I thought this book would be too similar to others in the genre, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong! A zippy, quick, enjoyable read.

I cannot get this story out of my head! Kate Broad has written a coming-of-age literary novel about Rachel Fiske, a young woman who spends the summer in affluent Greenwich, Connecticut to help her aunt recover from an injury, by caring for her daughter. Early in the novel, the reader receives hints about a trial involving Rachel which occurs at a future date.

Broad masterfully manipulates the reader at near-breathtaking spikes as the summer evolves into a time of adults behaving recklessly while children care for children. As a former Greenwich resident who babysat for wealthy families in the 1990s, many of Rachel's experiences were familiar. Broad's observant eye magnifies the complexities of wealth and privilege, status and perception, and the danger of getting what one wants.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman visits her aunt and uncle and witnesses their dysfunctional marriage. She befriends their nanny and the girls are left with too much responsibility.

I finished this but it wasn't my favorite. The beginning was slow and I felt sympathy for Rachel, but the book got too off track for me.

Thank you for the ARC.

I had an ARC from NetGalley. I was intrigued and the writing was good. There is a deeper message. There’s actually a few messages. Privilege, social class, belonging. #spoilers When we first meet Rachel I kind of felt she was misunderstood. She couldn’t navigate friendship. By the end I felt she maybe had sociopath tendencies- she couldn’t make connections or she just wanted to hurt people because that’s all she knew. She has an ill sister and her parents send her away to “help” her aunt. She’s immature. She’s sheltered, she’s privileged. Claudia is the nanny for her wealthy aunt and uncle. She can care for their child and they can just keep giving her money, but she isn’t part of their world. Rachel is her naivety doesn’t understand the systemic situation and literally sells her out for a free ride to college. Her aunt is addicted to meth but that’s ok because she’s rich and white, even though she neglects her mother duties because of it. And Claudia becomes the scapegoat because wealthy people can’t be responsible for their negligent behavior towards their child. Rachel thinks she can buy forgiveness or connection from Claudia. She realizes too late she was one more pawn for her wealthy relatives. She can’t even be nice to nice people. She’s awful to her college roommate. She becomes a doctor and feels powerful helping the hurt and calling the shots, but I don’t think she will ever know kindness or trust or love.

Greenwich tells the story of Rachel, a nearly 18-year-old girl who spends a summer in Connecticut with her aunt and uncle. During her time there, she begins to unravel some unsettling truths about her hosts while forming a bond with their daughter and the family nanny. The book’s structure hinges on a pivotal event, dividing the narrative into "before" and "after" the accident.

The novel is an accessible read, and the characters are intriguing enough to hold interest. The portrayal of Rachel as a naive and conflicted teenager is particularly effective, capturing her transition from an innocent girl to a young adult burdened by guilt and the complexities of legal proceedings. However, I would have liked more insight into Claudine’s inner thoughts, as her perspective felt underdeveloped. That said, this might have been a deliberate choice to maintain ambiguity.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on. Rachel is sent to life with her aunt uncle, cousin and a nanny for the summer. She learns that money talks and sees how her aunt and uncle use it to get what they want. She later realizes that the nanny gets a pay increase to befriend and watch her during the summer; even though she is almost 18 and doesn’t need someone to watch her. That revelation is startling to her as it would be anyone since Rachel is questioning was the nanny really a friend or just doing it cause of the money. This started off good but then was hard to get back into.

Celeste Ng is the right comp, Liane Moriarty less so. This book is stellar in its writing, the vividness of each image and the details Broad selects, and in the examination of privilege and how sometimes it doesn't make sense not to embrace it. Gonne be thinking about this one for a bit!

Thank you for this ARC. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I just could not get into it from the start.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Throughout I was a bit confused what the big picture of the book was. I thought the story was going one way but then it changed into a different direction. At times , because of this, I became disinterested in reading. I only finished it just to see how it ended, but overall, I wasn’t really impressed with the book. None of the characters really sat with me as someone I liked.

