Claire Lombardo’s debut, The Most Fun We Ever Had, had been a favorite read of mine, so I eagerly jumped into Same As it Ever Was. The author does a great job with her characters, and they don’t have to be likable if they’re well written. . However, Protagonist Julia Ames is extremely unlikable and I was pretty far into the book before I found any of her redeeming qualities. The book takes us through her 25 year marriage , the births of her children and several life events, frequently alternating with chapters of her challenging childhood with a sarcastic, somewhat bitter single mother. Once again it’s obvious that mothering is especially difficult if you haven’t been “ mothered”. Julia’s husband, Mark, is a gem, extremely devoted, but can be pushed too far. I felt like Julia was frequently depressed, lacking in self confidence seemed to have a chip on her shoulder when it came to those in better socioeconomic conditions. I did enjoy seeing her come into her own as she found her place and realized how loved she was. I appreciate the opportunity of an advance read in return for an honest review.
#SameAsItEverWas. #NetGalley

another magnificent novel from Claire Lombardo! Like THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD, this is a family saga but also a novel of friendship over the years. Don't miss this one, you will love the characters and the plot. I already can't wait for her next one!

Julia is making dinner for her husband's sixtieth birthday party and needs to buy seafood for her crabcakes. On a whim, she goes to a market out of her usual orbit, and bumps into her old friend Helen, who she hasn't seen in years. She begins to think back to the time when she and Helen were close and to the incident that rocked her life and almost upended her marriage.
Rewind twenty years to when Julia as a young mother is aching for her nap as she goes to drop her four-year-old at nursery school. She usually doesn't sleep at night, so a three hour respite from motherhood is her treat-unfortunately, Ben won't exit the car. She gives in and on a kid-centric whirlwind entertainment spree, she finally drops into the botanical garden where she meets earth mother Helen, who becomes her friend and confidante. Her husband Mark is always at work or going to conferences, she hasn't seen or heard from her mother in years (not that she'd want to,) her father is dead, and she has made it a point to go through life without leaving a footprint. Helen is her touchstone and sanity, the one who gives her permission to take a breath. She is also the inadvertent catalyst for her daughter's existence.
When Julia's now twenty-four year old son and his pregnant girlfriend Sunny decide to marry after knowing each other for a month, the wedding planning brings up a whole set of issues revolving around love, trust, family, and forgiveness. Hopefully her marriage will be strong enough to weather the storm.
Lombardo is an extraordinary writer. As we follow Julia's journey, from her compromised relationship with her mother to her unlikely marriage with the love of her life, the author steers us through every crisis with a deft and steady hand. I read this 500 hundred page novel in three days because I could not tear myself away. As some people already know from the success of her first novel, The Most Fun We Ever Had, Lombardo is absolutely one to watch.

Claire Lombardo is a genius at making the reader feel all the emotions and heartache of each book. Her latest, Same As It Ever Way, did not disappoint. I absolutely loved it and am so sad it’s over! It's a hard read with lots of emotions, but so incredibly well written! It will hook you from the first page and you will keep turning page after page until the end. Highly recommend!

Thank you to net galley for the arch in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Doubleday books for an advanced copy of this book.
Ok. WOW. Claire Lombardo does it again. I binged this book in 3 days which is really saying something because I have a full time job, its over 500 pages and I had to read it with my eye balls. It felt like I would never finish and also I miss it so much already. Claire just has such an incredible way of developing the characters so they really feel like family. If this was a Friends episode it would be called 'The One Where Julia Learns to Love'. It was just so incredible. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars. Please read it. Tell all your friends. Read her first book, "The Most Fun We Ever Had' as well. She writes family drama so so well.

Okay, totally lost myself in this book. What a family saga. I was invested from the start. Brava Claire Lombardo! 4.5 stars

What a pleasure to read. I’m new to Lombardo’s work but plan to dig in to the backlist now. I enjoyed the way this story unfolded, revealing the rich interior lives of one family through the secrets they do and don’t tell as the narrative moves forward and back in time. The family is as confounding and complex as they are relatable. Masterfully written.

Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo is a long novel set in Chicago about Mark and Julia, a well-established couple, soon to be married 25 years. This is a story of young love, children, betrayal, and settling. Mark and Julia's son, a teaching assistant, is marrying his student girlfriend, who is pregnant. Mark and Julia's daughter, Alma, a high school senior, waiting on college acceptance letters, is in a relationship with another woman. Although Same As It Ever Was is not a true then and now novel, it does include chapter after chapter of Julia's back story about the why of Julia who grew up in apartments with a single mom. Book discussion groups may enjoy of one particular character: Helen, a woman who Julia meets at the Chicago botanical gardens and has a gripping influence of Julia's marriage.

3.75 stars rounded up

Honestly, there’s a lot to love in this book it’s so very well written and Julia is very thoroughly developed. I honestly felt like I knew her. The relationships are exquisite. They make sense and I felt them. Especially between Julia and Helen and Julia and her mother.

The beginning was good and drew me in. I was interested and quickly invested. However, it definitely trailed off fairly quickly and for a solid portion of the book i considered setting the book down and not finishing it. It was honest and it was so well written i felt the deep melancholy and depression. Too much. It was too heavy for me, the reader. The first 2/3 were just too long, as well.

I continued on and I’m so glad so much made sense, some was still sad and the redemption (even if only partial) made it all worth it.

Advance reader copy provided by NetGalley and Doubleday Books. All opinions are my own.

Loved this book! Lombardo puts to words many of the complex thoughts and feelings childhood, motherhood, marriage, and life with others. The protagonist seems to have psychopathic behavior in the beginning of the book, then later the reader comes to understand (at least some of) the origins. Highly recommend.

