4.5⭐️ rounding up to 5⭐️

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I love Amy Poeppel, and I loved this book! It was witty and adventurous and fun to read. I didn't fully connect with all the characters, but that's okay! The character development was spot-on and I loved learning about these people's lives.
If you're looking for a lighthearted quick read, I recommend any of Amy Poeppel's works!

I love Amy Poeppel’s books! Chock full of interesting characters, this story is a housing swap between a German couple and a Dallas family. Neither realizes what they are getting into or leaving behind. Injected with the author’s sense of humor especially with language and culture. I live near Dallas, so enjoyed that as well.

This is my second by Amy Poeppel and it is an enjoyable story. You get the idea that you are watching a train wreck in slow motion, and it was a little slow in the beginning. But once the storyline picked up, it was fun to see how it all played out. I agree with other reviewers that the sprinkling of German was hard to read and understand, as no definition or explanantion was usually given to the words or context. The characters were quirky, and while some of the story elements were far fetched, it all came together and the epilogue was the best part of the whole book. Thanks for the ARC.

Far and Away is the best of Women’s Fiction- feminist, funny, introspective, and full of complicated relationships. The ensemble of characters, contrasting settings between Dallas and Berlin, and the zany hijinks of two families on the cusp of calamity harkens back to the energy of a classic British dramedy like Notting Hill or Love Actually. These characters are wholly imperfect in their pursuit of love and friendship, and that is what makes this book so much fun to read. I will be thinking about the unlikely friendship between Lucy and Greta for a very long time. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for my gifted ARC!

This one gets off to a bit of a slow start, but ends up being such a charming book about fate, found family, forgiveness and making your life into the life you want.

I found both Greta and Lucy a bit hard to warm up to, but I got there eventually. The older kids, Jack and Emmi, are charming, and Greta's mom lends a bit of sass to the proceedings. Lucy's parents are exactly how I'd picture Texans in their 70s, and Otto is . . . well, Otto is German.

Mason being off in the desert isn't really a necessary part of the story. I'm not sure how Lucy's domestic situation could have been handled differently, but that part seemed pretty far-fetched, and a long way to go just to get Mason out of the way for most of the story. The other far-fetched thing I couldn't get past was Jack's "transgression." The poor kid got expelled and lost his spot at MIT over . . . THAT? The offense should have been a lot more egregious, or more widely misunderstood, or something to merit the consequences. As it stands, it's pretty unbelievable that a math exercise upended his life.

Those issues aside, I loved the house swap set-up and the way the families adjusted to their new surroundings. This was a take on the fish-out-of-water story I'd never seen before, and part of the reason it worked so well was the extreme contrast between Berlin and Dallas. If the swap had involved two locations with more similarities, the story wouldn't have functioned as well. But moving Texans to Germany, and plopping strait-laced Germans into Texas yee-haw country, made for a nice mix of serious issues and sit-com hijinks.

I've seen some other reviews that claim the German phrases are a problem unless you speak the language. I don't know a word of German other than Volkswagen and I managed just fine. There's plenty of context to tell you what's going on.

The epilogue is super cheesy but somehow made for a perfect ending.

This is the first book I've read by this author, and I'm looking forward to checking out her other work. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book.

Such an original book! Set in Dallas, TX and Berlin, Germany, two families swap homes unprepared for what is waiting for them. Following these delightful characters as they navigate through their new lives was a joy.

This was my first Amy Poeppel book. It will not be the last. Thank you, Atria Books and Net Galley, for the ARC of this book. I am still smiling.

Reading an Amy Poeppel book is like knowing you are watching a train crash and enjoying every minute. Her books are so chaotic and funny. This one was not as unhinged as The Sweet Spot but I enjoyed it so much. Everyone in the book was having their own crisis and they were all running away. Of course in the end everyone was one happy family, but what a wild ride.

Thanks NetGalley for an arc. I enjoyed the house swap theme and traveling to other countries. I haven't read any books set in Germany . However, I do not speak any German and the books sprinkles the German language throughout with no explanation of what is being said. This caused the story to be very choppy for me. Ugg the characters were well developed but overall, this would not be at the top of my list to read.

