Claire Lombardo does it again. If you loved her last novel The Must Fun We Ever Had, then you will love this new book. Another family drama that takes place across multiple timelines, this book focuses on Julia, a wife and mom settled in the suburbs, who bumps into an old friend that had played a role in almost ending her marriage years earlier. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves stories about motherhood, getting old, complicated families, and complex lives.

Claire Lombardo does an amazing job at making you feel all the things. Julia was a hard character to like but I wanted to know her whole story and by the end you can see why she is the way she is. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

Lombardo's novel is epic in the way it follows our main character's life from childhood until becoming a senior, and if she wasn't such a great writer, I'm pretty sure I would have wanted the novel to end sooner. We watch this young woman, marry and have a son, becoming a suburban family, Julia, becoming quite depressed after having her son, until she meets an older woman in the neighborhood, Helen, who she retreats to after dropping her son off to preschool, and becomes recharged by their conversations. I don't want to give away spoilers (I read it even when the novel slowed down and I kept wondering why our main character was still so unhappy about her childhood) because towards the end of the novel, more "juicy" info is revealed, the missing mother reconnects with Julia, her son unexpectedly gets married and has a baby, and we learn a dark secret, the other dark secret is only a secret to her husband, since we, the readers, are actively following along on that one, and the novel does a fast forward into the present, that seems like it wouldn't work, and it wouldn't with a less skilled writer, but it does, so we get the gist of Helen's entire life, except I wondered if her husband ever did know about the dark secret and if I was just a lazy reader and glossed over that revelation, or if that revelation was never revealed.

In her new novel "Same As It Ever Was," author Claire Lombardo produces a story packed with incisive observations -- and many challenging truths -- related to motherhood, marriage and friendship. As the book flips backward and forward in time, we come to know Julia and to understand why it is that she sometimes finds herself on the outside looking in, even at her own family. If you always know just what to do in every social situation, this book is not for you. But if you've ever lingered awkwardly at the edge of a conversation with other moms or felt a mean urge to criticize someone else's child or marriage, you may relate to Julia on some level. The book's flawed cast of characters -- all desperately seeking happiness, mostly in the upper-class suburbs of Chicago -- brought me to the verge of tears a couple of times. But it's definitely too long and many readers may find Julia deeply dislikable.

I loved Claire Lombardo's book The Most Fun We Ever Had, and I have especially fond memories because I read this book while in the hospital to give birth to my son (after the epidural kicked in!). I wish I felt the same about Same As It Ever Was, and I am bit conflicted about this one.

I think this would be better if it was 100 pages shorter. There were parts I didn't feel added to the story that I ended up skimming through (mostly the present day parts about the adult children). At many times it felt like a slog, and I had to really force myself to get through it.

But then there is the brilliance and the relatability, which is significant. I adored the Helen character: she was so wonderfully well written, I felt like I knew her. I wanted her to take me in. I still want her to take me in. I wish we could have seen more of her, though I understand why we didn't.

I also felt that Claire Lombardo was inside my brain and my body, the way she wrote about how it felt for Julia parenting a toddler was exactly my experience. I have never seen my own thoughts and feelings articulated back to me this way, and I never met anyone who felt this way or understood me in this way. This was validating and powerful, and will probably resonate with many mothers who don't feel cut out to be mothers, or mothers who just find everything about parenting a baby and toddler SO MUCH HARDER than it seems to be for everyone else. Especially all ways you struggle to find to fill the long days together and just get through them.

The way Julia felt about her marriage, even three years after giving birth, was also my exact experience that I never heard anyone else describe before. Just, wow.

Because of that relatability and brilliant aspects and the Helen parts, this book gets a 3 star rating from me. I wish I could give it more, but unfortunately the entire book wasn't as consistently strong.

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the advance copy in exchange for review.

