I wanted to like this one. The writing was stellar, and the premise sounded right up my alley. I loved the diversity of each female POV but there were too many voices, without enough development to grab on to anything solid. I spent much of my time in each chapter trying to figure out why this character was important to the plot and how they intersected, to get lost in the story. One of the POV’s that could have been the most interesting and could have helped with the ending, wasn’t given. leaving it feeling incomplete.

Thank you to Netgalley and SLP Lit for the opportunity.

Gorgeous narrative structure in this interesting debut. I loved how the tale was told by ten people, five before and five after. Thanks for the arc

In a dying, small coastal town in Massachusetts, a young woman dies under mysterious circumstances. For some in the town, the death shakes their world and changes their lives forever. For others, its effects are more remote but nonetheless significant. As some in the town seek answers to what really happened that night, others are determined to keep the truth hidden at all costs. Through the eyes of 10 different women in the town, the author shows many different perspectives of the event and its impacts, all while reflecting on the challenges of modern life and the nature of connection.

This is a perceptive and well-written novel. With strong and complex characters, it explores interesting themes around grief, ambition and frustration, and friendship and family.

Highly recommended!

Women and Children First by Alina Grabowski is a beautifully written story set in a small Massachusetts town. It involves the lives of mothers, daughters, sisters and friends and how they intersect around the death of a teenage girl. Grabowski’s poignant insights will remind many readers of Elizabeth Strout or Alice Munro. For those who know my taste, this is the high praise I intend it to be.

Lucy is a student whose death at a weekend house party shakes her community. There’s been an episode of cyber-bullying and at the same time, a popular teacher has been accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a student. The events collide to create extensive accusations and suppositions among friends, parents and faculty. Focusing primarily on female characters, Grabowski exposes just how deeply our lives are rooted in community while exploring relationships – those that are fragile and strong – and how very often it is impossible to tell the difference.

Using age, gender, socioeconomic status and education, Grabowski has a lot to say about the opportunities life offers. Small towns are a rich context for diving into these issues, and Grabowski is efficient in how she uses her characters to that end.

I also love a book with interesting structure. This story is told in ten episodes, each focusing on a different character whose life has in some way intersected with Lucy. The narrator of each story grows in their closeness to Lucy – beginning with a school acquaintance and ending with Lucy’s mother. In addition, the first five stories lead chronologically to the night of Lucy’s death while the second five stories lead chronologically away from it.

I’ve found shorter fiction by Grabowski, but as far as I can tell, this is her first novel. Supposing that’s the case, I’m really looking forward to more by this emerging writer. This would make an excellent book club discussion.

Women and Children First is constructed as a tapestry, ten stories that intersect and focus on one event: Lucy's death. Five chapters are about women and girls on the day they find out that Jane has died; five are about the aftermath. These people know each other, and as the bokk goes on, we meet people thought he eye of one narrator, only to find out that they tell us their story about the same moment in the nect chapter.

The interesting thing is how we get to know their inner lives, their secrets and insecurities - often unrelated to Lucy in the beginning, sometimes directly related in the second part. Grabowski has written a thematic book that touches on many important issues: Grooming, sexual assault, rape, guilt, Love, sibling relationships, parenthood, motherhood, bullying, ambition, adoption, family dynamics, many different forms of grief, art... This could easily go wrong, but overall I thought this weaving was successful.

I do have one complaint, however, and that is the narrative voice. Grabowski has chosen to give us 10 female first-person narrators. And while they are not all exactly the same, I felt that they were not distinct enough. If I happened to read a non-narrative description, I would have no idea who was speaking. They do not all sound the same, but for a first person narrative they are much too close. If the book had used third person narration, this point would have been moot, but as it is, it sometimes felt like a writing exercise by a woman who knows how to write and decided to split the story into 10 perspectives. Because some of them are so similar, I sometimes found myself realising that these are not real people.

A second aspect that may not please everyone (although I enjoyed it): The book focuses mainly on the inner monologues of the women. It follows their memories, but despite a bloody death, not much happens. It is, after all, an exercise in grief, guilt, regret, and it underlines the humanity of everyone involved. If you have the chance, I would recommend reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I’ll start with the strong points of this book: the prose itself was quite good and gave visualizations and motivations to the different characters. I also enjoyed the execution of the small townie “everyone knows everyone” trope in this particular context because it feels realistic. The events surrounding the death and the way different people take it also felt realistic.

What I didn’t like was that every chapter was a different perspective. I think even cutting the total number of “speakers” in half would greatly improve the consistency and allow us as readers to become more invested in their stories. I was significantly more interested in certain characters than others and it made some chapters feel much more difficult to finish if I wasn’t into that individuals perspective. I also think it didn’t need to be quite as long to get the same feeling/points across.

Overall, I think the first half of the book was stronger than the second half. Maybe 4/5 for the first half and 3/5 for the second half, but I’ll round up to a 4/5 because the writing is good and it’s a unique premise.

Thank you Netgalley and Zando, SJP lit for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

"Here’s what happened: I was there. So was she.
I came home.
She didn’t."

To start with, this was completely confusing story. I had to try very hard to understand who is who. Maybe it would have been helpful if there had been a guide to understand the relationships of all the women mentioned with each other. There are two sections pre and post (death).

First pre part is narrated by 5 different women and later post part is narrated by other 5 women. To be honest I was not interested in the story till about first 50-60 %, the main plotline that is death of the girl doesn't really make you feel anything because book does not let you relate to her in first half. Lot many times I thought I will DNF this book but when I take projects here on Netgalley, I try to give my 100 % to every book. And then my perspective for the book changed, I was touched and wounded by the words. By what was happening.

