As a HUGE Gossip Girl fan, I was so excited to get a copy of Cobble Hill. I’m also a big fan of reading about rich people behaving badly so this story of a wealthy Brooklyn neighborhood and the drama and relationships between its residents seemed right up my alley.

I enjoyed format of the multiple storylines and how the different relationships came together. But where was the drama?! Maybe my GG expectations skewed my read, but I kept waiting for more. There’s so much going on throughout the book and so many characters, but at the same time nothing really happens. I did think the book found a better rhythm towards the end and I can see it working well as a TV mini- series.

Thank you to @atriabooks & @simonschusterca for the gifted arc. All thoughts are my own. This book is out now at your favourite book store!

A departure from the Gossip Girl series but a great reader for her now adult fans. The entertaining cast of characters keeps you guessing as you follow along with their interactions and Brooklyn lifestyle. Had me cringing, laughing out loud and entertained the whole time.

I just finished Cobble Hill and don't really need any time to ponder my review because there really is nothing to ponder. This is really a book about nothing. It just centers around a bunch of neighbours who eventually all become linked. They are all a strange, weird mix of rag tag characters and their interactions with each other that really lead to some strange events that don't lead anywhere. I really expected one of the threads of the book to lead into something interesting happen but it just doesn't go anywhere.

I always try to impart something positive in every review I write even if I didn't particularly enjoy the book but honestly I'm not sure what to give you on this one. It missed all the marks for me but maybe you'll enjoy it.

I was so excited to receive a copy of this one as I was a huge Gossip Girl fan, however unfortunately, for me, this one just didn’t live up to my own hype. The premise was good, a life in the year of 4 New York families whose lives overlap, but the execution didn’t follow through. I felt there were too many characters points of view, and the story became so elaborate, as if the author didn’t really know where they were going with it, that I began to lose interest.
This might translate better to the screen (and I have a feeling it was perhaps written with the hope of being picked up by a network). Unfortunately this one just didn’t work for me.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3 for the purposes of the star rating system.

I was so excited when I first heard about this new book written by Cecily von Ziegesar!

As a preteen I adored her Gossip Girl series (both the books and the tv show inspired by it). I remember borrowing at least 5 books from the series at a time from the library and reading them all in quick succession while sunbathing out on my porch on hot summer days.

I loved the way von Ziegesar described the cityscape of Manhattan in her novels. She always made it sound like such a magical place, full of incredible possibilities! The first time I travelled to New York City in college my roommate and I binge watched the show while we were there, and then made sure to visit many of its filming locations during our travels. It was so much fun to be in the shadows of such memorable characters as Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen. (And yes, we definitely posed for a photo on the Met steps. 😉)

So you can bet how elated I was to hear that she had written a soon-to-be published adult novel, featuring another NYC district, this time the Brooklyn neighbourhood, Cobble Hill.

The novel, aptly titled, focuses on four families who live in Cobble Hill, whose lives cross paths in the most unexpected of ways, and whose influence on each other leads to a variety of shenanigans.

Maybe it’s just because my preteen reading habits have predisposed me to like everything von Ziegesar writes, but I really enjoyed Cobble Hill! I found the variety of characters not to excessive to be confusing, but not too narrow to be boring, and the hijinks they got into the perfect balance of relatable and ridiculous that kept me hooked until the very end.

And, as to be expected from the woman who brought us Blair and Serena, the characters in this story were the perfect mix of interesting, applicable and flawed, making them feel fresh, genuine, and compelling the entire time.

While this book wasn’t overly deep or filled with philosophical truths about the world at large, I thought it was a fun and light read that kept me engaged until the very last page. I highly recommend it to anyone looks for an easily enjoyable read!

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster Canada, and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.

The synopsis for this book had my interest piqued... a year in the life of four NY families, with secrets and a bit of scandal thrown in. While the premise sounded fun, I found this story to be top-heavy with characters that I didn’t really get the chance to know or like. And while I generally like a multi-POV style, this book often did not have clear distinction of which character’s point of view was being highlighted, causing me to reread sections frequently. This story would probably serve well as a mini-series on television, and the book felt a bit as though it was written in preparation for presentation to a producer. Not likely to recommend this one.

Well that was an interesting little ditty!

Cobble Hill is a whole bunch of overlapping stories about a whole bunch of people who live in the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Cobble Hill - imagine that! This is one of those books that is totally unnecessary but is cute, fun, and just short of being too confusing to be worth it. It's also one of those books where you hate all the characters, except maybe the kids because they're just kids being kids.

