This book was exactly what I needed to get me out of a reading slump! I loved the alternating perspectives, and while some characters were more likable than others, I did find myself loving different aspects of each of the members of the friend group.

This book made me feel all of the feelings - happy, sad, nostalgic, bittersweet - and I also found myself longing for my college days and my college friends, both the ones still in my life and the ones who have drifted away as life does. The story was all too relatable, for better or worse, and I loved the way the story unfolded. I simply could not put this one down and will be thinking about it for years to come.

Thanks to Dutton for the NetGalley ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Happy day before Thanksgiving! This can be a time associated with reunions, as many people return to their hometowns for this holiday. This book is all about friendships over time, bringing me all the nostalgic feelings, so what better day to post my review?
The book begins with a prologue, dated 2018, at a funeral, but the reader is unsure of who has passed away. From there the book goes back in time with three parts: 2006-2010, 2011-2014, and 2015-2018, followed by a coda. In 2006, the four main characters are on the precipice of graduating from Northwestern, about to either intentionally stay in Chicago or move to New York. With alternating POV from each of the characters, the story follows their friendships over the dozen years right after college graduation, including the funeral referenced in the prologue.
As a 2005 college graduate who loves women's fiction, I fit the target audience for this book. It took me on a nostalgic trip down memory lane - from applying to jobs to realizing my friends were all moving to the same city (Boston) and I wanted to end up there eventually (which is funny because I’m one of very few still left in the Boston area now). I remember dating and making “big” decisions in my 20s, along with the ebb and flow of college friendships, as the book realistically portrays. By the end, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t read this book before now! I did a mix of reading and listening to the audiobook while traveling, and I recommend both. I’m excited to read more from the author, including her 2021 debut, Friends from Home.

This book was reminiscent of a indie 2000a, late 90s movie. It felt very realistic, maybe because I am the target audience, an older millennial. The writing was well done.
Solid 4-5 stars for the writing.
This is an excellent read and not at all
A feel good read
This is for someone looking for a taste or nostalgia or a close to home /realistic /bittersweet story about friendship and the ups and downs of becoming an adult, loss, love, growth and everything in between.

Thanks NetGalley

I loved this story of 4 friends and how they change, how they stay friends, etc as the years after college pass. Each year is told by 1 of the friends and I found that quite interesting and fun to read. Lots of regret and wishes for do-overs, keeps this story down to earth and relatable.

I was underwhelmed with this book. I’m sure it will find a large audience, but I just felt like it was the same as a ton of other things I’ve read before.

Engaging, immersive, and entertaining. This is a recommended purchase for collections where WF is popular.

A captivating and propulsive novel about growing up and growing apart. There's a hopeful melancholy to all the relationships in this book that will stick with readers.

Unfortunately this book didn’t work for me and was a DNF but I am sure other readers will feel differently! Thank you for the ARC!

This was an entertaining and emotional read. Rachel, Clarissa, Dev and Nate are best friends graduating from college in 2006. Rachel, Dev and Nate move to New York City to start living their dream lives in the big city, while Clarissa moves to Chicago. While navigating their friendship, they must also learn to navigate jobs, dating, family and other aspects of their lives. Over the years, their friendships change and evolve, as told by each of their perspectives every year from their graduation. It denotes what life experiences and sentiments change their views and relationships.

Who We Are Now is a bit slow paced for me; it took me a while to get into and get hooked but I really enjoyed the characters, and multiple POVs and timelines. It's a very touching coming of age story and I admire the friendship among the characters

End of college, it’s graduation ,Four friends are embarking on a journey unlike anything they have known till now. Each taking their own path…. Nate finds himself in the Wall Street world, Rachel in the publishing world where she wanted to be, Clarissa tending to bars while trying to come up with comedy gigs, while Dev is…. lost on what his next step in life should be while he crashes with Nate at his apartment.
Like all close friends who have shared each others space day and night for four years in college, they promise to remain best of friends forever and hope to succeed in life. But that doesn’t always happen, does it?
This is really heart felt coming of age story of four college friends trying to find their footing in life, trying to achieve what they think is success in their field of interest and even with the best of intentions, things happen that keep some close while others drift away with passage of time. Most millennials will be able to relate to this book. It gives a real glimpse into the emotions, uncertainty , jealousy that comes with going out into the real world and trying to figure things out. It also has some heavy topics like addiction, sexual abuse, LGBTQ which are written beautifully.
May be a little slow for some but I really cherished all the characters and the character development felt very apt, with their advancing age.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an arc of this book for my honest opinion!

