Wow. Just wow.

This book is a slow burn. As the blurb states, it follows the life of Julia and proves that life is not all sunshine and roses. It goes up and down with her experiences. Delving into relationships between her and her mother and her and her two children. Her husband, her lover and her friend. It goes between past and present and celebrates the good and bad things that have happened to her and her family.

It is a celebration of life and its memories. Of living and laughter and loss. Emotions, songs and random snippets. And it totally got me.

Thank you to Doubleday books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

The author’s commentary about marriage and parenthood was beautifully done—even better, I thought, than her last novel (which I also really liked). The pacing threw me a bit, though once the threads came together, I understood the choice of beginning at certain points in time, etc. (though, I will say, I wanted the ending to be less rushed). Overall, such an enjoyable read!

I don’t want to learn how to write, I want to learn how to write like this. It’s like unfair how beautifully written this is, plus the story is moving, and so much happens! AND we are blessed with 500+ pages of it! Ah!

Idk Claire Lombardo, you’ve got a gift.

When I first started reading this book, I really related to Julia since she’s a new mom and is like super honest about her struggles. I highlighted a quote that said something to the effect of: my son sat there radiating goodness as much I radiated inadequacy. I have felt that way too but never could have said it so eloquently.

Then Julia does … something, and I’m like oh god no I do not relate to her. But what’s funny is when I wasn’t relating to Julia, I was relating to another one of the well-drawn characters in the story. That’s another thing about this book: every character is fully realized. Flawed, and good.

About half way through I thought: this story is about how it seems like Julia is a bad person but we as the readers know the full story and so we know she’s just having a hard time.

I also really loved how the story moved in time. We jumped a lot from when Julia was a new mom to when her kids are adults. As a newish parent I’m always thinking about what it will be like when my kid gets older and it was cool to see the two times juxtaposed in that way.

Another A+ from CL

(Thanks to @doubledaybooks #gifted.) 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘍𝘶𝘯 𝘞𝘦 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘢𝘥 was one of my all time favorite debuts. Ever since finishing it, I’ve eagerly awaited Claire Lombardo’s sophomore novel. That wait is finally over and for me 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗔𝗦 𝗜𝗧 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗔𝗦 did not disappoint! Like her first, this book focuses on a family full of love, but also with a complicated history and present day problems.⁣⁣
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The central character is Julia who has been married to Mark for nearly 30 years. Everything that happens in this story, good and bad, flows through her. She’s a complex woman, still grappling with her past as she also navigates the land mines that can detonate with an 18 year old daughter and 24 year old son.⁣⁣
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“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳.”⁣⁣
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Don’t go into this expecting a cozy family saga. Instead, be prepared for complications that may cause you to dislike characters along the way. Also know that the more you read, the more you will understand these people, the more you will care about them, the more your heart might hurt for them, and the harder you’ll root for them.⁣⁣
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“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘸, 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 - 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 - 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘧.”⁣⁣
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The wait was worth it. Thank you, Claire Lombardo, for another unforgettable family story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This is my first book by this author and I found the writing truly captivating. I’ve become fond of novels that portray older women and mothers who have lived full lives centered around their children and families. This one is a family saga, not unlike families I know, families who are faced with tragedy and hardships yet continue to push through looking for resolution. The main character is a woman named Julia who is married with children. In many ways, I could identify with her as a wife and mother but there were instances where I couldn’t understand her disconnected thoughts in regard to her family. This is a long novel and sometimes it felt lengthy, but as the story unfolded, I became invested in this family and was glad I read it.

“Isn’t that part of what define every relationship? That mixture of how much you need someone and how much they need you back?”

This story explores friendship, marriage and motherhood through the lens of the life of one woman (Julia). This was incredibly raw and emotional. I felt as if I had lived through what Julia had in a way that is sometimes hard to read, sometimes extremely relateable, and sometimes heartwarming. Julia is not always likeable but that is what I found to be the most real thing about this book.

