Thank you NetGalley and Renee Carlino for the eARC of This Used to Be Us. This book brought me to tears and I haven't stopped thinking about these characters since I finished the last chapter. I love the emphasis on music and how these characters found their way back to one another. I am actually happy that the ending wasn't drawn out but I do wish more time was dedicated to their early years.
This will definitely be a book that I purchase when it is released.
4.5 stars

Renee Carlino is a masterful storyteller. Her books are so good because she writes about and conveys life situations with emotion, truth, and grace. In "This Used to be Us," we meet Dani and Alex, who used to be so in love - I would have enjoyed seeing more flashbacks- but I understand the novel was about where they were now and how they were surviving with the new normal. While I will not spoil the story for you - know this will make you cry - I will tell you what it brought up for me. Life is short- love the people who make your life worth living, take care of your relationships with your lover - work at it every day if it is worth it to you to do so, and always remember to nurture yourself - pour into yourself. Do what you love and remember you. Love your partner - even the things that annoy you, as in Dani's case, Alex grinding coffee beans so early in the morning. The book was a great reminder of the above, but most of all, life is fleeting, and every second should be loved and appreciated. Thanks for the Reminder, Renee!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I recently started Renee Carlino's work and have fell in love, so when this one came to me I had to read it!

This one will definitely ruminate with you if you are in any kind of relationship. It highlights the challenges of a marriage and divorce with a child thrown in. It was a very realistic portrayal.

I cried of course as all of Carlino's book tend to make you do. Readers will love this one as much as her others. I never saw that ending coming! Definitely recommend.

This Used to Be Us by Renee Carlino is the story of Alex and Dani, 2 individuals navigating the demise of their marriage and working through their divorce after 22 years together.

This story is raw and realistic in depicting a divorce when children are involved and at times you can feel the pain, which is palatable in Ms. Carlino’s writing.

How can individuals who loved each other so much in the beginning of their marriage end up with such animosity towards each other? Can they be civil, if not for themselves, but for their boys?

Towards the end of the story, it becomes very emotional and Alex and Dani learn to get back to a kind, caring place. Please know you will need a box of tissues as the plot leads us to an unexpected place.

This was a 4.5 star review for me and I look forward to Ms. Carlino’s next release.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley for the ARC.

4.5⭐️ renee carlino, you have done it again

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC! <3

This book was absolutely heart wrenching. I normally don't like second chance romances but Renee Carlino does it so unbelievably well.
The book is a heartbreaking look at marriage and divorce. Renee Carlino tells the story of Dani and Alex, a couple whose love is fading after twenty-two years together. She writes it so well that you'll feel like you're right there with the MCs, experiencing their relationship falling apart.
The book shows how their marriage falls apart, from small annoyances to big disappointments.
The thing about the book that i thought was really special was the music aspect of it. I loved the little notes on the vinyl records. (I love the music references in Renee carlino books in general omg)

However, i do wish that we got to see more of Dani and Alex when they were younger and actually in love. We only got to read two flashback chapters and that was a little disappointing, because i would have loved to see how the characters developed over the years. It was a great book nonetheless and i'm definitely buying the physical copy once it comes out.
Again, thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and of course, Renee Carlino for this incredible book 💗

This Used to be Us was my first Renee Carlino book and I can happily say that I understand the hype. This book crushed me in the best way. This Used to be Us is a heavy book that touches on a lot of difficult topics and the nuances that go along with them. I felt so many different emotions while reading this book. The love and disdain that Dani and Alex had for each other was so honest and their journey through such a challenging time in their lives was so raw. As a child of divorce, I found this book to be both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. I love the way the book was written with dual POVs and I also enjoyed the chapter titles. While I was reading, I wasn’t sure where the book was headed and I can confidently say that I did not expect the ending at all. Without spoiling anything, the end of this book had me ugly crying on my couch. I felt like the ending came from out of nowhere and happened fairly quickly, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless (if one can even really “enjoy” that). Overall, I really enjoyed this and can’t wait to read more of her books!

Thank you so much to Random House, The Dial Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was intense, realistic and heartbreaking. For me - kind of hard to get through because I wasn’t ready for all these feelings. It gave me flashbacks to how I felt when I watched Irreconcilable Differences as a kid. That said, I’d highly recommend to anyone in the right mindset and those that love a heartbreaker.

Messy and realistic and a real roller coaster. It’s very hard for me to express my feelings for this book without spoilers, so I’ll just say that I loved it and it was beautifully written, but don’t expect this to end the way you think, or hope, or even what the book leads you to believe will happen. Go in with an open mind.

I loved the musical references and the storytelling through “journaling” on the liners of old 33 records. It created nostalgia that pulled me in and made the characters three dimensional. There are some heartbreaking scenes, which might be difficult for someone who has experienced infertility, pregnancy loss, and/or the loss of a child. I would advise reading the content warnings. And having a box of tissues nearby.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dial Press for the electronic ARC in exchange for my honest review.

With her latest book, “This Used To Be Us,” author Renee Carlino takes the reader on an emotional journey quite like no other—a journey paved with love, loss, regrets, and second chances. It’s the story of Dani and Alex, whose love story went awry when life dared to intervene, breaking their bubble of happiness and sending this couple down separate and lonely paths. Theirs is truly a heart-wrenching story that had me reaching for the tissues more than once.

This is a wonderful look at a marriage from start to finish to start again. Loved the characters. I read this quite quick as it kept my interest. Thank you for the chance to read this!

