The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz delves into the lives of an affluent Jewish family in Brooklyn. I previously read and loved The Plot, so I was excited to receive an advance copy for this one. I found it fascinating and was immediately drawn into the characters' stories, which started from the late 1960s and moved into present-day. Though the book is fairly long, it doesn't feel that way when reading it. I absolutely adore the author’s sharp writing style. I listened to the audiobook which was masterfully narrated by Julia Whelan.

Thank you Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC.

The Latecomer was a long, slow burn character study of the Oppenheimer family, a Jewish family in New York with triplets. They are one of the most dysfunctional groups of people I’ve read about in a while and each character was fascinating in his own way. Alternating chapters eventually tell the story of each family member (starting back with the grandparents) and how finally we arrive at the present. It was perhaps a bit too wordy & could have been shorter but overall a unique and rich story.

Summary: The Latecomer tells the story of Salo Oppenheimer and his wife Johanna. From their first meeting under tragic circumstances, to their struggles to conceive via IVF, their lives are filled with both drama and the mundane as they try to create a happy life for their triplets Sally, Harrison and Lewyn. Facing an empty nest as the triplets go off to college, while simultaneously dealing with the secret her husband has kept for decades, Johanna decides to have another child, “ The Latecomer,” in hopes that this fourth child will help heal their splintering family.

Thoughts: Let me start off by saying I do not think this one is for me. While I often look for books rich in character development, this book was all character, and little plot. And yet at times, it felt as though there was too much going on in the plot line (not sure how both could be true at the same time, but here we are). The author does a deep dive on the relationship of a dysfunctional family, The Oppenheimers, over many years and how they tackle issues of religion, racism, sexuality, etc.

This is book is a great depiction of the age old theme of past traumas of the parents negatively impacting the lives of their children. And while that on it’s face is a really interesting storyline, the execution here just didn’t work for me. At times it seemed to be more stream of consciousness than a streamlined plot. It was so verbose, I felt myself losing track of what was actually happening from one moment to the next. I think the same story could have been told in 300 pages and would have been a much more succinct and enjoyable book, at least for me.

While it wasn’t a favorite of mine, this book does have some very positive reviews. If you are on the fence, I would check this one out especially if you are one who loves intensive character analysis and epic family dramas.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Celadon Books for the advanced copy of The Latecomer. I loved the previous book written by Jean Hanff Korelitz that I read, The Plot.
It took a while for me to get into this book, but once I did it did not disappoint. I liked how the triplets did not really care much for one another, as I am used to twins, triplets, etc. having some kind of bond that nobody else understands.

Reading this felt like a chore - one that requires patience and a sense of hardiness, with not very much rewarded in return. At least for me, personally.

I enjoyed JHK's previous book, ‘The Plot,’ because of, well, the plot. lol. I really liked the content and the way the mystery was the focus of the story. It was enough to help me get past the difficulty I had reading JHK's writing style. But unfortunately, there is no plot in this novel to help me do that again.

This is well-written, without a doubt, but it's just not something that caters to my personal reading style. The narrative is very descriptive-heavy, with long paragraph after long paragraph of description. Very dense, very long, and very much in need of some editing down. Of course, this is apt writing for character-based stories, such as this. If you really enjoy character studies, then you might find the drawn out nature of the narrative to be engaging enough.

Overall, I did like the concept. I actually learned a lot about jewish families. But JHK's writing style just isn't for me.

Read this if you like: stories of grief, generational trauma, crazy family dynamics, slow burns

This book follows the story of the wealthy, New York City-based Oppenheimer family. Salo and Johanna have trouble starting their family so they use IVF. They end up with triplets, Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally. They are all pretty distant from their parents. When the triplets leave for college, Johanna, faced with being truly alone, makes the decision to have a fourth child. That's where Pheobe, the latecomer comes in.

Thie book touches on the topics of grief and guilt, generational trauma, privilege and race, traditions and religion, and family dynamics. I feel like most people are going to love this. Honestly, I should have known from the size (almost 500 pages) and the description that it builds slowly that it would be far too slow for me. This book could have been cut almost in half and I would have loved it. I struggled. It's extremely character driven and wordy. Just because I didn't love it doesn't mean you won't.

