Community Board made me laugh… It was funny from the start and I wish I could be a neighbor who could partake on the Murbridge Community Board. Darcy Clipper, is 30 years old and she moved back to her parents house. Only problem is her parents aren’t there. They actually are in Az for the winter. She is besides herself that they aren’t home to comfort her and feed her. So she hides away in the house and subsists on canned goods and water. After awhile she gets on the Murbridge Community Board and little by little she seeks out other humans. Darcy is fascinated by the posts and follows them closely. This is a witty read but also heartwarming. Nobody liked change and going home isn’t always like we think it will be. I was rooting for Darcy to figure out her life. I want to thank Netgalley and Tara Conklin for my copy for an honest review. It was my pleasure to read and review this book. This was a 4 read for me, it was well written and enjoyable.

Darcy has moved back to her hometown in Massachusetts after her husband left her for another woman. She’s in a tailspin and plunges into depression and sloth. She finds the local community board entertaining, and she soon has to take on small jobs posted there to stay afloat, including one at the home of a gay couple building a playground for their children and the whole community. When the community turns on the couple and fights the project, Darcy knows she has to help.

I loved Conklin’s previous literary novel, The Last Romantics, and this was nothing like it. It started off very slowly for me–I couldn’t stand Darcy and almost didn’t finish the book. The second half, however, redeemed it. I got more invested in the community, the playground project, and the way the stories behind the anonymous postings were revealed. Ultimately, an interesting look at how these community boards do (and do not) work to bring people together–anyone familiar with the hellscape of NextDoor postings will relate (luckily, the postings are funnier in a book when they aren’t your own neighborhood!).

Tara Conklin's novel, Community Board, is difficult for me to rate, because the book is quirky, has a somewhat unlikeable main character that comes across as a bit immature and helpless through much of the story. On the other hand, I found Darcy's story to be frequently funny and empathized with her sense of hopelessness when everything fell apart. The journey of her character throughout the novel is where the strength of the book lies, from helpless and hopeless to part of a beautiful found-family and relationship. Darcy grew up and found herself, which is, in itself, the best part of Community Board.

I would recommend this novel to fans of Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine or Meredith, Alone, as the vibe is similar.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mariner Books for the digital copy of Community Board by Tara Conklin. The opinions in this review are my own.

Such a fun and quirky read. I mean honestly aren't we all a little like Darcy with social media? Connection with the people of the internet through email and social media but building a community and just being back to it all

This book was a DNF for me. I tried to get through this book, but was really struggling. I felt bad that Darcy’s husband cheated on her and left her. But return home felt repetitive and boring. I couldn’t get through it. I’m sorry. Thank you for this early copy.

(ARC from NetGalley) Ok if you are a fan of Zooey Deschanel or have ever been described as "quirky" this is for you. Darcy is absolutely going through it-- her husband left her for another woman, her friends ditched, and she lost her job, so she goes back to her hometown. Not to be insensitive offense but get a therapist and get a grip. I'm happy in the end it's a story about the joy of human connection but we took way too long to get there. It's be a bangin' Netflix original.

I loved the idea of this book but it just didn't come together for me. I think it was because Darcy wasn't my favorite. I did enjoy Conklin's quirky sense of humor and her unique take on a woman going through divorce, and I look forward to what she writes next.

Thanks to Mariner Books for the copy to review.

I'm bummed out by this one. I'm a fan of characters most people dislike, but I really, really disliked the main character, to a point I was actively rooting against her.

This book was ok. As many reviewers said the main character wasn’t particularly likeable and the book is a bit all over the place. In all just not exactly for mr.

I just couldn’t get into this story. The main character is a 29-year-old, newly single woman who goes back to her parents to help cope. Her parents are away so she’ll be on her own and will have to rely on neighbors to help get through the difficult time. I like quirky characters but this was just not for me. Darcy is just not a likable character and she comes across like a whining brat. So I DNFd this one about 40 percent in.

This book was just okay (which was a bummer because I loved The Last Romantics). The main character was nearly insufferable. She became much more likable in the second half, but by then it was hard to care what happened. I did find the community board postings funny…that was the best part.

The Community Board was a little different that I expected but I enjoyed this book. I loved the focus on community and finding yourself and your people after everything falls apart. I found Darcy to be endearing and relatable. And the community of Mubridge to be interesting and quirky.

