Another lovely character-driven story from Napolitano. Although I preferred Hello Beautiful, this was highly enjoyable, especially with the full audio cast. This also gave me major Tracey Lange vibes with the Irish family dynamics. I also wanted to applaud Napolitano for writing about the intricacies of complicated familial relationships with such finesse. Character-driven stories tend to be a hit or miss for me, but her’s are always a hit!

Interestingly, upon listening to her author’s note, it makes sense that Within Arms Reach was actually written much earlier in her career. I can see the stylistic thread, as well as her evolution as a writer. It is great that she was able to finally republish it 20 years later!

Because of the success of Ann Napolitano's two most recent works, "Dear Edward" and "Hello Beautiful," this book, "Within Arm's Reach," the author's debut, will be re-released on April 30, 2024. Unfortunately, this book should remain in the past as it is not nearly as good as Ms. Napolitano's newer books. While it is interesting to see how she progressed and matured as a writer, I was disappointed with both the simplistic writing style and the story itself. This book lacks the descripting writing and character development that make "Dear Edward" and "Hello Beautiful" so extraordinary. The story is also a bit cliche-a large Irish Catholic family who largely disapproves of a family member's pregnancy out of wedlock, with some patriarchy thrown in for good measure. The ending was really abrupt and I would have liked to see a bit more closure. The cast of characters was quite large and I had a bit of difficulty keeping them all straight. I also didn't like the theme that " a baby will make everything better and make them one big happy family again." Just...no.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book was a fantastic read, and I'm excited to share it with others. The author has a unique style that resonates with me, and I think my bookstore customers will feel the same way. It's the kind of book that captivates you from the first page and keeps you engaged until the end.

I'll be enthusiastically recommending it to anyone who comes into the store looking for their next great read. Whether they're seasoned fans or new to the author's work, I believe this book has something for everyone. I can't wait to see their reactions and discuss the story with them.

Normally I am a big fan of multiple POV chapters and getting to hear how various stories can be intertwined, but unfortunately this was just a bit too much for me. I felt like I had to put more energy into keeping each story straight rather than taking in the plot. Happy to see others enjoyed this one and congrats to the author on her debut being reissused!

I love the cover of the book.

I always want to enjoy the authors writing but i have to say this was not my favorite by her. I felt there was alot going on and hard to follow what was going on. There were too may view points and the characters are def not easy to like.

Just was a slow burn through the whole book. It was just ok but not the best book ever!

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.

Three generations of the Irish MacLaughlin family are thrust into chaos when the youngest granddaughter becomes pregnant out of wedlock. This forces the family to confront its ghosts, both past and present. Told from the point of view from six different family members, the honest tale of interconnected lives shows how the family responds in different ways in the face of change.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and @annnapolitano for this ARC! This has been my train read as I’ve been traveling through Italy! This book is a republication of Napolitano’s first novel, which was originally published in 2004. I love a good family drama filed with flawed and multifaceted characters. Paired with Ann Napolitano’s excellent writing and character creation, this book was a real treat. I’ve loved Napolitano since reading Dear Edward a few years ago and I’m surprised this book didn’t receive more traction when it was initially published. The novel touches upon many themes, including the loss of connectivity, guilt, shame, sibling rivalry, long held grudges, and the huge challenge of holding a a large and diverse family together. The characters were so well created and complex, and I loved the different opinions and phases of life that each of their separate narratives illustrated. I also loved the NJ setting—I was born in NJ and was able to recognize most of the settings so that was fun! Within Arm’s Reach will be available on April 30!

I really wanted to enjoy Within Arm’s Reach because Hello Beautiful was one of my favorite books of 2023. I have to say, Ann Napolitano’s writing has changed and improved immensely in the time between the two novels. I found Within Arm’s Reach cluttered and difficult to follow, with too many points of view to the point that none of the characters seemed well-rounded or well defined. I didn’t really like these characters very much, I couldn’t get invested in them, they weren’t sympathetic to me but they weren’t villains, either. This was not at all the compelling family drama that Hello Beautiful is in my opinion. I know there are folks who absolutely love this book, but unfortunately, I’m not one of them.

A family saga involving multiple generations and points of view.

