was probably most resonant.

All's well that ends well, I guess, but only 2 stars for this outing. Kathleen McInerny seems to be the go-to for Southern domestic drama, but she has a weird halt to her delivery that I found very distracting/annoying (I already dealt with it in Homewreckers, by Mary Kay Andrews, and I wasn't thrilled with it then).

When Gerry suddenly dies, his family comes in to the family home in Georgia to arrange the funeral and mourn together. Each family member brings their own dramas, emotions, and secrets with them. Everyone is together in one small town where everyone knows everyone, and mouths flap. Can the Williams family get through this period together and perhaps come out stronger?

Families = drama, right? If We're Being Honest by Cat Shook illustrates that with all the emotion you'd expect with the family gathering for the funeral of their family's patriarch. The different storylines of the family were engrossing, with some characters you just rooted for and others you couldn't stand. The writing style was simple and easy, driving the storyline forwarding from one viewpoint to another. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and writing and will be looking for more books written by Shook.

There are A LOT of people in the Williams family. This is something that I really had to focus on to get all the characters straight. I do not have this big of a family so my head was spinning a little.

I have been reading a lot of family dramas lately, unintentionally, since you know I don’t read the synopsis, and I think I might need a break.

There are some characters that I really liked but it was a little hard to connect with them since there were so many.

I know that there will be readers out there who will love this one, it has the potential to be a great book but I do not know why I did not feel this way.

It could be because of all the family dramas I have read recently or because of the slower parts of the story. I am really not sure, but just something about this book made me like it but not love it.

I had to move over to the audiobook in order to finish this one so I am thankful to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ecopy of this title. This is a very solid debut novel about a family gathered for the funeral of the patriarch, Jerry. A bombshell is dropped during the eulogy given by Jerry's best friend. The widow, the children, and grandchildren are all affected by this news. Along the course of one week, the family works on issues involving marriage, divorce, pregnancy, and homosexuality. At some points in the story, I found that there was just too much going on with too many characters. I also did not find the characters especially likable, but, oddly, this did not affect my enjoyment of the story. I look forward to the next book from this author.

Pub day: APRIL 18, 2023

I tend to enjoy a good family drama and this one ticked all the boxes, and then some. It was full of heartbreak but heartwarming moments that helped balance the the characters and the tone of the book perfectly.

Each character was developed beautifully and at the end I felt happiness at having know each of them but sadness that our time together was over.

This is a very impressive debut novel from Shook!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the alc in exchange for an honest review!

4 stars

This is a very engaging debut, and I am already looking forward to reading more from this author. Fans of family-centered fiction - especially when it concerns sibling and sibling/cousin dynamics - will enjoy this.

The many members of the Williams family congregate for a sad rite of passage: the funeral of their father, Gerry. Most people expect that there will be some drama at an event like this, but a real surprise hits the family during Gerry's eulogy, and this leaves each family member wondering who Gerry really was and makes many of them reflect on who they are. While the relationships and realizations are complicated, this never gets (at least in this reader's opinion) so dark that it falls into the emotional torture zone (as some of these works can). Shook manages to balance a lot of characters and still make them round enough for readers to get invested in them and to root for their success, happiness, or at least sense of peace.

My favorite element of this is the full circle conversation that begins with that aforementioned eulogy. There's a satisfying conclusion to this meticulously threaded plot point, and the other family members manage to stay relevant and interesting along the way.

I recommend the audio version, which includes great narration, but because there are so many characters, folks who tend to listen more casually than they look should save this one for times when they can focus a bit. It's absolutely a worthwhile effort.

3 stars is generous, it was more of a 2.5 star read for me. It was a 300 page book of not a lot of story. Nothing about it truly kept my interest and I found myself in a hurry to find out what the purpose of the book was. There were a whole lot of subplots and none of them held any substance. I was mostly interested in Red’s development.

I really hoped to find more excitement after reading the book’s blurb, but for a book with so much opportunity it was a major miss.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC.

💭Thoughts:
This is a beautiful debut. I found myself endeared to this family right from the start. I really enjoyed the flow of the story and how it all unfolded. It starts with a bang on the first page with a funeral and big family secret being revealed. The secret being revealed helped motivate multiple other family members to start being honest about their own secrets. The story is full of lots of laugh out loud moments, while still being emotional and heartwarming. I specifically enjoyed the banter between the four cousins and the conversations they had with their grandmother. I really felt for Ellen and the difficult situation she found herself in after her husband died.

I did find the story hard to follow at times. There are so many different family members to keep track of. Each of them has so much going on that I found myself taking notes on a piece of paper to help keep track.

I definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoy big families with lots of drama.

Such a good story! Loved that there were many characters in the story! Great narration! 4 STARS! Thanks to Netgalley and publish for the listen and review!