Cobble Hill, by Cecily von Ziegesar, provides a glimpse into the lives of four families living in the elusive Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Each family has their own issues going on, but their lives become intrinsically linked over the course of the year, in more ways than one.

I'm a huge fan of the Gossip Girl books, so I think I went into this with different expectations. I enjoyed getting to know the characters, but there were quite a few plots to follow, especially at the beginning. I found it to have a bit of a slow start, but the story picks up a little more as you continue reading.

I also like how linked all the plots are to eachother in one way or another. It was fun to uncover these links as the story progressed.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am not sure what I read but it was a hot mess. I kept thinking it would get better but it didn’t. I had high expectations, considering my Gossip Girl obsession but this was not comparable at all. As you can see, it took me months to finish and all I can think is “What????”

I’m SO sad because I really wanted to love it. 💔

A British author, a fading rock star, a retired model, a school nurse, a magazine editor, an inventor, a famous artist, a couple of teenagers and a pyromaniac school child - these are the inhabitants of Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. The characters are so engaging you feel they are your neighbors right down the street. The ups and downs of life fueled by the good doctor and his supply of pot keep you entertained from start to finish. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read. #Cobble Hill#NetGalley#IndigoEmployee

3.5/ 5 stars


I was a big Gossip Girl tv show fan. So I was excited to read a book by the author who created that world.

Cobble Hill is divided into five parts. The book focuses on four families who live in a Brooklyn neighborhood.

There is Mandy, her husband Stuart (was in a popular band) and their young son Teddy. There is Peaches (the school nurse), her husband Greg, and their son Liam. There is Roy (a famous writer), his wife Wendy, and their daughter Shy. Then there is Tupper (inventor) and his wife Elizabeth (artist).

We get 3rd person POVs of most of these characters.

I'm not exactly sure what genre to call this book. It is sort of a cross between Women's Fiction and General Fiction. There are quite a few male POVs, so because of that it felt less like Women's Fiction.

There were definitely a lot of interesting characters in this book. Roy Clarke had written a bunch of best selling books. But he was struggling to write something new. His writing process, and the story that he was working on were really bizarre.

Stuart was a famous musician. Many of the neighbors in Cobble Hill were big fans. His wife Mandy just wanted to stay home and do nothing. Her story-line ended up being quite crazy. The stuff with the food on the porches was my favorite part of her story.

There was the new school nurse Peaches. She was Liam's mother. I thought that the lice story-line was funny. And I enjoyed seeing her job.

Elizabeth and Tupper were definitely the strangest neighbors. Her art was so weird. I can't even describe how creepy she was.

There were so many intriguing things going on in this neighborhood. So many of the characters had really interesting stories. However, while reading this book I was not really sure what the book was actually about. There was very little romance. There was no mystery. It was basically just looking at the lives of these four families over a one year time period. And I'm not sure that was enough for me.

I enjoyed the book while I was reading it. I just wanted a bit more.

Sometimes you need a fun, light book about a variety of folks whose lives intertwine in weird ways. This is that book. It makes me wish I lived in a community where you seem to know everyone and you can regularly interact with them in fun and surprising ways.

Entertaining characters, crazy hi-jinks. A good book for lazing away a summer day

The world needs more Cobble Hill

I enjoyed this story but it wasn't what I expected going in. It seemed like an excerpt from a larger story, a novela to a larger series feel. It was a rather flat story and maybe this genre just isn't for me. The writing was good but the characters had no consequences for there actions. It was jumbled and sort of just ended.


Thank you netgalley for my ARC

I adored this book so much! Ziegesar does a fantastic job of illustrating the community and their connections, while allowing each character to be flawed, imperfect, with a distinct voice.

One of my favourite characters was Stuart, the ex-band member - I found it fascinating to get a glimpse of 'life after fame' and what a 'normal' life would look like. He is so well written that I 1, googled him, and 2, tried to find his band on Spotify.

Another character that I loved was Mandy - and I loved her because I both understood and didn't understand her. I love how she got herself into a situation, couldn't explain it, created an explanation, got trapped by said explanation, and was able to find (mostly) find a way out. The nuances of her struggle were so real and awkward and spoke her deeper emotional needs & trauma in a really relatable way.

I was enthralled by this book and could not get enough of it. I hope Zeigesar continues this story with an adjacent novel.