I was so excited to see this book up for request. I loved the two previous books I have read by this author. However, I must say this one was a disappointment to me. I found her other books captivating and so heartfelt. I didn't really like any of the characters in this one. I found most of them to be somewhat bratty regardless of age.

Don't get me wrong, there were some really good parts. I just had really high expectations that weren't met.

After reading Within Arm's Reach I learned that this is a reprint of the authors debut novel. Her writing and story telling has greatly improved since then. While I can't highly recommend this one, I absolutely can the two other books I have read by the author.

Thanks to netgalley and Random House Publishing for the arc.

I grew up in a large, Irish Catholic family, which is why this author’s books seem to resonate with me. I can see that if you didn’t grow up in this kind of family, it might be hard to connect with the characters and story. This book was originally published in 2004 and is being released again on April 30, 2024. If you have read Ann Napolitano’s other books, Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful, you will recognize that the writing in this title is definitely “debut” writing. I enjoyed the story of a large NJ family, but some parts seemed to run together. If you are a fan of Ann, I would recommend this book, but if not, you could easily skip it.

I was excited to receive a galley of this re-release of Napolitano's first book. Hello Beautiful was one of my favorite books last year so I was excited to read another of her books. This one was a slow burn family saga with an Irish-American family at the center. It is told from multiple perspectives and through 3 generations. It took me a bit to get invested in this book. I'd say I was a good 40% into the book before I felt like I was connecting with the story and able to keep the characters straight in my head. Once I was invested in the story, I enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of the family, the intricacies of their relationships, and the things they keep silent.

No matter how close we are to all of our family members, if they need us, we are right there for them. Gram is dying and the family comes together and finds how much they love each other. This is my fifth try at writing, but my reviews keep disappearing. So, read this book!

Within Arms Reach by Ann Napolitano
I didn't realize that this was a reissue of her first novel. Its a sweeping tale of 3 generations of women in a family and the decisions they make. This doesn't feel like a debut. Though the book was far more intense and sad than I believed it would be, but there was also a sense of hope. I enjoyed Napolitano's lyrical sense of story telling. Thanks to Net Galley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

While this is actually a re release of Napolitano's debut, it feels fresh as ever. Napolitano has become a breakout star with her more recent books, but Within Arm's Reach is just as strong. She writes family like no other.

Ann Napolitano is an auto-buy author for me so when Penguin Random House reached out to offer me an advance copy of the re-release of her first book I absolutely jumped at the chance! I loved this book and it's amazing to see how her style as an author both has and hasn't changed over the decades. This one reminded me a lot of "Hello Beautiful" and featured the same type of layered, character-driven, intergenerational story. I appreciated how this book really dived into complicated family dynamics, not just between people who grew up together but also between pieces of the family with different belief systems and class status. This is a great read whether you are new to Napolitano's work or a fan like me and don't miss the author's note where she reflects on what it means to republish this work and what it means to her today.

family sagas are my favorite genre but this one didn’t really do it for me. lila had absolutely zero redeeming qualities and was so absurdly self centered that I got angry.

Heartbreak, Secrets, dysfunction ... Family

Whinin Arm's Reach is a story about a large, multi generational Family narrated by 6 points of views.

The story had me struggling to keep up with who's who, what's going etc which in turn didn't enable me to fully engage with plot nor character.

Loving Ms. Napolitano's LATER works, I was genially disappointed I wasn't able to fully enjoy this read, however I was able to capture moments within my journey.

Thank you Random House via Netgalley for providing me a copy.

#WithinArmsReach #NetGalley

Just like all of Ann Napolitano's books this one is very well written and thought out. It is a great family drama told in the POV's of different family members and one non family member. It mostly centers around Catharine, the mother and grandmother of the main family in the story. She has suffered loss in her life from her husband to a three year old daughter and still born twins. I think in her own right she just carries her sorrow inside herself and really does not communicate well with her children. Her children then, do not communicate well within their families or within themselves. Lila and Grace are two of the granddaughters. One is the writer of a "dear Abby" like column and one is a medical student. Lila, the medical student is very smart and has great grades but when it comes to compassion for her patients, she has none. Grace is very close with her Gramma but not that close with her mom. While reading this book I could think of many families who are probably like this one. There is the drama. Some of this drama is centered around an out of wedlock pregnancy. Also, fertility issues with another family member who really wants the baby from the unwed soon to be mother. Lila and Grace's parents are also having issues. The dad, Louis feels extremely guilty about one of his employees dying on the job. He takes to withdrawing from his wife Kelly and sleeping in the spare room. Kelly then, feeling unloved seeks fulfillment from another source. In some parts of this book it becomes awkward because you really want them to just communicate with each other. There is also more family drama and certain social aspects touched upon in this book. It is a sad book but it really touched my heart and I enjoyed reading this.
Thanks to #netgalley, #randomhousepublishing and @annnapolitano for an ARC of this great read.

