This book focuses on the death of a teenage girl in a small town, told from the pov's of a group of women who knew her (or know of her) to varying degrees.

I've never read a book like this where there are multiple POV's but none of them ever repeat. I can imagine this style is very hard to pull off, and think the author did an excellent job.

It did take a minute to really understand where the book was going. It's never exactly stated how each POV relates to the next, so you have to slowly weave it together as you go through. Once I started to get the whole picture I felt very invested. Because you only get one chapter with each person, you never really get to feel connected to them. I think the effect of that made me feel almost removed from the death as a whole, which I'm guessing was the point.

Very interesting read and very well written. I would definitely try this author again in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and SJP Lit for the ARC!

First I want to say that the writing in the book is just lovely. The author has a way with words that reads like poetry. You never know how much you touch the lives of others and in this story, we find out how 10 women deal with the death of a teenager. They all knew her but in different ways. At first it was confusing because of all the characters, but everything comes together and makes sense. Thank you to Netgalley and Zando/SJP Lit for the arc.

A powerful story all out a town affected by the death of a high schooler. It was hard to get pulled into the story because of the disjointed writing. People told their stories in present and past tenses with no indication of which was which. I found myself having to reread entire passages to figure out what was happening. If that was resolved, this would be been a great book.

I received an early copy through Netgalley but all opinions are my own.

This is a stunning debut novel from Alina Grabowski. Her writing is lyrical and engaging. We start out in a small MA coastal town that is fading away into obscurity. Even the yearly tourist season can no longer lift it out of its economic depression. All the locals have been there forever, run all the businesses, and know everyone. When a young woman dies at a house party under suspicious circumstances, the town is uprooted. There are a lot of characters here to keep track of and the first 1/2 of the book tells the story from the perspective of 5 women who knew the victim, Lucy. The 2nd half revolves around 5 other women who know Lucy, some better than others. What's unique is that the other takes all these perspectives from the furthest to the closest relationship with Lucy, her best friend and mother. You don't get to know Lucy at all except through the perspectives of all these women. I thought this was a unique way to do character development. As if Lucy's character was a concentric circle, getting smaller and smaller, until her closest relationships are revealed. The author also explores what life is like in a small coastal town for most women and how they handle sexism, judgement, and other aspects of a close knit society, where there is often no place to escape. A great story about love, loss, and female relationships put to the test.

I really enjoyed the structure of this novel. It is about the death of a young girl, you learn about her and the circumstances surrounding her death from ten of the women around her. It unfolds a bit like a mystery but ends up being more about POV.

A teen ager dies tragically at a house party. Before and after chapters feature ten different women,
their relationship to the dead teenager and the impact it has on their lives.Through their chapters, more
is learned about the dead teen ager and what she was dealing with.
#WomenandChildrenFirst #Zando #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and SJP Lit for sending this ebook in exchange for a review.

The first thing that I liked about Women and Children First is the multiple perspectives. The story is told from the views of women who all live in the same small town in Massachusetts, and all know the main character Lucy, in various ways. The ages of the women range from her friends in high school, to mothers and principal. The book revolves around an unsolved tragedy, and how this girl and the tragedy affect each person in a different way. You get to know all the characters, and they are all portrayed realistically.

However, because of so many characters, and those associated with them, it gets a little disjointed and confusing at times. I realize the book I had is an ARC, but it was in need of some heavy editing- spacing issues and lack of punctuation left it difficult to understand who was speaking at times. I can only hope this will be fixed for wide-spread publication, because it was a detraction from the story. The author could still use some work with flow, but I was impressed with the style and imagination of the book for it's format. I would be willing to read this author again. 3.5 stars.

I tried so hard to get into this book but I just cannot. It started off great and I was following along and then bam, new character. Same thing with the next chapter. I knew the story was about 10 women going into this but didn't realize the story would be told in 10 separate parts. This kind of writing style just isn't for me and I couldn't keep myself interested enough to finish. I am sure plenty of other readers will enjoy this one, but it's a no for me.

Official DNF at 35%

Moms and their daughters are at the center of this story of a death at a house party with circumstances unclear. Relationships are tested and stories are questioned. Perhaps too many characters for the reader to attach to any? No one character developed enough? Not my favorite.

I am in love with this book. I will read it again and again!

There is nothing better than a book that you cannot predict...something with beautiful language, interesting characters and an unpredictable ending or rhythm to the story. In Women and Children First, Alina Grabowksi has done this and created a work of true art.

The small town in Massachusetts is imploding upon itself and small towns without tourists tend to do. The death of a young woman rocks the town but in many different ways. Grabowski throws us right into the action by utilizing ten chapters to introduce 10 different women. Each woman is touched by this death but all in different ways. The 10 are organized before and after the death and as a bystander, you are meant to put the pieces together, grieve with the friends, the mother, the neighbor and wonder what went wrong.

I suspect I will experience something different every time I read this novel and I will test it now! I cannot wait to re-read it and experience this true literary work, a master work, again!
#Zando #SJPLIT #sarahJessicaParker #sarahjessicaparkerliterature

Some days, I wonder if maybe being retired and slowing things down in my life has affected my taste in reading. I used to like digging in to “literary novels,” but these days I find what my friend calls “one night stands” (mysteries and thrillers you can binge in a day or two) more my thing. Well, that and snarky political essays. In any case, thanks to Zando/SJP Lit and NetGalley, I received a copy of Alina Grabowski’s novel Women and Children First in exchange for my honest review, and I was eager to read it after seeing a couple of good reviews and reading the publisher’s blurb.

