Redemption can be a hard pill to swallow. Sunday Brennan’s learns this when she returns home to not only begin again but resolve the questions she left unanswered. Here the past not only catches up with Sunday but poses a threat to her family’s future. The question remains ,will standing together be enough to secure the future of this loud and newly United clan.

I had been hearing such a buzz about We Are the Brennans that I was very eager to dive in! For me, unfortunately, the book was so so. I enjoyed the multiple points of view, but felt that most of the characters were flat and not that interesting. The story didn't hold my interest as I had hoped and found that I was only reading to learn the big secret and find out of the family's business venture would make it. I enjoy a messy family drama but We Are the Brennans wasn't a memorable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Wow!! Tracey Lange knocked it out of the park with this debut novel. The book flashes between the POVs of multiple characters (Sunday, Denny, Mickey, Kale, Jackie and Vivienne). I absolutely loved this book!!! I really loved all of the characters (okay actually 2 I hated personally but they were still really well written). The character development in this book is remarkable. I felt like I really knew this family. I didn’t want this book to end and reeeeally hope there will be more of the Brennans in the future! I highly recommend this book to everyone because it was fantastic. One of my favorite books of the year so far. If you don’t have it, go get it. Now.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to start my first book by author Tracey Lange.

We are the Brennan's was told from several different points-of-views and while reading you get to know each character and your opinion shifts slightly throughout the book, at least mine did.

There is a lot going on with the Brennan family, but it is all believable. The characters make some bad decisions and keep some secrets, but their reasoning is understandable. They made decisions based on information they were given, but of course the information wasn't always complete. They judged other people's behavior based on what they believed the situation to be, but when you hear the other person's perspective you are reminded that you should always give people the benefit of the doubt.

I can't wait to read more from this author and to share this book!

Great debut novel! The story is centered around a close knit Irish/American family with drama and secrets. As I come from a similar heritage, I can relate to the to dynamics of the relationships between the siblings and parents. A large part of the storyline follows the only daughter, Sunday, and how her life plays out after a traumatic incident which caused her to flee to California and then come home after a car accident. A secret Sunday and her brother have kept for years and how it destroyed relationships is thread throughout the story. I look forward to more stories from this author. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the fantastic book to review.

The Brennans are a formidable family that each have secrets they are keeping in order to protect other members of the family. This is a story of blood is thicker than water and that sharing the burdens you think you must carry with family only makes you stronger. A page turning, must read story of family, love, and the choices that are made to protect are not necessarily the right ones but second chances and more are always given by those that love you.

Do you know how it feels when you sip Sangria on a hot summer day, feeling refreshed and satiated? I had a similar feeling when reading the messy lives of the Brennan family. They could be your neighbors next door with a myriad of issues but overall a tight knit family who are bound to one another with a loyalty code that is unyielding. Though secrets abound, they eventually reconcile and absolve one another for past and present deeds.Fundamental to this Irish Catholic household is a sense of shame and guilt. As the father stated,"Shame and guilt are like plagues. And we Irish wield them like weapons and wear them like medals." The story begins when the central character, Sunday who has moved away from the family, has an auto accident due to inebriation and ends up in the hospital. Her brother flies out and brings her home and there is where the story picks up. An old boyfriend who she was going to marry, a wandering father, a brother who had been jailed, another brother who acted as head of the family and is separated from his wife, and the sweet brother who had an intellectual disability make up the cast of characters that are beautifully etched. Each of them had skeletons in their closets which are revealed like a ball of yarn unraveling. I loved them all even with the warts and all because in the end they were human and real after all just like the Velveteen Rabbit.

Absolutely loved this book! I read it and listened to the audio book because I loved the story so much and liked consuming it in different mediums. Folloring the Brennan family and 29-year old Sunday's journey to self-redemption after abandoning her family and a fiance all those years ago.

After a drunk-driving accident, Sunday is back in her hometown and is trying to pick-up the pieces she left behind, including her family's struggling pub business. Except, with the pub on the brink of bankruptcy, there may be something more sinister at play.

For fans of Ask Again Yes, Everything I Never Told You, The Nest, and more, this family drama is raw and authentic. You feel for the family and are grossly involved in their lives and what comes next. Sunday is an empathetic character, especially if you've ever been a 20-something who has made mistakes in your life. You slowly fall in love with each member of the Brennan family, their memories of Ireland, and everything they're doing to keep each other's secrets and protect each other.

Great book and would definitely recommend!

This book is smart and engaging. The characters are well developed and in spite of their flaws, the reader inherently roots for their success and the overall strength of the family. Plot has some surprises and a satisfying end.

