Some great moments, but the main characters of Will and Honey felt underdeveloped at times. I liked the secondary characters but this didn't dive as deeply into characters as I had hoped. Enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

It is really hard to enjoy this book. There are a few problems. The concept of lives within a small town affecting each other by circumstance invites a lot of possibility, but the potential is neutralized by the fact that very little distinction is made between these characters. There’s the Christian beekeeper family, their daughter and her friends, the visiting reporter and his son, the lonely lady at the post office, the family that owns the inn, and another lonely lady who falls off her ladder. It is easy to lose track of how they are related, whose child is whose, who knows each other and who doesn’t. They’re all monochromatic, hemmed in, and no one has anything of interest to say to another.

Kuebler’s style of close-third narration, with short paragraphs allowing characters to wander in their thoughts to which the reader is privy, only serves to blur them together further. Their voices are not distinct. Every thought is stray and timid, a toe in the water. People spend a lot of time wondering, processing their impressions of each other, and not doing. Everyone’s train of thought seems to run similarly, idleness with some resentment mixed in, and their vocabularies (both the kids’ and the adults’, the locals’ and the outsiders’) are identical.

The book is set against the worldwide crisis of colony collapse disorder, and what little action that occurs in the book seems to be intended to tie to some larger metaphor about the social dynamic of bees and their ability to create something larger than their parts. The narrative, however, does not rise to the occasion.

This was pretty heartbreaking, but in kind of a good way? Quick read, had some un-put-down-ability. There’s believable tension and some interesting bee information.

I was intrigued by the premise of the books, however it just wasn't for me.

The constant switch between perspectives was abrupt and confusing. I was never able to settle into the story as I was always trying to figure out whose perspective I was reading.

The writing is lovely, but the plot and character development slogged along too much for me to enjoy this read.

First of all, both the cover and title are AMAZING. I went to the post office earlier and chuckled. :-) Second, thanks to NetGalley and Melville House (long one of my favorite publishers; I used to go to their store in Brooklyn) for this ARC!

This was a wonderful debut. I loved the poetic style of this novel--single lines, dialogue used wonderfully without quotes--and some of the analogies being made between bees and churchgoers, without a heavy hand, as both of them congregate, the wistfulness that characterizes small towns like who leaves, who goes, who boomerangs back. The book also manages a large cast of characters in a smart and efficacious way, not an easy feat! Finally, there's some delightful humor that casts light and dark: when one character sets a table with lit candles--a kind of ritual for her--another asks what the occasion is and she replies, "darkness. Darkness is the occasion."

I think that this novel would have been more successful for me if it had narrowed down the characters and created deeper, more focused stories within the novel.

I am vetting books for inclusion in a summer reading list. This book didn’t suit that purpose. I found the shifting POVs and the lack of quotation marks confusing, but i also understand that this is a style choice. The characters were well-developed and it is this aspect of the work that may lead me to return to it at a later date. I did not finish the book, so my star review only reflects my initial impression. Thank you for granting my request for the egalley.

Absolutely perfectly encapsulates small town Vermont. I say that as someone who lived in Vermont for many years. It resonates it all--the beauty, the ugliness, the people, the land, the climate, daily life etc. I thought it was genius.
I did have to get used to the writing style. You have to work for it a little at the beginning and weave it together yourself. I ended up liking the style quite a bit, but it may not be for everyone. The layout lets you almost read it as poetry, though not abstract at all. If you've lived in Vermont, yearn for Vermont, want to escape Vermont, this book is for you. Oh, and the storyline? Some of it expected, some of it very unexpected. You'll see.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It was like spending a year back in Vermont.

The ARC is unreadable on Kindle. This is happening too frequently now and while I’m willing to deal with some formatting issues, I shouldn’t have to spend more time figuring out what it says than reading the story.

I tried to love this book. I kept putting it aside and coming back to it… thinking there was some reason I just couldn’t get into it. Ultimately after my third attempt, I decided to add it to my DNF pile. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this uncorrected proof. It just didn’t resonate with me in any way.

My thanks to NetGalley and Melville House for the opportunity to read this ARC of Carolyn Keebler’s Liquid, Fragile, Perishable.

This novel is probably going to show up on awards short lists and best of lists for 2024. Written in free indirect discourse, Kuebler immerses the reader in the small Vermont town of Glenville Vermont, and the lives of its inhabitants. Evoking Virginia Woolf’s ability in To the Lighthouse to move the reader through the interiority of a host of characters, Kuebler’s novel imagines the human ecology of the space, a human hive composed of work, mating, dying, coming and going, parents and offspring, delight and tragedy, fear and hope. There is no protagonist here, but Kuebler crafts a virtuosic glimpse into one slice of lives lived in America now, complete with extreme socioeconomic disparities, street drugs made, sold, and abused, families living together and all on separate paths, climate concerns, and more. I will read this novel again, and I will likely teach it. It’s golden and gorgeous and rich as the honey sold by one of the farming families in its narrative. Liquid, Fragile, Perishable will be one to watch for in Spring 2024!

