This one took me a little while to get into. There’s a big cast of characters and the story drops you right into the middle of a hectic day at the museum, so at first it was a bit confusing trying to keep track of who was who and what was going on.

But once I got a better sense of the characters and how their stories connected, it started to click. There’s a lot of sharp, dark humor and some great moments of emotional depth, though I did find that parts of it dragged a little for me. Still, I appreciated what it was doing, especially how it captured the chaos and dysfunction of a crumbling institution trying to keep it together.

Thank you for this ARC copy!! Heather McGowan’s Friends of the Museum is a dark comic novel that unfolds over a single, chaotic day at a struggling New York City museum. Structured as a ticking-clock tragicomedy, the book immerses readers in the lives of a sprawling cast of characters—curators, administrators, security staff, and kitchen workers—all navigating personal and professional crises as the museum prepares for its annual gala.

Friends of the Museum offers a satirical yet empathetic exploration of the art world’s inner workings, making it a compelling read for those interested in character-driven narratives and institutional critique.

Friends of the Museum takes place over 24 hours with each chapter covering a specific time.

There are a lot of characters and I had a hard time keeping them all straight. I was so excited to read this book but sadly it didn’t work for me. I just couldn’t keep track of all the detailed storylines with so many characters and the way book jumps around.

Thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for letting me read this ARC.

I was excited to read this book, but unfortunately it was a slog for me. The story takes place within a single day at a museum that is most likely meant to be the Met or some other famous New York art museum. It's the night of a big gala, and everyone is supremely stressed and busy. In real time, we follow different staff at the museum through their work and personal lives.

This book is marketed as having a White Lotus-like vibe, but to me that's a real stretch to be honest. The blurb says by the end of the day someone will be dead, which makes it sound like a murder mystery and a lot more interesting than it actually was. All the characters were definitely complicated, but I didn't find myself caring about any of them or wondering what was going to happen to them. The writing style irritated me a lot - it was hard to tell who was talking most of the time, and the stream of consciousness didn't really work - and I found myself dreading reading this book. In writing this review, I've talked myself down from three to two stars, sorry :/ This just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

I tried to get into this one but the weird formatting really took me out of it. I might go back to it eventually.

I'm not quite sure I am the right audience for this story, and I'm not quite sure that I read it at a time where I was in the mood for it. When the characters aren't my cup of tea, I also don't know if it is something to say about the character's personalities, or if it is the fault of the writer for failing to make their characters likable. When Normal People became a hit, I told myself that I was going to try and read the book before I watched the show. However, as soon as I saw that there were no quotation marks when the characters were speaking, I grew hesitant because I knew that it would throw me off at some point and I didn't want to get thrown off and waste the story. This was something similar to that. I had trouble with the large cast, I had trouble with the lack of quotation marks, and I had trouble liking the characters overall. I'm assuming that because this novel takes place in the art world at a museum the cast is supposed to be pretentious and self-righteous. But it seems like they hate everyone! They make fun of people for being fat, they over sexualize women, even the women over sexualize themselves to the point that it's all we know of their physical description. It was hard to like anyone in the book, and it was hard to follow their character arcs. But to be fair, I wasn't able to devote as much time and energy into understanding each and every aspect of this novel as I was needed to. Perhaps I will be able to go back and feel differently once I reread it. Perhaps I am just not the right audience.

This was not what I was expecting and quite disappointing. I love museumes and wanted to read something more about that, not people being jerks.

Probably closer to 2.5 stars. This book was just not for me. I had trouble keeping up with all of the characters (even with the LONG list provided at the start) and the transitions between them. I also found the lack of quotation marks a contributing factor to the challenges I had tracking with the story lines. I liked the concept of the structure, focusing on one single day, but I wasn't invested in the story.

This book did not make sense to me, if I'm being completely honest. I really appreciated having a note in the beginning of the ARC, I thought that was really neat and special. Unfortunately, it did not change my opinion of the book itself. I prefer books that do not follow a style like this and have fewer characters.

I was also quite nervous about the reference to White Lotus. While the show is popular, as a recent watcher, I was a bit in shock as to the language that was allowed in the show in order to make a point - I ended up stopping the show last night because it was so bad. My assumption is this book is hopefully better than the third season of White Lotus, but this is not the read for me.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read this eARC! I appreciate the opportunity to leave honest feedback voluntarily.

I did not finish this book. I really tried to get into it but it just wasn’t for me. The cast of characters was confusing, even with the explanation at the beginning and I could not really find a connection of the plot.

