I really wanted to love this book because I loved Nothing to See Here and Now Is Not the Time to Panic, but while heartwarming, it wasn't the home run I was hoping for.

I'll start with the good:
- I was drawn in by the quirky characters and the relationships we got to see grow and evolve between them. Rube, Mad, Pep, and Tom were so charming and endearing! The banter was so fun and made me chuckle at times
- The premise of a dysfunctional family reunion / road trip to find their absent father and get answers was original and entertaining
- It has some important things to say about personal identity and mental health

The mid:
- The pacing. I felt like it started with a bang, but somehow I wasn't as invested by the time we had met Tom

And unfortunately, the bad:
- The ending really petered out for me. It felt predictable and wasn't nearly as emotional as I expected. I also felt like there were some out-of-character moments in the name of tying everything up nicely for a nice kumbaya family moment
- I think I would've enjoyed a more in-depth study on mental health and how that contributed to some of the characters' lives and choices. It was mentioned as a definite factor, but I felt it would've been more impactful and felt more satisfying for the characters to do more reflecting on exactly what was at play

I'd give the first half 4.5 stars and the second 2 stars, so averaging out to an overall 3 stars!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

If Kevin Wilson has written it, you can bet the book will have a weird premise. In Run for the Hills, Mad Hill is living her life, running her organic farm with her mom. And out of the blue, Rube Hill shows up claiming to be her half brother. Yes, her father left when she was young. And according to Rube, it wasn’t the first time he’d run out on a family. Or the last. If there’s such a thing as a serial monogamist, Charles Hill was a serial parent. Once gone, he never made a re-appearance in his child’s life. Rube and his mom were the first family. Mad and her mom, the second. Then there was Pep, now in college. And then Tom, only 11. And Rube wants her to join him, meeting the other siblings and going to find their dad, supposedly now in California.
For such a wild premise, the characters all felt real and relatable. Their father leaving has left each with trouble handling relationships. Yet each has also had their own successes. These were characters I enjoyed spending time with. The story itself is heartwarming in its own quirky Kevin Wilson way. It tackles some big issues - abandonment, parenting, what makes a family, mental illness. But it delves into them without turning dark or morose. In the end, I loved how the siblings were there for each other, even though they had just met.
My thanks to Netgalley and Ecco for an advance copy of this book.

This is just what I’ve come to expect from Kevin Wilson. A quirky cast of characters that come together in a heartwarming yet moving story of found family.

It wasn’t long into the road trip that my heart expanded and I grew to love Rube, Mad, Pep and Tom.

A quick road trip that really is about the bumpy ride of life and the connections out there waiting for us.

“Found family” is one of my favorite tropes. Kevin Wilson’s latest novel centers on characters who find family in the half-siblings they never knew existed until they meet each other and go on a cross-country road trip in search of their missing father.

Mad (Madeline) Hill is the central character of the book, a no-nonsense organic farmer who is surprised one day when her half-brother Rube shows up at her farm in Tennessee. Rube reveals that their father left Rube’s mother and him in Boston years ago. After his grief over his mother’s recent death, Rube hires a private detective, who has found their two other siblings—a sister in Oklahoma and a brother in Utah—as well as their father, who is living in California. Rube wants to reunite all four children with their father and confront their father about his past actions and their consequences. Against her better judgment, Mad joins him.

This is a generous and thoughtful reflection on family and the relationships that shape our lives. All of the characters are quirky, but they aren’t completely defined by these quirks. I liked all the characters of the siblings very much. Wilson makes many heartfelt observations about time, love, home, and the intersections between past and present. The final lines of the novel will stick with me for a long time.

I’ve read Wilson’s other novels, and I was very excited to receive this ARC from NetGalley and HarperCollins. Many thanks!

I’m a fan of Kevin Wilson’s books and Run for the Hills has endeared me to them even more. Highly enjoyable, I laughed and cried and cried while laughing.

The story moves along at a quick pace as newly discovered half-siblings drive across the USA to track down all the other siblings and their estranged father.

Most of the story is told through Mad’s perspective, which I love. She’s very honest with herself and her siblings, she’s kind and caring without being a pushover and I find her inner monologue quite funny and very relatable.

Like in other books by the author the premise is possible, but sits on the fence of probability. But that’s what makes it so fun and interesting. I imagine it will be a great audiobook and I look forward to listening to it.

The storylines really play out like episodes in a streaming TV show. It kept me reading late into the night, just to find out what fiasco was around the next bend in the road. Highly recommend Run for the Hills.

This book made me laugh out loud so many times! I had no idea what I was getting myself into, because this is the first book that I have read by this author. I can tell you right now, it will not be my last! I genuinely enjoyed the quirkiness of these characters. I loved the bonding, the adventure, the mystery, and the satire of this book. The only downside to this book for me was the ending, which is why I did not give it 5 stars. Even though this book was short, it was well executed, flowed well and had a clear thesis. This book is in the literary fictional humor and satire genre. So, if you’re looking for a good laugh, this is your book to read! Just know that the ending is a bit unexpected. Overall, I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Kevin Wilson and Ecco Publishing for this advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another funny and engaging book by Kevin Wilson! Good for readers who like quirky characters, and also good for book discussion groups.

