I am catching up on an older arc. After reading blocks of heavy reading, I was really looking forward to a beach read. The book has been touted as the GMA Book Club pick and People Magazine best book of summer in 2023. I really struggled with the repetitiveness in the book. I did not find it humorous as others described. I could not connect with the protagonist Kathleen. I read about half of the book before I gave up.

I really struggled with this book. In fact, as I try to review it, I realize I kinda zoned out a bit so I guess I would summarize it as "not as inspiring as I had hoped."

I started this, and abandoned it. I picked up again, and abandoned it. I finally forced myself to finish it, but I’m truly not sure why. This is in no way a summer read to me. It’s a long-form rant and far too much repetitive detail about building codes and coastal town policies and politics. Nothing happened. For most of the book. There was finally tension and (some) resolution in the last 30 pages, but I did not enjoy this book. 👀

*I was honored to read an ARC of this book via
NetGalley and the author/publisher. All opinions are my own.*

DNFed - I chose to DNF this book in the past. I am typing as a review so it doesn't harm my %. I haven't chose to pick the title back up.

It is the story of Kathleen, a woman whose husband leaves her after 30 years of marriage. She moves from Kansas City to a beach town on Long Island where her best friend lives. With her neighbor, she becomes embattled in small town politics. The characters are quirky. Some of the scenes had the potential to be funny. However, it fell short. I felt like it was just one long rant about how mis-managed this small beach town’s government was. The negativity was overpowering. After a while you notice that the story is really just a big lament from the main character and you don't see much character development. I had hoped that the ending would make up for the lack of an interesting plot, but unfortunately that was not the case for me. The chapters were long and tended to ramble. I don’t understand how it became a GMA Book Club pick. Was not impressed with this book at all and boy did I try to get into it.

The characters were not likeable from the start and I was not drawn in. I attempted to push through to see if it got better but could not relate to the story or characters. Did not finish.

I did not like this one I am sorry to say. Repetitive and boring and just had a very difficult time finishing it. NO editing!

SAVE WHAT’S LEFT by Elizabeth Castellaro

An outrageously funny debut novel about a woman’s who moves to a small beach town looking for peace, only to find herself in an all-out war with her neighbors.

This novel, thought to be funny, turned out to be boring, very repetitive, and more like a journal than a regular novel without a clear plot.

Thanks to Netv Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

Kathleen and her husband Tom have an unhappy marriage, he decides to leave her and take a long cruise. She sells their house and buys a small house on the beach. The house is an old oyster shack and the town is so small that everyone knows everybody and everything about everybody. Kathleen is unhappy in the took and with the house. This book was funny in some parts but I found it very repetitive. It took me awhile to get through.
Thank you to Netgalley and Vintage Anchor publishing for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A book with an eccentric character and a beach setting sounded right up my alley. Too bad this ended up being a book about complaining. Our main character complains about one thing or another the entire book. Her 30 something year old daughter complains and whines about her mom every time she is in the book. All of the complaining got old really fast. 2.5 stars rounded up for Goodreads.

Not what I was expecting of this book at all. Very hard to read this book until thw end, but did finish it. The last chapter of the book is probably the best part of the book. The main character is difficult to like, I kept reading thinking that maybe her attitude and outlook would change but it did not.

I really tried with this book. I typically love this type of set-up - a woman is left by her husband after a 30 year marriage - no reason given. He leaves for a worldwide cruise, she takes the opportunity to buy a small waterfront beach house, sight unseen. Big mistake since the house is right next to a big construction site. I chuckled a bit at the situation she got herself into but after awhile, I just got annoyed and was frustrated at the bad choices she kept making. Not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of Save What's Left by Elizabeth Castellano in exchange for my honest review and opinion. Cute story line but I personally had a hard time with this as I felt it was a bit repetitive and I struggled to finish. I did find several parts of the book quite funny and liked the author's sense of humor.

This is probably the furthest I have been from average ratings on Goodreads. There was something I found hilarious about this book, and I will try to explain it in writing as much as possible. This latter bit will be my way of thinking aloud as to why I enjoyed the book in the first place.
There are repetitive features in this book; I felt like this reinforced my empathy for the lead protagonist about the life she has chosen to live. She is caught in a sort of loop which just continues to give her agony without relief while also being part of a more serious situation in the big picture.
Kathleen's husband wants a change. Once he sets off on a random adventure, he thinks up suddenly; Kathleen decides to sell up their belongings and move to a house sight unseen in a small coastal town. Once there, she realises that living in such close quarters with the same people lends itself to some crazy situations.
The primary irritant is the construction of a monstrosity near her new home, which Kathleen deals with ineffectually. There is one friend who lives in town who seems a little mad herself with her odd shop, but Kathleen has known her forever, and that kind of closeness comes with time.
The chaos is not subtle. Nothing about the repeated irritants is gentle and definitely not soothing. The ending fits the tone of everything that happens till that point, and the frustration that simmers is always under the surface.
There is a small side story of a random Christmas letter writer, which I found to be a fun addition to the whole thing.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to read something chaotic, although the enjoyment of the book may vary based on what people expect from a book like this. I would definitely pick up another of the author's works.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

"Save What's Left" by Elizabeth Castellano lands right in the middle of the road with a solid three stars. The story follows 59-year-old Kathleen, who, in a bold move to rewrite her life's next chapter, leaves Kansas for a fresh start in a Long Island beach town. This decision comes on the heels of her husband's suggestion they divorce, coupled with his departure for a European cruise—without her. Kathleen's dreams of tranquil beachside living are quickly upended by the reality of her new home: a fixer-upper beach shack overshadowed by a massive, under-construction "Sugar Cube" next door.

Kathleen's hopes for peace are further disturbed by the incessant construction noise and her immersion into local politics, which she had not anticipated being so contentious. A silver lining appears in the form of a new friendship with her neighbor Rosemary, bonded over mutual disdain for the disruptive construction project. However, the plot takes a quirky turn with the unexpected arrival of Tom, Kathleen's estranged husband, seeking reconciliation—or at least a place to park his Airstream.

Castellano delivers a narrative that zigzags between humor and discomfort, offering a unique twist on the beach read genre. While the book does provoke laughter and presents an engaging premise, it occasionally falls short in delivering a consistently compelling narrative. The charm of a small-town setting is somewhat overshadowed by the overemphasis on local disputes and the sometimes-clunky integration of Kathleen's personal dilemmas. Nevertheless, "Save What's Left" is a commendable debut that might resonate with readers looking for a beach read that's not afraid to tread into deeper waters of life's unpredictability and the complexities of starting over.

This was a solid read. It was not my favorite but I liked it enough. The storyline concept was good. I just do not feel like it played at good. It felt more rambly than story telling.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was so so. I expected a bit more from this book in reading the synopsis of it. Rather repetitive and not too interesting.

** spoiler alert ** Special thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. It took awhile but I finally gave it a try and am glad I did.
This is such a different "beach" read than what I'm used to...the beach part was a lot less good time and a lot more small town drama. I enjoyed the email narrative at each chapter but some of the side stories were unnecessary and didn't add to the plot.
I liked the story and was glad that the main character had a happy ending but I also felt like it was a bit repetitive and just like true life, where so often the rich people that do the crime, don't do the time.

I made it to 100 pages before throwing in the towel. I found the story telling to be pretty witty but man was it repetitive. One hundred pages in and I wasn’t prepared to stay the course. I gave it a good try though.

This was a pleasant enough diversion, it just didn't live up to the media hype. There are a bunch of things that would appeal to various folks, those who have fought with village boards, those who have dealt with shocking middle age separations, and annoying or grumpy neighbors. But I expected a little more.