From the outside, the Calhouns look like another nice, wealthy family, but if you scratch that gleaming surface by even a millimeter, they are a toxic waste dump of crazy.

The parents are manipulative, egomaniac liars. Their three adult children are fifty kinds of stupid, irresponsible, and dreadful. The neighbors are just there for the gossip. Everyone in this book is completely f-ing BANANAS and there are like 9,000 twists and turns and crazy reveals and not a boring second. I usually don't like books where everyone is irredeemably awful -- and Thompson has created an epic cast of truly over-the-top terrible people -- and yet... I LOVED THIS BOOK. I tore through it and had the best time reading it.

Highly recommended for spring break and/or pool/beach reading this summer!

Will I love watching murder mysteries, I haven't read many book with a plot like that. In 2024 I wanted to remedy that and I'm so glad this is the book that did it! What a roller-coaster. I am incredibly satisfied. I was truly not expecting this to end the way it did and that's saying something given that I can usually guess the plot twists half-way into the story. This one kept me guessing till the end so full points for that!

The Calhouns celebrate DC’s Cherry blossoms with their own blooming party. Their annual party turns into a murder scene.

This one ends with a bang (the same way it starts) and I never saw it coming. I truly couldn’t figure this one out and was shocked when all was revealed. It was slowly revealed in pieces, so it didn’t make complete sense until the end. I loved that this was in my locale- Montgomery County, Maryland- and I recognized several places!

“She used to think there was an absolute right and wrong, but now she doesn’t know. Not after tonight.”

Such A Lovely Family comes out 3/12.

Yikes. A domestic murder mystery centered around the death of the patriarch. This family is beyond screwed up and totally wretched and honestly the rot starts at the root. I kind of felt bad for some of the people in the Calhoun orbit because the more you learn, the soapier it gets and it's twist and turns and would be a fantastic telenovela.

This book right here was so hard for me to put down. From the family secrets, the many twists and turns, the characters and writing style, it kept me engaged the whole time! Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy!

The basic elements of this story are fairly common in psychological suspense: a well to do family appears perfect on the surface, but secrets and anger and resentment boil underneath. When one of the parents is murdered, it's not a surprise. But the superior, insightful writing lifts Such a Lovely Family above the competition. The characters are hard to like, the victim is not sympathetic, but this is an enjoyable, intriguing read for fans of the genre.

This is a popcorn, rich people drama, thriller if I’ve ever seen one. If you like reading about rich white people, family drama, in Lucy Foley’s writing style, then this will be perfect for you. We follow multiple POVs at the Calhoun’s annual cherry blossom party when a murder occurs.

I didn’t think the plot twists in here were anything amazing or unbelievable. Reading this, I figured out that I don’t care about rich family dramas hahaha cause I didn’t care about any of the characters. They were all unlikable, all had their secrets from each other. The ending wasn’t anything shocking. Unfortunately, a pretty average thriller for me.

Rich people behaving badly, very badly. This one had a lot of juicy secrets to it.
The patriarch of the Calhoun family is shot and killed during the family
Cherry Blossom Party and his wife is shot but survives. Who is the murderer when everyone there has motive to kill him? This was good but a lot of the twist and turns were a little implausible to me. It was a fun read but not my favorite

In a seemingly perfect, elite-socialite family in DC, what could possibly go wrong at their annual cherry blossom party? So many secrets, and I mean SO MANY juicy secrets start to unfold in this clue-ish story to solve who murdered Thom. You either love or hate every character, but hang on every word to try to unravel the truth. This one kept me hooked through every page! Thank you Netgally and Goodreads for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The calhoun family celebrates every cherry blossom season in D.C. with an anual party. They seem like the perfect wealthy family, no flaws, no mistakes. Til a marriage in the family goes south, their secrets have been quiet. Now, theses dark secrets are being exposed. THis was so juicy!

This one was interesting and had me entertained. I had several guesses throughout on who I thought the murderer was. The author did a good job giving info slowly to make the reader continue to guess who was guilty. The finale seemed to be a little much and took a bit away from the story for me.

This was such a lovely book. I have not had the privilege of reading this author before and was very happy to receive this book as an ARC. The book had a nice flow crossing between points of views of multiple characters. The author did great at creating many viable suspects for the murder mystery we the readers find out at the very beginning of the novel with some great small touches and attention to minute details. If one is looking for a great beach read or rainy day read - this is it

Such a good family dramatic thriller! such interesting character dynamics that all the family shared however I just wish they one deeper. The story itself lacked a little punch or suspense but definitely good on the twists and turns of the story.

I’m not sure what I can say about this book because my feelings on it are very middle of the road in pretty much every aspect. Such a Lovely Family follows the Calhouns and how a murder on the day of a party upends the lives of the parents, their three children, and those caught in the crossfire.