**Check the triggers as there are a few**

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Celadon Books for the gifted copy! ❤️

I don't think I'm the target audience for this book as of right now.
Im finding it really dense and hard to get into. The way the story moves back and forth makes it hard for me to keep up with the writing. Also, I simply do not care about the parents and have no reason to push through. I wish the story were more linear, I think it would help getting through the beginning.
Maybe I will come back to it later.

Thank you Celadon for the eARC.

Pub date: 5/31/22
Genre: family drama
In one sentence: The wealthy, New York City-based Oppenheimer family is made up of three triplets - until latecomer Phoebe comes along.

This book has a little bit of everything - family drama, politics, religion, and discussion of race and class/privilege. If you enjoy books with detailed character studies, you might enjoy this one. I liked getting to know the Oppenheimer family, but the book moved more slowly than I would have preferred. The family drama part of the plot was the most successful in my opinion - the triplets dislike each other immensely, leading to some pretty entertaining conflict.

Thank you to Celadon Books for providing a NetGalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Latecomer tells the story of the Oppenheimer family, from the unconventional first meet of parents Salo and Johanna to the unconventional conception of their triplets through IVF to the (slightly more conventional need for but unconventional method of) conception of their later in life child.

This is my first book from this author (I have heard a lot of praise for her other novel, The Plot) and I really enjoyed her sharp, witty and smart writing style. I also enjoyed the overall Jewish-ness of the novel- growing up in this culture I related to so many aspects of this book. I found humour and comfort in it. May is Jewish American Heritage month so it was great to read another book with realistic Jewish representation.

This book takes family dysfunction to a whole other level! The slow-burn story follows the Oppenheimers pre-and post triplets to the college years. After reading so many books about the bonds of "multiples" (multiple siblings), it was refreshing to read a take where they just didn't like each other. AT ALL. No triplet ESP. No unbreakable link. Just another set of siblings who cannot stand each other and want to be as far away from each other as humanly possible.

This book reminded me a little of Liane Moriarty's Apples Never Fall (which I enjoyed), with feuding siblings, unlikable characters and a little twist at the end. I will say that Part II ran slow for me and I had to power through the middle. It was also quite lengthy with lots of detailed focus given to characters I didn't really much care for (my favourite characters was Johanna), I do give high praise to the very clever and dry writing and acknowledgement of a story which was as layered, detailed, and complex (as most families truly are). Overall a 3.5 stars rounded down.

Thank you to Celadon books and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Pub date is May 31, 2022.

. . . 𝓷/𝓪*
This book has been pegged one of the must-reads of the summer, and had received so much positive attention that we did not hesitate to request it from our ever beloved NetGalley.

Unfortunately, this was a no-go read for me. Stylistically, I found it really hard to get through, so much so that I simply didn’t. Get through it, that is - here lies the second dnf for me this year.

The premise of this book sounded so unequivocally “me”, but I struggled right from the beginning to connect with the story, the characters, and the writing in general - essentially in that order. The story felt a bit disjointed despite offering an origins start, the characters felt intangible, and then the writing was just not for me. Ultimately, it was the writing style that caused me to put it down - if I’m distracted from the story by the way it is written, there is little hope that I’ll be able to immerse myself and enjoy the book.

With that being said, just because it wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean that this couldn’t be an amazing experience for you - go check it out - some readers are absolutely raving about this one, and it could be just the right book for you!

And while I’m disappointed, not necessarily at the book so much as the unfulfilled desire for a great read, there’s a lot of promising potentials on my tbr shelf, so I shan’t be disappointed for long.

~👩🏻‍🦰

⧞ The Latecomer hits shelves May 31st - thank you to @netgalley & @macmillan for offering a digital advanced reader’s copy of this book.

I really enjoyed the Plot by this author and was excited to receive this arc. I felt like this was definitely in a different vein than the Plot, but I definitely did like it also. It was a tale about a family, specifically the very different lives of triplets who were born in vitro and their sister who was born later. The author deftly delves into the complexities of families and skillfully portrays the opinions of all three siblings. We don’t know who is actually narrating until later and it is a bit of an aha moment. The characters are all credible and realistic, and many readers will relate to the intricacies of families, the good, the bad and the ugly. The ending went in an interesting direction, which was both satisfying and heartfelt. This is a good one for book clubs.

