I liked this novel about a middle aged woman but it was not memorable for me. I preferred Catherine Newman's Sandwich.

Julia is a middle aged mom with two grown children. While her life may appear perfect from the outside, she has her own struggles - from her marriage, her mother, and her children. This character-driven novel from Claire Lombardo explores the rocky terrain of real life and all that comes with it. The author dives deep into intergenerational friendship, the cause-and-effect that governs us all and how relationships grow and change over time.

The Most Fun We Ever Had was one of my favorite books when I read it. Claire Lombardo wrote a compelling, character-driven novel that had me SO excited to hear she had a new book coming out. I had high hopes for this one and was a little letdown overall. The main character, Julia, is insufferable and while I felt for her at times, her terrible decisions and judgement of others made it really difficult to feel empathy for her. The author has a beautiful writing style but I do think this book was entirely too long and I may have enjoyed it more had it been shorter.

I adored her first book (?) Most Fun We Ever Had and was slightly disappointed in this one. I'm not sure why. I still loved the characters and the quietness of their lives. They felt real and people I could actually know and be friends with. Maybe despite the realness I could not relate as much to the main character and that's why it wasn't as good in my mind. Also the length.

When it comes to authors who write "domestic drama," Lombardo is one of the best. This captivating novel follows 57-year-old Julia Ames who's juggling family issues and secrets from her past. Told through various timelines, we learn about Julia's fraught relationship with her mother Anita, her friendship with an older woman named Helen Russo (who helped fill some of those motherly gaps), and her feelings about her oldest son Ben getting married.

When Ben was three, Julia was overwhelmed by motherhood. After she meets a sophisticated older woman named Helen Russo at the Botanical Gardens, she's immediately charmed. Helen and Julia form a strong friendship that's challenged when Julia gets involved with Helen's young son. Although Julia and her sometimes too-good-to-be-true husband Mark survive the infidelity, it reverberates through their relationship for years to come.

Throughout the various timelines looms a big secret: Something happened to cause Julia and Anita's tenuous connection to further deteriorate. We don't learn what it is until near the end. I was genuinely surprised by the reveal, and thought it was a compelling plot point.

From the plentiful details of everyday life to big plot points that keep the long narrative flowing, this book engages as it entertains. I do have one quibble, and that is that it seemed about 50 to 100 pages too long. I love complicated family sagas as much as the next bookworm, but this one topped out at 500 pages.

Aside from length, I really enjoyed this book. I got an eARC from @doubleday and also listened to the audio (terrific!). And, of course, I invested in a hard copy from @bookofthemonth for my keeper shelf.

If you're a fan of complex family dramas that make intriguing comments about motherhood, marriage, and family, this one is a great choice.

While there was decent character exploration, sadly, this one just wasn’t for me and was a bit of a struggle to get through.

Thank you to Doubleday, NetGalley and the author for the digital ARC.

I was intrigued by this book, and the author absolutely is a master at creating characters from words. However, right around the 50% mark I realized I had been waiting on the edge of my seat for something to happen, and the suspense went past anticipation and was growing into boredom. This does not keep me from wanting to read her I’m the future! This plot may have left me wanting more, but the style of writing did not.

Family drama about a woman whose resentment against her mother causes her to make poor choices and she just can't seem to find happiness or contentment. Luckily and maybe undeservedly, she has an understanding husband who loves her and is befriended by an older woman who helps her through postpartum depression. The book was slow at times but felt real...like life.

A compelling exploration of family dynamics and personal growth. The story is character driven, and the narrative is engaging, with moments of humor and heartbreak.
Many thanks to Doubleday Books and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

DNF @40%

First off, I absolutely loved The Most Fun We Ever Had. I was so excited to read Same As It Ever Was! I personally had trouble getting into it. Maybe it's the timing and it's just a not right now read. Hoping to give it another try a different day. I just didn't feel invested in the story. As a mother and a wife, some parts of the story were so relatable but ultimately I wasn't drawn into the storyline.

This book was a struggle for me. I don’t usually mind unlikeable characters — especially when I understand the reasoning behind their actions — but Julia drove me bananas. The writing was good, but I can’t say I enjoyed the book.

Thank you, Doubleday Books,  for the gifted copy of Same as It Ever Was {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Format: 🎧📖
Pub Date:  6.18.2024
Pages: 498
Star Rating: ☆☆

Some books are not meant for me, no matter how badly I want them to be. I tried so hard to enjoy Same as It Ever Was because The Most Fun We Ever Had is one of my favorite books, but no matter how I read it, I couldn’t find my footing. I first attempted it on audio, and it was fine. Then I tried reading my physical copy and my Kindle copy, and then I tried the audiobook again, but it just did not work for me. 

There was just something about the main character that made her hard to love. I know her story is complex, but even then, it felt like the damage was done, and I couldn’t move past the choices that she made in her life. 

Audiobook Review: ☆☆☆☆☆
I loved the audiobook narration and thought Emily Rankin brought her all to bringing Julia’s character to life. Ultimately, Rankin is why I ended up sticking to the audiobook narration for Same As It Ever Was. I will happily read anything she narrates in the future. 


I recommend reading Same As It Ever Was if you’re looking for a book with gritty characters that are hard to love.

Family drama about a long term marriage with it's betrayals, regrets, secrets and love. Not much action, but a great exploration of character, female friendship, and the reality of raising children.

I've always liked books about families, and you can even throw drama into the mix. It's often intriguing to have a window into the undulations of domesticity; you root for characters to figure things out, to cling to the hope and joy swirling around us.

