I couldn’t finish this one. I couldn’t connect with the characters and get myself invested with the storyline as much as I wanted too.

The snowbird is an interesting concept about a not so happily married couple that escapes the midwest in hopes to find something their life is missing. Passion? Adventure? Romance? Palm springs is the place to be. But while grant cant seem to settle into their new snowbird lifestyle his wife is having the time of her life which leaves him to debate whether or not their relationship can survive because maybe after 30 years together the people they once were are not the people they are today. And the people they are today dont mesh anymore.
I love when stories start after the happily ever after and pick up within the real world of life isnt always a fairytale but its what you make it.
Thank you to netgalley for the digital arc, all opinions are my own.

The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy is about a middle-aged couple who have been together for 30ish years, but never married. They are parents to twin girls, both now adults. They've reached a turning point in their relationship. Grant wants to get married, Kim is not so sure. They are offered the opportunity to take a sabbatical in Palm Springs. They each embrace new hobbies and interests in Palm Springs. For Grant, this is hiking and Kim has been making new friends and embracing new opportunities. When Grant goes missing on a hike, Kim is left to wonder if he's lost or if he's left her. Grant missing causes her to re-evaluate some of her own choices and feelings about their relationship. I appreciated that this book was about getting past the doldrums of relationships. Palm Springs sounds so fun, too!

The Snowbirds is about a couple that has the opportunity to spend the winter in Palm Springs after living for over three decades in Wisconsin. When Grant disappears on a hike right after Christmas, the book alternates between the present and the relationship between him and Kim, the narrator. Kim has her own flaws, most noticeably commitment issues, but Grant just drove me up the wall. A philosophy professor that’s whiny and self absorbed. I must admit to more than once thinking, “would it be so bad if he wasn’t found?” In their time together he takes a job in a different city without talking to Kim first, continues to have a serious, though non-romantic relationship with his ex-wife, is clueless about how time consuming his children are, pouts when Kim and his daughters don’t stop their lives to do what he wants when he visits for the weekend, disappears off the face of the earth when he can’t handle something, and buys a house where he teaches after his daughters have graduated high school thinking it will force Kim into moving - again, without talking to her before doing it. He suddenly becomes interested in actually marrying when the college he works at shuts down and he no longer has his own income or benefits, but pitches a fit about spending time in Palm Springs because it’s something Kim wants to do. Honestly, if I was Kim I would have trouble with committing to him too. And until he disappears, this is exactly the position Kim finds herself in as she settles into a new community. If Clancy’s intent was to explore how you view a significant other after a lifetime together then she’s shown how things you could be okay with at the start of a relationship could begin to grate on you after the years, and how something significant may have to happen to make you realize you still love them anyway. But it was really hard to get past how I wanted to throw Grant off a cliff myself. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had never read this other before. But the name pulled me in. I live as North as you can get before going to Canada, so I've always heard and knowing what I snobbered. It was so that peak my interest, kimmy and grant are a couple at across roads of their life and they decide to head South and be. Snowbirds for a winter in Palm Springs courtesy of kimy's gay e husband i.
Thought Kimmy was a little too whiny. In all honesty grant was like a child.-- many times I just wanted to throw something at hin, telling kimmy . Just go leave him--- It's their story about will they go on after 30 years together. Do they want to make this work or cut The cord grant starts to hike and Kimmy starts to realize There's more to life like her art that she put away for a very long time-‐ the cast of characters in their condo complex. Were my favorite part of this book, Cassie, Jean and gene and hobie--- I wouldn't mind more stories about them, especially Hobie a Le desert series, it's a good book definitely recommend.

DNF @ 30%

Neither of these characters are likable and the chapters are so wordy and drawn out. I honestly don't care that he's missing and seemingly, his partner does not either.

I wanted to love this story, as I leave for Palm Springs next week and thought this was the perfect book to read. The main characters, Kim & Grant, were unrelatable until the end of the story. The other characters were good and I liked them, but not enough to make the book enjoyable for me. It was well written, just not my type of story.

I really disliked these characters. Dragging on for 30 years? It was just not my cup of tea.


There was a lot of complaining but very little of a relationship that I could see. Both of them were just awful.

Well, the cover is nice and fluffy, cute and endearing. The characters not so much. I tried! And I will try again later if I want to dive into an emotionally confusing book.

A+ cover! Just did not want to hang with these characters at all.

This was a lot more serious and full of tension than I expected. It’s a deep dive in the experience of mid-life self-discovery. I didn’t know how this would end as the story reflected how couples change as individuals over time and how hard it can be to adapt as a couple to life’s changing circumstances.
The ending was fitting and heartwarming.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.
Kim and Grant have been a couple for 30 years and have 2 grown daughters. They never married and basically lived separate lives, but were committed and faithful. Now middle aged, Kim and Grant have a chance to spend the winter in Palm Springs. While there, Grant goes missing and there's quite a shift in their relationship; are they going to stay together or not?
The couple is not particularly likeable, they are both selfish in their own way, but I loved the Palm Springs history bits and the overall feel of the book was quite pleasant. I'm glad I had the chance to read it.

