This book was really good and I had a good reading experience. The plot was good and I was able to follow along even though at times it got a bit much. Overall, this was a good book and I enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed the characters and I was able to immerse myself in the story the entire time. This was a good read and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Muse for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. A wonderful story of love and selflessness set in 1967 in the south. Racism was still rampant and the Vietnam war was raging. A sad story but also very uplifting and the ending was so good. I recommend reading this one.

Untethered is a powerful, beautifully written historical novel that blends heartache, hope, and resistance with stunning clarity. Angela Jackson-Brown’s storytelling is emotional, immersive, and deeply human—capturing the weight of systemic injustice while still centering love, family, and resilience.

The characters in this book live and breathe on the page. I was especially moved by the way the author wove historical context into personal choices and sacrifices. It’s the kind of story that sticks with you, reminding you how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.

This is a must-read for fans of layered historical fiction that doesn’t flinch from truth but still dares to offer light.

This was such an amazing book. I absolutely loved it and honestly… just read it. That’s the review! Read this book NOW!

*Untethered* is a heartwarming story centered around Katia, a Black woman working as the executive director of a home for boys in 1960s Alabama. The novel has a lot of tender, emotional moments that tug at the heartstrings, particularly through the stories of two boys, Chad and Pee Wee, who were truly a joy to follow. I found myself rooting for them and appreciating the glimpses into the lives of poor Black youth during that time.

While the premise and characters held great promise, I often found myself wanting more from the setting. The historical backdrop—though mentioned—never felt fully immersive, and I struggled to feel the weight of the 1960s Southern atmosphere beyond what we were told.

Katia’s relationship with her love interest, Seth, also left me a bit unsatisfied. Seth himself was a charming and likable character, but Katia’s inconsistent behavior toward him made their eventual love story feel rushed and underdeveloped. It was hard to believe in a deep connection when there wasn’t enough time spent building it.

Another emotional thread—the storyline involving Katia’s brothers and the Vietnam War—was introduced with great weight but wrapped up too quickly for the emotional payoff it was building toward.

Overall, *Untethered* is a sweet and sincere story with meaningful themes, but for me, it didn't quite leave a lasting impression. A pleasant read, just not a particularly memorable one.

Untethered is a heartwarming and, at times, heartbreaking story about community, love, and what it means to raise Black boys during times of war and racial inequality.

The story is simple and grounded.
Kat, our FMC, cares deeply -sometimes too much-about others. But that’s what makes her journey meaningful. I especially enjoyed seeing her get some well-deserved love; the romance was a quiet but lovely touch.

This isn’t a plot-heavy book, but one that lingers in the heart. If you enjoy stories about found family, Black womanhood, and the strength of community, you’ll likely appreciate this one.

Untethered touches in many important issues in south Alabama in the 1960's. The exploration of missing soldiers, black boys in the foster care system, with bouts of love, racism, loss, grief, family, hope, and being true to oneself. Untethered is a historical fiction you should read.

read this as an audio arc and I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT. The way the characters evolved especially the main female character was just beautiful. This book touched on real life circumstances and racism I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT.

This book had my emotions all over the place. I loved the humanization of Marcus and Seth after retuning home from the war. Seeing how Seth was able to get Marcus to open up about his trauma was beautiful. The relationship between Alicia and Katia was like a warm hug. They had their own struggles with motherhood but remained strong supports for each other. I was happy that Katia got out of her way to embrace Seth's love. This was my first read from Angela Jackson- Brown and I plan to read more from her catalog.

This historical novel centers around the proprietress of a halfway home for boys in the late 1960s. It centers around her life during a period of time where she's dealing with a brother missing in the Vietnam war, internal politics at the boys home and a romance with a man from her past. While I found the story interesting, the protagonist was a little too perfect to feel real to me, which stopped me from connecting to the book as much as I otherwise might have.

Thank you to Harper Collins Focus for an advance reading copy for an unbiased review.

If you love historical fiction that hits you right in the feels, you need to read this. It's a fictional story, but it shines a light on the very real struggles faced by African Americans—then and now. Katia's strength and kindness were so inspiring, even though I wished she'd fully embrace her own worth. This book stayed with me after my read. Love to see passionate stories a must read.
Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for this complementary copy for my honest review.

Untethered by Angela Jackson-Brown moved me in a way that I haven’t felt from a book in a while. Set in the 1960s, we meet Katia, an executive director in a group home for Black boys, has spent so much of her life caring for others and putting others first. From her family, to the boys in the group home, Katia has prioritized everyone and their feelings first while burying her own, especially around motherhood. In walks Seth, a high school crush who becomes someone Katia can finally lean on, even though she tries her best to push him away.

