2.5 rounded up.

There’s an enjoyable story here about familial relationships, especially among three sisters (two of whom are twins). Unfortunately, the characters are, by and large, unlikable, and there’s no real growth or change until the very end.

The youngest sister is a scientist, and some of her sections are laden with terminology that can make your eyes glaze over. And then there are the ridiculous descriptions. Twice, there is mention of her ribosomes vibrating or tingling. Really? I know she studies biology, but the reference is just absurd.

I actually found the backstory of Bertie, the mother, one of the more interesting parts of the book, although some of her present day actions seemed a bit unrealistic and forced.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was a fantastic read and there were so many relatable themes throughout. I really related to the sister that always has to snap into action for everyone else. An empowering novel about family, being a woman, and the battles many face, I loved how everything tied together in this book. I think the most relatable part is how no family is perfect but we are given the hand we were dealt and make do with it as best we can.

It’s the All-American Family. The mother, Bertie, is single working late hours and too busy to raise her daughters. The twins, Ara and Emma, are able to cope with music. They eventually start a successful band. One gets hooked on drugs; the other one is an enabler. They fight and then get along.

The younger sister, Josie, has control issues. She takes care of the older twins with finances and seems very bossy. She also studies leaf cutter ants at a PhD level (fascinating addition to the story). She’s the only one with a relationship with her best friend, Dean. They all could use a good therapist or at least a caring mom. Sadly, their dad had died when they were all very young.

The plot was well crafted on several levels. Yet, for me, however, it was dark and I just wanted to step away at times which created a slow pace. It felt like I was crawling through the 336-page book with deeply depressing issues. The only character that seemed happy was Dean. It was all about love for him. The women all had multifaceted, complicated matters in their lives.

It made me think about how children develop emotional traits of depression, anger, anxiety, independence or curiosity with the love of art and science. Was alcoholism and addiction passed down from the genes? And how did all of this relate to the ants taking care of each other? Made me think of the fire ants that bite if you get in their way.

I kept wondering how this author had the imagination of these women. It would be an interesting interview. Did he know anyone like them? I could feel the presence of each person in the story with their clothes, behavior and personality. I’ll now put his books on my list.

My thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of August 12, 2025.

Because family and opioids really aren’t so different. Both can make you feel great until suddenly they don’t. from The Frequency of Living Things by Nick Fuller Googins

I wasn’t sure about this book until suddenly I couldn’t put it down. This story of sisters who have been self-reliant with absent parents most of their lives becomes deeper and more complex the more we learn the family backstory.

Twins Ara and Emma were a one-hit wonder. Their dad left them a legacy of music, Smiley Smile by the Beach Boys a favorite album. (Yes, sad timing for the book, so soon after the death of Brian Wilson.) Emma tries to manage Ara’s addiction, but Ara lands back in jail. Their younger sister Josie has put her life on hold–again–to help her sisters.

Their mother, a disbarred lawyer and Boomer bleeding heart, is better at dedicating herself to fighting injustice than her to her daughters; she believes they can take care of themselves. Because they always did take care of themselves, their photographer dad killed covering a story and their politically active mom Bertie letting them raise themselves. Even when Ara suffered a crisis. Bertie leaves the country instead of staying to help Ara.

Josie can’t believe anyone or anything in life is reliable. “Humans always let you down,” she knows. So she dedicates herself to biological studies, particularly the leaf cutter ant. Unlike humans, the ants always put the colony first.

Ara commits to sobriety and helping others in prison. Emma is committed to developing a new album to raise money for Ara’s bail. Josie puts her relationship to Dean second to helping her sisters.

And their mother Bertie comes to a reckoning when things go wrong.

Do we put the greater good first, or take care of our own?

I ended up loving this story of family and sisters and generational conflicts and music and growth. The deeper insight I gained into the characters, the more I cared about them.

Thanks to the publisher for a free egalley.

Having read and loved this author's previouso book and debut, I was very excited to read Googins' new novel..
This new one has some mutual elements to their first novel: a group of (human) characters that can be very relatable with realistic issues and struggles, and a lot of family drama.
The sci-fi element is, in my opinion. not as strong or intriguing as their previous book, but I'd say it can work with some readers.
Unfortunately, I didn't find this book to be as nearly as fascinating as their debut novel. Most likely due to the overly dramatic tropes the author uses here. So, I can safely say it's a *me* thing. Other readers might enjoy this book much more than I did.

This heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful story follows three sisters and their activist mother as they try to navigate through lives filled with dysfunction and loss. When one of them is in danger they all try to come together but find that their patterns of behavior may be too much to overcome.