Sadly, this book missed the mark for me. If you're looking for family drama, this book could be for you. The pace was too slow, and it could've benefitted from a tighter edit, which would've shorted it up a bit. I never really connected with or liked any of the characters, who all felt one dimensional. I kept expecting "more," but it never happened.

I was eagerly anticipating one of the year's most highly anticipated literary fiction releases from the author of “The Most Fun We Ever Had”: a novel delving into the complexities of a dysfunctional family and the introspective journey of a middle-aged woman reconsidering her life choices during her husband's thirtieth birthday, marked by surprising announcements from her children.

The narrative takes us on a journey to meet Julia Ames, a 57-year-old librarian and mother of two: Ben, a 24-year-old, and Alma, a rebellious teenage daughter. Despite appearing to have the life she always dreamed of, Julia's chance encounter with an estranged friend, Helen Russo, at a luxury grocery store sets off a chain of events that unravels hidden secrets from their pasts.

As we delve deeper into Julia's world, we witness Alma's struggle to find her identity through various rebellious acts, while Ben's decision to marry his pregnant girlfriend at a young age prompts Julia to confront her own memories of youth. Throughout the story, Julia grapples with self-sabotage, mental health issues, and the challenges of balancing her roles as a mother and wife.

Like the author's previous works, I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the unconventional yet realistic dynamics of this family and the well-developed characters that feel like genuine individuals. The detailed and vivid descriptions add depth to the narrative, although the book's length and some slower-paced chapters prevented me from giving it a full five-star rating. Nonetheless, it remains one of the most finely crafted literary works of the year, deserving a spot on your reading list.

I extend my sincere gratitude to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for providing me with the opportunity to read and review an ARC copy of this highly anticipated literary fiction book.

I feel like "Same As It Ever Was" was made for me in a lab: a sweeping family saga with so much heart and hope. I can't wait for the world to read this in June!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC!

Quite simply, one of the best books I've read in a long time. A story of mothers and daughters, secrets told and secrets kept, wondering if this is as good as it gets, all wrapped up with hope. I just loved it.

"Same As It Ever Was" is a sprawling novel with an imperfect family whose matriarch's motherly angst, impulsiveness, and ability to self-sabotage is shocking as well as relatable. The book is long but the Lombardo family is interesting (some characters more than others). The triangle set up between Claire, Helen, and Helen's grown son Nathaniel was the most interesting part of the book to me, and at times I wanted to skip ahead to get back to these characters. Recommended for fans of Anne Tyler and Jonathan Franzen. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
#SameAsItEverWas #NetGalley

Publication date June 24, 2024.

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.

Couldn't put it down - beautifully written, compulsively readable, and have already recommended it several times.

Oh how I wish I had a physical copy of SAME AS IT EVER WAS so I can show you the amount of highlighting I filled my kindle with! Claire Lombardo’s ruminations on marriage missteps, the emotional drain of motherhood, and the grief and healing are incredibly poignant.

In this lengthy, character-driven story we meet Julia Ames as she runs into Helen Russo in the grocery store after years of estrangement. We learn that their intergenerational friendship came to a screeching halt years ago and readers are left to wonder what could have caused such a rift.

Julia is a complicated character who feels she self-sabotages everything from her marriage, her role as a mother, and her dearest friendships. Told over the course of decades, this is a beautiful family story of second changes, unmet expectations, and the imperfect people that hold us together through it all.

Excuse me while I skirt all of my adult responsibilities and immediately read Claire’s debut, THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD.

READ THIS IF YOU:
-enjoy stories of middle marriage and motherhood
-give yourself grace for the person you once were
-loved HELLO BEAUTIFUL or THE HALF MOON

PUB DATE: June 24, 2024
RATING: 5/5

Many thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think our local book clubs will really enjoy this title. It was a big on the long side but anyone familiar with Lombardo's first novel won't be daunted. Thank you NetGalley for the advance ecopy

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
SAME AS IT EVER WAS is either the most or least depressing title possible, depending on your reading of this book by Claire Lombardo, whose novel follows Julia and her family. The

A family drama. Mothers. Marriages. Disastrous relationships and solid,enduring ones. Lombardo’s new novel traverses terrain that’s not exactly original, though it’s done with sincerity, some good repartee and a good deal of application. But, boy, is it long. And repetitive. And a bit too engineered in its extruded secret, it’s mother figures (both good and bad) and it’s switchback central marriage. I was exhausted.
She’s compared to Tyler, but she doesn’t seem, here, to have the same depth or concision. Nevertheless, it’s decidedly readable stuff if not classic.

