Reunion tells the story of three friends reuniting for their long-awaited 25th college reunion after the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. As they come together for the first time in years, the novel delves into how the pandemic has shaped their lives and the impact of time and distance on their bond. Secrets emerge, emotions run high, and their shared history is both a bridge and a battleground as they navigate their renewed connection.

I found this book to be an engaging and thoughtful exploration of friendship and resilience. The characters felt authentic, and their experiences during and after the pandemic were deeply relatable. The story captures the nuances of life during a unique moment in history, offering a poignant snapshot of how relationships evolve under extraordinary circumstances. This slice-of-life narrative invites readers to reflect on their own experiences and connections, which made the book resonate with me on a personal level.

Overall, I’d recommend Reunion to readers who enjoy contemporary, character-driven fiction that explores timely themes with honesty and heart. It’s a thoughtful look at friendship, change, and the enduring power of human connection.

I’m giving this book a 2.5 because, while it was well-written, it was very slow and took a bit of a strange turn toward the end. I liked how it depicted long-term friendships, themes surrounding more mature characters, and had multiple points of view. However, it plodded along, and was very boring overall.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book as an ARC. I didn’t finish it. I couldn’t get past the way some of the characters allowed their spouse or child to treat them. The relationship between Polly and her son was too much for me. I am sure this book is for someone, however it just wasn’t for me.

Quite heavy in tone. Read the first two chapters and really felt no connection to the characters. DNF.

REUNION by Elise Juska (The Blessings) focuses on three friends who are returning to Maine for their 25th college reunion which has been postponed for a year due to the COVID pandemic. Hope is the most level-headed, but she has struggled ("you can only do what you can do") to meet the needs of her college age daughter, special needs son, and increasingly distant husband who faced the COVID challenges posed to a higher education administrator. Adam, a carefree spirit while in college, has become interested in environmental sciences and has two young boys, but his wife is sadly obsessed and afraid for the state of the physical world. Finally, there's Polly who, as a single Mom, raised Jonah, a now 18-year-old troubled youth interested in nature and photography. Out of practice in social skills due to the recent lockdowns and having lost the closeness of their college years, Hope, Adam, and Polly find their relationship strained – especially when some long-ago secrets come to light. REUNION is an introspective reflection on what friendship means and the role of family. As Polly muses, "the past year had narrowed that knowledge to a fine point. Your child's happiness: the only thing that mattered and yet how little control over it any parent had." Booklist says, "a delightful case for reconnecting with the people who knew you when you barely knew yourself."

I usually love books with a lot of plot...this one takes place over the course of two days and there's not a lot of plot, but I really enjoyed it! Lots of character development, more of a quiet book, but I liked it. The story takes place in 2021, just after covid lockdown has ended. Three college best friends reunite for a reunion for their small, liberal arts college in Maine. They each have a lot of secrets to hide--family issues for all three of them-but they are determined to put on brave faces and enjoy being around people. Through many flashbacks, we get to know them and their families and it all comes to head on the 2nd day of the reunion. The ending was a bit open ended, but I didn't mind it. If you like slower stories, lots of character development, and a quieter story, you will enjoy this one.

A very relatable story of the reunion of 3 college friends 25 years after graduation. Many things have changed for each of them and they have to come to some sort of acceptance of themselves, their lives and the relationships between them. The reunion takes place in 2021, so the pandemic and its affects are also part of the changes and circumstances of their lives. Interesting book.

Thank you Net Galley allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

This book is about a college reunion of three friends and how alot has change over the years and their relationship aren't what they used to be.

I did not like how each chaper was about each of them. I found it a little slow.

I don't know if I would recommend.

A 3-POV story about college friends, parenthood, and middle age. It was a compelling read, despite a somewhat slow start.

This book is very poignant and heartfelt, yet it is not something I would utilize in the college classroom. I appreciated Juska's delineating of characters, but I found the overall narrative too familiar and expected.

A great story about three lifelong college friends who attend their 25th college reunion in an idyllic New England academic setting. Two women and one man, the characters each are struggling with challenges in their lives, but they've always been there for one another, and this reunion is no exception. Recommend this to readers who appreciate quality writing, a well-paced plot, great characters, and a beautiful setting.

Three friends reunite for a college reunion. Each chapter is one of their voices so readers can get a closer glimpse at each.
People change a lot in 25 years and sometimes the easy relationships become more difficult.
It was an ok read. I didn’t really feel connected to any of the characters.

Hope, Polly and Adam were the best of friends in their small college in Maine and are now returning to the campus for their belated 25th reunion. They tell their stories in alternating chapters going back from their college days to the present. The three main characters (and their classmates) all have different motivations for wanting to attend the reunion: some wanted to remember and relive their college days and others wanted to forget them. I especially liked this line from the book: "At a reunion there was no point in forgetting the past. The past was the point."
Ms. Juska tackled the pandemic head on and I liked the way she created a bit of a secondary plot about the affects the pandemic had on marriages, friendships, and children. I wasn't a fan of the detour the book took with Jonah (seemed too predictable and diverged from the main story) but the characters were interesting and I'd like to know what happens to them down the road!
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read Reunion in exchange for an honest review.

