The Road to Tender Hearts was cute and quirky. The tragic premise takes the flawed characters on a cross country trip of discovery with many comical moments along the way. For me it was a bit slow but I could see that many would find it heartwarming.

This book takes a minute to get invested in but once you are introduced to all the characters it pulls you in. The cat pancakes," uncle" even thd children make quite a misfit group you cant help falling in love with and root for. This story was sweet, and endearing.

This is one of the most riveting, bleakest, chaotic, endearing books I’ve read in a long time. It’s honestly a marvel that one novel can create space for so many simultaneous emotions, which I give the author a lot of credit for doing. The characters grow on you, and even though most of the time they veer towards the wrong moral outcome, you still find yourself rooting for them (especially the children!).

Overall this is a roller coaster of a story, one that would be good to read in a book club.

I absolutely loved Annie Hartnett’s first two novels, 𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘬𝘦 and 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴. Both were books I couldn’t stop talking about, so I was VERY excited for her new book, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗦, which is the story of a crazy group of five on an unlikely road trip. Now comes the pain: I didn’t much like it and it’s really hard for me to pinpoint why.⁣
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I generally like road trip books, so it wasn’t that. I also like books with humor in them. I especially like humor when it jumps out and surprises you. I remember laughing out loud many times in 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘴 simply because I was so surprised at something that happened…and here might be the problem. I feel like Hartnett’s first two books were serious stories laced with humor. I love that! For me, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 was a humorous story laced with serious parts. There’s a difference. In the end, I found this one just too kitschy, too cute, with not enough depth on the more serious side. ⁣
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I realize I’m a big outlier here and I’m happy about that. Annie Hartnett is still an author I love and I’ll be just as eager to read her next book as I was with this one.🤷🏻‍♀️ We simply can’t all connect with every book.⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 ⁣
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𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 #BallantineBooks 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.

I loved Hartnett’s last novel, Unlikely Animals, so of course her newest release was an auto read for me.

This book was charming, heartwarming, funny, and tender. Hartnett has such a unique writing style and does such a good job blending serious topics with humor and heart. The characters were flawed, and at times frustrating, but lovable. Also, there was a cat, Pancakes, who was probably my favorite character. 🐱🥰 I loved following this gang on their journey throughout the story, all their shenanigans, and all they learned along the way.

If you’re looking for a heartfelt and uplifting book to read this summer, I’d definitely recommend picking this one up!

In any other author’s hands, this story would be off the rails. In Hartnett’s, on the other hand, it was heartfelt, funny, whimsical, and oftentimes sad AF. I’m not sure how something could be so funny and so sad all at once.

I wanted to love this book, and I love Annie’s overall vibe to her writing. But the start was odd, off-putting, and a little gross. It made it hard to feel invested after that! I will still read future books from her!

Reading Notes

Four things I loved:

1. "But this isn’t a story about cats, or even about dogs. It’s a story about horrible things that happen to people, and how on earth anyone can stomach raising children in a world where doom and disaster lurk around every corner. So, no, it’s not a story about a cat. It’s just a story that starts with a cat, and it goes from there." p15 Nice bit of meta and she's already got me in my feels– expectations raised!

2. The story here is remarkable and I love it, its so weird! Wonderfully weird!The family structure is like nothing I've ever seen– a couple and her diaabled ex-husband cohabitating, *and* the husbands are life-long best friends. I've never read anything like this and it makes me happy.

3. This book is quite a bit darker than I expected, but I'm all in!

4. This book repally leans in to life's tragic absurdity and it's working really well for the story in unexpected places, like tone and pace.

Two quibbles:

1. I keep thinking I'm picking up on political dog whistles and I do not find it pleasant. Normally it doesnt bother me much, but I don't know how to react emotionally to dog whistles. I'm not even always sure wherehow to interpret them. I find them an unpleasant fiction element.

2. Well... that was just a brick wall of ableism that I face-planted on, starting on p38. Such a common problem in fiction.

Notes

1. content warnings: car accident, human death, animal death, ableism, death of a child, poison, dog attack (off page)

2. DNF @ p38 for ableism.

Rating: DNF @ p38
Recommend? no
Finished: Apr 25, '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley

Thank you to the author Annie Hartnet, publishers Ballentine Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of L.A Women. All views are mine.
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Hate to say it, but was my least fav of her work :( starting to feel like the themes are repetitive (grief, accepting family members…). Also normally her unlikable characters are still lovable, but PJ was simply not. It was infuriating to see an adult act in the way he did.

The content for this book was too dark for me. I can tell it has Harnett's classic humor filled writing, and I thought the characters of what I read were well developed. However I did not see a reality where those children were given to that man to be looked after. The descriptions of what happened to the children were too much for me.

First of all... PANCAKES!!!!! I NEED HIM!

Second...This was beautifully written. Annie Hartnett's style is so eloquent and conveys so much emotional depth. The characters are written flawed and at times I DID NOT LIKE THEM, but I understood them and empathized with them. There are some very dark tragic parts and at times my jaw was on the floor from one event to the next.

