I was not a fan of Greenwich. I suppose I only have myself to blame, as I apparently did not read the full description carefully, but I truly thought it was going to be a murder mystery in Greenwich with a backdrop of wealth and power...period. I did not anticipate the LGBTQ aspect, and personally, I just did not think it was necessary to the plotline. The story would have been equally compelling without that component. Another complaint was that there was honestly a bit too much foreshadowing...it was almost constant and infused into every little thing the main character, Rachel, thinks/contemplates. We get the point....something bad happened. Just not a fan at all.

From the start, this book grabbed my attention.
There is so much to unpack from this riveting, though disturbing story. It reminds me in a lot of ways of the movie “Mermaids” with Cher and Winona Ryder, and the novel “Yellowface,” by R.F. Kuang.

The beginning feels like it’s going to be more a suspense novel with lines such as, “I heard it like a voice in my ear: You should be afraid of this.” (Pg 16) But then leads more into a coming of age story. Truly many times I was wondering where an adult was during many moments, which is a question she asks herself. (I’m glad we’re on the same page.)

“I was thinking about that, about pain and how we bear it, about who tells us what can hurt and what cannot.” Pg 258

Similar to the style of “Yellowface,” there are so many moments to cringe and feel uncomfortable as Broad critiques wealth, whiteness, and the formidable wall these groups create. Unfortunately a taboo topic in the 90s, the girl needs therapy. Rachel was dragged along into the schemes of the wealthy, flip-flopping between a “white savior” mindset and hesitantly following along.

While there are a couple of traumatizing, bloody moments, this is a book that I’ve been thinking about for a couple of days since I finished it. Particularly the last paragraph.

I highly recommend this for people who enjoyed “Yellowface,” and are angry about current affairs in America.

Rounded up to 4 from my initial determination of 3 1/2 stars. I really did enjoy the writing in this debut novel. The plot was a bit uneven, but then, it matched the tone, which went from the ho-hum boredom of an insecure teen girl to infatuation to grappling with the 'tragedy,' and how everything went askew.

The themes of racism and classism reverberate throughout, as did the uncertainty of youth and the need for a sense of belonging and the development of self-understanding. It was overall a very intriguing story and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author, for an opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book, which is scheduled to be published on July 22, 2025.

The writing was good, but it took me a bit to get into this book. And then when I finished, I was frustrated that it didn't explore issues related to class, race and sexuality a bit more head-on. It just kind of ended in an unsatisfactory way.

I understand what the book was trying to do, but I would have rather spent more time in the college/post-college years to see the impact of the traumatic summer experience instead of simply re-living every day of the summer.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the arc of Greenwich. This book was pretty good. A young girl wants to escape her problems so she stays the summer with her aunt and uncle in Connecticut. Only thing is her aunt and uncle are weird and a tragic accident happens, and she's the only one that knows what really happened.

This beautifully tragic debut novel by Kate Broad highlights how small decisions can have a lifelong domino effect of consequences, and how it’s never too late to try to make things right.

Set in the 1990s, 17-year-old Rachel goes to spend the summer with her wealthy aunt, uncle, and cousin Sabine, and ends up befriending the live-in nanny, Claudia. When a terrible tragedy occurs, Rachel makes a series of decisions that she carries with her into her adult life.

Broad deftly navigates the nuances of classism, racism, and sexuality, as well as the stories and lies we tell ourselves to justify our actions, all while trying to address the ambiguous questions of if past injustices can ever be made right, and if so, how?

This was an engaging read, and Broad’s spot-on depiction of the coming-of-age struggle of identity had me sympathizing with Rachel one minute and disgusted and annoyed with her the next.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. This novel comes out July 22, 2025.

I can’t say I liked this book very much. The quality of the writing was fine, but I was not prepared for just how much I disliked the main character (and most of her family). I also could have done without the violent scene involving dogs. I think the author makes some interesting points throughout the book, but overall I found it too graphic and didn’t feel like the plot was compelling enough (based on the description) to enjoy.

Kate Broad does an excellent job of incorporating the element of suspense in developing her plot and characterization in Greenwich.

Greenwich not only presents and examines the topics of deceit, corruption, addiction, privilege, and injustice but also tackles finding oneself and crossing that threshold to adulthood.

