I truly loved "Finding Grace." I have been craving reading something deep and emotional, and this book hit the spot for sure. The characters were developed so well and I found myself wanting to learn more and more about them. You absolutely have to read this book. 5 stars!

This was such a great debut novel about grief. I went in totally blind, and I feel like that was the best way to go into this book. The last chapter was a bit cheesy for me, but overall I really enjoyed this!

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

Finding Grace is a beautifully written, deeply emotional novel that explores the complexities of love, family, and the choices that shape our lives. Loretta Rothschild creates characters that feel real—flawed, relatable, and navigating struggles that many will recognize.

Honor’s longing for another baby and the strains of her marriage set the stage for a heartbreaking turn of events. As time passes, the ripple effects of one life-changing decision weave two women’s lives together in unexpected ways. The story is layered with secrets, heartbreak, and the tension between old love and new beginnings.

Rothschild’s writing is immersive, pulling you into the emotions of her characters with rich detail and depth. The pacing is steady, though at times, the novel lingers a bit too long on certain internal struggles, making parts of the story feel drawn out. While some twists were predictable, the emotional weight behind them still hit hard.

Overall, Finding Grace is a compelling read that will resonate with those who enjoy thought-provoking, character-driven fiction. It’s a story about resilience, the past catching up with us, and the unexpected ways we find grace when we need it most.

My jaw physically dropped at the end of chapter one. I had to go back and re-read the last couple pages to make sure I was reading it correctly. This was set up to be such a tragically beautiful story but I couldn’t root for Tom.

Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild was a nice surprise. I really enjoyed her debut novel. This story immediately took you down a very unexpected path in Chapter One. From there it had a few twist and turns which leads you to a very sweet story with a few moral lessons. Honesty and second chances win in the end. I really loved this story. I would definitely read this author again. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Honor has a daughter she adores and a husband, Tom, whom she loves, despite his propensity to work too much. But she’s become obsessed with having another child. Then a shocking event happens and everything changes and…if I say anything else, it’ll give away what that event is.
Just know, that when Grace enters the picture, the story becomes filled with secrets, deception, and some romance.

I really appreciated the concept of this book. I also liked the side characters -- especially Annie and Honor’s mother. And Lauren was a fascinating character; I never knew what she was going to say.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really care much about the main characters (Honor, Tom, and Grace). Honor grew on me the more the story went on, and Tom and Grace weren’t bad characters, they were just sort of blah. seems to have everything.

Thomas and Honor are a married couple with a beautiful four-year-old daughter. Honor is obsessed to have another child, due to fertility issues they turn to a surrogate. it has lots of twists and turns.

I loved this novel! I was hooked in the first chapter because I’ve never read a book like this. I loved the storyline and all the characters. I know there will be some people who won’t like the main character Tom, but I could feel his anguish and guilt all the way through the book. My favorite character was the grandmother. I was not expecting to read such a great novel, so this really took me by surprise. It was well-written and I hope everyone I know reads this book too. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read Finding Grace!

From the book blurb, I had NO idea where this one would actually go. I can’t give any synopsis because it’ll spoil the book. But what a book! What a story! And I love the melding of past and present or even past and future. Read it. You won’t be sorry!

Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book. I enjoyed Finding Grace and flew through it. In order to talk about this there are some spoilers, so read at your own risk!

What happens to Tom, Honor, and their daughter Chloe is awful. I cannot even imagine losing my wife and child in such a horrible tragedy and then attempting to get it together enough to be a parent to my other unborn baby is beyond bananas. The fact that Tom became such a devoted parent to Henry is pretty amazing. And who could blame him for how he handled things when he received the identity of the egg donor of his living child? Who wouldn't want to meet them?

From there, he handles this pretty poorly and makes many questionable decisions. However, the two of them have both obviously dealt with trauma from losing their former partners, and fell in love amidst the lies. And I 1,000% knew that Lauren was in love with him and was going to try to mess that up for them. In hindsight though, she did them a favor by exposing the lies since it's clear Tom was never going to get the courage to do it. Overall, a solid read.