Some books I read I find I don’t like any of the characters. This one I can say I empathized with all three.

Reunion, by Elise Juska, provides three characters who are at a provocative juncture in life. In their mid-forties, close college friends are coming together to celebrate their 25th reunion, delayed one year due to Covid restrictions. The author did an outstanding job of reminding readers of the difficulties and profound impact the virus had on almost every aspect of life. She also brought home the enormous loss so many families suffered. The three main characters are nuanced, complicated, and guarded. Over time, their individual caches of secrets grew. Their lives became more complicated. The story explores the evolution of their friendship as they return to campus. Potentially, this book had everything: mature characters, a provocative point in history, relationships, etc. Unfortunately, what it did not have was much of a plot, at least during the first half. It does pick up in the second half, but it is a longer haul than necessary. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book without reservation just because of her handling of two themes; the first being the epidemic and the second, the midlife period when you are no longer young, but not yet old. It is a time when people look around and often question where they are and where do they want to be. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Books for the opportunity to read a digital ARC. I appreciated the opportunity.

I was so excited about this one, as a sucker for any book set at a picturesque liberal arts college. But I'm not sure what the point of REUNION was! It centers around 3 1995 graduates of the school who have stayed friends, and reunite at their 25th reunion on campus in 2021. The book goes heavy into the effects of 2020 on parents with young children, which almost seems out of date now in a weird way? Also, they barely spend any time at the actual reunion and while things sort of happen and some secrets are revealed, I didn't feel connected to the characters enough to fully invest. It was also pretty short, and I blew through it easily, so I don't see it leaving a lasting mark either. I don't know! Just wasn't my jam I suppose, in the end.

Ahhh, yes. Reunion by Elise Juska is just the type of novel that speaks to my old soul. There’s so much that I loved about this intriguing story. Here’s a few things that really stood out for me, and checked a lot of boxes:

- Mature characters (in late 40s)
- Solid longtime friendship
- Multiple POVs
- Themes of parenthood, marriage, and friendship
- Mid-90s college life
- Complex relationships
- Mental health representation
- Pandemic fiction
- Character-driven
- Gorgeous Maine setting
- Insight on raising teenagers

I feel like I was the exact target audience for this book. I loved learning about these characters, what they were like in college, what shaped them, and how their experiences impacted them as adults. The reflections on life soon after Covid were perfect. You all know that I love my pandemic stories! LOL. Everything was so spot on, and felt very familiar and relatable. If you love slow-moving, quiet, and tender stories about adulthood, parenthood, friendship, or just life in general, then Reunion is just the book for you. I’ll definitely read more from the author in the future. 4/5 stars for Reunion! It’s out now!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 Stars
Happy publication day to Elise Juska and Reunion! Thank you to @elisejuska, Harper Books ( @harperbooks ), and NetGalley ( @netgalley ) for allowing me to read this book for an honest review!

📅 May 7, 2024 is the pub date for Reunion by Elise Juska. 📅

I absolutely enjoyed the raw honesty and well developed characters found in reunion. Let’s face it, friendships are tricky…even with the very best of friends! We always have every intention to keep in touch to plan trips with one another every year, and to always be there to support one another. But, the reality is that our personal lives get in the way of accomplishing these promises.

Reunion beautifully portrays the good, bad, and ugly dynamics of every day life for Hope, Adam, and Polly during COVID and directly after with an emphasis on their rescheduled College reunion. They all assume that everyone’s life is fantastic except their very own. They feel at a loss and as if they’ve each failed until they each begin to open up to one another. Can they remain friends and support one another when the going gets tough and the tough gets going?

I liked the reunion theme and the set up of the chapters, one from each characters point of views seeing who they were in college and who they grew to be into middle age. I liked the late 90s references bc that’s when I was in college. I think Hope’s repeated phrase of “you do what you can do.” was annoying. Also I thought all the mentions of the pandemic were surface level and didn’t add to the story. The whole Jonah disappears because he wants to be a survivalist was so random to me and made no sense with the story. For me the premise was interesting but the writing never got there for me. I didn’t connect deeply with the characters or the story. It was all kinda meh.

In spring 2021, three friends from college return to Maine for their 25th reunion. Hope, Polly, and Adam were once the closest of friends. But time, and the increasing differences in their lives, has frayed their bonds, even as all three are facing related challenges at home. Once reunited, each of the three find that it is not easy to leave the pressures of their marriages and children behind, as they also must face unresolved issues from their college years.

This is a well-written and perceptive examination of friendship and the pressures of both internal and external expectations.

Highly recommended!