An amazing story of resiliency and how people can become family if we let them. Following Rachel and Job’s relationship during the worst situation of Covid is both heartbreaking and engaging. I love the interactions with all the quirky characters. It made me laugh out loud and choke back tears. I am definitely getting the physical copy!!!

Loved this book as I could very much relate to Rachel. I am an introvert as well and have not been out in situations like this. It's scary to me to even think of it. But, it does make me think maybe I need people more than I realize? Maybe one day, I will? Not everyone is bad.
This makes you realize that humans need each other.

A lot of people live in this house is a story of humans supporting each other told in the most delightful way possible. The found family vibes in this book made me think about my own experiences in communal living and brought back wonderful memories

*potential trigger warning for mentions of the pandemic .

This will be a book I come back to over the years. Still processing a bit, but the relationships between the characters, the development of trust, the growth exhibited both personally and relationally is just something special. This was a beautiful blend of heartfelt prose and hilarity, a striking balance that gives readers an opportunity to find pieces of this story that mirror their own experiences. Is it weird to read a story set in a heartbreaking, challenging, terrifying time of recent present? Absolutely - especially since that time is still not truly over. But I think this will be a story that stands the test of time without receding into irrelevance because of it's time period.

This book is so lovely and unexpected. I've never known anyone that lived in a community like the one described so beautifully in this novel. I love the writing and really enjoyed all of the characters. As someone married to a health care worker, I really appreciate the real and honest depiction of the early days of the pandemic. While we would all like to forget it, I think stories like this are important. I can't wait to read more from Bailey.

This book does so many things well. There is a very large cast of characters, but all of them are individual, rounded, and have a role in the story. Rachel's anxiety is handled so carefully. At first, we just accept it as part of her without digging for details, but the sources of her distress do come out at the right times to enrich the story. The use of apps and technology is spot on, and I've seen so many novels that can't get that right. Thinking back, I have clear images of most of the rooms in the house, even though the there wasn't much obvious description. We saw the rooms as Rachel experienced them. And this is the first book I've read that really captures those early months of the COVID pandemic. I was checking news articles and government sites daily to see if choir practice was still on or whether I should cancel Scout meetings, then boom!, a shelter in place order at noon, pack your office and don't come back. Taking safety measures even though not enough was known about the virus, limiting trips to the grocery, all of that came back while reading this.

I absolutely loved this book. It started a little slow for me, but the last few chapters had me crying every couple of sentences, and the story is one I will not forget soon.

This is the story of Rachel and Job, two people who found themselves shortly after they'd been orphaned, and found solace in each other, making it easy for both to fall completely in love. A few years later they get pregnant, only to discover their baby girl will not make it to her due date alive. This is enough to devastate both of them, but Job even more. This triggers in Rachel a desire to travel the world to show Job that life is still worth living. After a year abroad, they decider to move back to the US, and they find a communal home in Boston that they think will fit their temporary needs, while Job finished up his mediation course in India. Bear in mind this is February 2020, just before the global pandemic hit. I won't spoil much more, but this the story about found family that has impacted me profoundly, in a way no other found family stories ever had. The way Rachel's anxiety takes over her, and the importance of allowing yourself to be loved and to be vulnerable is something the author tackled incredibly well.

I will be reading any book by Bailey Merlin from now on.