A well-written moving story about navigating grief and loss and how that is complicated when the loss comes suddenly and when the relationship was fractured. Explores how little actions and poor phrasing can scar children deeply and have such a huge impact on the way they behave.

A beautiful and melancholy story that explores the relationship between mother and son after experiencing a life changing event that shakes up their world.

Although I enjoyed this book, I found some of the characters hard to connect with and the story slow in places. Some serious themes that emerged throughout which were handled sensitively however a few didn't feel tied up at the end and I was left not feeling quite satisfied.

I do not believe that I was in the right head space in order to read this story. It was a heavier read of a mother's love and the impact of family secrets.

This was a touching story of navigating grief and transitions and I enjoyed it. I felt like it dragged a bit in certain areas, but overall was a good read.

This story focuses on Lane and her six year old son, Henry. Lane is an advice columnist for a newspaper and is in the process of separating from her alcoholic husband when he dies in a car accident. No one knows Lane was having marital trouble so she keeps it a secret to spare Henry so he will be unaware of what was really happening with his parents. So much of Lane’s life is a mess - from her job worries, to her finances, and her relationship with her parents. Lane’s childhood was always in upheaval due to the many moves her family made. She remembers back to these moves when she has to move to a different city with Henry. I liked the idea of the story but I just didn’t connect with any of the characters. There were many quirky characters and I still had trouble really understanding them by the end of the book. Although I liked this book it didn’t completely work for me. Having said that, I will be interested in reading more from this author.

This story of a mom and her son as they navigate grief was emotional and heartfelt. It was an ok read but it left me feeling very frustrated throughout the book. I’m glad I finished it, as I got answers to my many questions towards the end of the book, but I thought about putting it down many times. This covers a wide range of family issues and in my opinion, the author took on too many. Overall a fine read but it didn’t leave me feeling satisfied.

A beautiful story, this explores the relationship between a mother and son following a tragedy. I would like to thank the publisher for letting me read this book.

Advice columnist Lane should have all the answers. But instead, her life is falling apart. Her husband, who she was planning on leaving, has died in a freak accident. Her son is no longer willing to speak to anyone but Lane. And she's potentially made everything worse by moving away to try and deal with it all. Now, Lane must try and build a new and better life. Will Lane be able to move on from her past and make a future with son Henry?

At its heart, this is a book about a woman trying to move on with her life after an unimaginable sadness changes everything. Lane's grief for her husband and the life they could have had is palpable, but also complex, due to the unstable nature of their relationship. Add in her son's sudden refusal to speak, and she's having a tough time of it. And yes, her struggles are heartbreaking and poignant and sad. But for me, I just couldn't really feel them. I don't know what it was, but I just couldn't really connect with Lane and I struggled to feel for her. Henry on the other hand was a complete delight, and I loved that the author took the brave approach of writing form his POV too, something which some authors avoid due to the challenges of writing from the perspective of a child.

All in all, this is a good enough book, that I imagine for some people would be incredibly moving. But for me, I just wasn't a fan of Lane and her family, and if it wasn't for the chapters from the perspective of Henry, I would likely have added this one to the DNF pile. For me, I felt like I never really connected with Lane, and even after reading a fairly long book about her I still struggle to feel like I know her as a character. Yes, the ending was nice, and it was good to see Lane develop and grow as a character, but this one just wasn't my cup of tea.

Disclaimer - I was provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

Well, in a hundred guesses I would not have guessed why Henry stopped talking to everyone but his mother. Henry and his mom, Lane, move two times and although nothing really exciting happens, it is a book filled with interesting characters. The perspective of both mother and son are shown as the story progresses.

A sweet, melancholy, gently told story of a strong mother-son bond, as they navigate and find their way following a tragedy. I especially loved the conversations that the mother and son had, their honesty and quirkiness. Thank you NetGalley, publisher and author for the e-reader copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Rules for Moving by Nancy Star.

Lane has a cool job, she writes for an advise column called Dear Roxy, and she's good at it. So, you would never know that in real life, her life is not going well.

Having just lost her cheating husband to a car accident, Lane tries to run from her problems the way her family always has, by moving. Growing up, Lane and her family moved a lot, and because of that, Lane's son Henry has memorized his grandparents long list of "rules for moving."

But Henry is another issue. After experiencing a trauma, Henry has stopped speaking, and only communicates with his mother. Lane is at a complete loss as to what to do, and her prickly personality makes it hard for her to endear herself to members of her community. But when Lane meets another "pariah" of the community, maybe she can finally learn to love and trust again.

I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this book. I don't want to write off a book just because the characters are unlikable, but man, I struggled to like these characters. So much of their behavior was off putting, but off putting people deserve grace and a happy ending too? It was also a bit disjointed and inconsistent, I was never quite sure what direction it was trying to go. But it was still readable, and there was still plenty I did enjoy about it.

This one was so so good. I loved seeing this one play out. How Lane was with Henry and how she always stood by him and made sure to show that his differences were what made him amazing. I was rooting for Lane and Henry the entire time. This was such a sad, moving, amazing, whatever other good adjective you can think of story

Lane Meckler’s life changes one night when her husband dies unexpectedly, and she is left to adapt to life with her son Henry, and a challenging job situation. At work she responds to an advice column under the name Roxie, and is struggling to change with the work direction she receives.

Rules for Moving shares the challenges of transitions and doesn’t shy away from tough topics like dysfunctional families, alcoholism, death, and starting over.