I thought the plot sounded interesting, but this book wasn't for me. It was too slow and too wordy. I feel like the book was about 100 pages too long. I really struggled with this one,

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm going to start this out with the statement that I don't generally care for literary novels. This is most definitely one of those, with all sort of family drama. However, I was captivated by the writing, the word usage. I found it quite lyrical in places. I also found the fact we don't meet the narrator until the last third of the book novel and interesting.
There is no great mystery in the story, unless you count the things not said that might have cleared up misunderstandings. We have Salo Oppenheimer, who married Johanna, because why not? They had 3 children IVF because the other way wasn't working for them. The children, born together, were called 'the triples', even though they really weren't triples. They didn't like each other, and tried to get as far apart from each other as they could while still obeying their mother's rule about gathering on their birthday each year.
Salo collected art. Johanna tried to create the illusion of a happy family. The children concentrated on getting through high school so they could leave home and go to college elsewhere. Lives lived in parallel.
The children left for away school. Johanna remembered a fourth embryo, frozen at the time of the IVF procedure. Why not thaw it out, hire a gestational surrogate and have another child to raise? Up to this point, the lives of the Oppenheimers would have matched most other lives in their socioeconomic status. The new baby changed everything.
I liked this book. The new child has lots of personality, but then she would need it dealing with her siblings. This is a charming book. I'm glad I read it.
I received the copy of the book I read for this review from Netgalley.

Thank you to Celadon and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of The Latecomer! All opinions in this review are my own.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. I DNFed it 17% when I realized I didn't really care about the parents and couldn't push myself to get to the triplets' section.

The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz is my first book by this author. This book started slow, and I did think about not finishing but then all of sudden it kicks in and the pages started turning. I definitely changed my mind on this one! This is a complex story that deals with a dysfunctional family! The only thing that holds them together is their last name. A story that deal with privilege and tragedy, identity, belonging, race and class. These characters are complex and I would even say unlikable but they are tolerable. They are definitely multi-dimensional! I enjoyed this book by this very talented author, she really takes the family drama to a different level.

Thank you NetGalley, Celadon and Celadon Readers for an advanced copy of this truly captivating story in exchange for my honest review.
#netgalley #celadon #celadonreaders
#thelatecomer #jeanhanffkorelitz #arc

The Latecomer combines a family drama with elements of infidelity, race, class, religion and art. Korelitz does an excellent job of describing intense family dynamics where not only do the parents pull away from each other, but the siblings pull away from the parents and each other.

Conceived with the help of modern medicine, the Oppenheimer triplets are born into a wealthy, upper class family living in New York. Harrison, Sally and Lewyn are not close and can’t wait to go their own separate ways after high school. Faced with an empty nest and an increasingly distant husband, Joanna decides to use the fourth embryo thus bringing the latecomer, Phoebe, into this dysfunctional family. As Phoebe becomes an adult, she pushes each family member into confronting their secrets and complex relationships.

I found the flawed characters to be believable and expertly detailed. A contemporary drama that weaves modern issues of politics, race, real estate and art into the story, Horelitz’s newest novel is sure to be a big hit!

Korelitz is a successful American author whose last novel was "The Plot". This new novel is not a thriller, but more an examination of the relationships in a wealthy NYC Jewish family. It follows the parents and then the triplets who are born using IVF. They grow up wanting nothing to do with each other, much to their mother's disappointment. When the triplets are grown the mother chooses to use the one remaining embryo and the fourth child is born. This is a complicated story that deals with family, grief, sexuality, wealth and race. It is a good recommendation for fans of books such as Ann Patchett's "Commonwealth" or Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's "The Nest".

I had high hopes for this book after reading the description. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I liked the concept of the plot, but couldn’t really get invested or interested in any of the characters. I finished the book, but it really was a struggle.