Themed around three generations of Irish women, Within Arms Reach is a beautifully written story, and also Ann Napolitano’s first published novel. Given the author’s past two books Dear Edward and Hello Beautiful, I suspect the publisher decided to republish as a result of Ms Napolitano’s current success and popularity. I was glad to have the opportunity to read it. And it was quite good, just not as extraordinary as her later books. If I had read this first, I would undoubtedly been looking forward to future works.

Grandmother Catharine McLaughlin, matriarch of her clan, is mother of six offspring, three others having died early in life. Those were the times of of early deaths, high infant mortality and lack of modern medical advances. Her daughter Kelly, in her fifties, has not yet found herself. Her relationships with her two daughters, Lila, a medical student, and Gracie who is unmarried and pregnant, are stilted and awkward. They are emotionally estranged. The younger women feel a closer bond with their grandmother.

Written in Napolitano’s beautiful prose, her debut novel is a worthwhile read, although it is somewhat clumsy, having too many narrators, and so many characters, that I had to keeping stopping and backtracking to keep them in their places. Three and a half stars rounded up to four for Within Arms Reach. Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this advance readers copy in exchange for my review. Publication date is April 30, 2024.

Within Arm's Reach is a slice of life saga that follows a large, dysfunctional Irish Catholic family.  
 
This book revolves around an aging matriarch, Catharine, who is trying to correct generational mistakes that have led to a family in crisis with a granddaughter who is pregnant out of wedlock.
 
You are following a large cast of characters. When you've had 9 children, significant others, grandchildren and all the aspects of modern families, you are thrown a lot of names and a lot of who's who.
 
This book is very character driven. The problem arises when you are following 6 points of view. Although you get a feel for how the family works, you are not given enough time with each character to understand the reasons for their actions. I didn’t find myself rooting for any of them, which left me little reason to be invested in the story.
 
In some ways, I really connected with this book. Being raised in the Catholic church, I felt the author’s portrayal was accurate. She included a lot of the belief system that I was raised with. I also found Catharine’s perspective to be very believable.  I watched my grandfather move through the aging process. Entering an assisted living facility, breaking a hip and the gradual decline of his health, Catharine’s experiences in this book parallel what I watched happen to my own grandfather.
 
I also feel that this author tries to do too much. Every family has their issues, but it feels like she opened a drawer with the worst life can throw at you and dumped it into this book. PTSD, mental illness, depression, death, infertility, accidental pregnancy, etc. With so many problems within one family, it takes away the importance of these topics and desensitized me as the reader.
 
This book also lacked any visible personal growth. These characters didn’t seem any better off at the end of the story than at the beginning. I found the characters to be messy, flawed and sometimes toxic. They were full of contradictions. Worst of all, the matriarch thought bringing a child into this world was going to put the family back on solid ground. I don’t mind an ambiguous ending if it’s done well, but this book literally just ends. If you are looking for answers or resolutions, you won’t find them here.
 
Unfortunately, this book feels like a fantastic author’s debut novel. I read Dear Edward in 2020 and Hello Beautiful in 2023, which were both beautifully written books. This book does show how much the author has grown as a writer. I just didn’t find this one to be well executed. Each of her novels has shown her progression as an author. With that said, I will continue to read her books as they are published.

Within Arms Reach is a beautifully written family drama by Ann Napolitano. This book is a re-release of her first published novel from 20 years ago. In it, we follow three generations of a large Irish Catholic family as they navigate through life’s challenges, including an unexpected pregnancy. While not quite as good as her most recent novels, the well developed characters and their connections ring true.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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