I’ve been a bit burned in the past by male authors that write from a female perspective but this was a new to me author and the description sounded right up my alley. There were a few things i disagree with that I cannot reveal without spoiling but overall this was a solid 3

THE FREQUENCY OF LIVING THINGS is an engrossing exploration of three sisters whose co-dependency is extreme. None of these sisters is high functioning and all of them suffer from a shared experience of loss. The tale moves quickly with the occasional predictable twist or turn. Our protagonists are at various stages of choosing to live as adults with personal agency. It is not an easy evolution for them and there are heartbreaks along the way. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

✨ 4 Stars — Thought‑Provoking & Emotionally Resonant

The Frequency of Living Things by Nick Fuller Googins is a quietly powerful narrative that harmonizes the rhythms of grief, connection, and healing. At its core lies Aerin, a woman displaced by tragedy who finds unexpected purpose when she joins an experimental program measuring the environmental impact of sound across a grieving Texas town.

👍 What Worked For Me

Evocative Sense of Place & Sound
Googins paints the Texas landscape—and its sonic fingerprint—with rich, sensory precision. The descriptions of cicadas at dusk, wind riffles, and distant traffic hum not only anchor the story geographically but emotionally. You hear the town’s wounds, and that sonic backdrop becomes a character of its own.

Delicate Character Arcs
Aerin’s journey from loss to tentative re-engagement with life felt authentic. Her interactions with local participants—each grappling with their own quiet heartaches—resonate. The book gives space to small moments of tenderness: a shared laugh, a whispered confession in a monitoring van, a sunrise observed together.

Science + Spiritual Undercurrents
The premise—measuring how living things "vibrate" in response to human presence—blends ecological interest with emotional metaphor. As the protagonist tweaks her recording gear, layers open: about interdependence, imperfection, and recalibration, both scientific and human.

🤔 What Kept It from 5 Stars

Pacing Lulls
Some mid‑section scenes stretch a bit long. A few extended recording set‑ups and gradually unraveling emotional beats slow the momentum. A tighter edit around those segments would’ve sharpened the overall arc.

Occasional Over‑Exposition
A touch too much telling around the scientific framework—like repeated reminders of decibels and measurement protocols—diluted narrative immediacy on a couple of occasions. A lighter touch would have kept the poetic thread intact.

🌟 Final Thoughts

For readers who appreciate meditative literary fiction—stories rooted in grief that bloom through subtle connections—The Frequency of Living Things is a warm, immersive gem. It’s not loud with drama or plot twists; rather, its power lies in the hush between heartbeats, the hum beneath our feet.

This is a book that asks: What happens to a community, to a person, when we truly listen? And though the answer unfolds in measured frequencies, the emotional resonance rings loud.

3.5 stars

The Frequency of Living Things is a generational family drama featuring a mother, Bertie, and her three daughters. Ara and Emma are identical twins and musicians who had a hit album once upon a time and are forever chasing that early success. Josie, the little sister, is the fixer and the peacekeeper, the one who carries the burden of her mother’s failures and her sisters’ struggles.

I loved some parts of this book and had a hard time with other parts. I felt like the beginning was way too slow and I came close to DNFing a few times. When the timeline switched to Bertie’s voice in the past, I was drawn in. But the present storyline just didn’t hook me. I feel like there could have been a whole historical fiction novel based on Bertie’s life and I would have loved it. The ending felt abrupt and unfinished in a sense. The writing was strong and I think a lot of readers will really enjoy this book!

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I dove into this book with high hopes, but unfortunately it fell short for me. I found it repetitive and much too wordy. I found it difficult to stay engaged through much of the scientific talk and Bertie’s early chapters.

That said, I think it’s a very interesting premise and the characters were very well developed. It has a lot of lessons to learn from and digs into some important topics like addiction and family dynamics.

Ultimately, this wasn’t the book for me, but I can certainly see why others would enjoy it. Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy.

Maybe 2 1/2 stars. The Tayloe twins, Emma and Ara, are singers and made a very successful album two decades ago. Since then, they’ve just drifted through life. Thanks for their younger sister, Josie, they have a roof over their heads. Their father died suddenly when they were young, and their mother was mostly absent. When Ara is jailed on drug-related charges, the sisters come up with a plan to raise her bail – produce another album that deals with Ara’s time in prison and use the money to pay her bail. Aside from all the scientific language and the way the mother took care of perfect strangers instead of her daughters, the story was pretty good - until the ending. Thank-you to NetGalley, Mr. Googins, and Atria Books for the ARC of this title.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest.

A trio of sisters who were once famous for their connection to the music scene are struggling to find their places in the world as sisters and individuals years after their height of fame.

Ara and Emma are twins with a music industry past when Ara, who struggles with addiction, is arrested. Emma thinks this is a perfect opportunity to resurrect their career with a record made behind bars, while youngest sister Josie fights to keep their family together with little help from their mom. This contemporary fiction read about family trauma is heartbreaking, with flawed but sympathetic characters.

