Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a great coming of age story set in the 60s and 70s. I was excited to read this one due to the era it is set in and it did not disappoint! There is a love story going on throughout the book as well. Overall an okay read

3.5 stars.

This book started out wonderful, a tender story set on the California coast in the 1950s and late 1960s that follows a group of friends - though mainly two of them, Celia and Jeremy - who spent their childhoods together until one fateful event tore them apart, only to cross paths again as adults. They childhood chapters are superb, the characters leap of the page, and the story moves along seamlessly and beautifully. The environment of the 1960s - sexual liberation and, in particular, music festivals - was described equally vividly and in a very atmospheric way.

But as much as I adored them as kids, grown-up Celia and Jeremy are a different story, and I found myself growing more and more disenchanted with them. Celia is needy, clingy, and pretty much stalking Jeremy, who, for his part, has unexplained anger issues towards her and treats her abysmally. While their friends and their stories stories shine, Moose in particular, even though he gets the least amount of story time - and although Angie‘s story in particular never gets resolved - Celia and Jeremy go down a troubling and honestly fairly abusive path (his „tempered sadism“ and emotional abuse is neither cute nor understandable). The more I read about them, the less I liked both of them, and I found myself wishing them apart, which I‘m guessing wasn‘t the author‘s intention.

One single drug-fueled day and night in San Francisco also took up way too much storytime that could have been used better (on Moose‘s backstory! Fletcher! Angie‘s future and her brother! Bianca! Why exactly Celia thinks her dad’s death was her fault! Literally anything but a few too many LSD trips). Finally, things got unnecessarily crude towards the end.

I wanted to love this book, and did when I first started out, but was left disappointed by the turns in the story, the character development (I refuse to call it growth on Celia and Jeremy’s parts, as they are both more annoying in the end than they ever were in the beginning), and the ultimate non-resolution - for all those chapters spent on a few hours in San Francisco, and the detailed descriptions of physical contact, the actual ending felt rushed and unsatisfying.

Thank you to the author, Greenleaf Book Group Press, and NetGalley for an advanced reader‘s copy in exchange for my honest review.

What a beautiful coming of age story. This is about 5 friends in the 70’s who live through a time touched by war, love and new ideas. Beautifully written and surely a fan fave for lovers of historical fiction.

A very good chronicle of an important era and I enjoyed it and appreciate the opportunity to read it.

too many characters, too many plot threads. could definitely use more editing, although i do see the appeal in it.

This was a beautifully done coming-of-age novel, it had everything that I was hoping for. I was invested in the characters story and thought it was working well. It felt like I was on the journey with the characters and glad I was able to read this. M. H. Reardon does a great job writing this and can’t wait for more.

"Flight of the Monarchs" by M. H. Reardon offers readers a nostalgic journey back to the transformative and tumultuous era of the 1960s, specifically the iconic Summer of Love in 1967. Through the perspectives of Jeremy, Celia, Fletcher, Angie, and Moose, this novel weaves a compelling narrative of self-discovery, personal challenges, and the cultural revolution that defined a generation.

The premise of Jeremy's return to his hometown after an eleven-year absence, following a tragic incident involving his abusive father, sets the stage for a story that is both emotionally charged and rich in character development. The characters grapple with the societal changes of the time, including issues related to sexuality, feminism, and the counterculture movement.

Celia's unrequited love for Jeremy, Fletcher's internal struggle with his sexuality, Angie's exploration of feminism, and Moose's embrace of the counterculture all add depth and authenticity to the narrative. The juxtaposition of personal growth against the backdrop of a changing America provides a thought-provoking exploration of identity and social change.

"Flight of the Monarchs" promises to immerse readers in the sights, sounds, and sentiments of the Summer of Love. The book's portrayal of music festivals, psychedelic experiences, and the emergence of the queer movement in San Francisco captures the essence of this era.

Overall, this novel appears to be a beautifully written and evocative work that transports readers to a pivotal moment in history, offering a poignant exploration of individual and collective transformation. It holds great promise for those seeking a literary journey through the complex landscape of the 1960s.

I love coming of age stories, and this one was billed as that, so I was happy to have the opportunity to read it. To me though, it was more a combination of different genres. It starts off like a coming of age story, and that was the part I found most interesting.

Jeremy is a young boy who lives with his violent, alcoholic father and has a crush on his neighbour Celia, a little girl with a nice family and a father who is very kind to his daughters and their friends, like Jeremy.

Though Celia only actually acknowledges Jeremy as her friend outside of school. Because at school he is often bullied and taunted for being poor and different. Yet it's Jeremy who ends up accidentally killing his father in an attempt to defend Celia.

Jeremy's mother then returns to whisk him off to live with her at his maternal grandfather's home. Celia pines for the closure she doesn't get, and the boy she didn't know she loved.

When things subsequently go wrong in her life, everyone assumes it is because of the tragedy involving Jeremy. That is not the whole story though. And Fletcher is the only one who knows the truth of what really happened to her. Of course, Celia is the only one who knows the truth about Fletcher, too - because this is America in the '60s, and being gay is considered a mental illness.

Years later, when Jeremy has to return to renovate his father's house which he inherited, before heading off to Vietnam, Celia and her friends Fletcher, Moose and Angie find they are dealing with a very different version of that once-neglected boy.

But Celia's attraction towards Jeremy remains a constant at a time when very little else is - on again and off again as that relationship is. The Summer of Love is underway, but it's far from simple for some of those caught up in those changing times...

I had mixed feelings about the book. It was largely a love story rather than a coming of age story for me, which reduced its appeal for me, but one set in times of enormous social upheaval, which made it more interesting.

And I found some of the supporting characters more interesting than Celia and Jeremy. But the book does work well as a chronicle of the times, so if you are looking for a dose of sixties nostalgia, this could well do the trick!

Flight of the Monarchs is a coming-of-age story about a group of young adults living in California in 1967. The main characters Jermey and Celia are very well-written, and while they sometimes fought like cats and dogs, I did hope that they would end up fixing their messed-up relationship. The others were also very well done, Moose, Fletcher, and Angie all were strong characters. The story is not exciting, there are no thrills, there are mysteries, It is just a book about a group of people growing up. With that in mind, the story is slow. It constantly circles back to the Jermey and Celia mess of a relationship with very little change. Of course, there is a bit, otherwise, the story would have two people not speaking to each other, but it felt like nothing was ever truly resolved. In all the situations there was little resolution, most were left open-ended with the reader deciding for themselves how the story ends. Some of the hippie stereotypes were cringe-worthy, especially the park and the tripping scenes. All in all, even with the frustrating ending, I did enjoy this, it was a nice read with great characters.