This was another great novel about a dysfunctional family from Kevin Wilson. I loved Mad, Rube, Pep and Tom - their quirky personalities and the relationship they developed with each other. It was a funny and touching story and I highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book to review. I have been a huge fan of Kevin Wilson’s fiction since reading Nothing to See Here and subsequently all of his other published novels. I was counting down until the release of Run for the Hills. This unique family drama is full of characters who were quirky and endearing, the story was sad but funny, and it didn’t disappoint!

I’m glad my husband was away on a guys trip while I read this book..,,I’m sure he’’d have found all my sudden outbursts of laughter annoying..

Like the best up-lit, Run for the Hills blends humor with heart. Found family isn’t just a theme here—it literally drives the plot: a cross-country PT Cruiser road trip to track down previously unknown half-siblings and confront the shared dad with a serial habit of skipping out on his family. The characters are quirky with a capital Q, and endearing with a capital E.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

This book was fun! fun! fun! Once I got into it.. I found myself not being able to get past page 5 for the longest time. I would start, stop, and then start up again. However, once we were on the road and the Mad's journey with her siblings really begins, I was all in. The thing that makes this book is the characters. All of Mad's siblings are unique and weird. I LOVE Rube (and his silly PT Cruiser). Mad was, actually, my least favorite character, but I also understand why this is her story.

The ending was okay. I'm not sure how I feel about it and I don't want to give away any spoilers. I like that it ended with a bit of uncertainty and a tinge of sadness, but I also wasn't sure that the father would act the way he does. He seemed to roll over pretty quickly.

Overall, fun book! Will I be teaching this in my college contemporary literature courses? Probably not. Would I tell my friends to read it? Absolutely.

This book about half siblings, a road trip, and family could have gone off the rails at least 50 different ways, but in the hands of the skillful Kevin Wilson just put on your seat belt and savor the humanity portrayed. This isn’t a light book but it’s not overwhelming heavy either. If you’ve read other Kevin Wilson books you know you can trust him to make you feel, and this book is no different. Highly recommend and thanks to NetGalley for an early copy.

I love Wilson’s masterful writing of zany, dysfunctional, humorous and heartwarming stories. This is no exception. A totally unlikely yet still engrossing story about family road trip featuring a delightful cast of new-to-each-other siblings. I laughed. I cried. I loved it.

This was a quirky one but I really liked it. Four half-siblings find one another and trek across the country to find their father, who left each of them during their childhood to “start over” with a new life/family. The writing is clever and funny (and sometimes sad) and the characters are interesting. I loved Nothing to See Here but This is Not the Time to Panic was not for me, so I am happy that this one worked! Likely to be amongst my favorites of the year! Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to share my thoughts.

As someone who has loved Kevin Wilson's other books, this felt a bit like a rehashing of old work. That said, I really enjoyed it. He has such silly, reflective moments. I thought the ending didn't exactly stick the landing but it was such a lovely story that I'll forgive him it.

I think it’s time for me to realize that Nothing to See Here was a one off for me with Kevin Wilson. I don’t think I’ll read something by him again unless I know enough going into it that I can be sure of it being a hit. This book was boring. I don’t know I nicer way to say that. There was a lot of dialogue that was telling, not showing. The characters were flat. The plot device was unforgettable, but as for the rest, I think it’ll be gone from my memory within a day. I kept reading because I was hoping it would get better and because it was short.

I just scrolled through the reviews and am definitely an outlier. So check it out for yourself!

Madeline “Mad” Hill’s day is normal, tending her semi-famous farm with her mother, when a man pulls up on a car claiming to be her brother. He claims, too, that he tracked their father down, discovering two other siblings on the way, and now he wants to go find him. And he wants Mad to come with. A road trip novel with Wilson’s signature…something at its heart. An acute understanding of the way events can be so big and life altering and feel so normal. Of the way normal day to day events can feel so big, when looking at them anew.

As much as I love Kevin Wilson, this was just not my favorite from him and I hate writing that! The story just lacked his usual depth and charm, there was no real allure or resolve for these characters with their father, and it just fell very flat for me. I’ll always read Kevin’s books because the ones I’ve loved I’ve REALLY loved, but this was just not my cup of tea sadly.

Run for the Hills was such a fun, heartfelt, and surprisingly tender read. Kevin Wilson’s writing always strikes that perfect balance between quirky and meaningful, and this book was no exception. The characters felt real and offbeat in the best way, and I loved watching their relationships evolve through all the chaos and humor. The pacing was solid, and while it wasn’t quite a five-star read for me, I really enjoyed it. 4 stars for a charming, slightly oddball story with lots of heart.

Run for the Hills is a terrific road trip story of siblings who discover each other and go searching for their father, who left all of his children suddenly and without warning. The book opens at a roadside market when 34 year old farmer Madeline Hills ( nick named Mad) spots a PT Cruiser that slows and stops at her stand. Rube, a writer in his mid 40’s introduces himself as her half - brother and invites Mad to accompany him on his quest to locate their other half siblings and their wayward father, who apparently adopted a completely new identity with each new family he acquired. A story filled with heart and humor will hold readers captive.

Highly recommend.