Rachel, nearly 18, has just graduated from high school and been jilted by her group of mean girl friends. Not only that, her kid sister has been diagnosed with childhood cancer and starts undergoing treatments. Rachel wants nothing more than to get out of town and get away from all things hometown before entering college in the Fall. Her parents' answer is to go to Greenwich, CT, where she will stay with her rich aunt Ellen and uncle Laurent. Aunt Ellen, who has definitely "married up," is somewhat struggling to overcome a shoulder injury she sustained while horseback riding, so Rachel's "job" will be to help around the house and to help in taking care of her cousin, Sabine, Ellen and Laurent's 3 year old.

Rachel doesn't have to help out much though because Sabine has her own live in nanny - a beautiful 23 year old African American recent art school graduate, Claudia. Claudia has a degree in art, but she just cannot pass up the pay and benefits that come along with the job; plus, Sabine absolutely adores her, everyone does as she does have a dazzling personality.

Throughout the first half to two thirds of the book, you know that something tragic is going to happen that will absolutely cause all of the cards to come crashing down. I think that is one thing that I enjoyed the most about the author's style - she uses the suspense to help in building characterization (showing us the characters' strengths, weaknesses, and especially their flaws) leading up to the climax of her plot.

What follows in the last one third of the book is a trial and then the resumption of lives. Corruption and privilege are really thrust into the forefront.

Greenwich is a tantalizing read and encompasses so many genres - contemporary fiction, family drama, LGBTQ, crime, mystery. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the eARC and the opportunity to share my honest thoughts on this book!

This is a coming-of-age story that falls more into literary fiction, which I admittedly do not read all that often, but once I started it was hard to stop because it was easy to get caught up in all the little twists and games being played throughout the story! We follow Rachel, a 17 year old girl on the cusp of turning 18, who goes to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle for the summer. Her aunt has been having some problems recovering after an injury and Rachel is going to help out with her little cousin. Or so she thinks, because her aunt and uncle have already hired a live-in nanny, Claudia, who Rachel quickly becomes obsessed with. A terrible accident occurs and things aren’t quite what they seem, and truthfully I have never been so upset with a character as I was with Rachel!

The ending of this book is definitely what brought my rating down because it just seemed very flat and anticlimactic and just overall left me feeling very upset with the choices Rachel made. But perhaps that is also part of the story because the choices we make when we are younger can certainly and do affect the people we become as we grow older.

There is a lot of build up in this book as well as several different themes that are underlying the main plot. The novel follows recent high-school grad Rachel, while she spends her summer break in Greenwich, CT, with her wealthy aunt and uncle, Ellen and Laurent, their young daughter Sabine, and their live-in au pair, Claudia. From the first page we know that disaster looms imminently on the horizon for the family depicted in Greenwich. Each long summer day feels as if it drags on, adding to the tension simmering just beneath the surface. In terms of characters, I feel like Rachel does not take responsibilty for any of her decisions and is wavering in life blaming others for her actions or lack thereof. The ending in my opinion was a bit lack luster for the build of the whole book. This could be an excellent book for book clubs to be able to discuss all the themes and behaviors. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Kate Broad for the opportunity.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced eARC and an honest review.

Unfortunately, I didn’t like this. At all. And I’m not sure if it’s because the overall story felt flat and very slow, or if I felt incredibly triggered as a Black woman while reading it, or both. I didn’t find any of the characters to be likable, but the main character, Rachel, was the most insufferable of them all.

This book explores the harsh realities of what happens when you’re Black and in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this case, Claudia, the Black nanny to the affluent Corbin family, is accused of a horrible accident. Rachel, the narrator, is a manipulative 17 year old who develops a very intense obsession with Claudia and becomes “casually violent” towards Claudia when things don’t go her way.

I’ve been on the receiving end of a white woman’s unmitigated wrath when I didn’t do something they felt I should do, wanted me to do, felt entitled to it. In that regard, I sympathize with Claudia, but only then.

I’m not entirely sure of what the author is doing here, but if causing a trigger is it, she was successful in that regard.

A coming of age story centering around Rachel and the summer she spent in Greenwich at her Aunt Ellen’s mansion. Rachel is hiding from her troubles at home hoping for a fresh start before college and develops a friendship/love relationship with Claudia, the Corbin’s nanny. A tragic accident happens and Rachel is the only one who really know what happened. Her silence and compliance live with her and haunt her for years. The story grabbed me in the beginning but then it took me a while to finish because there wasn’t much going on until the first of 2 accidents. I couldn’t relate to Rachel or any of the characters except Claudia. Overall, it wasn’t my favorite but I didn’t dislike it.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review..