I love this authors books so much when I seen she had a new release I couldn’t wait. So I went to NetGalley and prayed it would be there. I was so thankful it was and the day it showed up on my kindle I jumped right in. This book made me think so much. Being a wife and a mom I could relate to so much of what was written. This book hit differently. I’m a romance girl and though I didn’t get that feeling reading this. I felt like I was reading someone’s life story and it made me feel more great full from my family. Because we all struggle and life is hard. It had opened my eyes to life and love. I may have ahead a few tears at the end too Because life is precious and we never know how much time we have.

I was so excited to get this, as I loved Before We Were Strangers. I haven’t disliked a book as much I disliked this one in a long time.

First, I felt like we spent so much time understanding Alex and Dani’s disdain for each other. I mean I am pretty sure their relationship was still a disaster until 80% in. And the ending!!!! So sad and rushed. So many terrible things happened at the end. I’ve never considered DNFing a book at 96% but I did consider that with this one. So disappointing.

I have loved all of Renée Carlino's books, and though it has been a while since her last book, This Used to be Us, proved that she still has the amazing ability to write a compelling story! This was a devastating yet beautiful story about two individuals who become divorced but find their ways back to each other. I absolutely loved the dual perspective of Dani and Alex which gave such depth to their characters and made this such a poignant and realistic story. Highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was not the right book for me. It is the story of the end of a long marriage, and I felt that the re-hashing of all of the mistakes that Dani and Alex made created a heavy book. I wasn’t able to feel like I was rooting for either of them. I had not read a book by Renee Carlino before, but saw that her books came with lots of glowing reviews, so I gave this one a try. Ultimately, I found that it was a character-driven, slice-of-life story, and while lots of readers like this, it was not a good fit for me. Also, spoiler alert: the ending is way too sad. But, I appreciate the opportunity to read an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

After 22 years of marriage and two children, Dani & Alex are getting a divorce. They once thought their love was a once in a lifetime kind of love but it all falls apart. They decide to get a nesting apartment to trade places so the transition is easier with their children. Once they have time to themselves they begin to look back on how they fell in love and where it all went wrong. They get to find themselves again and begin to notice more things about each other. They try to move on and begin dating and working on their careers but begin to really miss things about their relationship. Sometimes second chances just might be worth it.

Sometimes you get so caught up in life that you forget to slow down and really appreciate each other for the little things. Resentment can add up and can make you forget about what truly matters. You get to see both Alex and Dani’s side of the story and at times you can’t decide if your frustrated with them and just want them back together or if you just want them to move on so they can be happy separately.

I usually devour books that have pulled me in like this one but I found myself taking my time because I didn’t want it to end. This was my first Renee Carlino book and I look forward to reading more by this author. I can’t recommend this book enough but I mean it when I say you need tissues handy.


Thank you Random House Publishing Group for my ARC of This Used to Be Us. This title will be released on July 9, 2024.

I loved this book until the 90% mark. LOVED. It was a unique premise and I loved reading about characters that were in their 40s and actually acted like they were in their 40s. There was a perfect blend of what was going on in their lives currently (a married couple that is navigating through an amicable divorce) and their past (how they met, key events that occurred throughout their lives).

It was clear that this was a couple that loved each other and their two sons. Both Dani and Alex were flawed characters, and that's what made this so believable - they weren't perfect and neither pretended to be. They recognized that they each made mistakes in their marriage and they could look at those and even if they didn't fix them, they could see them.

Dani and Alex decide that the kids are going to stay in the house and they are going to get an apartment that they will share on the days they aren't with the kids (a "nesting apartment"). They handle everything like adults which was just refreshing.

And then. No spoilers... but then. The last 10 percent of the book. Why? What was the purpose?

Ugh. Renee Carlino... I love your books. I love your writing. I DID NOT love the ending of this one.

I don't even know where to start with This Used to Be Us...it was so many things. From the very beginning, I felt like the words on the page could have (or maybe even did at some point) come out of my mouth. It was so painfully real it *almost* made it difficult to read. I loved switching back and forth between Dani and Alex, and I feel like Carlino did such a good job of writing from both points of view. The last 100 pages or so really picked up for me, as I was truly invested in the characters and needed to find out what their ending would be! I suppose in some ways it was predictable and in others a complete shock for me. I feel like anyone who's married needs to read this book, and I plan on making my husband read it. Now waiting for it to be turned into a movie or TV series....

Wow. This book reminded me of why I will eagerly read anything Renee Carlino writes! She has a knack for making me care deeply about the characters. This always leads to smiles and tears while I devour her writing. Families and relationships aren't perfect or easy - this book handles different stages of delicate moments throughout those relationships beautifully. Bravo, Renee, you did it again.

Renee Carlino knows how to bend the heart strings! So glad to be offered an ARC by NetGalley. It was worth the wait for this author’s latest work!! Can’t wait for her next novel, again!

Dani and Alex have been married for 22 years but now they can't stand being around each other and file for divorce. They get a nesting apartment to share while the other one is with the boys, to make the transition smoother. This was a really raw look at divorce and how sometimes it takes losing something to realize how important it was in the first place. I really like the dual point of view in this novel. At times I was frustrated with both of the main characters, but I think the author wanted it that way. There was also really beautiful moments as well as they looked inside at themselves and realized how they made mistakes and remember why the loved each other in the first place. It is a heart wrenching book of second chances. The ending was way to rushed for me, but other than that it was a solid read. There is some language and mature content.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the advance read copy