In *April May June July*, the Barber siblings—April, May, June (Juniper), and July—are still grappling with the emotional fallout from their father Frank's kidnapping in Iraq a decade earlier. When April believes she spots Frank alive in Dubrovnik, it forces the fractured family back together, each sibling confronting how their father's disappearance has shaped their lives, from secret affairs to addiction and unrequited love. As they navigate these personal struggles and the possibility of Frank’s survival, the novel delves into themes of grief, familial bonds, and the complexities of moving on.

A book that focuses on the fracture of a family following the Iraq War, the heavy themes will come as a bit of a surprise to readers. Nonetheless, this is a well crafted and thought provoking piece of fiction.

Genre : Contemporary Fiction
Rating : 3.2/5

This was one of the books which felt like it had a lot of potential, but unfortunately did not live up to it. April, May, June and July are 4 siblings who grew apart after their father went missing 10 years ago while stationed in Iraq.
The trauma of losing their father and the aftermath of it affects each sibling in a different way, which was interesting as well as saddening to see. April likes to have things under her control but also seeks some unruliness outside her marriage. May has commitment issues and struggles with stability. June is about to marry her fiancé Hana, but is an undiagnosed alcoholic. July grew up barely knowing his father in a family of all women, and also grapples with his own sexual identity and his unrequited love for his straight roommate.
They are due for a reunion for a wedding in family, when April spots her father and the reunion becomes even more complicated while trying to figure out what happened to their father.

The book, while tagged as a contemporary fiction, becomes more of a historical fiction around the Iraq war with a tinge of the mystery element. I was expecting more of relationship dynamics which we didn't get to see lots of. The character growth component wasn't explored much and it was heavily reliant on figuring out answers to their father's absence.
Also, while I love historical fiction, the whole scenario around Iraq war wasn't something that interested me much.

Read if you like :
Story around siblings
Historical/war elements
Family drama

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a gifted eARC in exchange for an honest review. :)

#aprilmayjunejuly #alisonbhart #bookreview

April May June July is the story of four siblings named by the four consecutive months. It's narrated through each of their POV's, ten years after their father's disappearence where they never knew if he passed away or not. This book touches a lot of themes like homosexuality, infidelity, alcohol abuse, depression and the most interesting for me, politics. It explains some of the conflict of Iraq and the US, since Frank took a job at the war zone and ended up being kidnapped. It doesn't take too much of the book but I liked the context with the personal touch that is of course fictional. Writing is good but pace was a bit slow. I would recommend.

This was such an amazing book about siblings and families. I am a sucker for family dramas and this one plays with that dynamic very well. The multiple POV's had me really getting to know each character. April May June July had a lot of drama and a steady pace. Ill look for more books by Hart.

This story was remarkable. I really enjoyed the family dynamic of this story. Long lost siblings reuniting for a family wedding and all the dram each of them have and how they come together. This story was beautifully written and I just couldn't stop reading it.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on June 1st, 2024. Links provided.

April, May, June, and July Barber, once close siblings, are now estranged and living very different lives. They are brought together for the first time in years for June’s wedding, which becomes even more complicated when April believes she has found their father, someone who has been missing for a decade after serving overseas and presumed to be dead. As the siblings delve into the mystery of their father’s disappearance, they are forced to confront their own personal issues, including April’s search for excitement outside of her marriage, May’s unfulfilled dreams while still living at home, June’s impending marriage overshadowed by her need for alcohol, and July’s confusion over his unrequited love for his straight roommate. Through their personal and shared journeys, they uncover not only the truth about their father but also new relationships, hope, and a deeper appreciation for their family history.

Truthfully, I only partially enjoyed this book. While some of the storylines tugged at my heartstrings, I often found myself a little bored. While the writing is well done, I unfortunately struggled to really connect to any of the main characters. I felt like the foundation was there for me to really want to root for each sibling but sadly, by the end of the book, I mostly felt indifferent about each character’s ending. Seeing as a portion of the plot relates to their father and his role during the Iraq war, I recognize the importance of providing the history and details needed to make their story historically accurate. Unfortunately, I found those portions of the story to be the most dull and uninteresting as they would often taking me out of the flow of each character’s current life and struggles. I feel this is a book that I would only recommend if you really enjoy family dramas with a historical aspect to it.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of April May June July in return for my honest review.

💍April May June July by Alison B. Hart💍

Thank you @harlequintradepublishing, Alison B. Hart & @netgalley for this ARC! April May June July was published on May 14th, 2024 and can be added to your TBR now!

Pages: 352
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book Goal 2024: 61/100

✨ Have you ever been to a wedding that was cancelled or had something wild happen?✨

I don’t want my 3⭐️ to discourage anyone from reading this. The writing was beautiful but when I had requested this book, at no point did I think there was a sort of historical element to it. I expected this to be more of a family drama surrounding the siblings and their lives. Historical Fiction isn’t always my favorite so when it came up in the book, it became less appealing to me. I’m not even sure if it counts as historical fiction since it doesn’t feel it was THAT long ago but I guess it was! (How is time going by so quickly in life?!)

