I enjoyed this tongue-in-cheek account of life in a beach town. The narrator never takes herself too seriously, even when she’s railing against City Hall, feuding with neighbors, tracking parking violations, and filing complaints about all of the above. She leaves her average Kansas life behind for a luxurious seaside lifestyle, only to find that people are people wherever you go.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC; I look forward to reading more by this debut author!

4 stars / This review will be posted on goodreads.com today.


After 30 years of marriage, Kathleen’s husband has decided he’s through. Done. Going on a months long cruise aboard the Queen Mary. Kathleen is perplexed, stunned, and just a little bit sad. What will she do here in Kansas City without him?

When all else fails, it’s time to shop. Only Kathleen doesn’t buy a new purse, she buys a house. On the beach in a small town called Whitbey that her lifelong friend Josie moved to many years ago. Sight unseen, Kathleen sells all her prized possessions and heads to Whitbey. She finds a new life, but it’s not a happy new life. The owners next door are building a colossal modern house. They’re breaking so many codes and statutes. And with this, Kathleen has found purpose for her new life.

Only the husband Tom keeps sending her postcards. Her friend Josie is almost too busy with her shop and farm to keep Kathleen company. So Kathleen befriends the woman across the street who also has a gripe with the monstrosity being built. Together they stage a war against the town, and in that, Kathleen finds purpose.

This book is so funny. It’s wise and witty and just fun to read. Nothing like reading a book about a beach town when you’re lounging on a beach. I would read this book again and again. Castellano has a gift for humor. We all dream of living on the beach, but this town definitely does not seem like a dream!

After being married to Kathleen for 30 years, Tom comes home one day & tells her that he is unhappy, and is leaving on a six-month cruise around the world. Kathleen decides to file for a divorce and move to a small east coast beach town where her childhood friend Josie lives & sends pictures of the quaint seaside town on her Christmas cards. Well Kathleen decides with the divorce she will make a life altering change & move there. She buys a cottage on the beach without seeing it, of course to her surprise when she arrives, it's a two-room oyster shack with a leaky roof. From there things only get worse for her. I didn't love this book, but parts were entertaining. Kathleen writes letters to the town supervisor, whom never responds back, she has ongoing issues with her neighbors & beach life is not all it is cracked up to be for Kathleen.

Save What’s Left by Elizabeth Castellana
A quick, slightly humorous story. Kathleen’s husband decided he wants a divorce after 30 years of marriage.Kathleen is devastated and decides to sell her home and buys a home sight unseen in a small beach town. Drama and problems occur right away with the neighborhood and the town government. After about 40% into the book it fell flat for me. I kept reading because the beginning was good and I really enjoyed the writing style. To me it was too much complaining by the protagonist. I’m really looking forward to seeing what this author does next in her journey.

Thank you Netgalley and Vintage Anchor for the Arc in exchange for my honest review.

Save What’s Left is the story of Kathleen Deane who is trying to start over after her husband left her. She sells their house in Kansas and moves to a small beach town on the east coast near her friend Josie. She buys a small, two room house on the beach and that’s when things seem to go wrong. The house next door is supposedly being renovated but they are not following any building codes or even what their permit says they are doing. She and another neighbor Rosemary get involved with city hall and the zoning committee. They learn a lot, not all of it good, about how things work in this small beach town. Will she ever find herself and happiness in her new place? To make matters worse her soon to be ex-husband shows up with his new Airstream and parks it in her driveway. He has not enjoyed his cruise around the world and is still trying to find himself also.
This story is one of a lot of complaints and unhappiness. At times it is funny due to some situations the characters get into. The end ties things together well and for that I give it 4 of 5 stars.
I received an advance copy of this book from the Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is the story of Kathleen, a woman who has been married to her cardiologist husband Tom for over 30 years. Suddenly Tom announces he’s unhappy, and decides to “find himself” by taking a six-month cruise around the world. In response to this, Kathleen sells most of everything she owns and moves to a seaside town off Long Island.

This is a book filled with quirky characters. Quirky characters can be interesting and entertaining. But they can also be annoying. I felt like some of the characters in this book leaned far too heavily to the annoying side. Yet, I was constantly coming back to the book, turning the pages to find out what happens. I don’t agree with a lot of Kathleen‘s viewpoints, or her choices. But I found the writing delightful, and would definitely read this author again.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Just not my favorite book - I was definitely thinking it would be more of a rom/com type book and less of a "Karen" main character. That said, I am sure it is someone else's cup of tea! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I loved this story about a sixty year old woman moving to a beach town. I laughed out loud so many times at the situations she got herself in. Kathleen is a relatable and well written character, and if you are a certain age, it will be quite easy to relate to her reactions to things.
A times a bit repetitive, but I really liked how the author moved the story forward, and created a great cast of secondary characters to round out this novel. ( Her Neighbour, Rosemary who lives across the road is a hoot)
Perfect summer beach reading!

Save What's Left started out really good for me and then by middle I felt like something was missing. Overall worth a read if the premise sounds interesting to you.

The theme of this story is "be careful what you wish for and I think it has universal appeal. Most people have visualized themselves somewhere else--a new job, a vacation, successful kids, etc. only to discover that the new job has a horrible boss, the airBNB has roaches, and your lovely baby grows up to live in your basement. I love Kathleen and really admire her for wanting to make a difference. Another favorite character is Rosemary, her neighbor, everybody knows someone like her. Actually all the characters do ring true, but put them all together and you have a town that even though they are all frustrating you love them all.