The writing was strong enough to carry anyone who appreciates great writing through the end of the book. The multiple POVs could prove challenging for some readers but as someone who reads for language and vibes, this was a nice discovery.

A beautifully written novel about a community somehow isolated in Vermont, New England. We observe a life of various people, their daily lives, hopes and dreams throughout the year. And it would be perfect if not for the fact that with so many characters, so many different voices the writing seems to be chaotic. Too many characters make it hard to keep up with the story. Jumping from one character to another without clear marking makes the reader feel lost. The most interesting characters Nell and Joanie are somewhat underappreciated, I mean I would love to see this book focusing more on these two women, they´re so fascinating. Whereas the main story is supposed to be about teenagers, about whom I couldn't care less.
I think this book has the potential to become a hit, but it does need some changes and editing.
Anyway, Carolyn Kuebler is a name worth remembering, because she has a talent and a way with words that grabs your heart. Looking forward to her next book.

Thanks to Melville House and NetGalley for the chance to read and review Carolyn Kuebler's 'Liquid, Fragile, Perishable.'

A turbulent year in the life of a small Vermont town and it's natives and blow-ins told through the viewpoint of many characters. The transplanted New Yorkers, the local 'hillbilly' extended family, the post mistress, the grief stricken loner and her new male friend, the Hallmark-like inn owning family with their own problems, the evangelist bee farming family, and the teenaged children around which the core of the story is built.

That roll call of characters is an early issue in this one. All of these characters are introduced in quick succession at the beginning of the book and it was a struggle to keep them lined up and retain the flow of the story. The narrative point-of-view changes frequently and it took a while to get into the rhythm but once that happened it became a more fulfilling read.

There's a lot of trauma and grief laced throughout this beautifully written novel - death, loss, abuse, alcoholism, physical injury, tragedy - but there's also a lot of redemptive balance - hope, friendship, sobriety, trust, love.

I enjoyed it but can see the number of key characters and structure turning some readers off.

Thank you to Net Galley for the advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed this book. Beautifully written, somewhat atmospheric. Was sometimes hard to follow the changing narrators, but I think that is due to be the galley copy. I would also suggest heading each chapter with dates - once again that might be in the published book. Overall highly recommend. And the cover art is perfect.

I have read a few books that do multiple points of view as uniquely and well as this book.

These are the trigger warnings that I have identified: death of a family member, alcohol and drug abuse, depression. There are other trigger warnings, but mentioning them would spoil some key plot point. I'd like to ask everyone to please do check the TWs before reading.

The book follows a series of characters in a small village in New England over a year. Each chapter is written from the point of view of several of these characters, whose everyday life dreams, problems, desires, intersect in different ways. At the center of the plot is the love story between two teenagers, and how its effect ripple way beyond their own lives. I really cannot say anything else without spoiling the story, but believe me: within the first ten pages, I was completely hooked!

There are about ten different points of view in this book, and I found them quite genuine and interesting to approach. The NY family moving to the deep countryside, youth looking for a job, people who wish to leave the small village and chase a grand future, young lovers…this book really had a series of viewpoints that I haven’t seen often in the same book.

Something that I didn’t think was needed in the book was the climate change talk. This is what makes it a 4.5 stars reading from me instead than a 5 starts one. I think the book would have been as realistic and raw and poignant without discussions of climate change and water access. I understand they were functional to a plot point, but I am sure the same point could have been made without it.

Apart from this, this was by far one of the best written and plotted books that I have read this year. It is not an happy or a simple book to approach, but I would warmly recommend anyone who feels in the right mind space for a complex and dramatic story of interlocking experiences to pick up this book as soon as it is published. And then write to me, so we can rave about it together!

Like others have said, there are too many people and things going on in this book. The perspective changes are abrupt and it's hard to make the switches until I finally had them all straight in my head and how who was related to whom. But once I did, I really enjoyed the story. Others lamented not getting to know Will or Honey more but I thought that worked. It was less about them and more about the effect their story had on the members of this small town.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Vividly narrated by multiple people, Liquid, Fragile, Perishable ties a small town together . Perspectives change with the seasons, children grow up. This is a well done portrait of small town anywhere.

I was hooked from the cover and description, it worked with everything that I was hoping for. The characters were interesting and I enjoyed how well everything worked together. Carolyn Kuebler does a great job in writing this type of book and characters. Everything was realistic and I enjoyed what I read.

I was drawn to Liquid, Fragile, Perishable because the cover is beautiful and the title is intriguing. It story of a small Vermont town and the interconnectedness of the families living there. Starting with a family who moved from New York City. Their teenage son, Will, is attracted to the local Bee Farmer's daughter, Honey. Will's parents and Honey's parents have drastically different world views, forcing the teens to keep their relationship a secret. But, in a small town, secrets don't stay secret for long and the story turns tragic for everyone in the community. Kuebler beautifully demonstrates communities connect through joy and tragedy.