Sometimes, it works. And I really wanted this one to work.

I've had my eye on "The Most Fun We Ever Had" for a while, and I am unequivocally going to read that still. I read this book, a 500-page chonky, in four days. Lombardo is a fantastic writer, especially with quirky turns of phrase that add flavor to the narrative. She writes words that are compulsively readable, and I was always eager to pick this one up. Honestly, every book she writes, I'm going to want to read - and I can say that after just this one.

But these characters felt difficult and recalcitrant, though I surmise part of that was intended. At the center of it all, we find Julia Ames. I wish her every happiness. I loved that I got to spend time with her.

But she and others carped at the world too often for my liking. And when Julia's not complaining, she's pushing the needle toward codependency, again perhaps part of the point (though the fact Julia and Helen had the friendship they did strains some credulity).

I vacillated back and forth between treasuring this and being vexed by the characters. It is sardonic and visceral, and I liked a lot of that, but the pessimism seemed too rampant at times. Lombardo's brilliant, incisive prose was easily the star of the show, and her insights are remarkable; I just felt that if I could have rooted for more of the characters, I would have connected even more.

The last quarter of the book, though perhaps striving too much for resolution, actually pushed my rating up; I appreciated this book, by no means perfect, but there were diamonds in the rough - I just had to dig a bit.

I love Claire Lombardo's method of delivering a story. It's a quiet, slow-simmering rendering, which starts to wobble into craziness, like a child's first try on a two-wheeler. You stand there, watching it start to happen, and though it starts slowly, suddenly the tires are entirely off the curb. This one has so many layers, the characters are wonky and troubled and complicated in the most interesting ways. I wanted for her characters to be happier, less dark and less complicated, because the setting otherwise felt so damned normal and familiar. But this is the very thing I've loved about the two of Lombardo's books I've read; that she will neither play it safe nor make the reader comfortable. I'll think about this book for a while.

Thank you #Netgalley for copy.

This one was a slow start for me and took me a moment to realize the back and forth of time periods. Once I caught on to the situation I was able to get more engaged to the story. We follow the story of Julia, her struggles with her mother, her husband, connecting with her kids and friends. The story goes through the up and downs of her accepting her children growing up and how her relationship with her husband has evolved over time.

Long, nuanced, not too much of a plot but nevertheless amazing! What drives this narrative forward is the incredible writing and I couldn’t wait to turn the page and read the next sentence. This is the story of Julia and her struggle to fit in and lead a normal life. I just found it so relatable in many ways.

▪️long, slow, boring
▪️didn’t love the female lead character, actually heartily disliked her and her insipid husband
▪️so tired of “surprise” pregnancy trope - I’d love to see a fiction writer brave enough to use the word ‘abortion’ (thank you, Ann Patchett)
▪️constant switching of time lines was frustrating, and abrupt at times
▪️wealthy privileged white people story, got tiresome, wish she’d dug harder, deeper, and earlier in book into lead’s childhood
▪️no plot, thin characters, for 500 PAGES
▪️ending did NOT redeem book for me

Long, slow so many pages lets use a few less words. The Most Fun We Ever Hard I so enjoyed and was looking so forward to her new book but it was a slow, not much to grab my interest. I saw another review talk about the surprise pregnancy stop please!

Still would like to thank Double Day Publishing and NetGalley.

Initial thoughts: Claire Lombardo has done it again! The Most Fun We Ever Had was one of my favorite books of 2019, so I was thrilled to get an ARC of her latest novel.

Some readers might find the pacing slow at times, but I think that's part of its charm. It allows you to deeply connect with the characters, exploring their thoughts, beliefs, and regrets. I loved the multiple flashbacks, and while I initially wanted to dislike one character, I ended up understanding their pain and motives (though not for another character).

The last few pages were especially moving.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for this ARC.

Like many readers, I’ve anticipated Claire Lombardo’s sophomore novel since her debut, THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD. I gasped when the delightfully chunky package (this one is over 500 pages!) arrived on my doorstep and I eagerly dove in on my recent European vacation.

SAME AS IT EVER WAS is about Julia, a 57 year-old mom of two who longs to feel connected and whole in her image-conscious suburban world.

The writing in this novel is gooooood. Like, so good you almost don’t even notice it is good. The sentence structure is beautiful and word choice impeccable, but where Lombardo’s prowess really shines is in the structure. Unlike in THE MOST FUN, this story is told solely from Julia’s POV, but because it straddles multiple defining time periods in her life, the different internal narratives *almost* feel like multiple POVs. I didn’t realize any of this while reading because it all comes together seemingly effortlessly.

Julia is a difficult character and wrestling with her and her decisions feels like the entire point of this novel. She is, in many ways, deeply unlikable, but I finished the novel finding her flawed rather than irredeemable. Though her struggles with motherhood and marriage belong to a different stage than my current life, her journey was one that made me feel deeply. I ask for nothing more (and nothing less) from my favorite family sagas 🫶🏻

All in all: SAME AS IT EVER WAS is my ideal vacation read. Though this novel is undoubtedly character driven, there is also a generous sprinkling of scandal and drama. The juicy plot, dazzling writing, and incredible ending - truly one of the most outstanding final chapters I’ve ever read - was near perfect.

Love it. This is my first book by this author. The really enjoyed the way this book was writing and learning and each character. Now I want to go find other books by this author. Thanks for the advanced Copy