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for providing this ARC for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Greenwich by Kate Broad follow Rachel, a recent high school graduate during the pivotal summer months before leaving for college. Her life is fraught with isolation and messiness, hidden behind a facade of wealth, politeness, and secrecy.

The story’s plot moves at a fairly quick pace. The asides, the internal longings and guilt Rachel feels, moves at a more tortured, languorous pace. The book manages to touch on a lot of tough topics through a story that’s somewhat limited in duration and characters. There are prominent themes of the power of wealth, racism, the difficulties of domestic workers, sexuality, lies, forgiveness, and conscience.

The characters in this story are devastatingly selfish and punitive. It really shows how insidious entitlement and class struggles around wealth can infiltrate every aspect of lives with relationships. Claudia, the most sympathetic character, is predictably, but heart-wrenchingly dragged for not being an insider.

For me this was a very quick read, that I really enjoyed. My only qualm is that the ending and “college years” don’t have the same emotional power as the chapters covering the summer. I felt like the plot was still effective and interesting, but that after the trial the book did sort to putter out and didn’t meet the standards of the earlier chapters.

For me an easy 4/5 or 4.25/5 where applicable.


(Trigger warning: scenes involving animal-on-animal violence, child death, and addiction)

Broad's debut book packs a punch of familial drama and class commentary that leads up to a tragic event that rocks each of the characters. I thought the character development of our protagonist Rachel, going from passive to forthright, was done in a realistic and intriguing way. Having the narrative unfold from her naïve and ignorant youthful perspective added a layer of unreliability that contributed to the tension of the story. While Rachel seemed like a fully well-rounded person, some of the other characters, such as her family members, faded into the background and came across as flat and one-dimensional. The pacing started off a bit too slow for me, but once the event in question was revealed the momentum picked up and it breathed a new life into the story. Overall, this was a poignant exploration into themes of regret, privilege, and sexuality.

The more I've thought about this book, the more frustrated I've been. The writing is good, but the plot takes about 70% of the book to really kick off. There are hints to something nefarious and awful happening throughout, but unfortunately everything is filtered through the eyes of the main character Rachel, who is completely clueless, self-absorbed, and selfish. While she is seventeen, turning eighteen, during the bulk of the book, she reads more like a thirteen/fourteen year old. Repeatedly, her actions show she truly only cares about herself, and has no ability to really think about anything outside the prism of how it affects her or how people make think of her. Even the epilogue shows how completely clueless she still is, despite the fact that you would think she'd learn a few lessons, or at least some empathy.

While I don't necessarily need characters to be likable, and have read a lot of books filled with unlikable characters, Rachel was not interesting, smart, funny, or had any other redeeming factors that made you want to read from her perspective. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a story about class, race, sexuality, or a coming-of-age story. One could argue it's about all of the above, and therefore never really lands the ending on any of those topics because it's trying to do too much.

Color me surprised... This book seemed like it would be *right* up my alley. But I could not connect with the characters and found the plot flat. The writing itself is good, and I think other readers will like it, but this just wasn't for me.

This was an okay book for me. It was slow at the beginning and never felt like it truly picked up. The book was just okay for me. Nothing life changing.

I can’t say I liked this book very much. The quality of the writing was fine, but I was not prepared for just how much I disliked the main character (and most of her family). I also could have done without the violent scene involving dogs. I think the author makes some interesting points throughout the book, but overall I found it too graphic and didn’t feel like the plot was compelling enough (based on the description) to enjoy.

3.5 stars

This book explored how wealth and privilege had an impact on the characters in this story. Tragedy strikes in a Greenwich home, but who takes the fall was no surprise. The author really diid a great job developing each if the characters in this story. I liked the way it ended, the author sent a strong message.

Thanks to netgalley and St martin’s press for this EArc!

This was a decent slow burn that tackles issues of race and class. It was a bit hard to get into, and I didn’t care for the narrator which I think it by design as she was a teenager coming of age, but the perspective was sometimes more like YA than adult fiction. Overall an interesting read.