Greenwich was a different genre than I usually read, but I liked it. I was expecting more of that CT vibe drama, but I am not sure if that was just my own imagination thinking it would be in this book prior to reading. There wasn’t much character development in the main Rachel. Overall a good read, might be good for warmer weather this summer.

Genre: Coming of Age
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: July 22, 2025

In the summer of 1999, we meet 17-year-old Rachel, about to graduate in her senior year of high school. We learn that she has lost all her friends due to typical teenage drama, and her parents are confused about why she will not be attending graduation parties. At the story’s beginning, Rachel has the reader’s sympathy, but not so much at the end. Kate Broad does a good job of showing us teenage naivety vs. teenage selfishness. Rachel is glad to be leaving town to help her aunt recover from an accident. Her aunt and uncle’s lavish estate exposes her to a world of privilege and the abuse of power that can come with extreme wealth. She connects with her aunt’s Afro-American nanny, Claudia, who watches over her two-year-old cousin. Claudia is only a few years older than Rachel is. They develop a friendship and more. A tragic accident forces Rachel to make a tough decision about her loyalty between Claudia and her aunt. The author explores the inequality of race, class, privilege, and sexuality. I enjoyed this novel but was disappointed that Claudia did not receive as much detail as Rachel. In addition, the end part of the book dragged a bit. However, it is fair to say that none of the characters were innocent about the tragedy, which makes this an interesting and complex read.

read if you like:
💰 wealth and privilege
📍 Greenwich, CT
🤷🏻‍♀️ have and have nots

summary:
This book was really hard for me to get into. It follows Rachel Fiske in the summer of 1999, who heads to her aunt and uncles house in Greenwich, CT to help out her aunt after an injury. While there, she meets Claudia, an aspiring artist and nanny for Rachel’s cousin, Sabine. As their relationship intensifies, a tragic accident occurs, and suddenly all eyes are on Claudia to blame. Rachel is stuck in the middle, and has to decide — which side will she take, and why?

The first half of the book sets the scene for the second, and I’ll be honest, it goes on for a little too long. The author does a great job of building the landscape, describing the characters and giving us a general sense of the dynamics between them, but it drags on much longer than it needs to. Part 2, which happens post-accident, almost feels like a completely different story. It becomes more of a detective procedural and follows through the court case foreshadowed in the first part. This part is much more straightforward with a clear outcome, but it feels a little out of place juxtaposed against the first half. It then returns to Rachel in college, before wrapping up with a Part 3 sixteen years later.

I found Rachel pretty unlikeable, given her decisions, her shallowness and her lack of ownership of her decisions. Her extended family was cold and hard to get attached to, which made it hard to get into the book. This all being said — after the first part, it was a quick read, and while predictable, was an interesting expose on wealth and privilege.

Thanks to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy. This book will release on July 22.

This wasn't a book I enjoyed. It was about rich people and what they get away with and it just bothered me until the very end. I found myself angry during most of this read and it just wasn't something I wanted to finish, but did. The story line was interesting and well written.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this ARC.

While the story line, in my opinion, dragged on to the climax of the story, I would be lying if I said it didn’t hook me. It took about 1/4 of the book to get me but once the characters were outlined I was intrigued. Once the pivotal point of the story occurred, the narrator/ main character took a turn for the worse. I can appreciate the storyline of where priviledge and money overrule the justice system. It was infuriating to read how the story turned and yet it is something faced in America everyday. It was an important message to illustrate. I enjoyed the story however, was hoping for more of murder mystery.

3.5

a fast, pulpy beach read. It’s the type of story where you can already see ahead of time the broad strokes of the plot but it’s entertaining to the point where it doesn’t matter that you know where things are going. I love these types of stories where you're kind of moving backward in knowing the ending but getting to watch how everything falls in line, and mix in a rich family with secrets… very up my alley lol.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style, sometimes it veered into the territory of young adult (no shade, there’s just an ism a lot of those books have that flashed through the writing every so often here). And I think the themes of race and class were honestly quite hamfisted so I wouldn’t go into this expecting any grappling with those topics further than what you’d see in like.. an infographic off instagram. There was one scene specifically in this book that in hindsight after finishing was so… random to throw in there? I have more thoughts on this but I think it would veer into spoiler territory so I’ll hold off lol.

Despite that it was still compulsively readable, I found myself annihilating the first half of this book in one night. Fair warning though I can see people finding the perspective you have to read from very grating. It’s reminiscent of Yellowface and despite both of those books intentionally writing their mcs that way I know some people don’t jive with it so I’d keep that in mind. Good book to get you out of a reading slump though. Thanks NetGalley for the arc!

I picked this up thinking it would be just another popcorn mystery-thriller, and BOY was I wrong. This gave off White Lotus, Big Little Lies, and Little Fires Everywhere vibes and I enjoyed it so much. It was a little slow in the beginning, but I was fully hooked by the halfway mark. I was so surprised that this was a debut novel because the writing was so strong and the characters so deeply unlikeable in the best way!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me this book!

