Unleashed starts with George and Lu dropping their only child, Pippa off at college. Afterwards the entire family feels growing pains while struggling to find their places in this new empty nest world.
Pippa isn't your typical college student and fails to feel confident and doesn't fit into her new environment. Meanwhile, back at home, Lu struggles to find purpose in her new empty nest. George wants to connect with his wife but is put off by her indifference and contemplates a midlife affair with a local artist.
As if this isn't enough, wildfires are threatening their home and winery in Sonoma California. What happens next is a wild roller coaster ride with a few twists ahead.
3.5 Star review. Although an interesting premise, I failed to feel a connection to any of the characters. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I first read Cai Emmons when I blurbed WEATHER WOMAN. UNLEASHED (And LIVID) are even more magnificent. Unleashed was written during the pandemic's start and when Cai discovered she had a very slow moving kind of ALS, which took away her speech. So much of that novel is about how we transform and what that looks like and feels like. Yes, it's strange, but in a wonderful, wonderful way. One of my favorite books of the year.

I loved the first 70% of 𝗨𝗡𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗗 by Cai Emmons. It begins as a winery owning family from Sonoma is dropping their daughter off at UCLA for her freshman year. As with many families, this is both difficult and a relief. Daughter, Pippa, has pushed her parents further and further back over the last year, and mom, Lu, has been especially distraught about that. From there Pippa has a bumpy start to college and her parents are also set drifting in their empty nest back home. Layer on that, a massive wildfire bearing down on the Napa/Sonoma Valley and you have the makings of a great story. ⁣
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Then, the story went totally off the rails for me. I can’t get into why without ruining the book for others, but I will say that by the end, I wasn’t quite as disturbed by it. The author’s note after the story, enlightened me as to why she took the turn she did and I wished I had read it before picking up 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥. I’d advise doing so. This is a really hard one to rate as my feelings about it were a bit of a roller coaster ride. Overall, it tapped into real emotions very well, it was interesting and very creative, so I have to give it props for all that and maybe lean into its stranger side. Just be warned! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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My thanks to @duttonbooks for an electronic ARC of #Unleashed.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Dutton/Penguin Group for access to this eARC.

I finished reading this unusual story yesterday, and I’m still a little unsettled by it. It’s a fairly quick and undemanding read.

Unleashed opens with Lu and George driving their daughter, Philippa (Pippa to her mother, but she wants to be called Phipps) and her cat, Alice, to college (UCLA). Right from the start, Phipps comes across as somewhat strange and disconnected from the world—teenage angst, maybe, or possibly more. The family lives in Sonoma, where George is a vintner. Lu has mostly been focused on raising Phipps, but used to be George’s employee at the winery, and she still occasionally helps out.

Lu is experiencing disaffection, and initially it appears that this is stemming from her separation from Phipps, to whom she is perhaps unusually close. However, the feeling builds, until she feels alienated from her husband—which feeling is worsened by him confessing to an almost-affair. In addition, it is fire season in their wildfire-prone area; and when the worst happens, Lu is alone at home, George having travelled to Florida. After her evacuation to the local high school, she does something I found really terrible—and then something exceedingly strange happens.

There are interesting characters in the book, but I could not connect with any of them, and found none of them likeable—not even Phipps, who is the one I felt the most empathy for. I found Lu really very annoying and selfish, and am not sure if she was supposed to read that way. There is some mention of Lu’s ethnic background, but that isn’t really explored—for whatever reason—and, in the end, it feels gratuitous. After giving up on the characters, I tried to connect with the story. Possibly because I have been reading a lot of climate fiction recently, I found elements of it in the book, but the author didn’t explore that angle. The focus is rather on the characters’ reactions to the stresses they are under. I was also fairly disappointed by the lack of resolution for most of the characters—although I do confess that there was really only one resolution I would have been satisfied with (which I can’t explain here as it would give the story away).

Altogether, not the book I expected, and that was fairly disappointing. I think Unleashed may be enjoyed by a very specific subset of people. I found the author’s note enlightening; be sure to read it, because it makes a connection between what happens in the book and what was happening in her life at the time, and, in a way, explains the strangeness of the plot. Is this Weird Fiction? Not quite, but it skates very close to it.

An unsatisfying review for what was for me a less than satisfying read; but, I would love for people to read the book, and tell me what they think.

My rating: 6/10.

I found the characters hard to relate to. It’s a style of writing I don’t especially like. It is not a typical family drama, but I just didn’t feel a connection to the story. Sometimes I think that a younger reader might have related better to the characters, especially the daughter, Pippa.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Review I adored this novel! Initially, I thought it was going to be the usual women's fiction fare, with a focus on empty nest syndrome. Wow, was I wrong. The twists caught me off guard and parlayed the novel into much deeper territory than I had imagined. It's quite compeling with real characters that jump off the page and within the subtext of the novel, a different way to live and see the world is offered to the reader. Great bookclub choice! Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a reveiw copy.

This is a familial drama story that is quite unlike any other. I was pulled in right away by the realistic portrayal of the characters. Alternating chapters really give you a sense of each person, their hopes, fears, and their desires to change their life. The threat of the wildfires is palpable throughout the first part, and the author masterfully makes you feel it as the story reaches its crescendo.
The last third of the book was beautifully bizarre and I felt that it was a natural progression from the story. I was in awe of what was happening, and I needed to know what happened next. I’m sure some readers may be put off by it, but I don’t mind the strange and unusual.