It’s oddly structured. It is actually ten interlinked stories, told chronologically, by ten different women, each of whom has a connection to Lucy, a young woman who dies at a house party in the decaying coastal town in Massachusetts. As the stories go on, the reader learns about the town and the various factors that affect everyone – particularly the storytellers. There are some fairly intense relationships and situations, including family dynamics, sexual abuse, and grooming. Not a light, frothy story for sure! Issues include the impact of social media, and class and wealth and how they impact a town that seems to have been spiraling downward for years.

Well written, ingenious storytelling, but TBH I just didn’t care enough about any of the people…even thought once or twice that Lucy was possibly the lucky one to have gotten out of a terrible place. Three stars.

Women and Children First explores the circumstances of and reaction to the death of a young girl, Lucy Anderson. It provides an interesting look into the lives and thoughts of the other women in her life including her friends, acquaintances, classmates, classmates mothers, as well as her own mother. It is a very engrossing read.

“Women and Children First” consists of several vignettes of the characters living in a small, impoverished town on the coast of Maine, whose lives are impacted in small and large ways by the sudden death of Lucy Anderson, a local high school student. Initially, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. The first couple of narratives seemed disjointed and disconnected, with the characters only seeming to have a passing connection to Lucy; however, as the narration came closer to the events surrounding Lucy’s death and the characters were more intimately connected to Lucy, the book began to draw me in as I discovered what happened to her, and the impact her death had on her family and closest friends.

The prose was haunting and beautiful, conveying the bleakness of both the internal and external landscapes of the characters, as well as their feelings of hopelessness and stagnation in a town that offered few opportunities for employment or growth. This novel, with its focus on a number of characters and their different reactions to Lucy’s loss, offers a very unique approach to the theme of a tragic death’s impact on a small, interconnected community.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Zando Projects, for providing me an ARC of the novel in exchange for my honest review.

This was a tough one to get into. 10 different characters, with different perspectives. I was confused for about half the book, until things became a little clearer. I was maybe 1/3 of the way through when I wanted to quit, and I'm not really sure why I didn't. Well, I'm glad I didn't. While I can't say I actually enjoyed this, I can certainly say that I appreciate what the author accomplished -- this is pretty darn good. If you can get past the part where a young kid dies, a cast of characters that feels helpless and mostly morose, hopefully you can appreciate the skill that the author has shown here.

I was maybe 85% done, and I nodded off in the midst of a passage. When I struggled into consciousness perhaps an hour later, I felt really down and glum. It took me 5 minutes to figure out it was the book that put me there. That's talent, and I appreciate it.

Well done. Be prepared to feel blue, and be a little confused. I think it was well worth it.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

everything from the reviews to the cover to the blurb made me want to read this so bad! and i was so excited that i got accepted to read it early, but i just don’t think it’s for me. the writing style and the characters just kind of fell flat to me.

I think the plot here was really interesting, but the narrator didn't keep me invested. This deals with some heavier content so I'd be careful if certain things trigger you.

Heavier book that I thought it was but it was beautfully delivered with different POVs and good writing.

Women and Children First is set in a small down-on-it’s-luck coastal Massachusetts town. The inciting event is the death of Lucy, a teenage girl, at a house party in somewhat mysterious circumstances. But this isn’t a mystery, a plot heavy story, or even a psychological drama. Rather it is fairly quiet and definitely literary, a series of ten interlinked stories, each focussing on a different woman or girl with some connection to Lucy - her mother, her teacher, her best friend, a classmate, a summer work colleague. They are arranged chronologically giving the book narrative momentum, although some events are revisited from a different perspective which is always insightful. Through them we build up a picture of this town, particularly the factors influencing the lives of the women and girls who live there. We learn about complicated mother-daughter relationships, and instances of grooming and sexual abuse. We witness the use and misuse of social media, and see the impact of class and wealth. We see the toll addiction and grief can take. The death of Lucy impacts all ten women but isn’t necessarily the main event affecting them.

The writing was beautiful. Grabowski really captured the fears and vulnerabilities of her characters, even when they were projecting an image of strength. Her depiction of small town dynamics was also pitch perfect. The storytelling was assured. Ensemble novels can be tricky to pull off but this book never felt disjointed, and the whole was definitely more than the sum of its parts.

This was a really solid debut, one I’d recommend to fans of literary fiction.

I came very close to not finishing this book. I’m so glad I did. The first half of the book seems rather disjointed. It was difficult to figure out how these characters related to each other. The second half of the book is propulsive. It is full of raw emotion. The prose is wonderful and the feelings are so genuine. A high school girl dies and 10 different female characters in the town grapple with her death. You learn not just about their relationship with Lucy, the girl that dies, but other significant relationships that they have. Those closest to Lucy are grasping at straws. I would encourage anyone that is slogging through the first half of this book to finish. The payoff is huge.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Zando for an advanced readers copy.

Alina Grabowski's writing is beautiful. I would definitely read from her again. The story itself did not captivate me as much as the synopsis did. I found the characters difficult to connect to. I think I may have enjoyed following fewer characters with more depth.