This one has a lot of buzz about it. I was excited to read it.
As I was reading, I was on and off about it. I liked the main character, I didn't like her.
Bottom line is that the story had a lot of promise but it just went on far too long. It was kind of exhausting. I think it could have been a really funny, quirky book but just got bogged down in way too many sub-plot lines.

I guess not everyone wants to read a beach read. That's the premise of this book because the main character buys a beach house, and spends most of the book complaining about either the house, the beach town its in, or her neighbors. I was hoping that she would lighten up, but the end of the book is still another way of her saying that she doesn't fit in. She comes to realize that she loves to hate the town. She's not a native, but she has come to know every single person, house, and street there. There are definitely some characters (ornery, feisty) and comedic moments in the text. If you're looking for a character-driven book about a big change in midlife for later, this might be a good one for you to pick up.

Thank you, NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.

I received an advanced copy of this through NetGalley. If you like small town drama, this might be the book for you. We all know and hate busy bodies in our own neighborhoods, and this book is centered around one of the worst tattle tails with mostly good intentions. The character development was decent, but they were such a cast of irritating people that I wasn’t a fan. Of course, this is true to life in any neighborhood, but I can visit my own HOA Facebook page for the drama any time I like. The author did a great job of describing and developing the town, buildings, and characters. I’d definitely consider reading more by her in the future.

Crazy story of a woman who moves to a house on the beach looking for peace but finds everything but peace and quiet.

When a long-term marriage crumbles as the husband decides he needs more and heads off for a world cruise, what's the remaining spouse from Kansas to do? Why, sell everything and head to the East Coast and buy a quaint seaside cottage. And that's just what Kathleen does. However, just as in her marriage, her new life doesn't pan out any better than the one she left behind. What seems to be different is Kathleen becomes a caricature of all privileged women out there, angry about anything and everything that stands metaphorically or literally in their way. In this instance, the new house being built next door that blocks her view. Kathleen goes at it with everyone until she finds a friend in a snarky woman with whom she bonds over their mutual dislike of everything.
When Tom, the husband, returns from his world cruise still unfulfilled, he ends up living in Kathleen's driveway in a trailer and making friends with all the frenemies of Kathleen. Tom sees people and circumstances differently which unsurprisingly, annoys Kathleen to no end. But it does make for some honest relationship moments.
Where I thought this would be about a woman finding herself in past mid-life, it seems more like she has found a way to entertain herself with petty wars.


Thank you to Vintage Anchor publisher for access to an early copy. All opinions are my own.

I really liked the beginning of this book even though Kathleen's husband, Tom, of 30 years told her at breakfast one day he was leaving and going on a world cruise. The author's use of humor throughout Kathleen's ordeal kept me reading. She sells the house and furniture and buys a beach house sight unseen in the northeast part of the US where a friend of hers lived.

This part of the book became depressing to read just as the character was depressed. Kathleen moves into her house which was originally an oyster shed and finds the neighbor next door was remodeling their house breaking lots of county regulations. The rest of the story is about how she fights to have the county enforce their laws. Oh yeah, Tom does pull into her driveway in an Air stream and acts like nothing had changed.

Had the author maintained her lighthearted mood throughout the book I am sure I would have enjoyed this book it more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-copy of the book in return for an honest review

I downloaded this book thinking it would be a light-hearted beach read. Kathleen Deane is going through life, not happy, not sad, just existing. When her husband Tom announces he is leaving her, she decides to move to an idyllic beach community. When her neighbor starts to build next door, calamity ensues as they butt heads over his code violation monstrosity . Each chapter of the book starts with a letter written by Kathleen to the town supervisor with unreasonable and increasingly unhinged requests. Kathleen is abrasive and her complaining nature is tiresome, so by the end of the story I was not really rooting for her character anymore. . The story was ok, but at times it was a bit over the top, and a tad too long.

Some people tell long-winded stories that they are just certain are the funniest, wittiest things their audiences have ever heard and they couldn’t be more wrong. SAVE WHAT’S LEFT is author Elizabeth Castellano’s version, and protagonist Kathleen Deane is her version of the long-winded friend who just cannot tell a story without making the listener (reader) cringe at the details and lack of a good ending. Kathleen’s tales are neither funny nor redeeming and she is really hard to root for or like. She urges readers not to purchase beach homes and if she is the likely neighbor found there; we should all follow her advice. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ for Save What’s Left by Elizabeth Castellano. Kathleen Deane’s husband tells her over pancakes that he is no longer happy in their marriage and wants to go on an extended cruise. She reacts by selling all of her things and buying a beach house sight unseen. She moves to Whitby, where she confronts lazy and/corrupt city officials and other residents daily. At first her complaining was sort of funny, but as it persisted page after page, I didn’t find it as humorous and instead hoped her character would evolve…. The book really cast a negative light on beach-city dwellers.

I did like the author’s writing— just not these characters.

Thank you to the author, Anchor, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my review.

Light fun beach read that everyone can relate to. You will fall in love with each character despite their flaws and flakiness.