3.5 / 5 stars
I was instantly drawn to the cover and synopsis of this book when I first saw it. 24 hours at a NYC museum? How can you not be intrigued? I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book, however it was hard to keep track of them at times because there were so many. I enjoyed reading and I would recommend it to anyone who likes books that might be off the beaten path.

this was a rough one for me. probably would have DNF if i wasn’t reviewing for netgalley. so many characters and interesting way of doing dialogue that took 100 pages to fully grasp. some good themes but ultimately not exciting.

okay i was lucky enough to be granted an arc which i finished… the day the book came out. unideal, for sure. however, this was a tad disappointing for one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

it was billed as a mystery, when it was much moreso the lead up to a climax you knew was going to happen, without knowledge of what form it would take. that alone would have been fine, but it was a slog to get through. the characters were largely annoying, and not in the fun, 3 dimensional way — it was easy to get bored.

i just really think there was no closure on any of the plot lines — that’s possibly the way it was supposed to be but not at all satisfying to me.

Friends of the Museum is Heather McGowan's latest novel after almost a decade. The story takes place over one day (we are given the time throughout) with a cast of colorful characters who work at a notable New York Museum putting on a special gala event.

I did find myself early on flipping back to the character list at the beginning of the story to keep track of everyone and their relationship to the museum and each other. Those vignettes that were most compelling were about the museum director who has hit a rough patch in her marriage, a security guard who is suffering with symptoms of early onset dementia, and one of the staff members who has become pregnant from a one night stand and is debating what her next step will be. Amongst all of their personal dramas are larger ones impacting the museum such as suspicious provenances for art work, possible fakes, hesitant donors, and food poisoning at the museum café. It is interesting how the different relationships and character behaviors inform each other; the friends in the title is definitely used with heavy irony for this tragicomedy.

If you enjoy Friends of the Museum, you can also check out McGowan's previous novels Schooling and Duchess of Nothing. Her original screenplay for Tadpole was made into a movie starring Sigourney Weaver and Bebe Neuwirth.

I genuinely do not know how I feel about this book, so I’m not even sure how to rate this yet (for now 3 stars feels safe because it’s in the middle of the spectrum).

I will say that this reading experience is not for the faint of heart, so if you’re hoping for an easy read that you can just sort of fall into, I advise you to look elsewhere.

The story is set over the course of twenty-four hours, as each member of a New York museum’s staff prepares for an upcoming gala and their own personal struggles.

The first time I sat down to read, I didn’t get very far, and it quickly became evident that I would have to be intentional with my approach the book in order to get acclimated to the style. McGowan subscribes to the group of writers that don’t use quotations for dialogue, which I normally have no issue with, but this novel was like nothing I had ever experienced before. The entire book is formatted like a bulleted list, each dedicated to the person speaking. I acknowledge that the format is used to immerse you in the rapidity of each moment—it felt like a chaotic conference meeting you might see on TV with the camera quick-panning between the characters as they jump in and talk over each other, or an episode of The Bear. It was jarring for the first few pages but once I got into it, I was able to really appreciate what the author was attempting.

I considered DNF-ing this multiple times but my experience felt like watching a car crash: I wanted to stop but at the same time was so curious about how it would all turn out. I typically love slow books that really dig into the minuscule details and complexities of the human experience, so I expected to love this one. I am glad I finished it because I found the ending to be really satisfying, but I am still unclear on my overall feelings.

I feel like I need to take a step back and let the story ruminate in my brain for a bit. I think, maybe, now just wasn’t the right time or season for this and I wasn’t in the right headspace, so a re-read might be in order when the weather turns back to that of the gloomy and cold variety.

Thank you for this e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

I came across this book by a booktoker and I thought it was an intersting premise. This is my first experience with reading Heather McGowan, so I wasn't sure what to expect. It was a weird lit book that was recommended. So, this felt very much like a "White Lotus" experience but in book form and more condensed (this takes place over the course of 24 hours). It was an interesting read at times, but for the most part, personally, it wasn't. Though, I like to give a book at least two chances before I really make a final decision. So, I'll let you know! But, thanks, NetGalley, for the eARC!

I got sucked into the cover of this book. Just look at it, it is simply amazing. The format of the story was great, but I sadly couldn’t get into the book, there were so many characters and I never was able to connect. Sadly I DNF-ed the book at around 40%.

Thank you NetGalley and Washington Square Press.

I wanted to like this book so bad. The premise sounded fun! However, the writing style of the time ticking by every few minutes and shifting to new characters was clunky and hard to follow. There were too many stories happening and it was difficult to become invested in any of the characters, and honestly it was difficult to tell them apart.

Maybe this one was just too complicated for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I wanted to love this story so much but I found the pages dragging. I struggled to connect with any of the characters and had a hard time following the story. I DNFed at 13% and am still giving 2 starts because it very much could have been a me problem. I may definitely give this book another chance at a later time.

This thing is dense. And contains some of the most tricky to follow dialogue I’ve ever read. This is a niche kind of story that I don’t fall in to, but I really tried. I just can’t do 500 pages of struggling to comprehend it. I’d probably recommend it to those who like a challenge in their reads.