4.5 stars rounded up

End of August is a beautiful, thought-provoking multi-generational novel full of emotions. The characters are well-developed and easy to relate to, their stories believable, their demons very real. There are so many things to love about this book; Aurora’s strength and sass, Gran’s quips and insights, the quiet support of Aurora from some unlikely characters. I had many a late night because I just wanted to stay with the characters, particularly Aurora. I haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I read it a couple of weeks ago. I was so invested in the characters that they felt real, and to think that the story being told could, in reality, be someone’s life just broke my heart. It isn’t all sad though, there are some laughs throughout as well. This is the author’s debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a digital ARC for review.

Three generations of women, Aurora, who is 15, her single mother, Laine, and her grandmother, are reunited again in Monroe, Indiana. Aurora and her mother are back because grandpa Jay has passed away.
When they arrive, and they get settled, it was nice getting to know them. They have a lot of baggage, and they have their own philosophy on life.Aurora has never had a friend before, and she meets a girl who is her age, and they become friends. Laine enjoys life until it gets rough, then she packs up her and Aurora's things and they move again. Gran has fallen off the wagon, and Aurora is trying to be there for them both. As summer moves forward, they all three start to change. It is a small community and everyone knows everyone's business, and life is starting to get rough again. By the end of August, Laine wants to pack up and move once again. Aurora has to decide if she is going to go with her mother, or stay with what feels like home to her, with her Gran.
It is a story, that will make you laugh, make you cry a few tears, and they all will you feel you are right there with them, feeling all that they are going through.
I received an ARC from Alcove Press through NetGalley..

End of August by Paige Dinneny is a very highly recommended literary family drama and coming-of-age story. This is an excellent, beautifully written debut and I look forward to Dinneny's next novel.

It's 1979 and fifteen-year-old Aurora Taylor and her nomadic mother, Laine, are heading back to Monroe, Indiana, to be with Gran because her Grandpa Jay has died. Years ago Jay helped Gran (Katherine) stop drinking and was admired by the community and loved by Aurora. Laine and Gran, however, always clash, so Aurora assumes this will be a quick visit, a fight will erupt between the two, and Laine will have them pack up and move again. Laine's MO is to always run away. Aurora has lived in eighteen different towns and attended thirteen different schools.

Once there, however, Laine begins an affair with a married mailman, so the two stay in Monroe. This gives Aurora time to actually make a best friend, while falling in love with Gran, the town, and her first boyfriend, the pastor's son Harry. Aurora knows that once her mother's affair ends, things will explode and Laine will want them to pack up and move again. Aurora wants to stay in Monroe but she also knows her mother's actions will reflect on her and may sabotage all her dreams.

The writing is excellent in End of August. Once I started reading I was immediately captivated by Aurora's story of her dysfunctional family, personal trauma, and the itinerant life she has been living. The narrative explores demanding mother-daughter multi-generational relationships and a longing for security and inclusion. The beautifully rendered prose within the even paced plot depicts the various characters while creating a sense of time and place. The complexities of family relationships along with personal trauma is handled with compassion and insight.

Aurora is a fully realized, complicated, sympathetic character and you will wish the best for her as she negotiates her troublesome life. As she approaches her sixteenth birthday, Aurora is mature enough to understand that she craves stability, something she has never experienced before as her mother's emotional instability and selfishness has never actually taken into account what would be best for Aurora. She loves having a best friend and accepts both her strength and flaws. She also has established a good relationship with Gran, seeing her start drinking again after Jay's death and then later stopping. Harry is also a wonderful character.

End of August is a wonderful coming-of-age story that you will remember. Thanks to Alcove for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

End of August is a poignant story that takes us back in time to the 1970’s and remind us what it is like to be a teenager who is guilty by association. Except 15 year old Aurora is about to pay for the sins of her mother, instead of mistakes that a friend has made, like it is for most teenagers.

Aurora has spent her whole life with her mother Laine, running from one town to another, one man to another. Laine wants nothing more than to find a man to love her, and when one relationship ends it is always easier to pack up and leave than it is to face yet another failure and rebuild. Because of this, Aurora has never had a place to call home. It is easier to leave when you don’t have anything - or anyone - to miss.

That changed when Laine shows up at Aurora’s school to tell her that her grandpa Jay has died, and they are going back to the town that Laine ran away from sixteen years ago. From the moment they arrive at the blue house in Monroe, Indiana Aurora feels as home. She makes a friend, she gets to know (and love) her grandma, and she gets a job. Then comes Harry. Harry is the pastor’’s son, and for reasons unknown to Aurora, he likes her. While Aurora spends the summer building a life for herself, Laine is spending the summer falling in love with the married mailman.