There was representation of the LGBTQ community with a few of the siblings. I also loved the multi pov and getting a glimpse at each siblings life after they have experienced the perosnal tradgedy of losing their father mysteriously. The idea of this book is amazing but I wanted more family drama and less American history. For my friends who love a good mix of family drama and historical fiction, you will enjoy the writing in this one! It just need to land in the right readers hands, and they will love it.


#netgalley #review #read #0to100 #reads #reading #booknerd #books #book #aprilmayjunejuly #newbook #historicalfiction #arc

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

"April May June July" is a triumphant family story that dives deep into themes of privilege, identity, and love. It follows the four estranged Barber siblings—April, May, June, and July—whose lives are unexpectedly intertwined as they reunite for a family wedding. The discovery of new clues about their long-missing father adds layers of complexity and urgency to their reunion.

Each sibling brings a unique perspective and set of challenges to the story. April, despite loving her husband, seeks excitement elsewhere. May, once full of dreams, finds herself still living at home. June, on the cusp of marrying her girlfriend, struggles with alcohol. And July, the youngest, grapples with unrequited love for his straight roommate. Their individual stories are compelling, and the tension surrounding their father's mysterious disappearance is palpable.

Alison B. Hart masterfully captures the siblings' journey as they confront their past and seek to understand their father's fate. The backdrop of the Iraq War adds a historical dimension that is both informative and integral to the plot. The author’s exploration of how a family's shared trauma can both tear them apart and bring them together is handled with sensitivity and depth.

This novel is not only a family drama but also a nuanced exploration of personal and collective grief. It's a beautifully written story that resonates on many levels. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy character-driven narratives with rich emotional and historical layers.

This book has a couple of very different stories in a sort of uneven combination—part multi-protagonist family coming-of-age saga with multiple romances, part Iraq war suspense mystery. While the stories rely on each other, the melding has a certain confusing dissonance.

I loved how the chapters were short and changed from sibling to sibling. It made for an easy read and the pages flew. I could not get invested in the father's story and background. I found the family dynamics interesting.

While reading April May June July, I began to wonder if this isn’t sort of how a modern day March family could end up if their father never came home. This story takes place ten years ago, but began in the early aughts. The family deals with a traumatic event the way many of us do…isolated. Not understanding how your loved ones deal with the same trauma. They remain in stasis or limbo, siloed and dysfunctional. A sort of arrested development. Grieving and resenting each other, themselves, their actions, and the situation as a whole until a sighting of the missing father brings this family back together once more.

This book is not one to judge by the title or the cover. While both are pleasing and maybe lighthearted, this novel showcases seasons or cycles in terms of relationships and grief. It can at times become complicated with the political landscape here, in Iraq, and Iraqi Kurdistan. The author calls attention to lands and people that many Americans are not familiar with despite our ongoing history and involvement. Despite the heavy and complex nature, the author keeps the momentum going.

Pain can be so insular. We can get tunnel vision. This novel is a look at one family able to move beyond that season and come out the other side. Maybe we have to go thru a harsh winter to have a spring renewal and rebirth.

Go into this knowing that it's not really about a wedding but really about the impact of the disappearance of Frank, the father of the four siblings who disappeared in Iraq while working in a contractor in the wake of the war there. And now he's been spotted alive- or is he? April, May, June (the one meant to be getting married), and July never understood why Frank wasn't returned after the ransom was paid. Each of them gives their POV, each of them has struggled, perhaps not realizing their trauma goes back to that loss. And now they're banding together and going looking for answers. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This wasn't marketed as what it is - I'm not sure why- but it's a good read that incorporates geopolitical issues with family drama.

The story is set in 2014, recent enough so that I don’t consider this historical fiction. April, May, June and July (three sisters and a brother) are no longer close. Ten years ago their father was kidnapped in the middle east. The family paid a ransom but he was never released. They have internalized and dealt with their fathers disappearance separately. The family is spending time together while preparing for June’s (Juniper) upcoming wedding. Then April, the oldest, thinks she sees her father in Dubrovnik, when she is traveling abroad. It has them reaching out to the government suits and others for more information.

I liked how individual the reactions are to the father's failure to return from contract work. While they all pull away from each other, there are struggles with depression, alcohol, unfaithfulness and more. Trying to seek answers brings the four back together with a common cause. Feelings about the past are shared or exposed. I did like that two of the siblings are LGBTQIA and that is not an issue in the family.

A good part of the book talks about happenings and players at the time in the middle, east especially Iraq. I’m sure it was factually accurate but that part was of less interest to me. I was most invested in June’s story but I didn’t really cheer for any of the characters. I think when I read family drama books I want to know ultimately they are better than where they started. I think in this case they are only sort of better for seeking answers.

