ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝕎𝕖𝕖𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨!

I compulsively read this vividly drawn, character driven family drama. Four siblings: Antoinetta (Netta), Susan (Suz, Susie), Gustav (Goose) and Iris are alarmed as their famous artist father Vic grows distant from them and finds love with a much younger wife Bella-Mae. When Vic unexpectedly dies at their island villa doing something he said he’d never do, sibling suspicions rise, emotions simmer and drama ensues.

First, Susan arrives & meets Bella Mae’s enigmatic cousin Lazlo, then the other siblings follow. Did someone murder the father they all hero worship? Why did he rush to marry Bella Mae? Who is Lazlo and why won’t he leave? Tensions rise as the siblings’ rivalries and skeletons come out of the closet.

The author kept the suspense burning while making me fall for every single character one after the other. I wished I was their long lost sister. I was fully intrigued by every story and each character while also thinking about the meaning of the title at various points in the story. These neurotic siblings were beautifully chaotic, and I couldn’t help rooting for them til the end, and I was sad to say goodbye. This is a top book of 2025 for me. A gorgeous portrait of grief that read like a suspense thriller.

Read 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙂𝙤𝙙 by Rachel Joyce. @thedialpress
Out Now!

Thank you to the author and tagged publisher for the opportunity to read this @netgalley ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

QOTD: How is your week? What are you reading? A: I have family in town. It’s busy & I’m buddy reading The One and Only Vivian Stone.
#thehomemadegod #currentlyreading📖 #books #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #booksta #readingrecommendations #netgalley

A very in depth review about a family whose mother died when the 4 children were very young. The repercussions of the loss. This details how adverse childhood events effect you through adulthood. I did enjoy getting to know the characters. It was apparent through the tone of the writing that what was presented on the surface was not the entire story. The end was very explanatory-a lot of drama! So interesting how we find out the meaning of the books title in the very last paragraph. So much symbolism, such as flip flops, food, and art. The scenery is mesmerizing. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

If I'm being completely honest, I found this book to be quite boring. The concept was for sure interesting, and I normally love a book about family dynamics, especially ones that deviate from the norm. The execution of this book was just a bit too slow and lack-luster for me. There was a lot of buildup for not a lot of payoff. Overall, it felt a bit disjointed.

I tend to enjoy family dramas and I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. the writing was superb but she lost me when the siblings who had been so close so quickly fell apart. I had a hard time with these inseparable 3 sisters and 1 brother who suddenly couldn't be in a room together shortly after their father's death.

Netta, the oldest and a successful lawyer was used to being in charge; Susan, a great cook and housewife with only stepsons on the weekends; Goose, the only son who considered himself a failed artist; and Iris, the baby of the family and always treated that way.

The truth was explained in a chapter near the end that totally changed everything you had been lead to believe throughout the book, it just seemed like, "Oh, this is what really happened" not that the characters figured any of that out. It left me unsatisfied even though the last couple chapters were good.

thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a deeply moving and multi layered story about family, grief, love and finding yourself. The characters are complex and well developed and each of them carry their own secrets as they navigate the past and deal with the loss of the patriarch of the family. The story unfold slowly and intricately and with a lot of intense details that reminds you of an artist painting a picture, which is apt because at the base of the story is the father who has died who was an artist and his children can’t find the final piece he was working on before he passed, which they are convinced exists despite the fact that his much younger second wife said he was not working on anything. But can they trust her? What do they really know about her?
If you’ve ever lost someone and struggled with how to move forward or navigating inheritances of all shales and forms and finding the strength to push through the grief and move forward.
Thanks to The Dial Press and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

DNF at 70%. The opening pulled me in right away—an emotionally tangled family reunion, a father’s shocking engagement to a much younger woman, and a strong sense of sibling connection. The setup was rich with potential and I appreciated the themes of grief, estrangement, and loyalty. But somewhere around the halfway mark, the pacing slowed and I found myself feeling more frustrated than engaged. While the writing is strong and introspective, the characters began to grate and I just didn’t feel compelled to keep going. I’m sure this will resonate more with readers who enjoy quiet, emotionally complex family dramas, but it wasn’t the right fit for me. Thank you to the publisher for the gifted book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the advance review copy.

This book really surprised me. The Homemade God takes place mostly in Italy, at this slightly crumbling, lakeside villa where four adult siblings are brought back together after their eccentric father suddenly announces he's selling the house and marrying a much younger woman. Right away, there’s tension, old wounds, and so much left unsaid between everyone. You can feel it simmering under the surface from page one.