So fresh, imaginative and entertaining! An absolutely perfect beach read! Poeppel nails the locations, all of the many fascinating characters, and the pacing in this house swap tale set primarily in Dallas, Texas and Berlin, Germany. This novel deserves to be one of the buzziest best sellers of Summer 2025.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria / Emily Bestler Books for the privilege of a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

Far and Away is a charming and heartfelt novel about two very different families—one from Dallas, TX the other from Berlin, Germany —who swap homes for the summer. At first, neither family is happy with their new environment, but as they settle in, both begin to grow, make new connections, and overcome personal challenges. The two women at the center of the swap, Greta and Lucy, start off unsure of each other but end up forming a strong friendship that helps both families in unexpected ways. Amy Poeppel does a great job developing the characters and showing how the experience transforms them. It’s a touching, well-written story about change, connection, and new beginnings.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I'm probably an exception here, but this book wasn't very impactful for me. I enjoyed the house swap theme and traveling to other countries. The author also connects the characters together in a nice way that I enjoyed seeing played out. I haven't read many books set in Germany so that was fun. However, I do not speak any German and the books sprinkles the German language throughout with no explanation of what is being said. This caused the story to be very choppy for me. It was also hard for me to connect with the characters or really care about what happened to them. This book has great reviews and I'm clearly an outlier. So just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean many others won't find this a very enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Before anyone hops on a plane, we get a front-row seat to the stress and pressure building in Lucy and Greta’s lives, the kind that makes escape feel not just tempting, but necessary. Moving to a new country doesn’t exactly make things easier. I felt so much secondhand stress that I almost stopped reading.

But as the story unfolds, the characters slowly find their footing, make friends, and embrace their new culture (Otto most of all!). By the end, they’re one big found family (with a lot of frequent flyer miles). Poeppel balances heart and humor with an ease that makes it a fast, rewarding read. I liked Lucy and Greta, but my favorites were side characters like Lucy's parents.

This author really knows how to write families. I really loved the dynamics and just the way they loved each other and got along! I haven't read this author before, but I can't wait to read more!

A delightful read that explores two families and what happens when they switch houses and countries. And everything and everyone along the way.

I love Amy Poeppel and was so excited to get an advance ecopy of Far & Away. This author knows how to write about families and all of their dynamics at different stages of life. The house swap story line had me hooked from the very 1st page. Loved the ending!

Two strangers, Lucy and Greta agree to a rushed house swap over an Instagram post, Lucy, being from Dallas, Texas and Greta from Berlin, Germany make a plan to exchange homes for the summer. Once in their prospective homes, they find themselves not only in new surroundings, but also taking on one another's social circles. Greta and her husband Otto find themselves taking care of many pets and living beside Lucy's parents. I found myself laughing out loud as they spent their first night in Dallas. I do not think I will be able to hear "Goodbye Earl" again without thinking of this hilarious scene. Lucy and her three children land in Berlin on the fifth floor of an apartment with no elevator. Let's just say things are in fact bigger in Texas. This story is about motherhood. marriage and family. I found it both heartwarming and funny. There is quite a bit of German, so if you read on a Kindle there is an option to translate. What a fabulous read. I think in honor of Otto, I'll head to Costco! 4.5 brilliant stars

The story of a trans-continental house swap, Far and Away follows the stories of Greta, an art dealer in Germany, and Lucy, a designer from Texas, who each find themselves in the midst of unexpected marital and family upheaval, and both need to get out of town fast. Written with Amy Poeppel's signature humor and pitch-perfect character development, each family's saga unfolds with hilarity and compassion, reminding us all that things are never, ever exactly what they seem. I love Popppel's books, and this one was just as delightful as her others. She has created yet another cast of loveable, imperfect, and completely relatable characters whom I didn't want to leave when the book ended. You're going to want to read this one and then reread it to enjoy it all over again.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance reader copy.

This was a delight! I loved the international house swap plot. I loved Greta, Lucy, and both of their eccentric families. I am still laughing at the use of Goodbye Earl in this novel. This is the perfect book to throw in your beach bag or suitcase this summer. It releases June 10th and is available for preorder now. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Home exchange between two very stressed women. One is leaving Sweden in shame after her husband loses a job but finds another in Texas. A woman in Texas is leaving home after her son makes an error and is the victim of a lot of internet bullying. Loved it.

I loved Amy Poeppel's other books and was really excited to read this one early. I did enjoy it; however, I was definitely unclear about where the plot was going for a little while and it didn't become clear until about halfway through. I think she stuck the ending and it was an enjoyable read, but the pacing was a little off for me.