This will EASILY be a favorite book of 2025 and it’s one I won’t be forgetting any time soon. Bizarrely delightful and delightfully bizarre, A Town With Half the Lights On is a love letter to community, small towns and perseverance. Written entirely through emails, newspaper articles, letters and diary entries, you can’t help but be completely immersed in the tiny town Goodnight, Kansas and all of its residents. There were moments where I laughed out loud at some of the antics and dialogue (in the best way) and moments where I found myself tearing up at how the community rallied around each other. It’s a very timely novel, especially with the theme of standing up to the bad behavior of corporations and the right to protest. I truthfully did not want this book to end. It was just so lovely. It’s a slower burn of a story and very much a character study, but it was right up my alley and I’m so glad I got to read it.
CW: mentions of animal death, bullying, religious bigotry, parental death

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced digital reader’s copy!

I immediately recognized that the writing style would make this an easy read. I was definitely right but where I struggled is being able to see where it was going. I felt disconnected from the characters and that could be because of the format of writing. The emails, journal entries, and town bulletins drive the story but made me feel less connected to the major and minor characters. It broke apart the story a bit but I did enjoyed the format, I just couldn’t connect as much as I’d like. I live in a small town and can totally relate to wanting to save a local business. This was light read that is a good filler between heavy reads if you need a break.

A novel told in emails. Sid, Scarlett, and Harlem have moved to Scarlett's hometown of Goodnight Kansas because of a financial disaster in Brooklyn and are totally focused on moving back until they aren't because they, mostly Sid, are focused on saving the town. Harlem for her part goes on a quest to find a treasure, or so she thinks, buried by her eccentric grandfather and makes friends with Disco, a different sort of girl who writes letters to her uncle Casey. It's quirky and heartwarming but it's also a bit confusing (who's who) at first. Getz has done a good job of giving each writer a distinct voice. If I have a quibble (and it's a big one) it's the compressed time - no way all of this, and there's a lot, could happen in a year (especially the big deal resolution). Secrets remain hidden until deep in the novel (why Scarlett won't leave the kitchen, the identity of the newspaper editor). It is, however, a portrait of a small town and the people who live there. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Loved Kitchens of the Great Midwest? The movie the spitfire grill? This is for you.

Found family, epistolary storytelling & cozy warm fuzzy vibes alert. ✨✨✨✨✨

A Town with Half the Lights on from Page Getz was the book I didn’t know I needed. It is indeed a warm hug in book form.

Thank you @tantoraudio @bookmarked for the review copies of this delightful and gently subversive read. I read it in one day and with the hectic pace of life… that’s a big deal for me.

I don’t want to spoil this one. It’s a story of people down on their luck but full of love and hope and the kind of beautifully stubborn determined spirit that makes me a little misty eyed. The way the story is told through emails and shared notes and a delightfully charming local newspaper allows a range of voices to shine through and lets the local small town vibe wash over you as a reader.

Come for the charm… and stay to cheer on Harlem and Disco and Sid and Scarlet. You’ll leave wanting a biscuit and soup that makes you cry.

A Town With Half The Lights On by Page Getz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)

Told in the literary genre of epistolary (the writing of letters) this town of a small town transformed is told through emails, letters, editorials, journals and newspaper bulletins. This style was very much out of my comfort zone and it did take me a little bit to settle into the sense of disjointedness and to keep track of who the sender and receiver was in relation to the story.

Once I got more comfortable with the epistolary style writing, what I found was such a heartwarming and healing story of a small town and so many of the kind of people we might wish fill the world. I will miss these lovable and quirky characters.

For those who love:
-the small town quirky close knit townspeople of Gilmore girls
-the riches to rags to riches of the heart of Schitts creek
-the storyline of Erin Brockovich
-Coming of age (no matter the age) told by funny and quirky loveable characters.

I’m so glad I got out of my comfort zone for this book.

Thank you to the publisher Sourcebook Landmark and Page Getz for the free Advanced Reading Copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, this book was too much fun to read, Sid comes back home, brings his family, and he is regretting everything. He wants out, and while his family is adjusting to their new life in a literal farm, in a small town that’s soon becoming extinct, there is some family secret that soon his daughter Harlem is intrigued about. What secrets will she uncover when it comes to her grandpa, he has left letters or emails?? I couldn’t tell the difference, I thought the style of this book was very different, it’s not my preferred style, the whole book is emails and letters and a neighborhood column that feels more like XOXO Gossip Girl. But overall, I enjoyed the book just wish it was not done in this style.