It was a fairly easy read but I found the secondary characters were typically more one dimensional - either strangely uncaring or more so than you would expect.

The way Layne fights for her son as they transition, and how a sudden change can lead to even more are key elements in their journey.

I loved this novel. Not usually in my realm of interest, but the characters were interesting and well thought out. Highly recommended.

I loved this book. This is the perfect escape for summer reading. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own. This is a moving story of starting over, finding your courage within and taking charge of your life amid grief.

We are introduced to Lane who has intense grief over her husband's death in a accident. He died with a strange women in the car. Lane is distraught as they had been in the process of divorcing. She takes her son and leaves their home as her son has stopped talking and they both need to recover.

Lane takes her son to New Jersey to a house that is a disaster and needs to much work for her to cope with. The landlord offers her another house on Martha's Vineyard for the summer while he finishes her house. She and her son soon find they begin to heal and life starts anew on the beautiful coast as they find comfort in the sea and their surroundings.

This was such a lovely book that is a good example of healing, starting over and finding how to start over after grief. I loved this book and thank the publisher for the opportunity. Review cross posted on publication date.

First and for most let me say that the only reason this book gets three stars from me is because I actually finished it. I did not enjoy this book at all. It started out with a lot of promise but then fell flat. I was bored with it but determined to finish it. I hate to start a book and not finish it. It happens but I do hate it.

Lane/Roxie is a wife, mother, daughter and advice columnist. I didn’t like her very much. She did have some good qualities about her, but overall she was just not that likable to me. She was a great mom and a great wife. She was even a very good daughter considering she had the worse parents ever in my opinion. The only time I liked them during this whole story was at the end when they finally treated her and her son, Henry, like they matter. Her dad was very condescending and her mother was just so fragile and meek it was kind of sickening. Sorry but that is how they came across to me.

I loved Henry and Nathan. Henry is Lane’s son. Nathan is their landlord and great friend.
Henry had stopped speaking and it is thought that that is because of his dad’s death. It could be some other reason but let’s say it’s the death of his dad. He dad was a loser and a drunk. He was not good to Lane at all as a husband but it seems he was a good dad to Henry. So Henry was very distraught over losing his dad.

This is not a book that kept me interested yet I did read it as fast as possible. I wanted to get it under my belt and start something else. That is brutal I know but honest. I actually found myself skimming over parts of this story because it became kind of monotonous. It seemed to drag on and on for me. I liked the advice parts. I think Rokie/Lane gave great advice for the most part. She just needed to maybe give herself and her parents some much needed advise. I liked her sister also by the way. She was up front and honest in how she felt about things. That was a good thing.

So not a lot of likable characters, not a likable plot, no great descriptions so I didn’t feel much for the area where this took place. It was just a story that gave me absolutely no emotion. That was not good. I need a book to make me feel what the characters are feeling. This one did not.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #LakeUnion, #NanceStar for this ARC. This is my own honest review.

I gave it 3 stars and like I already said thee because I actually finished it. I can’t in good faith recommend this one. It let me down big time. Other’s may love it. I did not.

Lane Meckler is an advice columnist for Ask Roxie, with a six year old son, Henry.
As she is planning on leaving her husband, he dies in a car accident. Henry stops speaking to everyone except her.
Lane needs a new place to live and wants something different in her life so she decides to move. She finds a rental in New Jersey, but it always seems like something is breaking or needing repair.
Her landlord Nathan feels bad that things keep going wrong, so he offers a place to stay on his property in Martha's Vineyard for the summer.
She and Henry grow close to Nathan, as they work through their grief. And Lane struggles to come to terms with her estranged family ties.
This was a heartwarming story about relationships, loss and communication.
An enjoyable read with likeable characters.
The only part that didn't work well for me was the actual advice column, it didn't add to the story and seemed to slow it down.
I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you Lake Union Publishing for the e=ARC via NetGalley.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

This book took me 7 days to finished lol Kinda boring at first because it was pretty slow then it got more interesting.

Lane work as an advice columnist. She advise people on their life while she loses control over her life. Her husband died and her son, Henry stop speaking to everyone except her.

My favorite character is Henry goshh he is sooooo adorable and I'm glad the author show his point of view. It's interesting to read from kids pov.

I can't connect to Lane. I don't understand her at all. I don't understand her relationship with her parents and sister. They are so weird lol

Thank you Netgalley for Rules for Moving ARC!

🌟🌟🌟.5

Rules for Moving is a family drama with a twist of romance. The protagonist is an advice columnist whose personal life is in shambles. Her cheating husband has recently died. Her young son is traumatized. She has a lot of family baggage from her childhood. I enjoyed the story overall, but I was disappointed with the ending as it relates to the resolution of the family drama and the reveal of what caused all of her problems with her parents. After a good amount of building tension, the reveal was a bit of a let-down. I also didn't particularly care for the chapters that were told from her young son's perspective...it felt too heavily inspired by "Room".

This was a fun read, but not one I absolutely loved.

What a wonderful story of a young boy and his mother coping with his dad's death. Henry is a loving son to his mother Lane and seems mature beyond his years. After a visit to his grandparents in Florida he stops talking to everyone except his mom. Lane is an advise columnist and is trying to figure out how to cope. She moves from their apartment in the city and as somethings improve, there are even more problems. A story of love and devotion. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.