For a debut novel, BRAVA! I enjoyed this book, however, it isn't my favorite. I did enjoy the family drama, and the complex relationships that the author was able to achieve, as well as the seamless POV transitions, but overall, it didn't grab me (this is wholeheartedly my own taste). Regardless of my own opinion, I would still recommend this book because I do anticipate that many people will enjoy it and relate to the various family secrets.

When Sunday abruptly left her family for a life in California, almost everyone was shocked, not understanding why Sunday would leave her family, boyfriend, and her entire world. When Sunday comes home to New York, family drama and secrets come to the surface. All back together again, will their secrets bring them closer or push them apart?

Surprise, surprise! I have another family drama recommendation for you. Ha! Coming from me, this really shouldn’t be a surprise to you at all. I honestly didn’t know very much about We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange at all. I just knew that it was a debut, and a drama about a large Irish Catholic family. As a major fan of novels focused on family, that was more than enough information for me. I grew up with two older brothers, so it was extremely easy for me to relate to Sunday, the only daughter in the family. The household dynamics, and her point of view seemed so familiar to me. My gosh, this family unpacks a lot of heavy baggage in this relatively short novel. It seems like every single Brennan had a secret they desperately wanted to keep hidden, but were all blown up, and brought to the surface at one point or another. There was an ongoing air of mystery throughout the novel, and each uncovered secret revealed very important details crucial to the Brennan family’s past. What I especially loved about this novel is the format. The author did something extremely unique with the dialogue at the end of each chapter. The chapters would end with one character making a statement, then the following chapter would begin with this same statement, and then flip to the speaker’s perspective. Hopefully that makes sense. I’m terrible at explaining things! Ha! You’ll just have to read it to fully understand. Multiple POVs are my very favorite, so the fun format made it even more enjoyable. I must say that Lange’s writing really captivated me. She successfully delivered a strong character-driven novel, along with a jam-packed plot. You really don’t want to miss this impressive debut. We Are the Brennans releases on August 3rd, and it gets 4/5 solid stars from me!

I LOVED this book. I love the close family. I love the bothers who will protect their sister. I love the extended family, you're not blood but your family! I loved the narrator and I loved how she was able to speak with an Irish dialect. It really made the book for me. If I had read the physical copy, I wouldn't have gotten that and I know I wouldn't have thought that up on my own.

Well done!! Can this be the first book in a series? I need so much more from this family!!

This is the first book I have read from Ms. Lange however it will not be my last. This was a captivating story that kept you on your toes wondering what was going to happen next. It had a bit of mystery, romance and a whole bunch of family!
To say that I loved this story would be an understatement. I was hooked to this book and finished it in a day. I loved the family dynamics and the strong sense of family loyalty by this Irish family.
I would highly recommend this story. If you love audiobooks I would also suggest this in audio version as the narrator does a wonderful job captivating the reader and keeping them interested with the many different voices.

I LOVED this story! I loved the alternating POVs from the Brennan’s, Kale and Kale’s wife. I liked how we could know what the other people really were thinking or feeling. It just added so much to this story. I also become super invested in this story because EVERYONE has secrets! It started with me being curious with what’s going on with Sunday in the first chapter but then you slowly meet the family and Kale and BAM! Everyone’s got a secret to hide but I couldn’t wait for them to come out. Overall it was an entertaining and addicting story. Hard to put down. I thought it was put together so smoothly that I am shocked to see it’s her debut book. I can’t wait to see what else she will write.

Highly recommend if you like family dramas and secrets.

I thoroughly enjoyed We Are the Brennans, Tracey Lange’s debut novel. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the audiobook arc narrated by Barrie Kreinik.

Sunday Brennan fled her family and fiancé five years ago and headed to LA with little explanation. When she wakes up in the hospital after a drunken car accident, her older brother Denny convinces her to come back to New York to be with her family. Sunday reluctantly agrees to come home so that she can heal and help out at the family’s Irish pub, but she’s harboring a dark secret that she doesn’t want to face.

The Brennans and Kale Collins, Sunday’s ex-fiancé who is now married with a son, are a tight knit group and they’re currently opening a second pub location across town. Sunday isn’t the only one keeping secrets though, her brother Denny has made some bad financial decisions at the pub and the hole he’s dug keeps getting deeper.

The novel unfolds through alternating chapters narrated by the Brennan family, Kale, and his wife. The story flowed flawlessly and I was hooked from the first chapter, I had to find out why Sunday left all those years ago and how everything would play out.

Barrie Kreinik’s audio narration is engaging and realistic, her voice has a soothing quality that made me want to keep listening.

This is Lange’s debut novel and I’m excited to read what she writes next. Her ability to portray the emotions of her characters was a pleasure to read, it was as though I was part of the Brennan family, they are so realistic. I highly recommend this excellent family saga!

Rating: 4/5
Pub Date: August 3

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the advanced listen. Wow what a book! I thoroughly enjoyed this story and the family in this story. The trials and tribulations of this family. The author made it feel as if I were part of the family. Enjoyed all the characters and will definitely read more by this author and will highly recommend this book.
A must read family saga!
Narrator did an amazing job telling the story loved it!