The book starts off at a good pace but then slowed down to the point that it felt glacial as we see how each member of the family reacts and goes through the police investigation. Secrets are revealed and the pieces of the puzzle are offered throughout, but in the most uninteresting ways. The mystery and ultimate reveal does make sense, but there’s none of the explosiveness or tension that you’d expect.

The characters are also very by the book for the most part although I was surprised none of them were as insufferable as they initially appeared to be. Even by rich people standards, they weren’t interesting at all which kind of takes away from this story, which is supposed to be about the twisted things wealthy people do to hold onto power–-including murder.

Overall, Such a Lovely Family is a pretty lukewarm book that doesn’t do anything especially well. I definitely think more interesting murder mysteries and thrillers about the rich and corrupt have been written and this book does not scratch that itch.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forge Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This review will be published on my blog (clearsummers.wordpress.com) and Goodreads on February 27, 2024.

I've read and enjoyed Aggie Blum Thompson's previous books and was excited for this one. I found it a little hard to get into at first and was thrown by how many characters there are to keep track of and how they fit into the family's orbit and the murder. By halfway through the story though, I was hooked and would recommend this to anyone who likes complex domestic suspense. On a fun note: Cookie reminded me of Cam from Modern Family and that's who I pictured as I was reading. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this early review copy.

The cover of this book drew me in, but it was the story that kept me hooked! This was a fun thriller that kept me on my toes with several unexpected twists. There are a lot of characters to keep track of which was difficult at times, but if you are looking for a good "who did it" mystery that will keep you guessing the entire time this one hits the nail on the head.

A fun little domestic thriller from Aggie Blum Thompson.

The Calhouns are a well-established family in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington D.C. Every year, they host a party to celebrate the cherry blossom. This year, the perfect family starts to show some cracks.

Before the party is over, someone is dead and everyone is a suspect. The Calhouns are not as perfect as they look. The oldest son, Trey, is in D.C. against his will, he's being treated like a child again after messing up his life in California. Ellie Grace is trying to be an influencer after her quickie marriage to Zak, who she met at the gym. Nate and his son, Malcolm are in town for the party and have brought Danit, the nanny-turned-fiance, who has secrets of her own.

This is a quick read and full of twists. Figuring out the murderer was a journey and it is worth picking up this book to see the cracks in a picture-perfect family.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Such a Lovely Family

I love this book. I thoroughly enjoyed almost every aspect of it.
It is extremely well written. It has just enough characters. It has a solid plot and all the twists. The storyline meet my expectations!

The story is about the Calhoun family. The father is in real estate. The mother is/was the stay at home mom, turned housewife. They have three children: the problem child, the one who is making something of themselves on their own, and then the spoiled one.

I was disappointed in the person who figured out the murderer. I didn’t see that part coming. I had a hunch as to who the murderer was towards the end, but it wasn’t a certain feeling. I was also kind of disappointed in who the murderer was. Plus, the daughter and her husband frustrated me too with their marriage. So many red flags and they were all ignored.

Overall: Really great read. I highly recommend it.

This is family drama at its finest! Picture perfect family, rich, new relationships, a grandbaby, an extravagant party at the annual Calhoun Family Cherry Blossom Festival…nothing could possibly go wrong! Oh, but did it! When daddy Calhoun ends up dead, shot as his own party, everyone is a suspect. Literally everyone. We meet the children of the Calhoun family and they all have something to hide or motive and no one wants their secrets to be revealed.

Although this family likes to come across as “Such a Lovely Family” they are anything but. Dysfunctional family is their middle name and lying is their game! This popcorn thriller has SO many twists and SO many characters trying to charm and manipulate it had me guessing until the very end. I loved the fact that each character had a strong reason to want Daddy Calhoun dead. I just loved each characters role and how they all tied together. Talk about a family that would be perfect to gossip about! Make sure to check out this lovely family in March!

Title: Such a Lovely Family
Author: Aggie Blum Thompson
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group- Forge Books
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Pub Date: March 12, 2024
My Rating: 3.6 rounded up
Pages: 352

Ginny and Thom Calhoun are once again celebrating spring with their annual Cherry Blossom Party. The parents and their three adult children Elle Grace, Trey and Nate are ready for the arrival of the important DC guest as the celebration starts at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Tragedy strikes~
The Washington Post reads
Chevy Chase Couple attacked during Garden Party
– Husband dead and Wife injured.
As the secrets were revealed- I totally expecting a BIG reveal.
When it came it wasn’t a big shock;
But have to admit this story was entertaining.
Plenty of unlikable characters but there were some that I was pulling for!
.
Want to thank NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group –Forge Books for this early eGalley.
Publishing Dare scheduled for Tuesday, March 12, 2024.