It is beautifully written with rich descriptions. However, I found the book to be extremely repetitive and boring at times. I literally never skim books and I was skimming all over the place to try and finish. The book maybe could have used a more heavy hand on the editing 😢

To be honest, I would recommend THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD over this one. If you love family dramas and slow character driven books, try that one one first.

When I read Lombardo’s first novel, The Most Fun We Ever Had, I thought it was an astonishingly authentic look at an American suburban family, many warts and all. I normally run as fast as I can from dysfunctional family stories, because the characters are usually so tiresome. But even though Lombardo’s characters can be irritating, as her story progresses she peels back the layers of the characters and relationships, allowing the reader to understand them. I end up feeling like they are so real that it’s hard to believe they end when the book is over. For me, it’s also a bonus that she sets her books in the Chicago suburbs, which I’m familiar with. In this case, the particular suburb seems like it’s probably Oak Park or River Forest. Not the ultra-wealthy North Shore towns, but still nice and full of executive-class types. (It was a small thrill for me when her main character talks about having lived, when young, on the same street I lived on for a couple of years in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.)

My husband asked me what I was reading that was so engrossing me; what was it about. It was hard for me to describe the book. I could say it’s about this woman, Julia, and her life from young adulthood until her kids are grown, it’s about her relationships with her mother, her husband, her daughter, her son—and Helen, the stranger she met who became so important to her, someone she felt really got her. But all that, while true, would have been inadequate. Because it doesn’t convey that it’s a book about love in all its messiness, and how the inability to express love can really mess things up, but if you’re lucky and you eventually break through that inability, things won’t be messed up forever.

Lombardo’s writing is just so gorgeous and evocative—and often funny. So many times I laughed out loud. Like when she describes a party Julia and her husband are hosting, and when Julia is out of the room, one of the guests, “apparently trying to drive them all to self harm, has turned on Joni Mitchell.” Like all couples, Julia and her husband Mark have developed their own dialog quirks. In their case, a typical exchange is when they’re discussing some friends who said couple share everything. When Mark says to Julia, we share everything, don’t we, she insouciantly asks whether this is his way of telling her he has chlamydia. Great line, I thought.

I did think that the book could have used some judicious editing; I sometimes felt like there was too much detailed and repetitive dwelling on Julia’s emotional issues. But then I got to the luminescent last chapter or so, and all I can remember is the afterglow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the opportunity to read an ARC of the Same As It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo. This is my second book by this author and I was again blown away by her ability to articulate the inner thoughts, feelings and an entire lives of a character. Her books are unlike anything else I've read. This was another beautiful literary family drama. They are truly masterpieces for this particular genre. This is a slow paced book and it requires the reader to soak it in. This genre isn't a go to for me and I generally don't like these types of books. However, I will read anything Claire Lombardo publishes.

Wow! What an emotional ride—like a roller coaster, exhilarating highs, and then a plunge into the depths of real family drama. This book accurately captures the reality of family, the change in relationships between generations, and the nature of relationships that will NEVER be good. This character-drive narrative presents disappointments, regrets, challenges with which this reader could identify. It’s fiction that’s real.
It’s a big that I can see myself reading again.

Claire Lombardo’s The Most Fun We Ever Had is one of my favorite books of all time, so when I heard she had another 500-page family drama coming out, reader, I squealed.

This story is about a middle-aged woman named Julia. She’s married with two kids, one of whom is unexpectedly getting married after his girlfriend got pregnant, and the other of whom is about to graduate high school. We flash back and forth between past and present, first to a damning inflection point in her marriage and then even further back, to the childhood that led her to become estranged from her mother and mistrust her own capacity for all kinds of relationships.

The Most Fun We Ever Had was more of my KIND of story because it broke your heart via beautifully loving relationships and family dynamics, whereas this book was about much messier relationships and the lingering impact of trauma and betrayal. Julia is also often unlikeable, even though it’s easy to sympathize with her. So those 500 pages felt a biiiit sloggier for me this time around. But still, there’s no denying that Lombardo is an absolute master of character and relationship work on the page. She’s not afraid to give us a chunky book that dives deep into those interpersonal dynamics and really excavate their complicated layers. Her ability to create characters so vivid that they break your heart is top-notch — and at the end of the day, that’s the mark of a great literary fiction novel for me.