The setting is absolutely gorgeous and Rachel Joyce writes it in such a vivid way that it becomes more than just a backdrop. The heat, the stillness of the lake, the overgrown garden, and the faded house all reflect what the characters are going through: grief, nostalgia, and that sense of time slipping through your fingers.

What I loved most was the dynamic between the siblings. They’re all so different but you can tell they share this deep rooted pain from their childhood, especially around the loss of their mother. It’s awkward, funny, heartbreaking and so real. There are moments where they regress into old roles, and others where you see tiny glimpses of healing. It’s messy in the most honest way.

The title of the book makes more sense as you go. It’s not about religion in a traditional sense It’s about the personal things we hold on to, the rituals or beliefs we create to cope, to give our lives meaning, especially when life doesn’t go the way we expected. It’s a quiet book in some ways, but if you’ve ever had a complicated family, or tried to navigate grief while pretending everything's fine, it’ll definitely speak to you.

Highly recommend if you like stories about family, memory and second chances plus a dreamy Italian setting that makes you want to disappear into the pages. Perfect summer reading !!

The Homemade God revolves around the family patriarch and famous artist Vic Kemp. He summons his middle aged four children to a noodle bar informing them he's met someone online who he says is the love of his life, Bella Mae. Before the kids can even meet this woman the whirlwind romance moves to a quick marriage at their family Villa on a remote lake in Italy. The siblings are livid to learn of the marriage and then suddenly Vic dies. They all head to the villa to get answers and discover who this Bella-Mae is after all.

This is a complex family drama with just a bit of mystery and intrigue. Did Bella-Mae kill their father? What happened to the last painting he was supposedly working endlessly on? Rachel Joyce does an amazing job exploring the family relationship dynamic between the sibilings and developing each distinct personality. Highly recommend as your next beach read where you will be swept away to Italy and swept into the Kemp family drama.

Vic Kemp is a famous artist, and has solo parented his 4 kids from the time his wife died when the children were young. Vic calls together his children to deliver the news that he has met a woman, and they are to be married soon. He is happier than ever and his future Bella- Mae is 26, an artist as well, and takes care of him. He is finally inspired to finish his great painting and will reach out to them when he is married and ready to introduce them to his new wife.

6 weeks later they get a call there father has passed, and they all travel to the Italian Villa he was in with his wife to get to the bottom of what happened and finally met the woman their father has married. The truths they learn while they are there are not what they expected to learn and it leaves them wondering and reevaluating everything they thought they knew about their father.

This book showed how flawed humans can be and how much they could be hiding under the surface. A family saga is always up my alley and this one was very interesting. The writing style is what really, really didn't work for me. The story is told in the present with flashbacks throughout but it felt really fractured and disjointed to me. I always felt a little lost in the story.

I am a fan of Rachel Joyce’s writing and was excited about the hype surrounding The Homemade God, a dysfunctional and toxic family drama. I tried really hard to get into this one, but it was a dnf for me. I’m still a fan of Joyce’s writing, highly recommend The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, but this one didn’t work for me.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

A family saga saved me...⁣
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I was feeling like I was getting a little slumpy but fortunately this family saga saved the day.⁣
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Summary⁣
A family saga about four adult siblings – Netta, Susan, Goose, and Iris – who are forced to confront their complicated relationships with each other and their recently deceased, larger-than-life artist father, Vic.⁣
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There was a mystery element to this one as well that kept me on my toes. And the Italian backdrop didn't hurt either. To me, this book is what makes a great summer read!⁣
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Is this on your list?? Have you read anything else by Rachel Joyce?

Set against the sweltering backdrop of an Italian summer, The Handmade God is a slow-burning, emotionally intricate novel that explores the fragile ties of family, art, and identity. When a once singularly focused artist-father abruptly remarries and begins making unexpected lifestyle changes, his four adult children—including Goose, the only son among three sisters—gather at their lakeside villa after his sudden death. What follows is less a mystery than a richly layered unraveling of legacy, grief, and long-buried truths.

Rachel Joyce’s prose is graceful and perceptive, capturing the raw tension between what we inherit and what we carry alone. While the pacing lags in parts and the large cast can be hard to track, the emotional undercurrents remain compelling. Goose’s perspective, in particular, stood out—quietly caught between reverence for his father and a sense of estrangement from the spotlight his sisters seemed to share. With its meditative tone and painterly attention to detail, this novel reveals its truths slowly, like brushstrokes on an unfinished canvas. A thoughtful and quietly resonant read.


Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | The Dial Press for the ARC . This is my honest review .

this father made this family so dysfunctional!!! the author wants you to believe Bella Mae is the villain but it’s Vic! wow this was a good one but yeah I would not want to be part of this dynamic! Definitely gave me similar vibes to the blue sisters, like mother, like mother and the accidental favorite!

It might be pretty obvious by now that I will read anything Rachel Joyce writes. This is not because she writes to a winning formula, but rather, she offers a wide range of settings and plots that I can always count on to be well-written and compelling with plenty of heart. This story, like the others I've read (linked), did not disappoint.

I would say this is the perfect summer read—a famous father involved with a mysterious younger woman, his (weirdly) shocked four grown children (this has happened before), a spectacular, exclusive Italian lake community, and of course, a death/murder? How could you resist? Honestly, Joyce had me at the Italian lake, so I was ready for whatever the family dished up (and there were plenty of delicious meals). Perfect for now, or if you're looking later to extend that summer feeling. Also perfect (though not a spoiler) for anyone who is the first to suggest poisoning when they hear that someone died mysteriously. Or is that just me?

The Homemade God was well-written and had a plot I could sink into. I did find it as predictable as any other book in the genre, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story.
I didn't really like any of the characters, but I didn't find that off putting enough to not want to read what would happen next.

Overall, I think readers that enjoy the genre will absolutely love this one, and I have submitted a purchase order for our library to get this book for our collection.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the dARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

The Homemade God is the story of Vic, an artist, and his four adult children. When Vic announces he is marrying a woman several decades younger and painting his most important work, the kids think the worst. When Vic dies, they travel to the family villa in Italy to find the truth behind Vic's death, his will, his painting, and his new wife. That's when the book became ponderous and slow, seeming to lose its pace. The decisions and behavior of the characters were unlikable and made connecting hard. I did like the beautiful Italian setting and how the writing painted a picture of my favorite country. This book would work for readers of slow-burning suspense with some humor. The ending worked and put a smile on my face.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book, however, it was harder for me to get through the rest. Overall it’s a solid read just personally not for me!

This took me way to long to read and I am kind of sad about it. This was a very dyfuntional family to read about. Toxic, family drama. I say read it for yourself if you like family drama with a bit of mystery.

We're all trying to find out who we are, beyond our parents.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Rachel Joyce’s books but the was a dnf for me. I found myself wanting kind drifting while reading it.

📜Quick Summary: After losing their mother at a young age, these four siblings have seen and experienced a lot. When their father Vic, a successful painter, calls them to dinner, he has a huge announcement. All four adult children guess it has to be about his latest painting… or maybe an illness? But at the ripe age of 76, he announces his marriage to a much younger woman, Bella-Mae. He has only known her for weeks, she’s moved in, and he proclaims she’s the one! The siblings don’t even start an argument. But after six weeks in Italy with his new wife, their father is found dead, and now they’re questioning the new wife. As the four siblings-Netta, Susan, Iris and Goose (Gustav, the only brother)- head to Lake Orta to handle the loss of their father, the weight of their relationship and the questions of Bella-Mae are about to surface.

❣️Initial Feels: Character driven novels are usually my thing, but sometimes the family drama drags out. I am hoping this one sticks to the plot and really keeps me invested!

👀Trigger Warnings: loss of father

🌶️Spice Level: 🌶️

📖Read if you want: complex characters, family drama, Italian backdrop, character driven fiction

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: I did not really life any of these characters. They all seemed surface level, and at times, I just didn’t really like anyone. Gustav was my favorite at times, but all of them irked me.

💡Final Sentiments: Gosh, I wanted to love this book because the cover and the location- Italy sounded SPLENDID. The descriptions of Italy made me want to book a flight…but it also made me want to put the book down. This was a slow burn, that was all over the place in terms of time and dialogue and focused too much on telling you everything, and not enough on showing you how events happened. I REALLY wanted to love this one, and after 75%, I just wanted it to end. I felt confused at times with all the back and forth. I know many readers who love this type of slow, unraveling family drama are going to love it!

🌟Overall Rating: 3 stars

🔉Special thanks to Rachel Joyce, Random House- The Dial Press, and NetGalley for this arc of The Homemade God.

📘Grab yourself a copy on July 8, 2025!