This novel has some really heavy themes, infertility, child abuse and trauma from war, but it is a read I’d recommend to any lover of historical fiction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Untethered does a good job of highlighting the often overlooked experience of the foster care system during a particularly volatile period of time. What the story does well: it sets a scene, provides historical context, and adds layers of lived experience to its protagonist’s narration. The insight it provides into anti-blackness and systemic failures of those programs we expect to do social good, from the perspective of someone with a personal investment in its success, is invaluable. I appreciate how it also creates realistic characters with their own unique and complex stories and personal histories. However, there are portions of the story which fall flat. As the story progresses, the story notes start to feel too loosely connected, providing a brief, almost entry-level view of very real systemic issues. The narration suffers in the face of the age-old adage - show, don’t tell. In general, there is a lot of “telling” happening in the story, particularly in terms of narrating to readers exactly how the characters (and the audience by extension) should feel in specific moments rather than guiding readers through a greater emotional investment in the plot. In addition, even as we are taken through Katia’s narration of events, it does not feel as though our protagonist, or really our audience overall, is being given a chance to explore the conflicts presented to them in a nuanced way. I would have liked to have seen a more critical analysis of her brothers’ military service, their unflinching patriotism in the face of their experience of the system; of Katia’s loneliness in a staunchly patriarchal setting, a further discussion of motherhood and the complexity of its existence in contrast with a professional setting… just to start. All in all, I think this is a good book for readers who may be unfamiliar with the realities of Katia’s position and the experiences of her community, but the story had a little too much going on and not enough time spent sitting with those ideas and the many questions they raise. Instead, the narration leans towards being repetitive and surface level.

Thank you NetGalley for the Ebook!

As someone who’s still new to historical fiction, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect stepping into this story—but I’m so glad I did. This was my first time reading anything by Angela Jackson-Brown, and her storytelling pulled me in completely. The setting—1967, Troy, Alabama—felt vivid and alive, but it was the characters, especially Katia, who truly stayed with me.

Katia’s life has always been about duty. After losing her father, she stepped into a caretaker role for her family without hesitation. Now, with her twin brothers off fighting in Vietnam and her mother still needing her, Katia pours everything she has into her role as the executive director of a group home for troubled boys. She’s strong, dependable, and endlessly committed—but there’s a quiet loneliness that runs beneath all that strength.

Then Seth, an old high school crush, comes back into her life. And suddenly, there’s this glimmer of something more—something tender, unfamiliar, and terrifying. Watching Katia wrestle with the idea of opening herself up, after a lifetime of always being the one others lean on, was both moving and relatable.

This book is absolutely a romance, but it’s also so much deeper. It’s about choosing softness when the world has only demanded strength. It’s about healing, about love in many forms—familial, romantic, self-love—and about the courage it takes to let someone see you when you’re used to being the one holding everything together.

Katia is easily one of the most memorable protagonists I’ve read this year. Her compassion, her grit, her vulnerability—it all felt so honest and raw. I found myself rooting for her not just in love, but in life.

And yes, a gentle warning: keep tissues nearby. This story got me more than once in the best way possible.

Thank you to Angela Jackson-Brown for this beautiful piece of art, also thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the copy. I’m so glad this was my introduction to both the author and this genre—and it certainly won’t be the last. 4.5 stars out of 5.

this was such a great read. I really enjoyed the characters and this story line was really good from start to finish. I was on a book tour for one of the author's other books so I read this one months later. I would recommend this one to my audience as well.
I really enjoyed the setting of this one as well. I would read other books by this author.

This book was a wonderful tear jerker. There were a few times in the book I wanted to jump in to save the two boys that had stolen Katia’s heart. Especially Chad. It is so sad to know things like this happens in real life. Brown did a fantastic job in giving Katia what she needed, even when Katia didn’t think she could have it.

A heavy, yet tender-hearted novel about our strong, established, assured protagonist. Katia is the executive director of a group home for boy’s, but also a romantic at heart with a love for Nina Simone.
This novel set in the 1960s, a time of uncertainty and fear; there are layers of complexity in terms of war, grief, and violent families. Angela Jackson-Brown touches about these dark issues with sensitivity, and shares how to keep moving when the unthinkable or irreparable happens. It’s truly difficult material to read through, on living in systems that don’t fight for you; but Jackson-Brown brings about hope and faith despite the brokenness of these situations. I love her writing of the boys, the brothers, and the romantic interest; despite the ever-present difficulties, they brought sweetness into every page. And most of all, I love our heroine and the amount of love she has for others.
Posted on Goodreads

I enjoyed how this book gave an intimate look in to the era of the Vietnam War, the 60s in a town like Alabama and the foster care system.

What an emotional rollercoaster this book was! While I am not always a fan of first person narratives as the release of information can seem clunky, the sheer force of Katia’s personality and heart made this utterly compelling. The individual tragedies are so well drawn yet the strength of this book is the way you understand each of these entirely from Katia’s perspective and feel your heart break alongside hers, feel the onslaught of overwhelming grief and share her torrential rage at the unfairness of the world. I feel bereft having finished it!

This book was so beautiful. It was raw and realistic to the life of young black boys in the foster care system. I got so attached to all these characters and seeing them in pain hurt me so deeply. I loved this book and I would love to read more from this author.