A devastating and touching and happy and sad look at family, marriage, mother daughter relationships. There were SO many moments I related to in this book. Whether it was with the parenting, the marriage fights. All of it. I would say lombardo is a combo of Anne Nopalitano plus Liane Mortiarty. I just loved this book. its one of those books people will say "nothing happens" but listen, plenty does even if they are moments in time in the life of a family.

I enjoyed this author’s The Most Fun We Ever Had, so I was excited to read her latest, Same As It Ever Was. Unfortunately, I was not able to get into this story. It’s long and character-driven like the previous book; however the characters did not grab me and the plot just didn’t seem to move along. I am pretty sure something was going to happen at some point, but I made the difficult decision at 30% in to not invest any more time with this one. I am so sorry to have to DNF an ARC. I hope others like it more than I did.

Thank you very much to Doubleday Books for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my review.
Absolutely gutted by this gorgeous novel, Same As It Ever Was, about one woman, her marriage, her children, and her mother (make that mother's).
Julia Ames is in her late fifties, a librarian with a doting husband, two nearly grown children, and a beautiful home in the Chicago suburbs. Oh, and her beloved rescue dog Suzanne who she readily admits to being obsessed over. She seemingly has it all, but a chance meeting with an old acquaintance at an upscale supermarket quickly uncovers the fissures in Julia's carefully constructed existence.
Novelist Claire Lombardo skillfully moves us back and forth in Julia's life, and we see her as an unmoored and depressed new mother, a hip young woman whose indie band pedigree and motorcycle boots barely disguise her deep seated insecurities, a scared little girl with a
bitter mother and absent father, and at the present as she dreads both her daughter's imminent departure for college and her son's surprise plan to marry.
The upcoming wedding of son Ben to his pregnant girlfriend Sunny, which Julia considers disastrous, is the event that precipitates the plot. But this is a novel about relationships more than events. How the prickly Julia ends up with her husband Mark, a warm and stable family man who often must overcompensate for her lack of social niceties. How this marriage almost comes undone when a young Julia is befriended by Helen Russo, a charismatic older woman and ideal mother figure who both saves Julia's life and then (inadvertently?) sets her back on the path of self-destruction.
There is so much more here, but this review is getting to be as long as the actual novel, which admittedly some readers may find fault in the sheer number of pages. This reader, however, savored every chapter and literally gasped with recognition at some of the most emotionally revealing passages. Claire Lombardo has such an incredible gift for writing these seemingly mundane but charged moments in her characters lives.
This is truly an exceptional novel, wise, moving, and often witty.

We finally have Claire Lombardos sophomore novel after the book hangover from “The Most Fun We Ever Had”
This is a new tale of friendship, motherhood, marriage and family dynamics through that of Julia Ames' long-standing marriage.
As women, we are too often defined by the roles we need to play, often losing pieces of ourselves as we morph into lover, wife, mother and Julia is no exception.
This was absolutely beautiful. Albeit long- it seemed like I lived decades (in a week) along with Jules as her life went through morphing phases, hard emotions, and extreme angst.
But I didn’t mind the length! And I don’t think many will. The prose was outstandingly brilliant-this was a 5 star read for me.
The ending felt so real and raw I actually cried as to finished the story. It will stay with me for a very long time as did her first novel.
If you enjoy character studies and novels about messy families this one is for you this summer.
Thank you, Net Galley and Doubleday, for this early copy to read and review.