“Shame and guilt are like plagues. And we Irish wield them like weapons and wear them like medals.”Tracey Lange- We Are the Brennans

As far as family dramas go this was one of the best I’ve read. The characters were well developed and the transitions between POVs was very well done. I was surprised by the abrupt end, but think it worked very well in keeping with the context of the story. I especially loved the inclusion of Shane’s character and was very touched by the tenderness shown towards him. Readers that enjoy big-hearted family dramas will fall in love with the Breannas. 4.5 stars.

We Are the Brennans is the story of a family that is struggling under the weight of their secrets. Sunday Brennan has a car accident while driving under the influence, resulting in her returning to the family she suddenly left five years earlier. Her brothers are facing different struggles, her father showing signs of dementia, and her ex-fiancé is wondering what happened to make Sunday leave.

This book was told in multiple perspectives of the characters, which gives you insights into their thoughts, memories, and experiences as you piece together what happened. This story captivated me early on and held my attention. I was really rooting for all the Brennans, even with their flaws.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book—definitely give it a try!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for offering me an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review!

If you are looking for a compelling family drama filled with complicated relationships, shared pasts, secrets, loyalty, misunderstandings, betrayals, bad decisions, and survival, then this is the novel for you. This novel focuses on The Brennans, an Irish Catholic family living in the suburbs of New York. Mickey is the patriarch, who is starting to lose his memory but desperate to help his children succeed. Denny is the eldest son who is the co-owner of a popular bar in town and looking to expand the business to a neighboring town, however is running into problems getting the business off the ground causing a slew of poor decisions that affect not only him but his wife and daughter. Jackie is a talented artist working at finding his place once again in the family after a run in with the law. Sunday, the only daughter, ran away from home to California and has been leading a distant life from her family only to suddenly return and is forced to confront the ghosts of her past, including her childhood love Kale. Shane is the youngest brother and the family rallies around him to protect him. Lastly, Kale, Denny’s childhood best friend and honorary Brennan, who thought he found his forever love with Sunday, only to have that ripped away by her sudden departure and then reappearance throwing his life, including his marriage into question.

The novel is told from multiple points of view. Every chapter cleverly ended with a conversation which was then continued in the next chapter by that character. The author does a great job of vividly descripting the personality traits and character flaws of each member of the family. The characters are well-developed and likeable and keeps the reader on the edge of his/her seat as the story unfolds. The characters were very relatable, and the reader feels their pain, family pull and struggles as the story unfolds. The author presents the story in a very clever way and the characters are interwoven which each other from childhood to the present. There are twists and turns and lots of secrets and just when you think you have figured it out, another piece of the puzzle is revealed keeping the reader on his/her toes. It is a story of cause and effect, sometimes with years in between.

A lack of communication is a major theme throughout the novel leaving the reader somewhat frustrated that many of the family members struggles and problems could have been resolved by a conversation. However, despite questionable decisions and judgment, the strong family bonds and loyalty keep the reader engaged and rooting for each member of the Brennan family until the end. The author does a good job of going behind a decision or issue and depicting the different family members reactions and thoughts on a single event. This novel force the reader to think and consider why decisions were made and how one event can have a trickle effect on the entire family.

This novel was a quick and enjoyable read. I found myself getting lost in the story and was disappointed when I reached the end. I was cheering for the Brennans and on the edge of my seat hoping for good resolutions. The reader cannot help but love the Brennans.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was a terrific book. The characters, you got to know so well.
Depicts family relationships, love, commitment, resentments, the full circle.
Sunday, the main character….you feel her pain, love throughout the book.
A strong Irish family with many twists and turns.
A definite read.

The Brennans are a family with problems, to say the least. A close knit Irish family with secrets. This is a character driven family drama with heart and excellent prose. I found the pacing to be a tad slow, and my attention wandered in places. However the conflict between the characters was well-done. Overall worth the read.

Loved this book about an Irish brood. Four siblings, family secrets, shame, guilt, misunderstanding, birth order, romance, forgiveness. Told from multiple POV's.

Discussed on the Book Cougars podcast, episode 136.

Sunday Brennan, the only daughter of an Irish-American family, gets into a terrible accident and returns home to New York. She's been gone for five years, and no one really knows why she left. While she's recuperating from her injuries, she gets updated with all the changes that have occurred with her brothers, father, and her ex-boyfriend. Secrets come to light, relationships are tested, and brought back to some kind of semblance of order. Sunday realizes that her family bonds go deeper than she understood before she left. When difficult circumstances that arose from the past return, will the Brennans come together again to resolve them all?

