THE CALIFORNIANS by Brian Castleberry ~to be published March 21, 2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5. At a sentence level, it’s great. But it’s too ambitious for its own good.

I started reading this just as the LA fires were exploding out of control. Having requested the ARC without paying much attention to the plot, I was surprised when I encountered Tobey, who is urgently fleeing a California wildfire. But when we changed characters, and then when we changed characters again, never returning to Tobey or his story arc until the end of the book, I started to lose interest and it was confusing to follow how everyone was related to each other. In fact, I had to restart the book several times because if I put it down for any longer than a couple of days, I forgot the details. I also didn’t always understand the motivations of the characters.

I can’t quite put my finger on what didn’t work about the structure or my experience generally. In some ways, the book reminds me of The Goldfinch, and I do think Castelberry can really write. Perhaps a family tree at the beginning would have helped?

Many thanks to @marinerbooks for the gifted copy!

Fires connect the characters in this book starts with a young man fleeing a forest fire that destroys his town in California and ranges through a cast of deeply unlikeable characters. I hated all of them, but I still finished the book, so it was somehow still compelling.

At first, I thought I would like this novel. Even though the two main characters at the start, especially Tobey, weren't that likable, I still wanted to see where his journey ended after a wildfire destroyed his hometown. The topic is especially relevant given the current wildfire situation in California. Unfortunately, the story veers off into various other plots and unnecessary tangents, so I lost interest. I wish the story had stayed more in modern times and dealt more with people dealing with the aftereffects of such a huge natural tragedy.

The writer is very gifted, however, and it would not deter me from reading more of his work.

Thanks to NetGalley, Mariner Books and the author for the ARC and the opportunity to read and review this novel.

The Californians follow multiple generations of The von Stiegl family, as well as, family friend Tobey. The story begins before Klaus von Stiegl makes his way to Hollywood and ends in present day with Tobey whom has just escaped a California wild fire. Connecting the two is von Stiegl's granddaughter, the artist Diane "Di" Stiegl.

The story wove past and present together, however it took me longer than it should have to get the characters and their connections straight. It started out slow, but began to grab my attention about half way through. Some of the characters stories were more appealing to me than others. For instance, I could read an entire book dedicated to Di.

I would recommend this book to readers of historical and contemporary fiction. I'll be on the lookout for more by Brian Castleberry.

DNF @ 41%

I was struggling to get invested in this story and decided to stop reading at the 41% mark. I was enjoying Diane's story, but was having trouble connecting her to the other characters. Klaus was her grandfather who burned down his studio, but then who was Tobey's grandfather? And why did we only get Tobey's story in the first chapter? I also found the Interstitials to take me out of the story more than advancing the plot.

Out of respect for the author and his efforts, I will not be posting a review on my social platforms until after the publication date.

I really enjoyed this book. Such a sprawling story, with interesting characters. One of those where I am hooked in to one character and hate to switch to another part of the story, only to become engrossed in that piece as well. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Once I got into this novel, I really enjoyed it. Although not readily apparent at the beginning of the novel, this is a family saga spanning several generations. The tale begins (well into the text of the book) in the early days of the movie industry and ends (at the beginning of the novel) with the ongoing wildfires in Southern California.

One of the main characters is Klaus, a director of silent films, who re-invents himself before moving from New York to Hollywood. Klaus is appropriately complex, though the women in his life come across as having merely walk-on roles. (Perhaps that is the point.) The other main character is his granddaughter, Diana, an artist. Her character struggles to embrace her family legacy and a grandfather she only knew as a small girl.

The incident that begins this novel makes little sense until the very end of the book. I found myself immediately flipping to the front of the book after finishing this novel. Although I respect the non-linear timeline the author chose to work with, I think a little more re-arrangement of chapters might have been helpful for the reader.

This was a captivating read that follows several generations of two families with complicated, troubled relationships histories. The chapters move back and forth in time and between characters. Two of the key characters are a 1920-30s era Hollywood director who makes a comeback in TV in the 1960s and a contemporary artist who hits the NYC scene in the full swing of cocaine and clubbing in the 1980s and becomes celebrated in her own right, shifting to ecologically-oriented performance art and collaborative work in the 2000s. The movement between time periods and characters was a bit confusing in the beginning but you find youself getting caught up in the dysfunctional family entanglements, and in the story. The story moves along at a good pace and the author does a good job of painting the characters' emotional states, warts and all. I wish the author had made at leasst one of the main characters more likeable, as it was hard to find a character to cheer for in this book (the few likeable characters were secondary, and it was a shame they were not in the pages more frenquently). Not sure the title does an apt job of conveying the content (can imagine a half dozen better titles), but this is a good read.

The Californians by Brian Castleberry pulled me into the tangled, messy lives of its characters and kept me thinking about them long after I closed the book. Klaus and Di’s journeys, separated by decades yet so deeply intertwined, felt so real and raw. I loved how their stories revealed the weight of family, ambition, and the sacrifices we make for our dreams.

This book is perfect for anyone who loves sprawling, character-driven novels with a nostalgic vibe. It’s not a quick read—it’s a story you sink into, with layers that unfold beautifully. If you’re in the mood for something that feels like peeling back the curtain on the secret lives of others, The Californians is absolutely worth the journey. ★★★★☆

I liked reading about the different generations of the same family. I had a hard time remembering who was who at first but it got better which made it more enjoyable. I feel I needed more from this than what I got though. All in all it was interesting.