I had an ARC from NetGalley. I was intrigued and the writing was good. There is a deeper message. There’s actually a few messages. Privilege, social class, belonging. #spoilers When we first meet Rachel I kind of felt she was misunderstood. She couldn’t navigate friendship. By the end I felt she maybe had sociopath tendencies- she couldn’t make connections or she just wanted to hurt people because that’s all she knew. She has an ill sister and her parents send her away to “help” her aunt. She’s immature. She’s sheltered, she’s privileged. Claudia is the nanny for her wealthy aunt and uncle. She can care for their child and they can just keep giving her money, but she isn’t part of their world. Rachel is her naivety doesn’t understand the systemic situation and literally sells her out for a free ride to college. Her aunt is addicted to meth but that’s ok because she’s rich and white, even though she neglects her mother duties because of it. And Claudia becomes the scapegoat because wealthy people can’t be responsible for their negligent behavior towards their child. Rachel thinks she can buy forgiveness or connection from Claudia. She realizes too late she was one more pawn for her wealthy relatives. She can’t even be nice to nice people. She’s awful to her college roommate. She becomes a doctor and feels powerful helping the hurt and calling the shots, but I don’t think she will ever know kindness or trust or love.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the advanced reader copy.

Celeste Ng is one of my favorite writers, so when I saw that this book was comped to one hers I was excited to get my hands on it. While I'm sure the style of writing will work for other readers, the beginning of the book felt too confusing and meandering for me. It made it hard for me to connect with the characters, which, in a literary novel, feels like the most important thing (in order to pull the reader through).

I picked this book because of the title - I live a few towns away from Greenwich. I found the book easy to read and relatable as far as the social-economical aspect of the area and the problems that come with it. I did find it to be an interesting twist when we found out the aunt was paying the nanny extra to "watch" her niece. I really felt that they had become friends. Toward the end, the book did go in a very different direction than I originally thought when the nanny was brought to trial. I was glad to see that once out of jail, she made something of her life.

I requested this one because I live in CT and loved the idea of reading about places and towns I may recognize. I liked the 90’s vibes a lot. I probably could’ve done without the amount of hints of the impending situation prior to its reveal. This was an OK read for me!

The blurb made me think this was going to be a twisty mystery/thriller but it was really more of a family story with some dramatic elements. I don't think the marketing fits the content. I was surprised by the courtroom scenes, courtroom books aren't always my favorite and I feel like books that go in that direction should make that clear. I felt like it took me out of the story a bit. I would have rather just learned the outcome and go from there.

This was a quick read and a compelling book. The author did a great job of building tension through the narrative. I felt that the commentary on class was definitely accurate and well-handled, although I felt that race was done so less adeptly The point was made well-enough, but given the confrontation at the ending, I wanted a little more build up in that area to explain that final dynamic. That being said, I absolutely loved the character of Claudia - what a beautiful, vibrant character. Would be interesting to read a sequel from her perspective.

A sapphic, suspense-driven twist on the racial and nanny/family dynamics explored in Kiley Reed's Such A Fun Age. Overall, the plot of the book did not unfold the way I expected, in both good and bad ways. The second half of the novel was not as fast paced or interesting to me as the beginning. Would have loved this one to be multi POV!

I like the premise of Greenwich, especially that it is set in 1999, but I found the writing to include a lot of run on sentences. This distracted me from the story. The narrator, Rachel, wasn't my favorite voice either.

I always enjoy novels which are geographically set in an area I know well. What was even better about Greenwich is that I grew up adjacent to this affluent Connecticut town so I am especially cognizant of the social strata and the great divide between what appears to be and what goes on beneath the surface.
Rachel is a 17 year old girl recently victimized by mean girls who is also unintentionally emotionally abandoned by her parents due to her younger sister’s very serious illness. Sent off to live with her wealthy and self-absorbed aunt for the summer, she is innocently swept into a world where money can buy almost everything except for what she needs most. Devastating events from that summer eventually prompt Rachel to sacrifice her dreams for what she believes is right. Unfortunately, she eventually is forced to discover the multiple layers of manipulation and deception which are an integral part of the rich and powerful as well as those who aspire to be like them.

Greenwich is a slow building read with underlying suspense, a hidden sense of dread, and a profound look into loneliness that makes for a great read.

I love a book that resonates like real life and this book certainly does that. It is easy to imagine these characters are people you could meet in your day to day life, which makes the story more intense.

Although this might not be for everyone, those readers who like a deep, thoughtful character study that will leave you contemplating things, will certainly love this book.