3.5 stars

I read Jean Hanff Korelitz’s fantastic literary mystery The Plot last year and was very much blown away by how cleverly (and creatively) the story was written (in fact, I would even say it was one of the best literary mysteries I have ever read). Given that context, I was of course super excited to land an early copy of Korelitz’s newest work, The Latecomer — not only that, going into this, my expectations were also extremely high in that I was anticipating another intricate, brilliantly written literary mystery that would give me the same thrilling reading experience as The Plot did. Unfortunately, in the end, that’s not how this one turned out. Instead of giving The Plot vibes, this one ended up hewing closer to Korelitz’s earlier work You Should Have Known (the book that the HBO series The Undoing was based on) in both story and structure. Don’t get me wrong — You Should Have Known was a good book overall, but its biggest problem was that it meandered way too much, making the story way more convoluted and confusing than I felt it needed to be (I go into much more detail in my review of that book).

With The Latecomer, the writing was indeed intricate, with an overabundance of descriptive details that Korelitz lays out in a sophisticated and meticulous, but also incredibly “slow burn” way. In addition, it felt like Korelitz was trying to cram as many recent / contemporary events and complex society issues into the story as possible — for example: the pandemic, the previous administration, identity politics, infertility and reproductive rights, surrogacy, racial discrimination and social justice, PTSD, social media, religious freedom and exploration, politics, parent/child relationships, higher education and academia, love and marriage, fidelity, homosexuality, etc. (believe it or not, I am only scratching the surface here in terms of the tremendous amount of ground covered in the story). And as if that weren’t enough, all of it was woven into a complicated web of drama and dysfunction courtesy of the Oppenheimer family — parents Salo and Johanna, triplets Harrison, Lewyn, Sally, and “the latecomer” fourth child Phoebe. All in all, this made for a tedious, exhaustive read that, in the end, became a chore to get through.

Convoluted story and structure aside though, I felt that Korelitz did a good job in terms of character development (which I also found with the two previous books of hers that I had read). Korelitz takes her time flushing out the characters, giving us detailed insight into their thoughts and motivations as well as how each one evolves throughout the story — to the point that we as readers feel like we know this family intimately. One thing I found interesting with the way the characters were written was that they were all quite unlikable (some more so than others — Harrison, for example, who acted like an arrogant bastard pretty much throughout the entire story), yet instead of loathing them like I normally would with these types of characters, I actually found myself pitying them (which, for the record, doesn’t mean I condone any of their actions — in fact, I had the opposite reaction in that I was frustrated and angered by a lot of the things they did). I’m not sure if I’m explaining this correctly — I guess the closest comparison would be that each character had redeeming qualities that, while far from canceling out their flaws, did make it difficult to completely despise them.

One thing I feel it’s important to mention is that I went into this book thinking it would be either a literary mystery in the same vein as The Plot or a psychological thriller similar to You Should Have Known (the only 2 previous books of Korelitz’s that I had read up to that point) — it turns out I was wrong on both fronts. In fact, this book doesn’t fall into the mystery / thriller / suspense genre at all (if I had to classify it, I would say it falls under contemporary fiction or literary fiction). Normally, this wouldn’t matter much, but in this instance, because I had placed it in the mystery / thriller category, I was anticipating a big reveal / plot twist (maybe even multiple plot twists) somewhere along the line — it wasn’t until I got to almost the end (400+ pages into the story) with no plot twist to be found, that I realized my mistake. I bring this up in case this kind of thing matters to those who decide to pick this up, so you don’t make the same mistake I did.

Overall, I did “enjoy” this one and am glad I read it, but it was definitely unnecessarily long, and also the story was way more convoluted than it needed to be (in my opinion at least). If you decide to pick this one up, just know that it will require quite a bit of patience (which may or may not be worth it in the end). With all that said, I like the way Korelitz writes her characters and I have no doubt that I will continue to read her works, though I will probably need to make sure I plan out the time better given the amount of patience needed to get through her novels.

Received ARC from Celadon Books via NetGalley

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, lots of backstory and history about the family. The narrator is one of my favorites, and feel like she did a great job telling the story.

After a mix of reading/listening to the story I decided to not finish it now. It’s a very lengthy and descriptive book, with a lot to unpack. As someone who really likes a family drama, I’m hoping I can find a time soon where I can give this book the time and attention it deserves.