New York City, 2001. Cora Brady's father was at work in the North Trade Center when the building collapsed. She knows he is gone and her mother has been gone for years. She receives a letter from an aunt in Ireland that she never knew existed, inviting her to come live with her and start a new life.

County Donegal, 1974. Sisters Roisin and Moira live with their mother in a small neighborhood. When a group of artists known as the Screamers move into an old schoolhouse down the road, Moira connects with the artist she truly is. Roisin has never understood her sister well and understands Moira's relationship with the neighbor boy Michael even less. The Screamers are looking for a new artist in residence and Roisin enlists Michael to help get Moira the job, which leads her away from the home she knew.

Burtonport, 2018. Lyca Brady lives in a large old home with her mother, Cora and great aunt Ro. When Lyca gets an unexpected message from a childhood friend, it sets her on a quest into the home's mysterious attic and the family secrets it holds.

Confessions was the tangled history of a family over decades and oceans apart. The story is told thru multiple POVs and beautifully unravels the mysterious past of two sisters and the different paths they found through life. This book is a slower burn but keeps you hooked with the different timelines and narrators. It was emotional, heartbreaking, and hopeful as you follow the different generations of the sisters family. The audiobook was well done and had wonderful narrators for many different characters. A wonderful debut novel for author Catherine Airey!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperAudio, and the author for the audiobook for review.

Video games are making an appearance in this book and I like it. When people said this book had Tomorrow x3 vibes, they were not lying. Game part aside, this book was loaded with so many heavy hitters: 9/11, abortion. family struggles, and generational trauma.

After her father's passing, Cora would learn that she had an aunt (in Ireland and telling her that she could live with her). Cora's mother was an artist and she was obviously fighting something that was greater than herself before she left Cora behind. Cora's aunt knew that Cora's mom needed to be out there and she made sure her sister's talents would not go wasted. Her sister getting recognized meant she had to cross Atlantic and live a life that would give them Cora at the end. When Cora became a mother herself, all remaining women in her family were living together with that new addition, Lyca. Lyca would be the one putting whole story together.

While I really enjoy books like that, I felt lost in this one at times. I hope it was just me being distracted because storytelling was on point. We cannot change historical events, but I wondered if abundance of them in this story stole from the characters.

Confessions by Cathrine Airey is a deeply evocative and thought-provoking novel that delves into the complexities of human emotions, secrets, and the tangled web of relationships. Through a blend of suspense, introspection, and raw emotion, Airey crafts a narrative that captures the essence of what it means to confront the truth, both about oneself and others. I enjoyed the complexity of the book and the characters. Such a great read!

I will be thinking about this gorgeous book for a long time. An ideal read for fans of Like Mother, Like Mother and Tomorrow x3. A beautiful, generational story about a family of women, lost and found. Parts of this story felt like a punch in the gut. It's one of those books that once finished leaves you feeling both exhausted emotionally and energized, like you need to tell 10 people to read it immediately. Thank you so much Harper Audio for my copy. Listening to the narration absolutely enhanced the experience of this book.

Wow! What a ride through time!! Starting nearly in present day and then falling back through time and back again. You will follow 2 sisters & all of the family & friends that are woven into their lives.
There are some very heavy topics so be warned. But please stick it out! Near the end of the book I was shaking my head, mouth hanging open! Shocked, again and again! You think you understand where it’s going…. But I promise you don’t! Great Read!!

The narrating for this book was stunning and super immersive for the reader in order to understand the characters, although there were sometimes where the narrator could've been a little more emotional. I will say that the story was a little bit confusing to follow on the audio book, I didn't really know who was talking at times, when it was taking place or even who the characters were to the story. There are still some parts that I'm confused about. I think that if I'd read it as a physical book or an eBook with who they were and the dates in writing so I could go back and clarify who and when was speaking it would've made more sense.

Expansive generational story - told over many points of view. Reading other reveiws I'm surprised no one has commented on this being an examination of generational trauma - that what people don't know can & will do as much damage as what people do know. I received a audiobook version from NetGalley & I don't think it's would have enjoyed it nearly as much if I had read it myself - the audiobook narrators did a beautiful job.

Confessions by Cathetine Airey reminds me of Sally Rooney's work. It is a running stream of consciousness of a cast of characters who tend to spend more time in their heads than experiencing life. In addition, the audio was painfully slow, hard to follow because of the jumps, and it was difficult to identify who was speaking because a couple of the narrators sounded the same. I will have to try reading the book, feels that it may be easier to follow in non-audio version. .

Thank you HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Expansive, engaging, and immersive. A recommended purchase for collections where family sagas are popular.