Aurora does her best to hold on to her newfound happiness by focusing on her life, but as her mother falls more in love with the mailman Aurora becomes more aware that the only way things will end is badly.

End of August is a debut novel that took me back in time and made me feel like I was there, watching everything unfold. It reminds us that no matter how impossible it may seem, we do not have to be a victim of our circumstances, and that when our parents fail us as they will inevitably do (at least once), there are people standing by to make sure we have a soft place to land.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Alcove Press, and Paige Dinneny for the opportunity to read this book and share my thoughts. I am looking forward to more from this author!

This multigenerational story embodies the struggles of 15-year-old Aurora and her single mother who tends to pick up and move when the going gets tough. Her grandmother loves her and tries hard to care for her, but she has her own struggles with alcohol. Aurora must find her own happiness and hold on to it with all her might.

This a story of a mother and daughter who have lived their lives in various places over the years. Whenever the mother feels as if her life is too difficult, they move, typically abandoning much in the process, her mother’s boyfriend being the cause.

When her mother says they must move once again, Aurora isn’t exactly happy with it, but accepts it, because, in part the return is to return to the town when her grandfather’s death calls them to return, really, what else can she do? But when they arrive in this town, Aurora, eventually, finds herself happier than before. She might not have a lot of friends, but she feels accepted. She makes friends with a boy who seems to genuinely care for her, about her. Meanwhile, her mother is being wooed by a new man in her life, which makes her mother, and her, somewhat of a target.

When Aurora is introduced to the boy’s parents, they are happy to finally meet her, and they accept her, despite the rumours throughout town about her mother.

A story of young love, of family, loss and finding your own path in life.


Pub Date: 11 Feb 2025

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Alcove Press

What a beautiful debut novel! I was sucked in so quick by the author’s beautiful story telling. This story follows the lives of Aurora, her gran, and mom and their soap opera, tv dinners, and non-conventional lifestyle in a small town in Indiana. There’s friendship, young love, found family, scandal, a beautiful grandma/granddaughter relationship, and emotion!

I don’t read a lot of contemporary fiction, but I will 100% read anything the author puts out in the future!

An intense coming of age story for not just the teenager but for her mother and grandmother. At times she seems the most grounded and responsible of the three! The story is a bit repetitive, perhaps reflecting the turmoil and churn of the family but it moves forward as relationships crumble, mature and sustain.

Thanks to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This was such a heartbreaking but warming tale of the generations that bind us,love us and change us.
This book has so many moments we can go "oh yes I felt that too" or " oh yup, those days". Our parents and those in our lives in those formative years can change our ability to cope and change the way we view life, or trust in life.
Our main character has so much angst to her teenage years. Which are added to by simply being a teenager! We all remember those days...viewing all things through that very specific teenage lens. But so too do so many have other things to contend with too. How we or others make it through I don't know, ha!
This books makes you think about thing differently at points. It's almost a cure for our own lonely moments. Especially for those who ha e both run from truama, and then had to go back.
But also how love really does make thing seemingly impossible, possible. And how actually it can be the biggest strength of all.

Easy 5 stars.
Our choices affect others more than we think. Our mistakes can cast a long shadow over the lives of those we love. Some people run away from responsibilities and some prefer to drown them in a drink. Whatever our sins we all want to love and be loved. We all want to have a place we call home.
Anytime is a good time to start a new life, especially at the end of August.

Thank you to Net Galley and Alcove Press for an advanced copy for my honest review! Book comes out February 2025!!

End of August is a story about a 15 year old going through the bump of adolescence with a nomadic, young, single mother as they move back to their hometown to live with her alcoholic grandmother. The author does a great job of capturing the teenage angst and how much we hate our parents for ruining our lives during those four years of high school. Seemed like a young adult book but there are many deeper topics in the book that keep it adult.

The book was a bit of a slow burn and the story seemed a little dragged out but honestly whenever I was reading a different book I wanted to get back to finish this one, which is a win.

End of August is a coming-of-age fiction set in the small Indiana town of Monroe. When 15-year-old Aurora Taylor arrives in Monroe for her grandfather's funeral, she doesn't expect to be in town for a long time. She has lived with her nomadic mother Laine, moving from town to town. But when the unexpected happens and her mother decides to stay put for a while Aurora starts to feel this could be the home she always wanted. This emotional novel about family relationships pulled me in and held tight. Thanks to author Paige Dinneny, Alcove Press, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

In End of August, Paige Dinneny delivers a poignant and intimate debut novel that plunges readers into the complex world of three generations of women bound by love, trauma, and an endless cycle of escape. The story follows 15-year-old Aurora Taylor, who has spent her life on the move with her nomadic mother, Laine. When they return to Monroe, Indiana, for the funeral of Aurora’s grandfather, the small town offers Aurora a chance at something she’s never allowed herself to dream of — but it also brings the inevitable crash of family secrets and broken relationships.