I really loved this book. As short as the book is, it's amazingly layered with stories that interlock and make sense. The characters are so fully realized and drawn that you come to really become attached to them and want them to overcome their issues. It reminded me of the many Irish-American families and other tight-knit families I've known while I was growing up and in the present time. For anyone who enjoys family drama, this is perfect for you (I have a book club friend who would love to read this).

While you're swept up in the plot, your attention won't be diverted. While it's not action-packed or overly melodramatic, there are plenty of secrets to unravel and complexities in all the relationships you observe. It's interesting to examine all the bonds and cracks between these folks.

Clear language tells the story where there's not too much but just enough to help you see all that's going on. I loved how one chapter started with a quote from one of the characters from the preceding chapter. Amazingly, it totally fits together. And even though you have a large family of characters, I found it very easy to identify and stay in touch with whom the chapter focused on. You're never doubting who is the centerpiece of the chapter at the time.

While the story does not present an open, loose ending, there is so much more to explore within the Brennan family. This could warrant a sequel with some of the plotlines that may remain or turn up after a few years in the world of the Brennans. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think that a lot of readers will, too. I plan to keep an eye on this author. Whether she revisits the Brennans or new characters, I'm on board!

I loved this book!

Firstly, it is based in an area in which I live so it was really cool to have all the streets and buildings I know mentioned. It was very well-researched and accurate.

Secondly, the characters! So realistic, so intriguing, so interesting and entertaining. I loved that they all got their moments to tell the story from their own POV. I especially loved how the next chapter started with the sentence that ended the previous one. You're staying in the same scene but bouncing over to another character's perspective.

Kale and Sunday's story was the most interesting to me. I was dying to know why she left him as she seemed to be genuinely in love with him. I just wanted them back together so badly and it was so frustrating how their conversations kept getting interrupted.

No character here is perfect and that's what makes it so realistic. They are real people with real problems and struggles. Life doesn't always work out a certain way just because you want it to.

A fantastically well-written story which already has me looking forward to her next book!

(Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon Books for the ARC; all reviews are my own).

Siblings in an Irish American Family are brought together after one of them is in a drunk driving accident and returns home to heal after almost five years away from her tight knit family. The brothers never understood why Sunday left them and left her long-time boyfriend to take a job in LA. Family secrets start to surface and understanding that goes with that. The family begins to rally to fix the problems with the family business as well as heal their relationship.

I loved this family and this book. Family sagas with adult children are one of my favorites types of books. I was completely engrossed in the book and completed it in a day. Such a joy to spend time with the Brennans.

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Sunday Brennan has been living in Los Angeles for the last five years after running away from her family and her high school sweetheart. She's keeping secrets that will surely tear them apart, but she's not the only one with skeletons in the closet. When an accident forces her home, and the family comes together after so many years, she and everyone will have no choice but to finally confront all that has been unsaid.

I was a little unsure going into this because do I really enjoy reading about drama among family members? But I needn't have worried at all. This story was compelling from the very first page. Tracey Lange really made these characters and their world come alive, and I was immediately pulled in.

Normally, conflict that comes solely from things unsaid isn't my favorite because it can all be quickly cleared up by just speaking the truth. And while that is the case here, the nuanced characters and their difficult decisions convinced me that the secrets are valid and they did what they thought was the best given the circumstances.

As we wind our way through the narrative, there were so many unexpected twists and turns that surprised me and kept me interested in this dysfunctional family and all the ways they've messed up. I found the whole thing to be riveting.

This is such a phenomenal debut from Tracey Lange. She has this way with building up a remarkable story and fleshing out interesting characters and dynamics to support it. I can't wait to read more from her.

My heartfelt thanks for the advance copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.

What a blast! Maybe I connected with it on the level of family. I've always had a fascination with big families as I come from one. Propelled by shame and secrets, I couldn’t put it down once I started. It centers mostly around Sunday, one of four Brennan siblings. She has come home after being away, living in California for 5 years after a terrible accident. Denny, her older brother, the always “golden child”, has made a real mess of the family finances that are wrapped up in the family-owned pub. Sunday is determined to save the business and help her family get back on track. She brings with her the weight of her past and what took her far from home to begin with. I really enjoyed reading about this Brennan bunch and their fierce loyalty, camaraderie, and entanglement in family secrets. For fans of character-driven family drama. Some of the plot turns were a bit far-fetched and I'm not sure I love how it ended but overall, I really really enjoyed it and recommend!