I liked this one, but it didn't flow as nicely as I was expecting, so for me it wasn't a true beach read.
The relationships were the stand out here. The relationships between the mother and the three daughters were strained due to some childhood trauma, so watching them work all of that out was interesting and intriguing. I especially liked the bond between sisters. Watching them lean on each other while they go through some heavy things was very satisfying. Overall a solid read, I hope there is more from this author!

A heart wrenching, unputdownable novel that will have you on an emotional rollercoaster. I loved the characters, even the flawed ones. I loved this story. Jealous of anyone who will be reading it for the first time!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I could not get into this book even when I received it on audio. I could not connect with the characters and felt bored while reading.

I always love a deeper look at a family who looks like they have it all. As the story breaks down, we get to know more about the different members of the Garnetts. I especially loved Imogen’s story.

This would make a great book club pick. Thank you to Avon books.

I really tried to give this debut women's fiction story about mothers and daughters and sisters a chance but I could not get into it. Skipping around from POVs and timelines, this was a domestic drama about the complicated relationships between these women but I struggled to get invested in their lives and DNF at 25%. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

When Richard walked out, Margo locked herself away, leaving her three daughters, Rachel, Imogen, and Sasha, to run wild. Sandcove is the family home and Rachel feels responsible for not losing it. Imogene is feeling pressured to marry someone she’s not sure she loves and Sasha is worried about her dominating husband. The girls must work together to keep their mother sane when they finally hear from Richard many years later. The book dwells on the importance of family.

The opening parts of this book that having a family on a beach made me feel quite nostalgic for my own childhood, then when it all turns to chaos, it felt so familiar.

I found the idea of the book appealing.
I’ve always liked books about sisters, although I have none of my own.
It was a very slow start and I struggled with the rest of the book. I didn’t understand why it was so imperative for Imogen to marry.
I found Margo irritating. I didn’t think the characters worked well together, they were stilted and awkward.
I did like the Isle of Wright location,

The Garnett Girls are women who are trying to find their way over the course of this well written first novel. Mother, Margo, was once wildly in love with Richard but all did not go well. She has gone on to a somewhat chaotic life and has been a less than perfect mother.

Margo’s three daughters have their own relationships and issues. Imogen is about to be engaged but is William really the right person for her? Is she doing what is safe or what is best for her? Sasha has a rather prickly relationship with controlling husband Phil, while Rachel seems to have the perfect husband d(he does lots of cooking and childcare). Is he?

Readers follow each of the daughters careers-writer, doctor and lawyer respectively. Has professional success made then happy? What will happen to them and Margo?

This book has wonderful settings. The characters are sufficiently complex and there is lots of plot. All of these make for an involving read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and, Avon and Harper Voyage for this title. All opinions are my own.

A great book from Georgina Moore. I’ve never read a book by this author before and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. The characters were well thought out and the story was well paced.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon & Harper Voyager for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore.

Thanks to their mother and father’s fraught, and ultimately unsuccessful marriage, the Garnett sisters bring a lot of baggage to their relationships. Against their better judgement, each tries solving her problems independently instead of leaning on the others for help.
Nothing super exciting, but thoughtful and entertaining.
Thanks to #netgalley and #avonpublishing for this #arc of #thegarnettgirls in exchange for an honest review.

Well-crafted but much too maudlin for my taste.

It’s strange to see how frequently this book is described as “warm.” It has some nice moments, but this feels pretty far from what the tone of the book is.

It’s a bit tough to reconcile the actual book we get here with the publishers summary, which always leaves me feeling a bit misled. It’s also a bit difficult to see it as a true tragedy, because there’s just not that much happening.

It is, perhaps, a good character study, diminished by the overwrought angst. And that’s a shame, because Moore does show herself to be a good writer, and she’s written some intriguingly complex characters. I liked Margo and Imogen and especially Rachel, and Sasha is at least interesting if not exactly likable.

Solid work in terms of the sense of place and the character development, but too much melodramatic gloom without the necessary precipitating action.

I just couldn’t get into this book. I did not feel connected to the characters or the story at all. When I read the description I was so excited for this book too. I love the cover and title as well. Maybe it was just the timing but it wasn’t the book for me.