Who We Are Now is described as a coming of age, Sliding Doors type story told in the perspective of 4 different friends. I am not sure that it entirely meets that. I was hoping that the first half of the story would have hinged on one decision and then told the story from that perspective but instead it was more questioning throughout whether people make the right decision hundreds of times. I absolutely get that, but I think I would have loved to see the what if aspect also.

The book felt very Rachel centric more than anything. Like the entire friend group really revolved around her, even when the characters were together separate from her and maybe even mad at her, they still ended up referencing her most of the time. I did not love that because I dont think she had the most interesting story of the group.

At the end of the day, the book is about that weird post college years where you are trying to establish yourself and hang on to the friends that meant to the world to you those 4 years. I connect with that part of the story, I just didnt connect with these characters as much as I had hoped.

This book is probably the ultimate Real World Book for us elders- Millenials. we start in 2006 when Dev, Rachael, Clarissa, and Nathan are enjoying their last few days of college life at Northwestern University before beginning their real lives. We then follow the Fab 4 through post-grad life, quarter-life crisis, and as they head into mid-life. As a member of the class of 2005, this group was one year younger than me, but many of the milestones felt so familiar this was a walk down back memory lane. Most of the book takes place in NYC, with flashes to Chicago for Clarissa and for college. Overall, I enjoyed the book and getting to know the four, but at times, it felt like the book was trying to cover too much time ( 12 years), and it was too much too fast. A lot of developments were missing, and then it felt like we would have to read to catch up on what was happening to one character when the other chapter was about someone else. In the end, once I got into it ( once they graduated for me), it was a good read, and I enjoyed it and felt some parts of it were realistic. I didn't enjoy the NYC background, I think I would have liked it a bit more if they lived in other places ( or even stayed in Chicago). I thought the ending was really great and found that part of the story really true to what it sometimes feels like to get older and look around and realize all the changes and missing faces. I also think that Nate’s story felt like it just dropped off, and I would have loved more back story on all the characters as to how they got where they did. I felt like the only one we really got that from as Rachel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced read of Who We Are Now.

This book follows four friends over fifteen years - the bonds they share and how those change as they navigate life. It’s definitely a character driven book, and I really wanted to love it.

However, it just didn’t move for me. I felt like I kept reading and reading, but wasn’t making any progress or feeling fully drawn in. It’s was a slow read for me.

Not a bad book by any means! But not one I’d likely recommend to others.

This. Book took me a while to get into and I put it down for a while. But I'm glad I picked it up and continued reading. I enjoyed the story of theee friends through the years.

This gives the feel of a best seller…story of four college friends and their lives after college making their ways through their careers, interpersonal relationships, successes, failures and downfalls. You get to know each character and their issues well, making you invested in them. One of the better books I’ve read this year.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC.

What a sweet coming of age story. I love multi POV novels and the format of this worked well for me. I think that the novel was a slow build and then was sudden at the ending. I needed more time with it. Overall an enjoyable read.

Who We Are Now was a very interesting, incredibly readable novel. Multi time line with different POVs, with each chapter ending in a different year was excellent! The entire story was told over 15 years so by the end you are invested in the characters but I did feel as if character development could have been more defined. I also felt the ending was abrupt and needed a little bit more.

This book was so nostalgic and really hit on a lot of areas and mental challenges we face during life after college and navigating new and old relationships. Chamberlain established some good characters who, while flawed, were also likeable and relatable. Parts of the book were a little slow but it worked overall because normal life isn't always face paced or immediate.
I liked that each year was told through every character's perspective and that we got that insight from the various points of view. While I did get annoyed at times with their decisions , or non-decisions, it was a good reminder how differently we all cope and deal with changes in our lives.
My one major complaint was that, overall, they were all fairly privileged and didn't seem to have to worry about money as much. I feel that the millennial generation would have been better represented with that as a struggle.

A touching story of coming of age, the struggles in comparison and envy of your friends, all while trying desperately to find happiness. I loved the theme that we grow apart from our friends, and our remaining friendships morph; that dreams change and there is still joy and success to be found in new paths.

The first half the story was rough; I felt that the story was dated rather than nostalgic, and that the characters lacked depth. However, at the halfway mark I realized that the writing changed with the characters: from young and naive and a little annoying to more self-aware and thoughtful, and at this point the story became more emotionally moving. You leapfrog through the characters lives and stay with them long enough to see the first domino tip, and then you hear the rest of them fall from the points of view of the friends.