The Californians starts with Tobey Harlan, who is having a rough time of it, to say the least. His girlfriend has left him, he has no real job prospects, and a wildfire is bearing down on his Northern California home. He's hoping for a second chance at life funded by the theft of a few paintings from his father's home.

Klaus Aaronsohn is a German-Jewish immigrant attempting to make his way from Queens to Hollywood during the silent film era. His granddaughter, Di Stiegel, is an artist based in NYC during the '80s, a time known for its vibrant and experimental art scene, and the creator of the paintings Tobey will steal years later.

I always feel guilty DNFing an ARC, but I had to call it quits at about 75%. I just could not connect to any of the characters. They were underdeveloped, and what was there wasn't especially likable or exciting. Even with more compelling characters, I doubt I would have stuck with this as long as I did if it hadn't been an ARC.

The novel's structure is cumbersome and gets in the way of the action. I'm a sucker for a sweeping, intergenerational drama, but I could not follow this. The story spans generations and is set in captivating times and locations. However, the narrative jumps between characters and time periods were too abrupt, making it hard to learn who they are and how they connect to each other. Castleberry also uses interstitials throughout, which I did not understand the purpose of at all.

What makes all this truly tragic is that the writing is beautiful! I wanted to spend more time with this book, but the lackluster characters and jarring structure were too much to get past. I will absolutely try another book by the author, who is clearly very talented; this just wasn't the one for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the eARC.

An ambitious feat of a novel spanning decades of the Californian era. The threads of the story never quite all came together for me, and I became turned off by the gratuitous sexual content.

I went back to this book several times, starting from the top, to give it a fair chance, but had a hard time connecting with the storyline itself, although I thought the introduction of the displaced characters (because of the wildfire in California) was relevant and I liked the relationship with Tobey and the elderly gentleman, worried for their safety, the former abandoned by his girlfriend, the latter grieving and feeling unwelcome in his daughter's home with no place to go. It was a perfect setup to a story. I'm sure it was a lovely story but as I DNF, I can't accurately say how I felt about it to the very end, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this ARC.

This book is titled, The Californians, but only a small percentage of the book appears to have any relation to California. I do feel that it is flawed with the town of Tinsley being the name of the town that is incinerated in a wildfire. Tinsley does exist in California, it is just outside of Stockton, but that is as far as resemblance is realistic. Tinsley is an island in the San Joaquin Delta, it is owned by the St. Francis Yacht Club, you cannot get to Tinsley unless you to take a boat and you have to be a member of the Yacht Club to visit. In addition, there are no residential homes on Tinsley, it is a destination for yacht club members. It is in the delta of the Central Valley, and it is not in an area that would be at risk to wildfires. I tried to stay open minded and struggled with questioning, maybe the author was looking for a fictitious name for a town as a setting, but every other location listed in the book is an actual location. There are so many towns that could have been believable as a potential loss due to a wildfire. This makes it appear that the author may be unfamiliar with California and possibly did not fully research and this was too much of a distraction for me. The book skipped around over various time periods, locations and with many characters, making it hard to follow. It was just not for me. Thank you very much to the Mariner Books and NetGalley for an ARC digital copy of this book, I appreciate the opportunity to have read it.

You know when the start of a book stays with you because the writing is so brilliant? That's how I feel about the start of this book. We open with the character of Tobey, a young man whose life is a dead-end, and he loses everything he has left in a devastating wildfire in Northern California. Tobey ends up on a post-wildfire disaster roadtrip with a random neighbor, driving to a relative's house to steal three valuable paintings in the hopes of selling them and getting back on his feet. That storyline then disappears until we reach the conclusion of the book.

I will say, the structure of the novel felt very complex, and it was a bit tricky to follow the plot initially (for me).  Each character's story unfolds chronologically, but the author weaves everything together with clear time markers. I've never read any of Castleberry's other work, but I was super impressed by his writing - and the ability to write such an expansive novel spanning a century - so I will definitely be looking to read some of his other work. Thank you Net Galley for the early copy.

This was a very hard book to get through. It was very dry and dull, lots of slow slow parts, that it was so hard to keep me engaged. If there was a bit of a speedier pace, and some more plot, then it would have been more enjoyable for me. Overall, it was not a book for me

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

It's an expansive novel of many generatoins. A bit hard to follow but miraculous in it's entirety.

We open in 2024, and Tobey Harlan, a loser, is off to his dad;s mansion to steal paintings that will keep him afloat after selling on the black market. The story then dives back to the beginning- 100 years or more ago to Klaus, an immigrant trying to make films and then forward to the 80's where the painter is introduced (Grand Daughter of Klaus). Following the story is not always easy but the payoff is big and the entire picture is amazing!

#mariners #thecalifornians #briancastleberry

Just not my favorite. I felt I couldn’t get invested in the characters. I don’t think anything is wrong with the book, I just couldn’t get into it.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Not quite for me, due to the strong sexual content and gratuitous swearing. I found it unnecessary and personally off-putting, and it was too much work following the scattered narratives.

However, books appeal to readers based on their own likes and experiences, so please read a variety of other reviews, you might find this book to be a perfect fit!

I will not be finishing this book. I was drawn to it by the title. I have a special love for California, so I was curious. However, I was turned off by it in just the first few pages. I personally do not read books with a lot of cussing or sexual content. There were too many cuss words in the first few pages of this book to continue. I also thought it was unnecessarily antagonistic towards more conservative viewpoints, and exaggerated them.