I wouldn't necessarily go and recommend this book to a friend, but I for sure would to a reader that likes strange books about people just being people!

Thank you to Atria Books, Simon and Schuster, and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, but sadly I couldn't get into it.

This book centres around a few families living in New York that are all connected through friendships, relationships, school, and general proximity and follows them through messy relationships and drama. The biggest problem with this book was that I couldn't connect to any of the characters. I felt like the adults acted like teenagers and there was no one that I was rooting for.

This just wasn't the book for me.

Cobble Hill by Cecily von Ziegesar
Publication Date: November 10, 2020
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Description from NetGalley...
“Welcome to Cobble Hill. In this eclectic Brooklyn neighborhood, private storms brew amongst four married couples and their children. There’s ex-groupie Mandy, so underwhelmed by motherhood and her current physical state that she fakes a debilitating disease to get the attention of her skateboarding, ex-boyband member husband Stuart. There’s the unconventional new school nurse, Peaches, on whom Stuart has an unrequited crush, and her disappointing husband Greg, who wears noise-cancelling headphones—everywhere.

A few blocks away, Roy, a well-known, newly transplanted British novelist, has lost the thread of his next novel and his marriage to capable, indefatigable Wendy. Around the corner, Tupper, the nervous, introverted industrial designer with a warehose full of prosthetic limbs struggles to pin down his elusive artist wife Elizabeth. She remains…elusive. Throw in two hormonal teenagers, a ten-year-old pyromaniac, a drug dealer pretending to be a doctor, and a lot of hidden cameras, and you’ve got a combustible mix of egos, desires, and secrets bubbling in brownstone Brooklyn.”
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Thank you to @NetGalley @atriabooks @simonschusterca for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
This is my first book from the author, who I just found out is the author of Gossip Girls. I have neither read the book nor watch the show. It’s not something that interests me. The description and concept of this book though interested me as I like movies such as Love Actually, Valentines Day or New Years Day; where there are overlapping stories with characters that end up being connected somehow. Unfortunately, this book did not meet my expectations. The characters were fully formed, but the stories changed from one to another quickly that their individual stories, and characters, were challenging to differentiate at times. It was quirky and there were some funny moments. But, there was something missing: maybe more substance to both the individual stories and the overarching story that brings them all together?

Enjoyed it immensely! Happy to include this new book in Novel Encounters, my monthly top ten roundup column of notable upcoming fiction titles for Zoomer magazine’s Books hub. To read the feature, click on the link.

Cobble Hill is an elite Peyton Place where lives inter twine. A writer who is blocked. A famous rock musician and his ex model wife. A music teacher who is a music star want to be with a school nurse wife who wants to be a writer. Throw in two teens and let the games begin.

This book was an...interesting experience.

First stop, characters.
Mrs. Peaches seemed to be a different person when compared to how she views herself, and how others view her (*cough* Mandy *cough*). One thing I couldn't get over was that she seems to constantly bring up her expertise as an English major, while never speaking about her medical degrees, which should probably be a more interesting talking point considering her role as a school nurse in a private school. She may view herself as a sweet and quirky individual, but through Mandy's eyes, I view her as a passive-aggressive lady who seems unable to get over her crush on Stuart, even though they are both married.
Shy Clarke was also one of the characters I felt iffy about, she may seem pitiful, but I do not see why she has anything to be worrying about. She has decent grades, has a fairly wealthy lifestyle, and has relaxed parents who do not really care what she does.
The thing about these characters that made them shine was the writing! The writing was unique, even if the characters weren't. I thoroughly enjoyed Cecily von Ziegesar's writing, and may read some more of her books after my review is through! There were also many characters with questionable point of view chapters, with no questions asked, which I found to be somewhat refreshing.

I also enjoyed how each reaction through the book seemed to be coated with a feeling of dissociation. For example, when Mrs. Peaches' husband meets Stuart (a singer in his favourite band - Blind Mice). He isn't exactly excited per se, but stands still with shock when he realizes that one of his favourite singers lives in the same neghbourhood as him. The end scene with the "bonfire" and the karaoke scene also gave me some flashbacks of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh. So, I would definitely recommend this book if you are a fan of her works! The constant mentions of medical marijuana became tiring, but I did feel that they added to my visualization of the characters and their current personalities.

I also enjoyed the amount of pop culture references sprinkled around here and there. There were mentions of The Beatles, Batlestar Galactica, The Blue Lagoon, Seinfeld. and a mention of the wedding with Price Harry and Meghan Markle.