Set in 1979, the novel explores the tumultuous relationships between Aurora, her mother Laine, and her grandmother, whose alcoholism and volatile nature have shaped Aurora’s fractured sense of home. Laine’s constant need to run from difficult situations has left Aurora with few roots, but in Monroe, something shifts. As Laine embarks on a doomed affair with the town's married postman, Aurora finds herself drawn to the town and its people in ways she never expected. She begins to make friends, form a fragile romance with the local pastor’s son, and experience the sense of belonging that has always eluded her.

What makes End of August so compelling is Dinneny’s ability to capture the messy, emotional complexity of adolescence. Aurora’s struggle to reconcile her desire for a stable life with the painful reality of her family’s dysfunction is heart-wrenching. Laine’s choices, driven by her own unhealed wounds, threaten to undo everything Aurora has begun to build. The novel expertly examines the intergenerational trauma that defines this family’s story while offering a hopeful, if bittersweet, exploration of love, redemption, and the search for identity.

Ultimately, End of August is a quiet yet powerful meditation on the fragility of dreams and the difficulty of breaking free from the past. It’s a tender, heart-rending story of a young girl coming of age in a world that seems to offer only heartbreak — but it’s also about the small moments of connection and possibility that make it worth trying to stay. A beautifully written, emotionally resonant debut, perfect for fans of multigenerational family sagas.

I just finished reading End of August. I liked Aurora’s character, so resilient when facing the challenges of having her mother making choices that have such an impact on her. I liked the storyline of Aurora’s relationships with Gran, Charlotte and Harry as well as the peripheral characters. Relationships between mothers and daughters are often such a strong bond, but can also be some of the most challenging. I enjoyed this book!

Thank you NetGalley, Alcove Press and Paige Dinneny for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of End of August.
This is a beautifully written debut story of a three generation female family that learns to handle big and small obstacles, learns to communicate and learns to finally love each other unconditionally. I became totally immersed in Aurora’s young life and rooted for her constantly. She is my hero! Gran had issued but deep down did her best. Mom never quite realized how selfish and self centered she was and seemed to enjoy her roller coaster life. I loved the ending but no spoilers here.
The storyline is a bit repetitive but characters are well developed and kept me wanting more. I loved the small town vibes which brought good and bad to the story. I enjoy family dramas and this was right up my alley. I look forward to more from this author.

Okay, so I just re-read this, and while I originally gave it three stars, I’m bumping it up to four because End of August has stayed with me in a way I wasn’t expecting. Yes, it’s a long book, and yes, it took me forever to finish because sometimes it felt like I was wandering through the same emotional cul-de-sac over and over, but the writing? Stunning. Paige Dinneny’s prose makes you want to sink into every melancholic sentence like it’s the last sunset of summer.

This book gives Shameless if it were directed by Greta Gerwig in her Mistakes Were Made era. Aurora is magnetic—she’s the kind of character you root for even when you know the odds are stacked against her. But everyone else? They feel like they’re stuck in the background of a Lana Del Rey music video, important to the aesthetic but not much else.

For a book about three generations of women, it spends a suspicious amount of time on men and romance. Like, we’re all here for yearning, but why does it have to be the centerpiece when the mother-daughter dynamic has so much more to say?

Let’s talk pacing. Reading this book is like driving through a town that’s just one endless stretch of stoplights. It’s slow, but in a way that makes you linger, that forces you to feel the ache of every stalled moment. It’s giving The Florida Project, but with even more dead-end streets and dreams held together by wishful thinking.

If you like books that lean into vibes—moody, small-town Americana with layers of generational trauma—this is for you. It’s not perfect (justice for female character development not centered on men), but it’s the kind of book that leaves a mark.

Thank you to Alcove Press for the advanced copy. End of August comes out February 11, 2025, and it’s worth adding to your TBR if you like stories that feel like a Midwest Polaroid in slow motion.

This is a multi faceted story. Firstly, it's about Aurora, a 15 year old girl who has moved to more towns that she can count because of her unsettled mother. But it's also about the relationships of Aurora, her mother and her grandmother living in a 3 generation home in Indiana.

Aurora is an innocent girl with a sensible and mature mind set. My heart goes out to her because all she wants is a stable home life, friends and everything else a 15 year old should have. She wants to stay in Monroe. She has a contentious relationship with her mother. Aurora is the voice of reason. Her mother is mentally absent. It is a role reversal. And, she has a sweet relationship with her grandmother, even though Gran has her own issues. Sometimes it's easier to get along with someone who is two generations away from you.