This audiobook was perfectly executed. The narrator was able to give a unique voice to each Brennan, which she carried through every chapter - regardless of who was narrating. There was never a question as to who was talking. The book was written beautifully and almost as if it were made for audio. The transitions between perspectives was so beautifully done that it felt like I was listening to a movie while reading this book.

The story of the Brennans was a beautiful tale of an Irish American family and their struggles, successes, and secrets. The way the transgressions of one generation affected another was an excellent story telling element and it also rang quite true. The whole story felt genuine, flawed, and beautiful.

If you like family drama, love, and secrets, this is the book for you!

I really enjoyed reading this book however, I have been having issues with the Netgalley app so I can't fully comment on the audiobook! However, I am sure it was great.

This is a solid 4 ½ star book, an impressive debut novel by Tracey Lange. I listened to the audiobook, so I must acknowledge Barrie Kreinik. Her narration is brilliant, bringing Sunday and the rest of the Brennan family to life. While this book stands on its own merit, Barrie Kreinik helps in shine in audiobook format. This book was a much needed break from my OWN family drama.

Families.. We all got them. Lange did an excellent job broaching the topics that many modern-day families are dealing with. Coming from a large family, it was easy for me to get sucked into the family drama of the Brennan family. There are lies, secrets, money and love throughout the story. Add in mental health, disabilities, aging parents, probation, drunk driving and affairs – no wonder this family has issues.

However, what struck me the most in this book is the relationships. The “six” Brennan's had relationships that many envy. They unapologetically had each other's backs. From the outside looking in this is something that everyone wants. A tight knit family who would do anything for each other, even give up the things they want the most.

As we discover, things aren’t always as they may seem on the outside. The family's series of lies and secrets over many years have hurt each other. Each of the family members seem to be holding on to significant hurt and sadness. (note these aren’t secrets like they have a person locked up for 10 years in an attic. These are secrets that could happen to an average family)

While this isn't a story of redemption, it is a story of peeling back layers of pain and anger and repairing relationships. As the author wrote: They all screwed up, made mistakes, and hurt one another. But in the end, they came together. …... Isn’t this all we can ask of our family?



Thank you to #netgalley and Macmillian Audio for the opportunity to listen and give my honest feedback.

This book is about the Brennan family and their time of reconnection and grief.

Sad story, although, it was very predictable. Enjoyed the writing and the narrator. Quick read for me.

I was sucked into the Brennan’s from the first chapter. I loved the alternating perspectives and how character driven this book was. It reminded me of Ask Again, Yes and Beartown. The complex relationships between the siblings in the Brennan family was so well woven I felt as though I had known them all forever. Plus, don’t even get me started on Kale, the long time family friend/ex lover. I literally INHALED this book until about ¾ of the way, then it was “meh” at the end. It was tidy and neatly wrapped up in a very predictable way. For how complex the story was, I wished that the ending wasn’t so one dimensional. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend! ps. We need a prequel that hyper focuses on Kale and Sunday in their early days <3

The narrator also did a great job and was very easy to listen to, even sped up to 1.75.

This is one of those books that I'd classify as "fine". I felt this book had a lot of potential but it never quite hit its stride for me. The buildup to the the big secret reveal had me interested, but then once it was revealed it was like ooookkkaaayy now what and it just fell a little flat for me. I didn't really connect to any of the main characters and didn't necessarily buy the story being sold and wanted some more holes closed up.

Years ago Sunday fled home and left behind her fiancé and her close knit family to escape something. The problem is no one knows why she suddenly picked up and left town except her brother Jackie who hasn't ever let on he knows.

When Sunday uncharacteristically ends up hurt and in trouble her brother Denny brings her back home. The Brennan's have plenty of secrets from back in their past to the present day and they can only move forward if they can finally be honest with each other.

As for the narration of the audio I really wish we had a cast of characters. I felt without the different voices for each part it felt like they kind of blended together at some point.

Fast paced and full of family drama.

Sunday Brennan left her life and moved to California. Five years later, she lives in a bad neighborhood, is waitressing at a diner, and ends up wrecking her car after a night of drinking. The police contact her eldest brother and he flies out to find that Sunday's life is not what she had intimated. He convinced her to come home. She not only has to face her family, but her former fiancé, Kale, who is now a married father. Secrets are revealed as everyone learns why Sunday ran away.

I love a good family drama. Whether written or on screen. I loved Brothers & Sisters and Parenthood. I have one sister, but whenever I watch/read about large families, I am envious. They come with a lot of drama, but they also come with a lot of love. So this story was right up my alley.

This is a debut novel for Tracey Lange, so I had no idea what to expect. I was hooked from the first page (which is rare for me) and I could not put it down. So much is happening to so many people all at the same time. Sometimes I hate that- I feel the story line is spread too thin over too many people. Not with this one. Everything is brilliantly intertwined. While I did figure out several secrets well before they were revealed, I could not wait to see what happened with the Brennan family!

