I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Guest Book, a multi-generational family saga that takes you into the lives of the Miltons – an elite banking family who appear to have everything but are greatly flawed and filled with prejudice and a belief of their superiority. In present day, we meet Evie, one of a group of cousins faced with the demise of their family wealth and the uncertain fate of the family island in Maine. As a historian, Evie is striving to better understand her mother and her family. The revealing of family secrets, which were not surprising, were well handled. Oftentimes in a book that moves from different time periods, I tend to favor one period but in this sweeping novel, I was totally invested in each character, even those who were repugnant. Sarah Blake is an excellent writer – some of the prose I read several times as the wording was so expressive. Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I definitely appreciate the history of America, good and bad. While this was a bit long and slow at times, I did feel for the characters. I liked that it based the story on 3 generations of family members as well. This book kept me moving along, even during the slow parts.

This truly remarkable book creates a family saga that does not shy away from the complicated morality of a family’s history. It also shows the reasoning by mostly moral people that leads this country again and again to label different groups as “other”, “forever extending a hand in welcome but never including”.

While this book was very interesting it kept me confused a bit. I love books that jump around in time but this one had no warnings, such as titles for the chapters so you knew where you was and who was giving the input at the time. I would have been such a better book if I would have known at the beginning of each chapter. I had to read quite a bit before realizing that it was again another time period and another character.

I will say they are good characters. A very interesting story and had the promise of a wonderful book but it kept me trying to hard to keep up with who was who and what was going on when. I never have that problem. It had some very sad, happy, loving, then sad again parts. In my opinion it had the potential for a wonderful book and if the chapters had of given a bit of a warning as to where you would be next I would have truly loved it. I don’t like spending much reading time trying to figure out what period of time I’m in and who is who at said time.

Good story after you figure things out but not enough for me. I’m terribly sorry. I just don’t like books that do this to me. I love to be taken away in a book not spending all my time trying to figure out what is going on when it should be obvious.

Thank you to NetGally and Flatiron books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First I would like to thank Flatiron Pub, the author and Net Galley for the ARC of this book.
Where to start? This is a sweeping, multigenerational saga telling many stories at the same time. I found it to be so loosely woven that at times, I had difficulty connecting them. The overlong sentences also drove me to distraction. Behind the novel are the themes of white privilege, class and racial inequality and last of all white guilt. Set during the war the characters include the multigenerational WASP family with questionable investments, a Jewish man who is hired into the family business, and of course his black musician friend.
There’s a lot of heavy topics covered. So many that none of them were fairly presented. I enjoyed the perspective of many of the issues but it all wrapped up a bit too quickly and neatly for me. I was disappointed because I wanted to love it so much more.
3.5*

A multi-generational saga that attempts to explain WASP control of American life in the 20th Century, THE GUEST BOOK just misses greatness. Author Sarah Blake hopes to tell readers something essential about the the 20th Century American Dream, its winners and losers, and even about the WASP belief in their own manifest destiny. She describes a monied and privileged life so deftly created that its rules cannot be described to those outside its borders. At least not in any way that would make sense. Her problems aren’t with the world-building or her writing, Blake excels in both, and the book delights in both areas. But she struggles to differentiate her characters across the generations, and because their names and behaviors are so similar, they become blurry. Some of the side stories are fascinating; yet not fully explored. A major character is a historian who has failed to ask any reasonable questions about her own family of origin. It doesn’t seem ironic, it rings false for the character. This is a book that is almost great but very good. It is frustrating at times for what is missing and what the author is capable of. I wanted more. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC. I love multigenerational sagas, as well as stories where sense of place is a character, but this one fell short for me. Definitely could of benefited from some editing. There was too much descriptions and discussion of less than minor characters that had nothing to do with the story. This was an interesting family with compelling characters but the excess just got in the way and broke up the rhythm. I skimmed and just wanted to get to the end so I could move on. Potential but not executed well.

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron books for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book. I was truly excited to read this it sounded so good. This is a multi-generational book that spans many decades. which is completely my jam. However the format of the book I found very confusing. It kept going back between three different stories within this family, and I could not keep up. This is a book you need to have a couple of hours to dig into so you can really understand the this family. I kept having to stop and when I picked it back up I could never figure out where I was. I am sure in another light when I could spend the hours to devote I might have a different reaction, but just don't have the personal time to do that.

I read this as background reading for various promo/ad activity we are running on BookBrowse, as booked by Nancy Trypuc, Personally, I enjoyed it -- and you can see our member-reviewer's comments at https://www.bookbrowse.com/arc/arc_reviews/ They rated it it 4.4 stars

This goes down as a Did Not Finish (DNF) for me. I slogged my way through 20%, being frustrated at the constant bouncing around in time and location and character sets. The technique of starting in medias res for every episode and then dropping details in along the way became old very quickly. This one is absolutely NOT for me.

4 Exquisite Stars!

Thoughts-provoking, powerful, and elegant.