This books is such a comforting read. I love books that can make you feel good even in the midst of drama. And the Garnett girls know a lot about drama, trust me. This is a book about sisterhood and female alliances, with Sancove, an old family beach estate, as its main stage. Margo and Richard have three daughters (Rachel, Imogene and Sasha) but they are far from being the perfect parents, and even the perfect couple. Margo is a narcissist and Richard an alcoholic. When Richard leaves Margo for good, she can’t cope with the fact that now she is alone with the responsibility of raising three daughters. Unable to even get out of bed in the morning, most of the responsibilities fall on Rachel, the eldest of her daughters but still a child. They still manage to become functional and successful women. But the past is going to interfere in the present, making them doubt everything and reconsider the ties with their partners and their family relationships, even with the long-lost Richard.
The book is full of emotionally significant moments without being sentimental or banal. I found some fragments very relatable and the characters completely plausible, which for me is a must in a book that seeks identification with the reader.
I don’t normally read this kind of book, being more a Literary Fiction reader, but I really enjoyed this one.

The Garnett girls is a family mother/daughter drama. Margo is the matriarch, with three daughters. Her husband left her and all three of the Garnett sisters are struggling with personal issues. Georgina Moore weaves past into present as we swim along with The Garnett Girls.

Title: The Garnett Girls
Author: Georgina Moore
Publisher: Avon
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"The Garnett Girls" by Georgina Moore
My Sentiments:

'The Garnett Girls' came from a dysfunctional family where we find that the parents, Margo & Richard, had split up the three girls... Rachel, Imogen, and Sasha were quite a hand full. The story tells the reader about their miserable lives as they grew up. I'm not sure who I felt sorrier for...the Mom or the sisters with their husbands. I did not even enjoy the read in the beginning, with all the messiness that was going on with the family members and some other characters from the read; only if they would talk to each other! But I continued reading, hoping to get something from each of their particular stories.

However, these situations these girls endured go on in many families, and there may be a lesson for each of these girls' concerns that they went through along with their husbands and mother. By the end of the read, one is asking whether children can ever be free of the mistakes of their parents.

If it's drama you want, you have definitely come to the right place because 'The Garnett Girls' will give it all to you.

Thank you, NetGalley, for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm growing weary lately of reading books that I don't really enjoy. Sadly, this is yet another in that category. It reminds me of some of the old romance family dramas from the 70's or 80's filled with sex and arguments. Too many unlikable characters and not enough substance to be interesting. Maybe I'm in a reading slump or maybe just not my cup of tea. My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an arc of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

I couldn’t ever really get into this book. It felt like it dragged on. I started caring a bit for the characters, and then the next chapter I was annoyed by them and the writing. If someone asked me what this book was about, I wouldn’t quite know how to explain it. But I still thought that it had a good message and a good ending that made me happy. It wasn’t my favorite book but overall not a bad read.

3.5/5 stars

This is a debut novel centered on three grown sisters (Rachel, Imogen and Sasha) and their complicated relationships with their free-spirited mother (Margo). Taking place at their childhood home on the Island of Wight, it’s a look at all the complications and messiness of family and its secrets.

Richard and Margo were an epic love story that gradually disintegrated following Richard’s downward spiral. He abruptly left the family with no explanation after 10 years of marriage, leaving Margo depressed and their daughters confused and in the dark while trying to take care of Margo and hold the family together. As the girls grow up, Margo becomes both a source of comfort and strife as she loves fiercely but also controls in equal measure. Each has her own issues with their mother (and absent father) as well as their own life dilemmas to work through before they can be free to move forward and live on their own terms.

I had a love/hate relationship with this book. The writing was fine. The plot (with some childhood snippets), while a bit thin in parts, was fine. The characters however…I didn’t connect/particularly like any of them. And perhaps that was the point? But at times I became so frustrated and annoyed at the back and forth of their love/hate that I felt mentally exhausted and dreaded reading further. Margo was too domineering and immature for her 59 years, and her daughters too obsessed with her, seeking her approval and detesting her, often in the same paragraph.

In the end, I’m just ambivalent about the book. Not all bad but not great either.

My thanks to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for providing the free early arc of The Garnett Girls for review. The opinions are strictly my own.