A thought-provoking read from Alison B. Hart, whose last novel THE WORK WIFE I devoured. Four estranged siblings struggling with a variety of secret problems are brought together again first by an impending family wedding, then by the possible emergence of their long-disappeared father. College soccer, extramarital affairs, middle eastern politics, and struggles with alcohol are all handled sensitively as three sisters and their brother struggle to find a new definition of both internal and family peace.

April, May, June, and July Barber haven’t been close since their Dad’s disappearance in the early 2000s when he took a contract placement in Iraq, their lives and grief taking them separate ways. Ten years later there are new leads in their Dad’s case and the siblings find themselves working together to learn about their father’s kidnapping and whether or not he is alive.

What I liked:
- Hart succeeded in showing how grief is so individual. Though all four siblings suffered the disappearance of their father, each of them experienced that grief in their own way. I enjoyed learning about each sibling, how they grew apart and then came back together.

- I don’t know if I would call this historical fiction because the early 2000s seem too recent, but I though Hart did a great job giving context of the political climate and war happening in the Middle East at this time. It was informative without taking up too much of the story.

- The tension around Frank’s disappearance, new clues, and the siblings’ trip to Iraqi Kurdistan to find out the truth. Sometimes this was more captivating than the siblings’ storylines.

Honestly, there wasn’t anything that I didn’t like. Add this one to your TBR, it comes out May 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Graydon House who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sisters April, May, June and July are together for the first time after a long stint away. They are each filled with their own problems and wants. Add a missing father to the mix that April thinks she saw and the plot gets dicier. This was an easy read but I did find the characters very one dimensional which led to them falling flat.

“April May June July,” by Alison B. Hart

Estranged siblings are all going to the same wedding. They haven’t seen each other in years. Before the wedding April sees their father, who went missing a decade ago, making it even more complicated.

I unfortunately didn’t really like this book very much. I felt like I wasn’t given enough time or backstory or something to actually like most of the characters, so I didn’t care when all the bad things were happening to them. I just don’t think the characters were very likeable at all. 2 out of 5 stars, not for me.

I loved the characters and the sibling dynamic. I'll admit the larger global political aspect of this book was really lost on me and I felt myself skimming sections.

It's impossible to read Alison B. Hart's April May June July and not think of what Tolstoy wrote about unhappy families: they are all unhappy in their own ways. In Hart's beautifully crafted novel, the "Barber sadness" is a particular unhappiness born in tragedy: the disappearance of patriarch Frank Barber after he and three Iraqi associates were kidnapped in Iraq, where he worked as a civilian contractor.

Ten years after the kidnapping, "the length of his absence was its own sort of answer to the question any news?" And yet his four children--April, May, June, and July--are unable to put aside hope that he may someday reappear, a hope that soaks into their unhappiness as adults, "the way hope felt indistinguishable from despair." April throws herself into work and raising her children, but with a side of extramarital affairs. May disappears into herself, pulling away from friends and family alike. June remakes herself as Juniper, a star soccer player and rising coach, but struggles with alcohol. And July, the youngest and only son, tries to find his footing in college and his unrequited feelings for his roommate.

When the four estranged siblings are thrown back together in a series of celebratory events leading up to Juniper's wedding, the "contrails of tragedy" follow them into every encounter. And when April thinks she spots her father on a vacation in Dubrovnik, of all places, every hope--for Frank's life, yes, but even just for answers to the questions surrounding his disappearance--comes rushing back to the surface of their lives.

In her acknowledgements, Hart (The Work Wife) notes that a kernel of this novel came from her desire to understand more about the recent history of Iraq, "a place that's been in the headlines throughout my life... but that I felt I understood only opaquely." This weaves through the threads of the Barber siblings' lives, each indelibly shaped by the politics of the United States' involvement in Iraq, despite living thousands of miles away. Hart invites readers to grapple with an understanding of the larger geopolitical forces at play ("the realization that your life of relative safety was purchased through violence"), even as the Barber siblings deal with their own individual grief, hope, and desperate search for answers. April May June July is part family saga, part missing persons case, part political thriller; a captivating and important novel that reveals just how personal the political is--and vice versa. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

Shelf Talker: April May June July is part family saga, part missing persons case, part political thriller, a captivating and important novel revealing just how personal the political is--and vice versa.

April, May, June, and July Barber are siblings. They stopped being a close family 10-yearsago when their father was kidnapped. Each sibling is having problems in this book and each one has coped a different way.
I wanted to read the book; because of finding out what happened to their father. April thinks she sees him alive while vacation overseas. She tells her siblings and they each have their own opinion on the sighting.
I can't say I really enjoyed this book since it involves a lot of back and froths between the different siblings' lives. They each must face their past mistakes and take on the future.
The author does tell the story about the father and what happened to him at his kidnapping and time afterwards.