Darcy Clipper, prodigal daughter, nearly thirty, has returned home to Murbridge, Massachusetts, after her life takes an unwelcome left turn. Murbridge, Darcy is convinced, will welcome her home and provide a safe space in which she can nurse her wounds and harbor grudges, both real and imagined.

But Murbridge, like so much else Darcy thought to be fixed and immutable, has changed. And while Darcy’s first instinct might be to hole herself up in her childhood bedroom, subsisting on Chef Boy-R-Dee and canned chickpeas, it is human nature to do two things: seek out meaningful human connection and respond to anonymous internet postings. As Murbridge begins to take shape around Darcy, both online and in person, Darcy will consid

Tara Conklin’s writing style takes time to develop the characters in a way that made me feel like part of this newly forged community. Each person had their own vibe and narrative but the way the plot drove the understanding of each person drew me in. I loved seeing the way the community was forged and came together. Tough to follow the gem of the Last Romantics, but Conklin did it!

I received this ARC from NetGalley.

This is a sweet story, and a charming story. But you have to be able to get past the lack of quotation marks. It was a struggle for me, and it took away from the story.

This book was a bit of a letdown for me. The main charecters split after the husband fell for another woman and left. The female was having a time of it. She goes back to her childhood home after being told to take a 6 month sabbatical to get her self back. Fast forward to her arriving to find her parents have moved to another state and will not be returning. We are then subjected to her days and how she spends them.oh, let us not forget the many emails she types then deletes to her other half. The best part of the book? The messages placed on the community board. That is what honestly kept me reading. They were hilarious!! If the book had more of those it would have been much better. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

Community Board is a humorous and heart warming story about Darcy who finds her world turned upside down. Her husband leaves her for another woman, her parents moved to Arizona without telling her and she loses her job. Darcy is left feeling abandoned and lost. Queue the soul searching and funny situations she find herself in. This is a funny and enjoyable read. The inserted posts from Darcy’s community board will make readers laugh out loud.

2.5 Stars Rounded Up.

I received a reviewer copy of Community Board by Tara Conklin from the publisher Mariner Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

What It’s About: Darcy Clipper has just been left by her husband and nearly thirty years old returns to her hometown of Murbridge, Massachusetts to get support from her parents. But Murbridge, the comforting small town she grew up in has changed and starting with her parents no longer being at home but rather in Arizona. She seeks comfort in the community board reading the ridiculous posts from the comfort of her bed, but can she find a home in her new quirky home?

Usually, I break this down in things I love and things I didn’t love. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, her last book ‘The Last Romantics’ is one of my favorite books of all time. I had high hopes. And this book just didn’t work for me, sadly. One problem for me was that I read a book that covered community board concept better (Small Worlds by Laura Zigman) and so it would be really hard to top. There are a lot of bold characters here and potential and perhaps if some things had been different this could have read kind of like a quirky small-town drama.

Here's why it didn’t work: Darcy is unlikable and whiny and that is probably like 45% of the book and she is acting very entitled and just not sympathetically, this made me dislike her and be agitated by the book, and perhaps I should have stopped reading, but I was really wanting to believe in this book. And it did get better, but it was ultimately too little.

Here’s some things I did enjoy, once Darcy stepped out of her shell and started connecting with her neighbor and helping him build his playground. I liked this part as well as her interaction with the local police officer. She also faces off against a villain who is just really horrendous. And reading about his schemes angered me. If this had been more like 80% of the book it would have definitely been more enjoyable. However, my mental exhaustion with Darcy made me care less than I would have perhaps otherwise. Also, I would say Darcy does have a pretty big character change which is good but I was just struggling.

Who Should Read It: People who love quirky stories and don’t mind a comically whiny character. People who are obsessed with their neighborhood application.

Summary: A woman moves home to lick her wounds.

A delightful story that illuminates communities and human interaction.
Many thanks to Mariner Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is hard to pin point, and because of that it is hard to recommend. Sometimes it's a train of thought style, sometimes it is emails, sometimes it's conversation and sometimes it's clips from the community Facebook page. The problem is that there is no way to know what style you are reading on each section until you are already reading it. There is no clear transition from one style to the next, so it just feels choppy and takes away from the story.

Community Board by Tara Conklin is a lightly humorous story. Darcy is our main character and is going through a lot. While she is whiny and dwells way to long on everything going on her life, I love the use of a community board within the town to bring Darcy out of her heartbreak. The story was predictable but sometimes that is needed when reading.