I would definitely recommend this novel if you're fine with full stomach laughs, eyebrow-raising characters, and a whole lot of crazy!

I wanted to love this one from the first time I saw the cover, then i see the author is none other than the fabulous creator of gossip girl? Yesss sign me up!

Unfortunately the excitement in his review ends there, the book had a lot of different characters without really being able to distinguish one from the next. I liked the writing but overall had a sense of meh. I kept waiting for something to happen, anything! 2.5 stars rounded to 3

Just finished reading COBBLE HILL by Cecily Von Ziegesar. I received this ARC from Simon & Schuster via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Official publication date is November 10th, 2020.

Welcome to Cobble Hill...

Where Peaches the school nurse, is married to Greg and has a son named Liam. Liam goes to school with a girl named Shy, whom he has a huge crush on. Shy is the daughter of Roy, a well known author and Wendy a magazine editor. Roy knows Peaches from the bar where he is working on his new novel. Stuart an ex-boyband member of Peaches favourite band back in the day, is also the father of one of her school patients Ted. He is unfortunately married to his groupie wife Mandy who has MS. Mandy doesn't really have MS, she is just lazy and doesn't know what to do with her life. She steals prepared meal boxes from her neighbors and that's how she met Tupper. Tupper's wife Elizabeth is a famous artist, and Peaches works for her at the local bar where she met Roy, who knows Tupper from babysitting his pet...🤯🤯🤯

Need I say more? If you like the sound of these overlapping stories, in a town where everyone somehow knows one another you might like this one.

Highlight for me was Roy writing his new book about teenagers on Mars with a Blue Lagoon reference. Probably wouldn't recommend this one.
(⭐⭐💫/5)

I am so happy i got a chance to read Cobble Hill.
If you enjoy a quirky, unusual story chock full of wacky characters, this one is for you.
It was fun to follow along in the lives of a neighbourhood of characters who come together and become friends. I would love to live in a neighbourhood like Cobble Hill and meet such a hodge-podge group of people who come from such different backgrounds and have many foibles and interests.

If you are looking for a fun escape, this book is for you!

Gossip Girl was a big thing for me and my friends during high school We would watch the episodes and dissect them at length the next day. I must admit that I’ve never read the books though. I know, shame on me.

Nevertheless, the description about Cobble Hill really made me want to read it and boy am I glad I did.

Cobble Hill centres around five different families who all live in the New York suburb of Cobble Hill. All of them are eccentric, in a way and their lives intertwine in hilarious ways.

I especially loved the character of Roy Clarke, seeing the story unfold in a way while he is writing his novel. His thoughts of self-doubt are just as relatable as the moments he finds himself scrambling for a piece of paper, any piece of paper he could get his hands on, to jot down plot points so he wouldn’t forget them.

I think the book would make a great movie if it were to get adapted into a screenplay. To me, it has all of the plot twists and turns to make a great movie.

I would definitely recommend reading this book, curled up with a hot chocolate in front of the fireplace.

3.75⭐️s

Thank you to Netgalley, Cecily von Ziegesar, and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I LOVE misfit casts of characters! This has the feel of Love Actually in that you follow the stories of multiple characters and see the story from many perspectives! I enjoyed getting to know the inhabitants of the Cobble Hill community and they’re quite an eclectic group lol.

I enjoy stories where the characters are struggling to either figure out what they want, being in a field they won’t want to be working in, and/or are just generally unsure. I find those aspects to be relatable and I find myself more invested when they are present.

Overall I enjoyed it!

Great, easy read. The characters are a little air headed, but that's what makes a relaxing book. All the characters have their own unique lives but all live in the same neighbourhood. I found that you did not get to know the characters on a deeper level I would have liked. I also found the ending very abrupt and anti-climatic. I would definitely recommend this as a cozy read with some tea. 3.5 stars

Cobble Hill is a light read of four families in Brooklyn who respond to life in their own way. The characters interact with one other to advance a limited storyline. Cobble Hill is a soap opera in book form. #netgalley

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC! I was so excited for this new book from Cecily von Ziegesar (author of Gossip Girl, which I loved reading in the early 2000s). Sadly this book disappointed.I loved the idea of this book - following families in a prominent Brooklyn neighbourhood (almost like a Gossip Girl but for adults), but it just fell flat. Too many surface story lines, quickly changing from one to the other. This book could definitely be described as quirky and a bit all over the place. Although I did finish the book, it was a struggle.