PJ is unlikely likeable, and I struggled with my feelings toward his character because of his flawed thinking process, however, his capacity for compassion and goodness tugged at all my heart strings. The kids have so much trauma and he is able to see them as children who need care even if he gets it wrong and at times is selfishly motivated. The stories he tells and how it has impacted everyone's lives are so poignant and show his growth.

This is not a lighthearted story, even though it has its moments. There are really hard topics discussed surrounding death, abuse, trauma, alcoholism and addictions, and fractured relationships. PJ's relationships are textbook codependent and dismissive at worst, and caring and supportive at best. I loved seeing how his relationship with his daughter developed and changed by the end of the book and definitely had tears in my eyes seeing them start to reconcile slowly.

4.5 Stars for this wonderful chaotic story of unlikely family and allies.

Lovely story of family and it includes a cat!! I loved all the characters. Hartnett's characters have real depth. These are fully realized people with struggles and foibles. i laughed and cried. This book is a winner

This might be my first ever 5 star road trip book (because they don't typically work for me)! The premise for this story sounds ridiculous and probably would’ve been in any other author’s hands. But, not Annie Hartnett’s. PJ Halliday is a 63 year old unemployed alcoholic who won 1.5M in the lottery years before. He’s recovering from the tragic death of his oldest daughter and his ex-wife is still more or less taking care of him even though she now lives with her boyfriend in a house down the street. He’s planning a road trip when he’s contacted by Child Services asking to become the guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren after they lost both their parents. So, the kids and PJ’s younger daughter join him on this road trip. I adore Hartnett's entirely singular, voice-y writing style. She confronts serious issues in her books, but layers them with dark, sometimes morbid humor and a heart-warming feeling. Every main character in this story is dealing with some sort of trauma in their lives (loss, grief, addiction) and this road trip is a healing mechanism for them all. Of course, ridiculous stuff happens to them along the way. This book felt like a warm bath. Characters I adored and was rooting for, chuckle funny humor, and themes of healing and resilience.

Why was this the sweetest book I read this year? I loved Hartnett's other book - Unlikely Animals, and this is just as good. The book is tender and perfect for the beach or the weekend or the subway.

I absolutely loved Annie Hartnett's previous books and was so excited to receive an early copy of this one -- and I really loved it! All of her books have the most unique and quirky characters and dynamics and this one did not disappoint.

While PJ drove me crazy at times, I really felt for him and how stuck in life he was -- and understandably. I loved seeing him reach outside his comfort zone and create strong bonds with his daughter and the kids. Parts of this is so sad and parts are so hilarious -- it's a great balance and I wanted to know what was going to happen.

I recommend this one to anyone who likes quirky novels, road trips, and endearing characters. I am so excited to read what Annie Hartnett writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

This is just the sweetest quirkiest wildest road trip of a book! It wanders here and there and you get small pieces of the story. The characters are very identifiable and lovable despite their faults. And the road trip just makes you want to get on the road and explore. I mean road trips... we all love them or we want to think that we do. And throw a cat into the mix and you just have total perfection, not in a road trip, but in a book. You can't help but root for everyone in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. Fabulous summer reading!

Loved this book so much. It was funny, heart warming, emotional. So well written that I would highly recommend

PJ Halliday had it together at one point. Before his marriage to Ivy fell apart, before his oldest daughter Kate drowned in a few inches of water on prom night, before his drinking really got out of hand. Before all that, he was a perfectly pleasant fellow and a decently good dad. But now, PJ is a 63 year old bachelor who won the lottery and has nothing to show for it. And so when news of his childhood love newly-single status reaches PJ all the way out in Pondville, Massachusetts, he decides to plan a road trip to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to find her.

What he didn't anticipate, was said road trip including his deceased brother's newly-orphaned grandchildren and a cat named Pancakes (no relation to the family) who made a reputation for himself at the Pondville nursing home as an "agent of death" who could predict when someone's time was up. So with two children and one cat with exactly nobody in the world except for PJ, the roadtrip to Tender Hearts begins.

"The Road to Tender Hearts" is a somewhat darker, somewhat more tragic Fredrik Backman novel that will pull on your heartstrings in the best and worst ways. Annie Hartnett has penned an unforgettable and irresistible-despite-his-glaring-flaws character in PJ Halliday,. His relationship not only with his roadtrip companions, but with life itself, is a complicated and deeply-human one: to read this book is to love this book, readers, trust me. So much more than a found family novel, "The Road to Tender Hearts" is about picking up the pieces of your life, even when (and perhaps especially when) some of its most important pieces are missing.

This was a little darker than I expected and dealt with some real issues. The characters were strong as individuals and an ensemble that worked together to show the whole scope of life.

This was my first book by this author and it was great. I was hooked from the beginning. This was a quirky and fun story.