Kim and Grant have a complicated relationship. They’ve been together for 30 years, raised two daughters, and are at a crossroads. Grant wants to marry. Kim doesn’t. Grant is a stick in the mud, resistant to change, needy but sincere. Kim is whiny, codependent, and self-absorbed, taught by her mother to settle for whatever she could get in life. They constantly clash over the smallest things. The setting alternates between their time in stodgy Madison, Wisconsin and liberated Palm Springs, California which was a last resort, the place where they went to reconnect and decide their future.

Kim’s confidante is her gay ex-husband, Basil. Grant’s best friend is his ex-wife Sasha. So it’s a pretty crowded field! The people they meet at their winter digs in Palm Springs are colorful, comical, and wise, welcome counterparts to Kim and Grant’s drama. It’s a good read, watching the characters intersect, regroup, and ultimately try to help Kim and Grant navigate their future. But will they even have a future?

As the story begins, Grant has not returned from a day hike at Indian Canyon in Palm Springs. Kim is frantic with worry which grows more dire as days pass. Grant has not been located, despite a legion of searchers on foot and in the air. Time is running out. You’ll pick up the book because Clancy is such a good storyteller, and you’ll stick with it to see if Grant is rescued. Book clubs will enjoy discussing a variety of topics.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Publishing Group for a free advance e-copy of this book. I have written this review voluntarily. (Publication date is Feb 4, 2025.)

3 stars- The pacing in this book felt a bit disjointed. Things started to become interesting until roughly 40% in but remained a slowburn throughout the entire novel. Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Clancy is a master at peeling away the layers of a relationship until she reaches the inner core—the part where both people are on the precipice of change.

Grant and Kim have been together for thirty years when one gets lost physically, while the other tries to find her way out of the ‘what ifs’ that muddy the waters of life.

The Snowbirds is stunning, evocative, and packed with tension so tight you can bounce a quarter off it.

I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters were well developed and the storyline worked. Going from past to present was interesting and moved the story along well. A few surprises here and there kept things interesting. Very easy reading.

The synopsis dubbing this as The Last Thing He Told Me meets Fleishman Is In Trouble (plus that cute cover!) was pretty much all I needed for this book to pique my interest!

Despite having been together for 30 years, Kim and Grant have had a very unconventional relationship and now find themselves at a crossroads. When given the chance to escape the dreary Wisconsin winter and spend a few months in sunny Palm Springs, they use this opportunity to try to find themselves, and see if they can find their way back to each other.

Narrated entirely by Kim, this story is told in alternating timelines: the present where Grant has gone missing after a day of hiking, and two months prior when they first arrive in Palm Springs (interspersed with flashbacks further into the past where we learn more about their relationship).

What I liked:
- The mystery element
- Kim’s voice and her raw, honest, and relatable ruminations
- The found family element
- The strong sense of place—I really felt like I was transported to Palm Springs
- In addition to the comparisons to The Last Thing He Told Me and Fleishman Is In Trouble, this also gave me a bit of The Wedding People vibes

What I didn’t like:
- Grant’s character (both characters are very flawed, but I found him especially dislikable)
- While I enjoyed the writing style a lot, this did drag quite a bit for me in some parts

Overall I found this to be a really enjoyable read. I was quite invested in their relationship and couldn’t wait to find out what choices they would make. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC!

good mystery about a couple coming to palm springs for the winter and trying to figure out their life together and whether or not she will marry him after 30 years. loved the journal and what they are figuring out.

"It was unsettling to feel so unsure in middle age—more unsure of life than I'd ever felt. I'd always thought this was a time when I'd stop struggling and striving and finally just...be. Instead, I was at loose ends." 

I seem to be on a "stories about older couples" kick lately and enjoyed adding Christina Clancy's new book to the mix. As someone who *is* half of an older couple, lives in the midwest, and dreams of being able to snowbird, I was up for whatever Clancy had in store for me. I hadn't read her previous novels, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Though I hoped for a happy ending, it felt dicey to walk through the ups and downs of the years with this couple, Kim and Grant. Of their 30-year relationship, Kim says it "felt like a Jenga tower that was built out of both love and resentment. One small insult, one uncomfortable truth spoken aloud, and we could precariously wobble and come crashing down."

Told with humor, a keen eye, and the poignancy that comes with being on the earth for more than fifty years.

I really like this story of a couple (Kim and Grant) who leave Madison Wisconsin to spend the winter in Palm Springs and to see if they can continue together as a couple. They've grown apart--can Palm Springs bring them together? The story is told from Kim's point of view and in multiple time periods that give the reader a great overview of their history, but the main focus of the novel is--where is Grant? He left to go hiking on New Year's Day and never came home. I really had to force myself from reading ahead to see if Grant was OK. I liked both characters--they were both very real, meaning they had their good parts and their bad parts, and the other people who come in and out of the story were great as well. All in all, I think this is a good portrait of a long term relationship and I'm glad I read it and will search out other books by the author as well.

The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy was, I am sorry to say, just ok. There wasn't enough of a storyline and the characters were neither likable nor well developed. This is my first book by this author and I would definitely try another one of her books. Thank you NetGalley for a complimentary ebook in exchange for a review.