“The Guest Book” is a family saga spread over three generations of the Milton family written in an exquisite style. I was truly captivated by the extraordinary writing style of Sarah Blake and I could not get enough of the beautiful descriptions and well-developed characters.

To fully enjoy this book I had to read it slowly and with my full attention on it. I tried to savor each sentence and immerse myself in the stunning landscape of the Island. This is not an easy and quick read, but it is so worth the time and patience it requires.

Thank you NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and the author, Sarah Blake, for giving me an opportunity to read this beautiful book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Sarah Blake writes beautiful prose. But this one was slow for me. It took a long time to ramp up and I kept losing track of who was who at the start. The book dances around some really complex topics like racism and anti-semitism but it never really follows through. The setting is beautiful and the writing is lovely, but even the climax felt anti-climactic for me.

Sarah Blake's "The Guest Book" tells the story of the Milton family through three generations. From the description, I thought I would love this book. Perhaps I only created high expectations for myself, but after completely it I felt I could only give it three stars. It was not a horrible read by any means, but it lacked depth. It seemed we barely scratched the surface of these characters' lives. This resulted in the ending feeling unsatisfying.

For much of the book I wondered, "Where's the Guest Book?" It was very late in the book before it was mentioned, but, in hindsight, it was the perfect time.
The guest book was THE link to a tragic night that happened sixty years prior.
The narration shuffles between a going-into-WWII generation and the today of their children. The older generation purchased an island off the coast of Maine that one person in particular wants to keep in her family despite dwindling funds and interest in keeping the land within the family.
I had a slight problem keeping Evelyn and Evie separate in my mind, but other than that, it was an easy read. In addition to the family saga, different members confront isolationism, prejudices and bias (Jewish and skin color) and changes in sexual morés.
In addition to being a fast read, this book make me think about the changes in our society over the past seventy-five years.

I was disappointed in The Guest Book. Although Blake is a wonderful writer she takes much too long to let the story unfold. Although the second half of the book picks up a bit, the book will not be on my list of favorites.

You will love (in a weird/unique way) all three generations of the Milton family and will be rooting for them to come out on top. Their secrets are relatable and you will be mesmerized through the end.

I have such mixed feelings about this book so I think I'm going to need to break it down in pieces to sort through my emotions.

1. The Writing. A freaking plus! 5 stars! Sarah Blake is an extraordinary talent when it comes to her writing style. Her work kind of reminds me of the great classics in that it's so elegantly executed with sweeping, graceful prose. She truly captured the scenery and the essence of the island and made me feel like I was right there in the book with all of the characters.

2. The Content. 3 to 4 stars. The overall message of race and equality was executed well for the most part and this is the portion I would give 4 stars. I understood the point she was trying to make and the content she was trying to drive home. But while the message was there, there were times it got a tad lost in all of the minutiae along the way. Now for the 3 star piece of the content.... the relationships and timeline. The book covers several generations of characters and stories (which is superb) but there were times where I needed to mentally reset and remember which timeline I was in with which characters. And the relationships of the characters to each other sometimes became a tad muddled and confusing. Frankly, I needed a family tree to reference at times to keep myself straight.

3. The Length. 2 stars. Listen... I'm all for long novels. When the length is warranted. This book probably could have benefited from editing down 50 - 100 pages of content. While Blake's writing is beautiful, there were portions of the book where descriptions of characters or scenery or feelings were so long and drawn out it felt bogged down.

4. The Characters. 5 stars. While there were a lot of them, the characters were very well developed. In fact, some of the secondary characters were so good that they felt like primary characters and their stories really shone through. I could tell Blake put a lot of thought into developing distinct personalities and traits of each character.

Overall, this is not a quick and easy book to read. It takes a lot of focus, attention, and patience. It is definitely not a book that you can put down and pick up repeatedly. I found myself needing to dedicate large chunks of time to read it so that my brain could focus and absorb the information presented. It is extremely dense but it has an important message.

I don't think this book will be for everybody and judging by the reviews so far on Goodreads you're probably in one of two camps: those who appreciate Blake's writing and message and those who couldn't finish the first 100 pages. But if you can see it for more than just entertainment and as an exercise in thoughtful reflection, you will likely find it rather superb.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Blake, and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to review.-

This is an unputdownable novel of family secrets and what happens when they're revealed. I loved the time period and the characters & couldn't get to the end fast enough!

The Guest Book is an ambitious historical novel that stretches across three generations of the Milton family. It's the kind of book that makes me wish I had a book club to read it with. Layered and lyrical, there is so much to think about. I was completely swept up, and then satisfied at the end to find Sarah Blake had so thoughtfully (and successfully) brought it all together. Engrossing, haunting, and heart-breaking--but not in a depressing way--this one left me tearful but content. At the end of the year, I think I'll look back and remember this as one of my favorites!

This is a good, saga spanning three generations of a family. It is a poignant love story full of description and fully flushed characters, but it was maybe a little too full for me. I really live long spanning sagas and think I really just read this at the wrong time and I am sure many others will be swept up in the tale.