This book features so many interwoven characters that it feels like watching a neighbourhood come to life from the perspective of an overhead drone.
I often flinch when there are too many main characters, but in this novel, each character is fully formed and intriguing in their own right. I was captivated by all of their storyline.
If you enjoy the NYC characters that Cecily is famous for creating, you will not be disappointed by this bunch. Cobble Hill feels like a place you could step into right from these pages.

The latest book from the author who brought us Gossip Girl! Cobble Hill brings everything Gossip Girl had and more – it is the story of four families who live in the same chic neighbourhood, as their lives intersect while they are searching for purpose, friendship, and ultimately meaning in their lives. We are taken along for a great ride filled with heart until a party changes the way all of these families see their respective worlds.

To me, this book felt like an upscale offering from Gossip Girl. Cobble Hill follows families, yes, but more so than that it is the individual characters in the novel that I found really compelling. The way Cecily writes, the personalities these characters have and the way their minds work is very intriguing and kept my attention all the way through. Their problems are so “normal” I felt they were very relatable, and each character brings a new viewpoint to the story and a new ideal they are searching for in their live – there really is a character for everyone to connect with in Cobble Hill.

In addition to the character development, I loved not knowing where these characters were going to end up. The book kept me intrigued as I walked along with these four families to find out where their lives would take them. The story was told at a really great pace, where I felt like I was able to pick up on small details along the way.

Ultimately, Cobble Hill has four very different, very unique and very real perspectives woven through the story from each family and I think that because of this, the story will speak to a wide audience. If you are looking for a smart, and tender story to read – this is for you! It will make you think while making your heart sing.
My only wish from this book, would have been for a little more detail in the ending – but perhaps there will be a second book for that!

4/5 stars on this one for me.

This was a weird, light, frivolous read. There was almost zero substance and it felt like nothing really happened. Despite that, or maybe because of that, I quite enjoyed it. I docked a star because there were a couple of things that made me feel uncomfortable. She wrote a very minor character as genderfluid and it felt like they were just stuck in there for diversity's sake and felt like tokenism. Then there was the other very minor character, "Black Ryan." I'm not sure why they little storyline was in the book and felt uncomfortable to me, and also like tokenism.

I received an ARC via Netgalley recently. I was excited to pick up this book; hoping it would have similar drama to Gossip Girl. This was not about teenagers, mostly. This novel is about a group of people living in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. Despite being in Brooklyn, it acts as more of a small village, where everyone seems to know each other and each other's business.

I liked the four couples' lives being intertwined the way they were and how the author gradually showed you how all four were connected. This book started out slowly, but definitely in a way that made me read this rather quickly. I kept hoping to understand why the author wrote this book or what the plot actually was, but I'm still confused. It's a lovely, long story about four couples and what happens to them. They don't really change all that much though. They misbehave and you get to read about it. There doesn't seem to be a point.

Roy was my favourite character, but all I could think of when I read "Roy Clarke's Rainbow" was ROY GBIV. I hope that was intentional. He's the first to be introduced and I kept getting the feeling he was the author inside the book, but British and male. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Mostly, these are just "normal" people and "normal" marriages with issues, but not severe issues. They aren't particularly "good" people either. Some are more strange than others. The author included a gender fluid character as well, for a bit of diversity, but I wouldn't call this a diverse novel. All four of the couples are white. I'm not familiar with the Cobble Hill neighbourhood. It actually exists and is the most expensive neighbourhood in Brooklyn according to Google. If you're looking for diversity, this isn't the book. Aside from one gender fluid character, there is one sort of prominent Black character and a short diatribe on being racist. It's not the focus of this book.

I'm not sure what the focus of the book is and that's my main complaint. The characters aren't flat. They have interesting stories. They just don't seem to have a point to make. They don't seem to really change or grow. It was a short, easy read, but I didn't find it fascinating. It was kind of a let down. If there had been more of an ending, I would have enjoyed this much more.

What an unexpected delight! I am of the generation that read the Gossip Girl series in high school so I was so delighted to recieve this advance copy from Atria. Thank you very much.

This book follows four families in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, as they navigate their highs and lows. Characters are three dimensional and draw you in, and while things do occasionally veer into unbelievable territory, it never felt eyeroll inducing. It feels very much like a character study which appealed to me very much. All in all I think this book is well worth a read, and I'm certain I'll return to it.