Fuck this whole book.

When I read the synopsis, I was expecting a story about women, AKA "women's fiction" as promised in the blurb. I was NOT expecting the ghost of a murdered wife narrating how her husband, an actual sociopath, started hooking up with her doppelgänger, who doesn't know she's the biological mother of his only surviving child (via egg donation). I wasn't aware that Women's Fiction existed to tell the story of a toxic man and his son.

So Tom manipulates, gaslights and straight up lies to Grace about almost EVERYTHING from moment one. In fact, he tracks her down against her explicit wishes and then lies to her about why he's in her place of business. And every time he has an opportunity to tell the truth, he doubles down on the lies. He encourages Grace to believe in a fictional version of their relationship and he's more than ok allowing this woman that he "loves" to enter into a marriage and build a family under false pretenses. As long as HE'S happy, am I right? THEN he gets irritated that his friends aren't lining up to support his falsehoods, and he guilts them when they urge him to tell Grace the truth. The only reason I kept reading was in the hopes that he got some sort of comeuppance... and somehow, even after this happens, we're still supposed to be rooting for him! What the actual fuck?? His friends encourage him to chase her down again after 6 months of her ignoring his efforts, like is EVERYONE stupid in this town? And then... AND THEN SHE COMES BACK TO HIM AT CHRISTMAS WITH THE BLESSING OF ALL HER FEMALE FRIENDS WHO ARE FULLY AWARE OF WHAT HE'S DONE TO HER. (Grown-ass women who, BTW, are referred to as "girls" throughout this work of "Women's Literature".)

And guess what else happens? The VILLAIN of this story is the only woman willing to tell Grace the truth about Tom's gaslighting, because bitches be crazy, I guess? And in the end, a genuinely good woman settles for a miserable piece of shit and I guess this is a victory. Whatever.

Man, this story sucks.


I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC. My honest review is my own opinion.

This captivating novel touches many emotions. Infertility, surrogacy, profound grief after a traumatic loss and then the eventual resumption of a new relationship. Keeping secrets is never good for a relationship and the secret in this story caused a great deal of stress and pain for all involved. From the very beginning I was drawn into the book and I felt deep empathy for the main characters. What made the story unusual is that the narrator here is dead and she is telling the story as she watches over her husband and child. I was so ready for a five star read and Finding Grace was just that for me.

Wow - this book was an emotional read, but I have pretty mixed feelings about it. The premise is definitely unique—after a tragic loss, Tom is left to raise his son alone, only to stumble across a woman who looks eerily like his late wife. There’s a lot of grief, love, and soul-searching in this book, but I didn’t always love the way it was told.

One of the biggest things that threw me off was the narration. Honor, Tom’s late wife, tells part of the story from beyond the grave, which could’ve been interesting, but it didn’t really add much for me. It reminded me a little of The Lovely Bones, but without the same emotional weight.

Then there’s Tom. I felt for him at first—losing your wife and child like that is devastating—but as the book went on, he made so many frustrating decisions that it got hard to stay on his side. The pacing didn’t help either. The beginning hit hard, but after that, the middle dragged, and by the time things picked up again, I wasn’t as invested. The ending wrapped up a little too neatly for my taste, especially after such a slow buildup.

That said, the writing is beautiful, and I can see why some people will love this book. The side characters were great, and I did appreciate how deeply it explored grief and healing. But if you’re looking for something fast-paced or light, this probably isn’t it.

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

The beginning of this book was so good and I have to say I was shocked at the big event in the beginning (I went into it blind) and I had to re-read it to make sure I was reading correctly. From there the book follows Honor as she narrates events that happen including loss, grief, love and more. This book was very emotional and I found myself cheering for Thom while also being supremely annoyed with him and some of his actions.