I really enjoyed the story overall. I found this book to be beautifully written, and I loved that every character was flawed in some way. I did find the timelines and switching POV a bit hard to follow at times in the middle of the book. Following three generations of women through their lives was fascinating. I liked the way art and letters tied into the plot. The narrators were fantastic! I liked listening to the Irish accents. This was a great debut novel, and the audio was impeccably done. I look forward to reading more by Catherine Airey! Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for providing me an ALC in exchange for an honest review. Great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for gifting me a review copy of Confessions by Catherine Airey. In exchange I offer my honest opinion.

The cover art and publisher’s blurb initially drew me to this title and then I began seeing buzz around the book’s debut. Unfortunately, it was obvious from the start that this novel would not meet my excitement.
I just could not engage with the writing, storytelling and overall messiness of the novel. Sadly, this was a miss for me. .

I couldn't get into the story. I didnt like the jumping around of the story. And the characters were just not enough for me to engage with

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC opportunity!

This was a slow build for me. It really had a lull in the middle that made it difficult to continue. Once it hit a good grove, the story was really good.

It’s extremely heartbreaking in so many ways. The web we weave within our own family line. Two sisters who really started the web themselves and how it wrapped around everyone in the family. The reveals at the end with Emily and Cora.

It was very well written, and showed such a human side to people and their relationships within a family unit. Specifically the women.

I am really grateful to receive this book but once it started incorporating different points of view I struggled to get into it and keep up with it on audio and did not finish it. That being said, I'm going to pick up a digital or paper copy for myself because I think I may enjoy it more-- just in a different format.

Admittedly, I went in mostly blind -- meaning, I missed the part about this story starting out with the man who jumped, image, from 9/11. I was in Manhattan that day, and typically do not read 9/11 stories. -- but the book quickly departs from there, soon after.

We next find ourselves in Ireland. At nearly 500 pages, this book spans decades! I mostly love generational stories -- but this one jumped around way too much for my taste. I found myself bored and not wanting to get back into the story once I set it down. However, there was a sequence of events that had a climactic build, and I had been happy that I stuck with the story at that point.

But as waves go, everything came back down again and released the intensity, where once again, I struggled with the interest. Towards the end, things started coming full circle, making the connections and the interwoven storylines began to line up.

This is a 3.5 for me, rounded down.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Audio for the chance to listen and review!

I could never really get into this book fully to enjoy it. Not sure why. But just couldn’t connect well with it.

Catherine Airey's Confessions is a gripping novel that delves into the complexities of guilt, deception, and human nature. It’s follows sister Morin & Rosin and how they see and interact with the world around them. We see how deception & tramua effect generations of women in this family. It very much touches on hot button topics so be warned.
The novel's strength lies in its well-developed characters and the slow-burning tension that builds as the truth emerges. Airey crafts a compelling narrative that forces readers to question morality and the reliability of memory. Overall good novel.

I really like the multiple narrators of this book, but I did struggle with the back-and-forth storyline. For me it was hard to follow what was going on with the characters, but I did enjoy the overall story.

Confessions is a multi-generational saga that takes place in Ireland and the United States. The saga begins with two sisters, Róisín and Máire live in County Donagel and both have a close relationship with Michael, a boy who works on the family farm and their father treats like a son. Máire is artistic and Michael and Róisín conspire to get Máire a position as the Artist in Residence at the Screamers House down the street. (Note: I googled the Screamers to learn they were a therapy commune in Ireland, but I might have missed that explanation in the novel.). Then, Máire gets a scholarship to study art at NYU. The other time periods/characters that the book focuses on is Cora in 2001 after the Twin Towers fall in NYCl and Lycra in 2018 who lives with her great-aunt Ro and her mother Cora.

This book started off extremely strong telling Cora’s story after she lost her father, her only living parent, in 9/11 in NYC. It then focused on Róisín and Máire and Máire‘s coming-of-age in NYC. Parts of that story nearly brought me to tears.

This is a seriously ambitious debut at 480 pages and about 1/2 the way through, the story lost its focus, in my opinion, and tried to do too many things and follow too many storylines. (One of them seemingly out of nowhere that did not fit at all had to do with video games.).

I will certainly keep my eye out for Catherine AIrey’s next book. Also, the audio was fantastic, but it was a little difficult to keep everyone straight in the beginning with the changes in characters and time periods.

3.5 stars

This book pulled me in completely. The writing was so engaging that listening wasn’t enough—I had to read it myself. I was fortunate to have a Kindle copy, which allowed me to fully immerse myself in the story.

The cruelty and suffering the characters endured left me feeling heartbroken. I felt deeply for them and kept wondering how anyone could survive such experiences. There were many characters, each with their own story, and it was a lot to take in. Thankfully, my reading buddy Sharada helped me stay on track, making it easier to follow everything.

The story was unforgettable. The emotions, the depth, and the masterful writing left a lasting impression. It’s the kind of book that stays with you long after you’ve finished reading.

After reading, I found myself wanting to visit New York so much. The way the city was described made it feel alive and full of possibilities. I can’t wait to experience it for myself one day.