I loved this book! It reminded me of the films Little Miss Sunshine and We're The Miller's. The 12 year old narrator is captured beautifully as a child who thinks they know it all (as every child does) but slowly learns that the don't (as every adult does). A fun and exciting story that touches on the meaning of family, parenthood, religion and forgiveness and leaves a lasting touch of warmth with the reader.

I got 25% into this when I dnfed.
The idea sounded good. The protagonist is a young teen boy, whose dad loses all their money in the crash of 1987 and decide to start robbing as a family.
The book flashes back to his childhood, and maybe because he is recounting it as an adult, the tone of voice for the kids is not at all like what a kid in the 80s would sound like.
The pacing was a little slow. Really wanted to like it.

Awesomeness. I picked up The Great Gimmelmans on NetGalley Out of the Blue with no idea what to expect, and it turned out to be a fantastic choice. Only in my Dreams could I have imagined that this book would be such a rip-rollicking yet heartfelt ride. The writing was top-notch and Red Hot, and I tremendously enjoyed following along with Aaron as he experienced the ups and downs of his Electric Youth with his insane family.

And, okay, yeah, I'm absolutely terrible at this so I'll stop with the Debbie Gibson references now. It was just a Foolish Beat of my heart that made me want to do such a thing to begin with. I knew it was corny from the start, but maybe someone will find it amusing because, hey, Anything is Possible.

Okay, okay, fine. I'm for real finished now, I swear.

Ahem.

So, yeah, I adored The Great Gimmelmans. It was a fun and wild ride that far exceeded my expectations. It's hilarious and poignant and sad and uplifting and frustrating and fabulous all at the same time. The writing is fantastic and the characters are over-the-top and yet somehow still realistic and relatable. As a child of the 80s, I loved the musical references, especially the Debbie Gibson songs (because – let's all just be honest with ourselves here – her music was far superior to Tiffany's). Also, as someone who grew up with narcissistic, dysfunctional parents (although admittedly not ones who robbed banks), I felt for the Gimmelman children and found myself rooting for them all (even the psychopath, surprisingly).

And I suppose that's all I really have to say for this review, because we all know that Silence Speaks louder than words. (Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.) Definitely read this book if you haven't already.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Level Best Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review!

This book was my first advanced review read on Netgalley…and what a great first!

What I loved most about this book is it predominantly takes place during the late 80’s and the author makes sooooo many fun references to this decade. My urge to make a playlist of all the 80’s songs mentioned in this book is strong!

This family drama is a great mix of humor, suspense and thrills!