The setting plays a big part in the story. Monroe, Indiana is a small town, population 545 when I Googled. It has all the characteristics of a small town. Neighbours care for each other but everyone knows everyone's business. Not always a good thing. But, it adds interest.

The story is a bit of a slow burn. While it was well written, I felt that the story dragged a bit at times. But it all leads up to a very dramatic ending.

Things worked out the way Aurora thought they might. She looks forward to her future with acceptance and hope.

My rating is 3.5 stars, upgraded to 4 stars.

And, totally irrelevant, I love the cover of the book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy

Aurora Taylor is fifteen years old, her mother Laine was only a teenager when she was born and they don’t stay on one place for long. Aurora is getting sick of her mums nomadic ways, and they have moved eighteen times in her lifetime. When Laine shows up at school with the car all packed, Aurora assumes her mum’s latest boyfriend has dumped her and she’s wrong.

Laine hates Monroe, Indiana, the small town where she grew up, she has no choice but to return, see how her mum Katherine is coping with her loss and attended her step-father's funeral. Katherine was an alcoholic and is now sober and both Laine and Aurora worry she will fall off the wagon. Aurora assumes they will stay a week and her mum will get itchy feet and have an argument with Katherine. Laine has started flirting with the town’s married mailman, and this makes Aurora anxious and she knows it’s going to end in disaster.

Aurora is happy living in Monroe and in her grandma’s blue house, and can’t believe it when the pastor’s son asks her on a date and despite her being “a Taylor”, started a summer job and she has a sinking feeling this could change in an instant. Aurora’s mother’s bad decisions have always affected her and this time she has much more to lose, she has a home, she and her grandmother get on well, Aurora wants to be a normal teenager, attend school and learn to drive, she’s met the nicest boy and he introduces her to his friends and parents and she knows if anyone finds out what her mother’s up to she’s going to be a social outcast and they will be run out of town.

I received a copy of End of August by Paige Dinneny from NetGalley and Alcove Press in exchange for an honest review. Wow, I can’t believe this is the authors debut novel, at the start I was thinking this might be a three star read and I was incorrect. A multi-generational narrative set in 1979 and you can imagine what people thought about a thirty one year old single mother with a fifteen daughter, and people all assume the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and they are wrong.

A story about family and conflict, abandonment and addiction, breaking the cycle and finding a home, and first crushes and young love. Katherine’s, Karl’s, Claire- Anne’s, and Harry’s and Aurora's characters are delightful and in different ways and they made me laugh out loud and five stars from me and I highly recommend.

End of August by Paige Dinneny
This was an awesome book!
Aurora Taylor’s mother runs at the sight of trouble, usually of her own making, She’s been on the run for Aurora’s entire life, skipping out on dead end jobs and dead beat boyfriends, never looking back. At 15, Aurora has adapted to traveling light with most of her life fitting into a cardboard moving box.
Laine shows up one day after school with everything packed, not on the run but to say goodbye to Aurora’s grandpa, Jay, who had just passed.
Monroe, Indiana, a small town, even smaller when Laine and her mother, Katherine, are together. They are like oil and water, only erupting in explosions of emotion most of the time they are together.
This time is different, this time Aurora blooms and becomes more than just “Laine’s kid.” Aurora finds hope, home, and family, things she has never had. She loves the small town her mother has spent a lifetime running from. Laine clings to a toxic relationship, risking everything. Aurora dreads the next take off and run. This time everything is on the line, the town, Gran’s hope, Aurora’s future, and Laine has a choice for redemption.

I loved this story! I was captivated by the characters. The story was so real and raw with emotion. Paige Dinneny did a phenomenal job with capturing the multigenerational relationships and the raw feelings of a fifteen year old and her grandma. I give it 4.5/5⭐️

I would like to thank NetGalley and Alcove Press for the opportunity to review this ARC. This novel will be released February 11, 2025.

Set in the summer of 1979, “End of August” follows the life of fifteen-year-old Aurora Taylor, who has spent her entire life on the move with her single mother, Laine. Laine has a pattern of abandoning bad relationships and dead-end jobs, leading to a nomadic lifestyle that has left Aurora longing for stability and a sense of belonging. When they return to Monroe, Indiana, for the funeral of Aurora’s grandfather Jay—whom Laine has been running from for years—their visit quickly becomes complicated.

The choices made by Laine could destroy not only their family dynamics but also Aurora’s chance at redemption and stability. The novel explores themes of generational trauma, addiction, infidelity, and the complexities of familial love through the lens of three generations of women navigating their intertwined lives.