Julia Ames does not feel like she is equipped to handle the world. She feels she struggles where so many others find life easy. Several times, she almost completely derails her life and those around her.

I think this could be a case of just not all books are for all readers. I found myself dreading picking this story up. After 35% I decided that my time could be spent on other things. There were several portions of the book that I found 100% relatable and why I continued with the story.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This new literary fiction from acclaimed writer Clare Lombardo felt like a fan's loyalty test. If the author offers her readers a prickly protagonist who seems to get along with no one and whose standoffishness challenges every interaction- will you be willing to go along for the ride for hundreds upon hundreds of pages? Will you stick around for her origin story in the book's final quarter, a sympathetic portrayal of childhood trauma, but have no reason to root for her until then?

A fan will stay to revel in Lombardo's finely crafted sentence structure, marinate in her character descriptions, take in a slice-of-life scene in a way you haven't before, and hope that the ending will be worth the effort in this midlife season exploration.

We are drawn into a mystery involving two friends whose friendship fell apart years ago. They unexpectedly encounter each other at their local grocery store eighteen years later. Julia and Helen are in their 50s and 80s now, but seeing her friend ignites Julia's memories of her early years of motherhood when she left behind her career as a librarian to pursue a rocky motherhood terrain where she felt untethered and lonely.

It seems Julia is Helen's latest conquest, a woman who easily collects a merry-go-round of friends and dispenses sage advice with a well-weathered hand after raising five boys. Helen is older, assured, and communal and offers Julia an olive branch when she sees her struggling with her toddler on an outing.

But as quickly as Julia becomes a fixture, she almost as easily slips out of Helen's life when a misstep with a family member challenges not only the friendship but also her marriage.

Now older, she faces two significant crossroads- her daughter heading to college and her son's unexpected marriage proposal and baby announcement have her contemplating her life as a grandmother, mother-in-law, and empty nester.

Julia's unexpected glimpse at this fractured friendship offers readers a portal to her young and floundering relationships and a tender portrayal of a woman who feels out of her element as a mother. These timelines transition seamlessly with little setup, giving us two lenses to view Julia, who feels not at home at either stage.

But as we meander to the end of this novel, her writing turns sharply into the most effective and magnificent portraits of marriage and life in all its heartache and beauty, which made me weep at its revelations.

Did the ending make it worth the journey for me? Yes, for me, but I resonate deeply with Lombardo's prose. It never quite reaches the magic of The Most Fun We Ever Had, as it took me ages to warm up to these characters. While Lombardo enthusiasts will enjoy the journey, this novel could challenge readers who are not drawn to character-driven stories.

As hard as I try to be, I’m just not a fan of this author 🫤 I felt almost exactly the same about this book as I did about her debut novel. This 500+ page family drama was too damn long. I was sucked in at the start, but it lost me at about 40%. I found myself dragging through the rest and genuinely losing interest in the outcome. The writing is at times beautiful, but so incredibly dense. Everything felt like a run on sentence. Sad, but I do think many out there would enjoy (especially if you liked her first!)

2 stars ⭐️ ⭐️

If you enjoy character-driven family dramas, this new novel is for you! I really enjoyed “The Most Fun We Ever Had” and was so excited to receive a #gifted digital copy of this one.

Julia Ames appears to have the perfect stable life. She enjoys her job as a librarian, has 2 almost grown children and what appears to be a healthy marriage. But a chance encounter with an estranged friend, Helen, opens up the cracks that Julia has spent years filling in. And, her perfect little boy is marrying his pregnant girlfriend while her feisty teenage daughter is about to leave for college. It’s a lot for Julia to process and adapt to and finds herself flailing… again.

As Julia navigates the twists and turns of her once stable life, she is drawn into the past, when she was struggling with motherhood, self-identity, trauma of her childhood and her difficult relationship with her own mother.