Exceptional story with wonderful characters who drew you into their lives in the most beautiful way. Redemption, dreams once unrealized, acceptance, adversary and triumph all in one book.

So sad that this wasn’t for me. :/ The idea seemed so interesting and the whole letters/articles thing especially, but it was not catching my attention and I had a hard time following. Maybe it was just at a wrong time! I’ll probably come back to this one in the future.

I enjoyed the epistolary style of this book; however, I had trouble keeping track of the different perspectives in the beginning of the book.
This was a sweet story about family and found family. An enjoyable read.

Scarlet Solvang left Goodnight, Kansas 20 years ago and never looked back. When her father leaves his house to her instead of her sisters who stayed behind, Scarlet and her husband Sid see this as their chance to fix things, especially with Sid having lost his restaurant and the rising cost of rent in Brooklyn. They pack up their home, their daughter, and make for Kansas.

Of course, after all these years, Goodnight is not exactly how Scarlet left it, and there are more than a few hiccups (llama drama anyone?). The Solvangs must find a way to make Goodnight their home.

I thought Getz did a great job immersing the reader in the zany, small town of Goodnight. I think perhaps the characters could have done with a bit more polishing in terms of how they were written. Altogether this was a fun, promising story told in a unique way.

I was fortunate to receive both the print and audio versions of this book and I really enjoyed the audio production. It made the epistolary format really pop.

I absolutely love an epistolary novel, I feel like I rarely come across one, so I was super excited to get my hands on this one. I think they can be difficult to pull off, but the author did an amazing job tying everything together here and I know it couldn’t have been easy. There are so many characters and so many pieces of them throughout, whether it’s from their journal entries or emails, or even a note passed during math class and this gave the whole book such a fly on the wall feeling. The town of Goodnight is super quirky and charming in its own way and the residents match that as well, so lots of fun and cute moments but there was also a lot of depth here as well. Each character was fully fleshed out and I felt like I truly knew them by the end and the plot was fun and unique. Overall a really sweet and heartwarming read that I enjoyed so much.

This book has been on my radar for quite some time since I saw the cover on a Facebook Kindle ad last year. I was so excited to see it was finally coming out. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect with the characters and the story as much as I wanted to. The characters are great and the story is intriguing, but due to the epistolary format, I was left wanting more. It also got a bit confusing because there are quite a few characters involved.

Overall, I love the idea of this book, I just think I would've enjoyed it more in a different format.

I stumbled across this book on Netgalley so thought I'd give it a go, and I'm so glad I did. Told via email exchanges, hand written notes, a local newspaper and live chats, this is such a heartwarming story set in a small, heavily religious town in Kansas. The characters are all so varied and entertaining and I particularly loved the brilliantly-named Disco, I thought she was fabulous.

At its heart it is a wonderful story about community, with the May Day diner being at the centre. With her vivid food descriptions, beautiful scene setting & mainly lovely people, Page Getz has won me with this. A must read!

I am a fan of J. Ryan Stradal’s novels and wanted to give this a read. Even though I could not relate to any of the characters, I was entertained and the epistolary structure adds charm. I did expect the plot to be mostly about the diner and Sid’s culinary skills but there are many other storylines including a mystery of missing wind chimes, a local newsletter with an anonymous editor, a greedy landlord, and more.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read a copy.

Wow! This book was not on my radar at all, but after seeing a rave review on Instagram of A Town With Half the Lights On, I came over to NetGalley and requested it. I was so excited that the eARC happened to be Read Now and I was approved for the ALC. I started listening to it immediately and loved it. I finished the second half the next day, reading with my eyes. And really, just Wow! I enjoyed the audiobook, but I think I liked the digital version slightly better with the epistolary format (which I loved). The characters were quirky and oh so lovable (except for the ones that weren’t at all lovable). The writing was beautiful. The story, about a town coming together and people taking care of each other, was a little bit heartbreaking but mostly heartwarming. And even the names were amazing - a town called Goodnight, girls named Disco and Harlem, a hotel called the Hallelujah and a diner called the May Day. The best! This book is definitely going to be one of my favorites of the year and I’m telling everyone to read it. I might even need to buy a trophy copy to live forever on my bookshelf.

