DNF after two chapters - Napolitano's writing style is thoughtful and nuanced, which lends itself well to a family drama. I really loved the concept of this story and was intrigued by the format (6 different perspectives). Unfortunately the first two chapters included scenes of and references to both pregnancy trauma, infant loss and child loss which was incredibly upsetting and personally triggering for me. As a result, I could not finish this book to protect my own mental health. Thank you to @netgalley and Dial Press for an ARC of this re-release (this is Napolitano's debut novel, originally released in 2005).

Among the April 2024 book releases is a re-release of Ann Napolitano's debut novel. Within Arm's Reach follows three generations of the McLaughlins, an Irish-American family in New Jersey. Told from the points of view of six different narrators, the story hinges on how an out-of-wedlock pregnancy changes the dynamics of the Catholic family, forcing them to learn to communicate to keep the family together.

Having loved Ann Napolitano's last two releases (Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward), it was interesting to take a look back at her debut novel. You can clearly see that Within Arm's Reach had the bones of a good story. Yet, Napolitano as yet lacked the skill to develop it well. Within Arm's Reach is a sprawling read with too many narrators, making it really hard to engage with any of the storylines. The plot dragged so much that I only made it halfway before admitting defeat and adding it to the DNF pile.

Ann Napolitano has found her writing niche within the family. Though she writes about what she knows, which is her family for sources, but uses them to create a whole new family within her novels. Large families with all of the drama and intrigue that comes along with them in real life. The good, the bad and the ugly, so to speak. Such is true in her latest, release entitled Within Arm's Reach. Not really her latest novel though as she revisits and releases into the wild her first novel for all of us to read. Some will cry, laugh and be annoyed with various characters as we would in real life as we sometimes have to contend with. In some ways this novel is rather realistic. In others, a bit too perfectly balanced for the sake of what it takes to weave a good story together. Most importantly, the balance that is played out between Gracie and her grandmother, the matriarch of the family, Catherine.

The premise of this story focuses on the protagonist Gracie and her unexpected out of wedlock pregnancy. Gracie is in no way the sort of young woman whom one would expect to be bringing a new offspring into this family. Be as it may, she decides to go through with this twist of fate within the family. This promise of new life takes hold and impacts the entire family in multiple ways. The dynamics of the extended family are such that each of the main characters has their own story to tell while Gracie does her best to adjust to this new change of events.

This is a multi-generational story that has its twists and turns in ways that reveal the different outlooks and effects on each and every member of the family, both old and new. Nothing really all that surprising here, but will appeal to those who enjoy a good family intrigue.

Will appeal to those who enjoyed her previous release, Hello Beautiful. Some will find it an interesting build up to what Hello Beautiful evolved from, though each are somewhat a reworking of the same family with completely different plots. Ann Napolitano has found her niche.

After the success of Napolitano's two most recent novels, her publisher decided to re-release this, her first book, twenty years after its original publication date. While the novel is very well-written and pretty impressive for a first novel, after reading Hello Beautiful, I would say that Napolitano has improved in her writing immensely since writing Within Arm's Reach. I liked this book a lot while reading it, but having finished it, I have forgotten a lot about the characters and the plot. In contrast, I think about Hello Beautiful all the time and still remember the characters fondly, even though it's been quite some time since I read it. Having said that, I do think that I'll read the two books by this author that I haven't read yet, and look forward to whatever she writes next.

Napolitano's debut novel, Within Arm's Reach, is getting a reissuing after the incredible success of Napolitano's 2023 hit, Hello Beautiful. First published in 2004, Within Arm's Reach allows the reader to spend some time with three generations of an Irish American family. From grappling with an unplanned pregnancy to wading through the complexities of the various relationships, this debut explores the unspoken emotions and interconnectedness within the family, emphasizing an enduring, but sometimes testy, bond.