The young girl in the small coastal town dies and ten women tell their part of the story. For some Lucy's death changed their lives. For some even that did not matter. I was feeling why some of these women are so heartless but then isn't that the how it goes? This book is very close to reality so it might feel brutal but people do move on. Those who didn't know the real you do get on easily, those who knew you take a while but they do too because that's life.

First I couldn't really make point of the book but then slowly I realised that we readers were slowly moving towards death of the girl, first watching from far drifting towards her as we came to know her through people. First for people she was just an acquaintance and then closer till we come to know POV of her best friend and her mother.

This is quite different book, I'm not sure if everyone will be able to enjoy it as I did but it is heartbreaking and memorable. And I'm pretty sure that this book is going to stay with me much longer than I would like.

Mesmerizing writing a story of a death of a teenager told through the voices of ten women in a small insular community.A book I hated to put down and will be recommending Avery special read.#netgalley #sjp

This was a beautifully written book that was mostly a novel, but also partly a short story collection. Each chapter has a new POV character. It could have been a little jarring to be constantly shifting POVs--I was actually sorry to see some of them go, as they're all so interesting--but there was a thread binding them all together. Plus the book is just written so beautifully it almost doesn't matter who's narrating the story. I had to pause a lot to marvel at the beautiful sentences. This is an author I will continue to follow as I'm sure whatever she does next will be amazing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. Women and Children First is the debut novel from Alina Grabowski and its very impressive. Its the story of 10 women in a small Massachusetts town. The town doesn't have much going for it. Most of the story surrounds the loss of Lucy, a high school student, revolving around her friends and their thoughts. Another storyline involves Jane, another student who is wrapped up with a teacher who may or may not be preying on the girls of the school. This book took me longer to read than my usual reading pace but not because of a lack of interest. The depth and feeling of the characters were what slowed my pace. Women and Children First is an honest portrayal of real life in a small town.

After a girl dies in a small, coastal town, her death leaves a hole that connects the lives of ten different women, each with their own distinct voice and perspective. Deftly written and eerily compulsive, Women and Children First is a compelling page-turner that manages to successful differentiate between multiple characters, painting a chilling, affecting portrait of grief, loss and secrets. The characters are raw and real, relatable even when dislikable.

This was great, especially for a debut novel! I loved the multiple point of views, and it felt compelling to read. I do kind of wish there had been one last chapter to pull it all together somehow, but at the same time I'm not upset about the ending. 4.5-4.75/5

A sensitive plot point that was executed brilliantly. I enjoyed the multiple POVs however I can see how that would not work with other readers. This book will either suit you or it won't. I loved the circularity and inifite feel of the story however sad it was, but it was definitely a book that I think about often since I finished reading it.

I was excited to read this debut novel by Alina Grabowski but "Women and Children First" failed to captivate me with its promising premise. The too many characters, in my opinion, lacked depth and I found I did not feel connected to any of them as individuals. The narrative felt disjointed, meandering without a clear direction. Themes of importance were overshadowed by excessive dialogue in the story overwhelming the narrative, hindering the overall flow and development. Disappointingly, the potential for a thought-provoking exploration of its subject matter seemed lost. I almost gave up so many times which is unlike me, and just as it's nearing the end it all started to fall in to place giving a captivating ending.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity.

There is something about the style of writing here that I could not get on with. It is very disjointed and told through the perspective of many people, which I found confusing. There is a great story in here but it needs unravelling for me, I'm afraid.

Women and Children First by Alina Grabowski had a grip on me from the very beginning. Nashquitten Massachusetts (but could really be in small town in America), is seemingly plagued by the untimely deaths of teens and young adults.

When yet another death of a teen happens at a house party, the town is shell-shocked. Women and Children First is written in the point of view of 10 different women, ranging in age from high school to middle aged adult. Each person recounts the short life of this teenage girl in the way they each remember her, reminding us that life is fluid and that even in the wake of a tragedy we still have our own demons and consequences that we must face.

Alina wrote each character so effectively that it was impossible not feel connected them and develop a soft spot for each of them, if other characters weren't so fond of them. She not only writes about the untimely death of a young person, she touches on other ugly subjects that as parents we want nothing more than to hide our children from.

I couldn't put this book down. It answered questions I didn't know I had and left me without answers to others, leaving me to interpret my own answers.

I can definitely see this book being an instant hit!

Women and Children First is an impressive debut, especially because it's technically a short story collection. The writer is masterful in that the book will still satisfy novel loyalists; I noticed after I read that it had been comped to Celeste Ng, and I can definitely see that. The book itself is delightful, really gritty, and accurate (imo) to the small seaside towns it represents. I was surprised and compelled by the reveal in the final pov, and admire the writer for complicating these stories until the very end. The collection resists a neat ending---we don't get real answers, or at least not to the questions people are actually asking. But we do get an eerily familiar look into the lives of coastal Massachusetts townies struggling with not just an opioid crisis, but a maybe-murder. If someone told me this book was actually (somehow) non-fiction, I'd believe it; it feels that real to life.

Ten women in a small town tell the story of a teenage girl who died at a party. Ten voices, all different points of view and life experiences, impacted by the tragedy. Excellent debut novel that touches on many themes.

“Women and Children First” by Alina Grabowski is a debut mystery novel about the death of a teen in small town Massachusetts. The narrative is told in different time frames by 10 different women. Lots of interesting observations and points of view are revealed throughout the story. For me I found it a bit hard to follow but I might be the outlier on this but it’s the reason for the 3 star review.

Thank you NetGalley, Zando Projects, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman dies at an authorized house party and the aftermath of her death leaves a town shell-shocked. The story is told from the viewpoints of ten different women, all of whom have different perspectives and connections to the girl.

It's hard not to like any of the characters. They are all flawed and very real.