While there are so many wonderful reviews for this book, and I wanted to love it so much, I just don’t think it was for me. I love a quirky story, but I’m sorry to say I was just not able to connect with this one.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

DNF at 14%
This definitely has bold and intriguing choices, but the style -a group of letters, emails, magazine clippings- made it hard for me to follow, get invested, understand who the characters are, and see where the story is going.
The blurb does mention that this is the storytelling method used, and this is probably as much a me-problem as it is additional things I needed from the clippings.

The email addresses were confusing. Maybe if the domains were all the same, it would have helped to keep track and not get confused.
It was not clear who is related to whom, their ages, how their relationships are happening. The dates were also confusing because I couldn't keep a track of time (maybe if we had the date + hour the email was sent it would be easier?)
It also felt like the emails really wanted to have an informal and friendly tone, but for the sake of writing a better piece, the author had to make certain choices in the style that made it feel odd for me. Like not quite an email between siblings or aunt-niece, but also not quite a proper English written email.
The magazine clippings and shorter letters were easier to track and get into because of their style.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC. I'm actually sad this one didn't quite work for me.

How have I not seen this book all over Instagram?! I was not prepared for just how clever this book was nor the joy of wishing I could stay in the lives of these characters forever. To be completely honest, I requested it strictly because I liked the cover and genre and feel delighted to have randomly found such a gem of a story! But in case you prefer knowing just a bit about the book…
It’s a story of new and old residents, their struggles and triumphs, and navigating life in a tiny town in Kansas.

If you’re like me and love Gilmore Girls then you should add this to your list. Why? Because in Goodnight (love the towns name!) there are some wonderfully quirky characters, intelligent and funny teens, a diner reminiscent of Luke’s, and creative ingenuity with food similar to Sookie St James! The characters are very different with their own unique voices but it gave me all the vibes I love from GG. I can’t even tell you how many times I chuckled while reading this, it’s funny and thoughtful and everything I didn’t know I needed!

I started out by listening to this audio but I’m so glad I had the ebook to switch to because the format of this is epistolary, with emails, newspaper articles, and journal entries. I actually didn’t mind too much but having an epistolary novel with email or text read aloud can be difficult to listen to. If you don’t enjoy hearing email addresses read over and over I suggest the print or e-book version.

Thanks to Sourcebook Landmark for the opportunity to read and give my honest opinion.

I absolutely LOVED this book! I completely fell in love with these quirky characters in the quirky town of Goodnight, Kansas. This book felt very Schitt's Creek-y. Sid Solvang and family have packed up and left Brooklyn with their tails between their legs after Sid ruined his family's deli business. The family went back to their mother Scarlet Solvang's hometown of Goodnight, Kansas. They were not met with open arms, and they were hoping to just save up some money and get back to Brooklyn. Soon the town of Goodnight would be so intertwined with them that it would be hard to leave. Disco Kennedy is one of the residents of this town who is always covered in glitter and singing country songs. The town has cast her as an outsider, but maybe those are the kinds of people who really kickstart change and acceptance in these small towns. Disco plays a huge role in the Solvang's lives. I hope Page Getz brings more novels from Goodnight! Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC.

📚A Town with Half the Lights On by Page Getz

Okay, real talk—I went in blind with this one and had zero idea what to expect. The storytelling structure? Definitely different. It took me a minute to settle into it, but once I did? Goodnight, Kansas, wrapped me up in its small-town charm and didn’t let go.

This book doesn’t follow one neat arc. Instead, it delivers the story through the people—residents of a town who are flawed, funny, stubborn, sweet, grieving, and growing. It’s the kind of book that reminds you that community isn’t about liking everyone. It’s about knowing them. Sharing history. Feeling tied together by something invisible but undeniable.

Reading this felt like sitting at a local diner eavesdropping on conversations, then suddenly realizing every one of them connects. It’s quirky and heartfelt, and by the end, you realize the town itself is the main character—and it’s a good one.

Small-town slice of life
Tropes:
Found family (but it's a whole dang town)
Grief and healing
Everyday magic in ordinary lives
Unlikely connections

Would I Recommend This Book? Absolutely. It might start quiet, but it ends with a full heart.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.