One thing I love to take into account when going back and reading an author’s debut is to see the beginnings of what would be more developed later on — her skill with plot and character that she exhibits in Hello Beautiful is evident here, and she covers many of the same themes. Napolitano drew inspiration and much of the characterization of the matriarch on her own similarly sketched grandmother. And while I appreciated the aspects that were clearly based on someone she loved and knew well, I don't know that the grandmother of the novel was as complete of a person as the real-life counterpart. Perhaps this was an instance of being too close to the subject — where so much exists and is known in the author's head but doesn’t see how the complete picture fails to make it to the page.

Many of the individual storylines had interesting elements, with most of the characters demonstrating lives lived outside of the family, which brought in some much-needed depth. However, the small carousel of narrators in first person present tense only underscored the author's novice status. I would have preferred to see more breathing room in the narrative (as present tense can be demanding), perhaps with only three narrators representing each generation. Such changes would have allowed for more expansive characterization and deeper connections with the reader. Nonetheless, this quaint novel about a family grappling with secrets and intertwined lives offers a glimpse into the early stages of Napolitano's literary journey.

3.75⭐️ Dear Edward is one of my favorite all time books and Hello Beautiful was almost as good, but if you read my review of that book, you’ll know that I so disliked one of the main characters that it impacted my overall read. That was the same issue I had with this book, which is a re-issue of the author’s first book. Extremely unlikable characters, so much so that it overpowered the empathy you’d want to have for them which made them so unlikable. There was also very little joy in this book. But you can see that the author had the talent that she does know for writing families and their struggles. I’m just glad her current books leave me feeling a bit more optimistic and invested in the characters.

I had a hard time with this book as I found the characters entirely unlikeable and dysfunctional. This is no fault of the author as this was clearly just part of the dynamic she was crafting for this malfunctional family. The multiple POV’s just left me confused trying to keep up with who was who. It also didn’t allow me to get invested in any character that deeply. I am still looking forward to reading the author’s book, “Hello Beautiful”. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Ann Napolitano has done it again! I was totally invested in each of the characters stories and happiness, as happy as they could be. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I truly savored this story. It is a beautiful book with a flawed yet stunning family dynamic.
The characters had depth and cracks and honesty.
The story itself was sweet and complex.
And I just really loved the writing style.
This book is a little difficult to get into at first because of all of the characters. This story follows a very large Irish family and I wasn’t sure who was who at the beginning. Once she started developing her characters I found it a lot easier to follow and I fell in love with many of them. Great book. Will recommend.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

After reading and loving Hello Beautiful last year, I had high hopes for this one. Although it has some commonalities such as an unwavering sister relationship and a complicated family history, it did not compare to the beloved characters we come to really know and understand in Hello Beautiful.

Told from multiple perspectives, with reference to many other characters within each chapter, I found it difficult to find my footing in the story. From the beginning, I was confused as to whose story I was being told and why I should care about them as a family member in this very large Irish family. Perhaps if I had more time with each character in the first 1/3 of the book, I could have felt immersed into their world. I didn't feel like I connected with any of them in particular, and when I did start to understand Gracie or Catherine, the perspective would change. I would have liked more time with each of these women.

I also found the pacing to be off. It took me a bit to get my bearings straight, often having to flip to the family tree at the beginning of the book. I was interested until the 35% mark, but then it slogged until the 55% mark, where the plot started to move the story forward. However, the overall plot was minimal and did fall flat for me with the ending. I would have really liked an epilogue six months out from the final chapter, or even a year, so that I could appreciate each character's choices instead of being left hanging.

Overall. I found this family drama to fall under the "sad, feel sorry for myself, but continue to make poor choices" umbrella instead of the "complicated family dynamics, yet hopeful" umbrella.

Three stars since I did finish it but I'm not sure how much of it I will remember two months from now. As the author's note mentions, I do think this is a very different Napolitano that we got in Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward, since it is a re-release of a story she wrote 20 years ago. I do think I will still give Dear Edward a shot since I enjoyed the writing!