Same As It Ever Was will touch your heart. Life....and all the messy things that comprise our daily lives. It is a book about life's journey and all the self reflection and questions we ask ourselves. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the privilege of reading such a deep and lovely book.

She did it again. Five stars. This is a novel about connections, forgiveness, acceptance, and love. It's long and yet I wanted it longer. When you start it (and you must start it), take note of the mastery of language and writing. So many times throughout the book I stopped and reread a sentence or passage out loud just to hear the beauty within it again. Don't read summarizes of this one or one of those reviews that explains the plot details - read this one cold. I'm jealous. Wish I could read it again from the start not knowing what's going to happen next. Thanks to Doubleday for this gift.

Julia finds herself in midlife with two adult children, and a few surprises, including the reemergence of a past friend that caused hurt to her marriage in the past.

At over 500 pages, I knew this book would be quite the saga. It is a very realistic story of a very realistic and dramatic, but also typical, family. While slower paced for me, and a bit longer than I think it needed to be, I enjoyed the look into the matriarch and her family. It was an accurate look at marriage and motherhood.

“The power dynamic in their household is not unlike that of a years-long hostage crisis.”

Same As It Ever Was comes out 6/18.

As much as I enjoyed Lombardo’s debut novel, I had high hopes for this one. Sadly, Same as it Ever Was just didn’t have to same feel. I felt it drug on a lot about things I just didn’t care about. None of the characters were particularly likable, except maybe Sunny and Ben.
Julia seemed intent on self destruction, Mark seemed very one dimensional and Alma was just bratty. Anita seemed to be a caricature of a mother you don’t want.
I kept reading, waiting for something to happen, but honestly, nothing ever really did.

I enjoyed Lombardo's last book, so I jumped at the opportunity to get an ARC of her new novel. Both novels were over 500 pages, but this one needed an editor. Same As It Ever Was is about 150 pages too long, and that's a shame. It's beautifully written, and the story is solid, but the extras pages weighed it down and lessened my enjoyment. This is a character driven novel, and an overly long book with not a ton of action can be a slog. I'm glad I read it, and I want to recommend it to friends, but if I do it will be with a caveat of "You may need to skim parts..."

Claire and her family dynamics have sucked me in again! I loved reading this, and although it felt at times quite long (it also is) I enjoyed the pacing. I think anyone that loves a family drama story should pick this one up. Thank you to Net Galley for the chance to read this arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

I had very high hopes for this book as it was recommended by an author I follow on Instagram. Unfortunately, I found the story to be long and drawn out and I couldn't find myself connecting with any of the characters. I was hoping this book was going to be similar to Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, which I read in 2023 and loved. With that being said, I think I might give this one a try in the audiobook format.

Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

********


If you are interested in seeing more of my reviews and other content feel free to connect with me here: <3

https://linktr.ee/bookreviewsbyjules (links to my Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, Storygraph, My blog and Substack newsletter, etc)

If you are a publisher or author who has questions about my reviews (as well as questions about my stats, reach or engagement), please free to email me. I am also open to requests for book reviews from authors or publishers. Thank you again for taking time to read my review, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

One of the best written novels I’ve read in a long time, Same as It Ever Was is a story about Julia’s marriage and children and complex relationship with her mother, Anita. I really appreciated that Anita wasn’t a stereotype (she wasn’t likeable either, unlike her daughter).

This is long, and at times, it feels long, but the writing is so good that, even though I’m not a married mother of two, I somehow related to so much of Julia’s life.

We meet Julia when her young son announces that he’s marrying his pregnant girlfriend. Julia thought he’d finish his Ph.D. and start his career first, but no. At the same time, her ornery daughter is getting ready to leave for college. When Julia runs into an old friend, her life is further thrown into turmoil.

The novel goes back and forth through various stages of Julia’s life. At any point she might not have met her husband Mark or she might have lost Mark . . . so many decisions that determine where a person ends up at the age of 57.

I also appreciated that Lombardo never made it seem like becoming a mother was Julia’s only choice in life.

NetGalley provided an advance copy of this novel, which RELEASES JUNE 18, 2024.

First, always, for me is a narrator’s voice, and I will follow Julia everywhere, she is so real and I already miss her, as a mother, as a wife, a daughter, and a friend. The complexity and nuance, humor and hurt that Lombardo builds into this story of a marriage, of the deeply flawed but stubborn love between a mother and daughter, of a family in flux, of friendship and motherhood and mental health, is everything I ever want in a novel. There are moments so vivid from Lake Michigan to a Wisconsin in-laws’ house at the holidays, and dialogue so funny and cutting that then turns warm, surprising, and vulnerable. Every character is allowed the permission to be their full, strange, desperate, generous, often, often funny selves, and there is no joy greater than getting to see so many people evolve, fail, and find each other over and over again. Lombardo’s way of taking you through decades and also lingering in a dinner party or a backyard with a glass of wine, always knowing how to use time to tell this story in its fullest, most beautiful way, is true magic.

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH - 500 STARS

Claire Lombardo is a magician. I wasn't sure how she was going to match The Most Fun We Ever Had (which is one of my favorite books ever - I enthusiastically read all 500+ pages twice), and don't worry, folks - she KILLED IT. In Same As It Ever Was, she captures every complicated, messy emotion of marriage and family life and friendship and motherhood so perfectly. I feel like all of these people are real, and that some of them might be me. I laughed and cried and never wanted this book to end. I'm already looking forward to reading it again when I pick it for bookclub.

This was one of my most-anticipated books of 2024 and is absolutely one of my favorites. READ THIS!