While I think this story is unique, the latter half of the book was slow and didn't really keep me engaged and I found it challenging to finish. I definitely feel like this book will be loved by many readers and it deals with some heavy topics but if you are in the mood for a light and fluffy book, this will not be the one for you.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

W O W! I did not expect this book to be this amazing. I picked up thinking it would be an average read but I was proved wrong right from he first chapter. This is a very well written story that will keep you wanting to read just one more page.

I don’t quite know where or how to begin this review. The blurb drew me in. The idea of exploring the impact of surrogacy was intriguing but I was put off by many of the choices the author made. First off, I think the narration by a dead person to be creepy but if it serves a purpose, so be it. Susie Salmon’s narration of The Lovely Bones made sense. This didn’t. If Honor, the dead wife, needed closure in her life, it would have made sense to me to make her ,in death, more like the woman we were first introduced to..

The book opens in Paris. Honor, Tom, and their young daughter, Chloe, are at the Ritz to celebrate Christmas. Honor is consumed with finding a surrogate to complete their family because she cannot have another baby. Tom just wants to enjoy Christmas and not obsess about it. They fight. Honor and Chloe go down to breakfast without Tom when they are both killed by a suicide bomber. Tom is spared and totally bereft only to find out the surrogate’s pregnancy is viable and he will have a new baby. A reason to live.

Fast forward four years. Tom is no longer a workaholic hedge fund manager. He is a full time father to his son, Henry. He is supported by his friends, Lauren and Annie, who had been devoted to Honor. His life is all about his son until he mistakenly receives a letter that should have gone to the anonymous egg donor.

This is where the story turns. He goes to the donor’s place of business—a wine shop— and sees a woman who closely resembles, Honor, and the rest of the book unfolds in slow motion.

I found Tom to be an extremely annoying character. While at first, this handsome, successful, nurturing man has great appeal, he loses it when he consistently makes the wrong decisions. The high drama of the beginning fell flat for me. Much of the rest was painfully slow. I was impatient for something to change. By the time, things righted themselves, I didn’t care.

Also, given the slow action of the storyline, the neat wrap up at the didn’t work for me.

This is a debut novel. The writing is beautiful. It just didn’t live up to its concept. I saw no real purpose in Honor’s narration. She had a strong personality and didn’t suffer fools. It would have been more plausible for her to have more erratic emotion when observing Tom’s new type of fathering and his pursuit of her doppelganger, Grace. Or the intercession of the mother.

I loved the idea of the book but feel it misfired. I didn’t think there was a moral dilemma. The conflict had only one way to resolve and getting there was tedious. I don’t know that I would have finished it if not for my obligation to review. I will give it 3 stars because the writing itself was a pleasure to read, the more minor characters were both colorful and believable, and the initial idea for the story a good one.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to honestly review the advanced reading copy.

such a fantastic book! I loved the way that this book was written, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this author and more of their works. I really loved the way this book took us on a journey of relationships. It had good twists and turns, it was so entertaining!!

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

I didn't know much about this book before diving in and ended up being glad I didn't read too much about it. The inciting incident completely threw me, and I contemplated not continuing the read, but I'm so glad I stuck with it. Loretta delivers a beautiful exploration of grief, fate, and resilience, At times, I struggled with the writing and character choices, but it didn't take too much away from my overall experience with the story. Based on this debut, I look forward to reading more from Loretta.

5 stars all around. I was crying by the end of the first chapter, sobbing by the end of the second. This is such a stunning debut and cannot wait for everyone to get their hands on it. What a tearjerker!

Finding Grace, by Loretta Rothschild, is a gripping debut novel that features some surprises. The story starts quickly, with an unexpected and tragic event.

Without spoiling the novel for future readers, I found the plot of this story original and complicated, not a typical love story at all. The character development is mostly adequate, though I still had some questions about Grace in the end. Also, there was one female character who I found to be comically ridiculous and strangely out of step with the others. The twisty plot and ending do have some extremely unlikely aspects, but it was a very interesting, enjoyable read that was creatively narrated.

I did enjoy this and would recommend it. It crossed my mind that it might make an intriguing movie. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.