Once again, Lombardo has brought us such well-developed, yet flawed and real characters and explores the hidden truths behind any family. While the world keeps turning and changing, some things (like love, loyalty, familial bonds, friendship) do stay the same as they always were, even if they look a little different.

Thank you to @netgalley @doubledaybooks

I'm torn with this book. I thought the writing was beautiful and the story an intricate look at family dynamics, motherhood, and mental health. The characters were complex and multi-dimensional.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't connect with the characters and found myself frustrated with the main character, Julia. Also this book was just so long and drawn out that the plot felt stagnant in places. Finally, I felt like there was very little hope throughout this book and everything was negative. There was no joy and everything that happened and all of the characters were just miserable all the time. It got to be quite tedious to keep reading the negative with no positive to balance it out.

Overall, I just don't think I connect with this book and the characters. But I could see people who enjoy character driven novels, enjoying this one.

This book is long, and some of it is slow in places. But I liked the dual timeline, and the look back on Julia's life and what happened to make her have the reaction of seeing Helen again.
This book has a lot going on, but it gives a really good look at family and how it grows and changes over time.
I think it would make a good book for discussion for book clubs.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Tears in my eyes after finishing this intimate and moving portrait of a marriage and the intricacies of the relationships of others tethered to it. The time period and general pacing of the novel changes frequently but it is done in this gorgeous way she writes. It is a long novel, more than 500 pages, but it doesn’t feel that way once you get into the first 50 or so. In fact, I could have read so much more about Julia, Mark, Ben, Sunny, Alma, Helen and Anita. Julia was so relatable to me on huge levels but also the very small levels where it just made me smile to see the similarities. There are so many snippets of wisdom disguised in this book, not the least of which is the importance of happiness and recognizing it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This novel is available now - highly recommend! It will likely be on my favorite list for 2024. Fantastic.

I really liked this book, it could be hard to get into but once you were in it it was good. I like Claire's books because they are so true to real life relationships and situations. I couldnt relate to the main character on some aspects but saw her as other people I know in my family. I still prefer Claire's debut novel over this one but I would recommend both to friends and book club readers. And I do agree with other readers sentiments, the ending was sad.

Reading this, I thought, "Well, second wave feminism, if it did nothing else, gave us suburban ennui novels from the wife's perspective." This reminded me of Cheever or Updike, but with a female gaze. I liked the end a lot and wish the start had been written more tightly.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

This 500 page novel was an undertaking, but one that I wanted to conquer based on early buzz. We first meet Julia as she runs into an old friend Helen in the grocery store and are made aware that some incident had happened between the two causing a rift in their friendship. Julia is now navigating life parenting a teenager and adult child alongside her affable husband Mark. We are soon toggling between Julia’s current life and her early life as wife and a struggling mom of a preschooler.

As with any motherhood experience, each will be different and one can expect the same with their reading experience of this novel. For me, as a mom of a five year old, there are some things that of course I relate to but at the same time, I wonder if writers have relied too heavily on on the tired mom narrative. Julia’s inner dialogue became tiring and I felt bogged down by her melancholic resignation to her life and her role in her family. She often felt so focused on her own shortcomings, that there was not room for growth. In the final quarter of the novel, Lombardo unpacks the layers of Julia’s past and how it has shaped her. Within the last chapter, Julia confesses she still finds herself “without a full toolbox of human emotions” which I appreciated, but I feel like we landed on too late in the story.

All of the characters were deeply flawed and complex. Lombardo does a great job at creating well-rounded characters. However, I found the line to overstep between real, raw characters and overused stereotype. I found myself questioning the realistic nature between Julia and Helen’s friendship and often found themes of codependency and obsession within their relationship.

That being said, this book may be for you if you enjoy:
- Female friendship
- Relatable motherhood narratives
- Complex mother daughter relationships
- Marriage struggles
- Decades long character arcs
- Complex character studies

(3.5⭐️)