This story is told by many different POVs. At least 6 or 7. Though it is mainly told through Sunday, Kale, Denny, and Jackie.

I listened to the audiobook. Despite being told from several different POVs, only one narrator is used. That said, she did a good job. Clear, well paced. I was never confused about which character's POV I was reading.

I received a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

We Are The Brennans is a complex debut novel about incredibly dysfunctional family, told from multiple perspectives starting with the car wreck of a sister who hasn’t had contact with her family in a year and ends up coming back home to recover and help with the family business. The advanced listening copy audiobook I received from the publisher was very well produced and I enjoyed the narrators acting. It was also surprisingly easy to follow along with the multiple POVs because the characters are all so different....but in general the book just didn’t work for me personally.

I never really got into the story, and it never grasped my interest, and I found myself not caring enough to find out what happened at the end. I don’t know. It’s getting a lot of good reviews so I’m an outlier for sure, but I just didn’t love it and wanted it to be something different. I think I’m tired of the whole dysfunctional family thing, it’s a little overdone in fiction right now imo.

2.5 ⭐️

We Are the Brennans is the story of Sunday Brennan's rediscovery of herself and her family's history. Sunday, after waking up with no real memory of a disastrous accident she caused, decides that it's time for her to return home to her family in New York. At 29 years old, her main goal is to return and rebuild her life from scratch, even if it means subjecting herself to coming home to the town and people (including her family and ex-partner) that she abandoned 5 years prior. After her return, Sunday begins to realize how much she needs her family, and just how much they need her. The family pub is in danger of closing, and it can only remain open if the Brennans confront the generational secrets and potential mistakes and work together, as a family, to push towards success.

I liked this book a lot actually. Coming from a small, tight-knit family, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to relate to the larger, seemingly boisterous, family dynamic in this book. I couldn't be more wrong. I could feel the love radiating from all of the characters. Watching them navigate their emotions and learn how to be around each other again was both painful and motivational. I think that having all of the different narrators was interesting, but there were definitely times where I stressed out, trying to figure out who was who. I don't think this would be an issue reading this as a physical copy, but I accidentally got distracted on a few occasions, which left me lost. Luckily, I was only lost on who the narrator was, and not what was happening in the plot.

This book is definitely worth the read. It is a stunning debut, where family is the focus. I think that if you are searching for a book to give you a wide array of emotions, this is the one for you.

Overall rating: 4/5

We Are the Brennans will be available for purchase on August 3rd. Be sure to add it to your Goodreads shelf. Also, be sure to check out Tracey Lange’s website!
I was lucky enough to be able to listen to this Advanced Reader's Copy through my partnership with NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital after a drunk driving accident. Sunday’s brother Denny shows up at the hospital begging her to come back to New York to help with the family. While home Sunday realizes there are many secrets that she needs to help solve with her family. This books was such a quick and easy read. I want to say thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillian audio for this advanced audiobook!!

“We Are the Brennans” is a delightful family drama. The story is based on a Irish Catholic family living in New York. The narration done by Barrie Kreinik was fabulous.

Thank you @NetGalley, @MacmillanAudio, @CeladonBooks and @TracyLange for the advance audiobook for my honest review.

We Are the Brennans falls into the category of 'dysfunctional family drama'- which we all seek to feel a little better about our own lot. But The Brennan family is different- when push comes to shove, they chose to band together and support their own despite their mistakes. I left this title feeling hopeful and reassured- maybe family is more than our dysfunctions and mistakes. 5 stars!

Thrusting us right into the story via a drunk driving accident We Are the Brennans started off interestingly enough, but in the end it turned out to be a different book than I anticipated.
Overall I am rather torn on whether or not I liked the book.
The writing itself was done well, stylistically. True to its title, the story is told from the view points of the different Brennans (and one who longs to be). I very much enjoyed how at the end of a chapter the narrator and POV switched to another person present in the previous scene. That felt very unique and not like something I have encountered much (if at all) before.
This unfortunately is where the uniqueness ended, however. The plot felt very been there, done that and like something I have read about or watched on TV time and time again. I was waiting for a shocking turn of events, an outrageous twist, but it didn't come. It seemed almost as if I was reading a draft manuscript rather than the full novel. The characters didn't seem fully developed, nor were they particularly likeable (not that that is a requirement for a good book, but you need to give me something, or someone to root for!) and really there was no action, suspense or tension to drive the story forward.
I finished the book and I don't regret is, mostly because the ARC that NetGalley and Macmillan Audio provided me with, was an audio book with fantastic narration. Barrie Kreinik really did a superb job bringing the story to life and making it an enjoyable listen.
In the end I gave it 3 stars, which makes me an outlier amongst the plethora of 5 star reviews, but it just didn't work for me. While We Are the Brennans is not a book I will necessarily recommend to my friends, I would definitely give Tracey Lange another chance in the future, as I did enjoy her general style.