Unfortunately I could not get myself to finish this book. The cadence in the prose was off, I was confused about who was talking and what we as the reader were supposed to understand. The premise was enticing but it just didn’t pull me in or make any sense to me. I made it about 40 pages in and still wasn’t sure, so I decided to stop.

Thank you to @netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is Kate Broad’s debut novel about Rachel a 17yr old who goes to stay with her aunt for the summer. In the fall Rachel has plans to go to college and then medical school. In the meantime, she is surprised about just how rich her aunt is and what it affords her. Such as the pain meds she is never questioned about, or that her husband seems to only live for work, the nanny who is more involved with cousin than either parent.
Rachel is also lonely and curious and that has her making one bad decision after another. She has a lot of firsts, and at first is seems small and painless until a tragedy occurs that will change her forever.
If you enjoy family drama with coming of age this is a good one.

Not a favorite of mine. I found the book to drag along, and had considered not finishing, but something kept pulling be back. I gave this 3 stars, because it did get a little better as the book went on, but not something I would read again

In Greenwich by Kate Broad we meet two young women. They are from different backgrounds, have different dreams, and view life in very different ways. After a rough year with her friends deserting her, Rachel is visiting her Aunt Ellen and Uncle Laurent. Claudia is the nanny to their daughter, Sabine. The two young women become friends and share good times and fun with Sabine through the summer. When a terrible accident happens, each women does what they must do to survive. They go their separate ways, and each suffers the aftermath of this tragedy. In this book we are given a look into how two women handle their inner thoughts and their actions. Will each do the right things, will one suffer more than the other, will there be forgiveness and how will their future lives be impacted? A very insightful novel.

I really enjoyed this book and it was exactly as described. It's a perfect book for anyone that enjoys the "rich people behaving badly" trope. There were a few details that felt superfluous (e..g the dog attack scene) and some storylines that I wanted more details about (e..g the sketchy real estate deals) but overall it was an enjoyable read!

thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! I enjoyed this book, even though I couldn't escape the nagging feeling I had read something similar. It's a familiar plot line, but there are some points that ultimately differentiate it from some of it's peers. 3/5 - the writing was smart, plot line repetitive and predictable.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

While there wasn’t anything completely surprising (the big drama is hinted at up until it’s revealed) I couldn’t put this down. It was filled with so many different themes that include influence, wealth, and even what I would consider teen angst.

There were times I felt so bad for Rachel. There were times when I really didn’t and I could say the same for Claudia. They were both beautifully developed characters who came from different paths.

The one downside I would say is there are some themes that are brought up but never really explored that could have added more to this. Overall a great debut!

I didn't really have any expectations going into this book, but I was kept hooked by the story. By the end of the book, I really did not like Rachel as I feel like she was very self-serving and a lot of her issues, specifically with her female friendships, could have been avoided. Even the ending of the book kind of goes to show that she hasn't really learned anything and is still kind of immature. The story with Claudia and Sabine was really sad, but it didn't come as a surprise, because from the beginning of the book we knew something was going to happen and there were hints that it would be to Sabine.

Rachel goes to her aunt and uncle's house in Greenwich, conn. she feels lonely and makes friends with the live in babysitter Claudia. family secrets come to light. good story.

Greenwich was one of those books that I absolutely hated, but yet could not stop reading. I just knew awful things were going to happen, but yet I could not stop swiping (kindle). And awful things happened. I don't know how Ms. Broad did it, but she kept hinting of something awful, I could feel it in my bones, but when it finally did, it was not what I expected. Rachel was not entirely blameless in what was happening to her, yet she was always groaning about how no one liked her, but yet she slept with the wrong men that ended up alienating her friends (should she have been surprised?). Then when she discovered that the nanny had an ulterior motive to be"friends" with her she turned on her without thinking twice. None of the characters in this book were particularly likable--and some were downright hateful--what was kind of sad about this book is that no one in the end seemed to be affected by what happened to Sabine (as all too often happens in real life), including Rachel herself. As I said, I didn't like this book, but it was a compelling read.

I loved this novel!!!!! I did not expect to like it as much as I did but by the end, I knew it was a five-star read! It's very complex but still an interesting read. I love the cover. I loved the writing style. Will read more from this author and need a physical copy!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: This is a debut and I'd rate it between 3-4. It's a story about a young woman/adolescent who is sent to her uber privileged aunt's house during a period of family crisis and her relationship with their Black au pair/nanny and a subsequent trauma and miscarriage of justice. The nature of guilt and personal responsibility did not seem to account for the fact that the protagonist was only 17 and had limited agency at the time of the event. A promising debut.

so good! I love that it was based in the late 90's early 2000's. It bro8uight back some memories I had forgotten about! I love this story, and how it was written so well and it was hard to put down. It kept me entertained and interested the whole time reading it!!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!