I really struggled to get through this book. While I have loved Ann Napolitano’s last two books I didn’t find this one very interesting. It is the story of a large and dysfunctional family, and while there is some drama—an unexpected pregnancy—I did not find that it made for a great plot. But mostly I found the characters infuriating; they seemed to spend most of the book not being able to get out of their own way. Ultimately this was just not the right book for me, but I thank the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Napolitano's Hello Beautiful was my favorite book last year, so I was surprised to see another family saga so soon. This is actually her first novel, being re-printed. The cover is stunning, much like Hello, Beautiful.
This family saga follows the McLaughlin family over a brief period of time. Each chapter is a different POV, and the characters are well fleshed out which makes it very easy to follow. Everyone has problems, just like every family. There are a lot of interpersonal conflicts and secrets and stuff that could be easily solved if any of them would just talk to the other. Much like many families.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was just enough drama to keep me reading. It's not Hello, Beautiful and I can definitely seen where Ann has grown in her craft.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the Advanced Reader Copy!

“Within Arms Reach” is a family drama that has multi-layered characters that are irritating and somehow comfortingly familiar at the same time. This book started out slow for me but I found myself quickly pulled in to the family’s history, secrets and drama.

Ann Napolitano does it again! I think I learned something about every relationship in my own life from this book. We have parents, spouses, siblings. We have love, anger, fear, loyalty.

A few plot points bothered me. Maybe I’m too cynical but there is NO WAy there wouldn’t be a safety inquiry or investigation into Eddie’s death. I really felt for Louis. Grief doesn’t answer to reason, and even though he has the insight to understand he is grieving and struggling he couldn’t quite figure out how to get help.

I love the way Ann Napolitano writes about family. Her stories differ from my personal experiences but the soul of what she writes feels so familiar. This book follows the Mclaughlin family from the perspective of several family members. The characters are working through each of their flaws while also experiencing the complexities of family life, as their matriarch, Catherine, nears the end of her life. It’s a beautiful story but also very raw and sometimes dark as it touches on themes of death and grief. I loved Hello Beautiful and I loved Within Arms Reach all the same! 4.5 ⭐️

While a big fan of Ann Nepolitano's two latest releases, I was not aware that this was a re-release of a previously published work.

It was just ok for me. Her latest books are objectively better. It was on the depressing side without any levity.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for the copy of this book.

I love Ann Napolitano's writing style, and was curious about her first novel that had fallen out of print and was difficult to find. When I learned that it was being republished, I jumped at the chance to read Within Arm's Reach.

Ms. Napolitano's writing in her debut is characteristic of her more recent novels. Within Arm's Reach features a family with difficult and strained relationships, and it shows them moving through life, dealing with those relationships in ways that both hurt and heal. This book has a number of typical triggers (child death, miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, infidelity) so sensitive readers should be aware.

I especially liked the relationship between Gracie and her sister Lila, like normal sisters they had a love-hate dynamic, yet were each other's biggest support when needed. I love a family saga told from differing characters' points of view, so with six different narrators, this book was just the right style for my taste.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the digital ARC of Within ARm's Reach by Ann Napolitano. The opinions in this review are my own.

Ann Napolitano reaches back into her own family for inspiration in her recent re-release of her debut novel. She takes a look at what holds a family together and what can pull a family apart. It’s a very good novel which I enjoyed more than some of her newer books.

This is the kind of book Ann Napolitano writes best. It’s study of family relationships. That makes it sound boring, but it’s not. Napolitano’s characters are rich and original. They definitely have their own voices. You might even find you like one or two better than the others (I love the grandmother Catherine) but you know you have to read them all because the story is all about how the pieces fit together. It’s one of those times when you have to use that hackneyed cliché, “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”

Unfortunately, this one did not draw me in like Hello Beautiful. I didn't realize it was a re-release of her debut novel. It might be something I revisit and enjoy more later, but it did not hit the spot in this attempt.