The Frequency of Living Things is a layered story about three sisters—twins Ara and Emma, and their younger sister Josie—navigating fame, family, and addiction. As Ara’s struggle with drugs leads to her arrest, the sisters are thrown into emotional turmoil, forcing them to confront their codependent dynamics and long-standing family issues.

I found the sisterly bond compelling, especially between Ara and Emma, whose identities as twins and bandmates added emotional depth. Josie’s intense involvement in their lives felt a bit over the top at times, but the book overall was a thoughtful exploration of love, responsibility, and resilience. Though parts were slower and occasionally bogged down by complex language, the story had strong character development and kept me engaged. I’d give it 3.5 stars and recommend it to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction centered on complicated family dynamics. Trigger warnings for addiction and suicide apply.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In Googins's latest, three sisters spiral as they try to navigate the challenges posed by their codependent relationship. Googins is excellent at ratcheting up the tension; as a reader, I was constantly torn between "I can't look!" and "I can't look away!" The book's prose is sharp and urgent, matching the incredibly intense situations into which the women are flung by their own actions.

Three sisters; Emma, Ara, and Josie: must navigate the bonds of sisterhood, the trappings of fleeting fame, and the difficulties of addiction in this heartbreaking story of one family's journey through a dark season filled with challenges and hardships. A decade ago Emma and Ara were on top of the world with a hit record, adoring fans, and all the glamour of a rock lifestyle, but that was then. Now, they haven't made any decent music in years, they aren't even making enough money to support themselves, and one of them is battling a deadly heroine addiction. Josie, the youngest, is the glue holding everyone together while she falls apart herself. When Ara, the addict, ends up in jail, all three will have to figure out how to react, how to help each other, and ultimately how to heal.

This book is a poignant look at a family's struggles when addiction is part of the picture, but it goes much deeper than that. It's a story about choices and the ripples that they cause and the long-lasting effects they have. I can't call it a fun read because it's definitely not a lighthearted, feel-good, beach read kind of book, but I'm glad I read it all the same. The relationship between these sisters is worth the reading and I found it interesting to watch them try to balance their own wants and needs with those of the family as a whole. To be a sister is to be part of something bigger than yourself, and that is clearly show in this book. The challenge is to not lose yourself in the process.

The Frequency of Living Things by Nick Fuller Googins is a poignant exploration of sisterhood, responsibility, and the enduring impact of family bonds. The novel centers on three sisters: twins Ara and Emma, former one-hit-wonder musicians still clinging to their past fame, and their younger sister Josie, a dedicated biologist who has long been the family's anchor. When Ara is arrested, Josie and Emma are compelled to reunite and confront the complexities of their shared history.

Raised by their mother Bertie, a brilliant defense attorney more devoted to her causes than to her daughters, the sisters have navigated their lives with varying degrees of success and turmoil. Josie, having sacrificed her own aspirations to support her sisters, finds herself at a crossroads as she grapples with the weight of her family's expectations and her own desires. The narrative delves deep into the intricacies of their relationships, revealing how past traumas and unspoken tensions continue to shape their present.

Googins' storytelling is both intimate and expansive, weaving together the personal struggles of each sister with broader themes of forgiveness, resilience, and the quest for identity. The characters are richly drawn, their flaws and virtues rendered with empathy and nuance. For readers who appreciate emotionally resonant family sagas that examine the ties that bind and the paths to healing, The Frequency of Living Things offers a compelling and heartfelt journey.

One set of identical twins, Emma and Ara, and a younger sister, Josie, whose father died when they were young and whose mother didn’t provide the nurturing relationship they needed, become entangled in codependent and often harmful behaviors. The twins at one time success rock performers are now middle-aged and still living as rebellious teens depending on Josie, the intellectual sister, to provide for them financially. Through a series of tragic incidences, the sisters need to come to terms with their lives as they are.
For me, there is too much “suspension of disbelief” required to follow the plot of the novel. And the end is simply not realistic.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Frequency of Living Things by Nick Fuller Googins.

As I've mentioned before, I love a book about female relationships, and dysfunctional families, so this was slated to be a hit with me...and I did like it...but it's complicated.

The relationship immediately took me with the three sisters, but they felt almost one dimensional in their familial role, especially one of the twins, she was practically infantilized. I understand why, with the particular issues they face, but then the turn that they took, especially with her story, just didn't land. Add mom to the mix, and the whole thing got a bit too messy. It was like being served rice and beans as a side to your pasta, it just didn't fit.

I don't know if I recommend this. It's readable, and has enjoyable parts, but also, it's frustrating and didn't satisfy me. So there's your answer, good luck I guess.