This was a very good book. It was well-written. I would highly recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I was looking forward to reading this, as I am a fan of Kelsey Grammer, and had heard little about this tragedy in his life. I had to DNF

While Kelsey's love for his sister and his family came shining through in this book, it was almost impossible for me to follow because at no point is it told in a linear fashion. I understand that thoughts can feel this way, but it makes for difficult reading.

3 ⭐️

WHAT I LOVED - It read like a journal, with memories, stories of growing up, and personal growth.

WHAT I LIKED - The honesty. It's difficult to admit your own faults, fears, and insecurities, and to do so publicly is pretty spectacular.

WHAT I DISLIKED - It took me a very long time to get through this. I had to take many breaks and read something else before diving back in.

WOULD I RECOMMEND? Yes and no. Yes, if you are a fan of Kelsey Grammer and want to know more about him personally. If you are looking for a gritty true crime story, then no.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Select, for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

This was absolutely heartbreaking to read. Memoirs are typically really hard to rate for me, and this was unlike any memoir I have ever read. To me this felt like reading Kelsey’s journal. It is written stream of consciousness, it is often messy, disjointed, confusing…but it was also rare and beautiful. It’s a extremely intimate account of a man reconciling and working through his grief and love. It was hard to read at times as I felt I was intruding into his private thoughts. Also hard because Karen’s death was brutal and senseless and many details of it are accounted here. But what a beautiful tribute to not only Karen’s life, but also Kelsey’s other family members and friends. Glad to have read this. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Select for the opportunity to read this. And thank you to Kelsey Grammer for sharing Karen with us all.

While what happened to the author’s sister was horrific, this book felt more like a random retelling of different aspects of the author’s life than about his sister.

This book was an emotional journey that I wasn't quite prepared for, but I truly appreciate that Kelsey Grammer wrote an honest, vulnerable account of not only what happened to his sister, but also the toll it took on him. There is a beauty in the healing that Grammer talks about and in the way that he honors the memory of his sister and I feel that readers will really connect with this in the book.

No book is perfect though, and there are some pacing issues here and there, but overall it is not anything that takes away from the profound meaning behind this book.

I highly recommend this one to all readers.

Thanks to Harper Select and Kelsey Grammer for this moving advanced reader copy. Wow, at times I wanted to close it because I could feel this author's heartache. This is a book that talks about the death of his sister and also his own story and struggles due to this event. Perfect summer afternoon read but grab your tissues.

I read this book because I really like every TV series that Kelsey Grammer has been in.. This book was about his sister Kare who was a couple of years younger than him. She was brutally tortured, raped and murdered. That was awful, but Kelsey has not been able to get over her death which happened in the 1970s. He still speaks to her and still hears her talking to him. He finds anybody who knew her and wants to know all about her from their perspective. We have all lost someone we loved, but usually we grieve and then get over it. Of course our memories of that person will always be with us. I found the book to be rambling and difficult to read because of there being no chapters and that he jumps from one story to another, so the book does not flow in any kind of order -. It reminded me of somebody's ramblings.
I do thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review

I struggled with this book. Grammer is not as pompous as his iconic character Fraiser Crane, but man, does he give the character a run for his money. In a book about his sister Karen and how she and her murder affected his life, he uses it to give shout-outs, thanks you, and apologies to people he either refuses or can't speak to anymore. He argues that his children aren't nepo-babies. And the motorcycle....It takes a lot to get back around to Karen once he gets going on these tangents.
This is where the book is good. Hearing about their life together. Hearing about how his perspectives changed after her murder. This is what I'm here for. I would have liked more pictures, as I'm very visual. But there are other documents included that Grammer alludes to that are helpful. Hearing about the siblings' journey is truly moving when Grammer isn't on a tangent.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Select for the eARC.

This book was so hard to read. First because of the nature of the story and second because Kelsey Grammar writes this book in just one constant fluid thought.

I will put that aside because this story is raw and emotional.

I struggled a bit with this one. It sounded so intriguing at first. I had no idea what happened to Kelsey Grammar’s sister. But it just felt so disorganized and about him more so than just his sister. (Which wasn’t a bad thing but it didn’t keep my attention as much.) It also just felt a little too long, and had too much rambling.

I did not know about Kelsey Grammer’s sister before reading this book. It is sad to think he has lived with such pain for almost 50 years. But I am very glad he decided to share Karen with the world – not just her death, but her life and what he continues to discover about her.
This book is not an easy read, and not just because of the crimes committed (although the details are difficult to process). The book is very raw, in both the emotion expressed as well as how the material itself is presented. Grammer pours out his heart in one long tome of grief and memories. There were no chapter breaks in my advanced copy, and he says that he will not add them, so I expect the final copy to have no chapters either. While this style lends itself to feeling like you are listening to someone just talk and reminisce, it also naturally branches off into many, many rabbit trails, details of Grammer’s own life, and much repetition. Reading was slow going and I found myself skimming over large sections until it circled back around to Karen. It seems that he did not have a ghost writer and did his own editing. While I appreciated his style, a lot could have been omitted from his own life and it all could have been much more organized. There were many wanderings, back and forth between past and present, and so many people mentioned I had trouble keeping it all straight.
A few things especially stood out to me. I could not help but think that over the decades Grammer has come to idolize his sister. He describes her over and over as (among many other things) the love of his life, which seemed odd to me. He also has a very eclectic set of beliefs about religion and the afterlife. He spoke of many things including Jesus, mediums, Christian science, and yoga. But no mention of heaven, only that he believes Karen is forever and guides him still. I sincerely pray he finds the peace he is looking for.
Give the book a try if you are so inclined, but be prepared to spend serious time wading through it. I applaud the author for taking on such a huge project, but the publisher should have insisted on editing and simplifying it.
*I received a complimentary copy of this e-book courtesy of Harper Select through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*KAREN: A Brother Remembers* by Kelsey Grammer is a deeply personal and emotional memoir that explores grief, loss, and the lasting impact of tragedy. Grammer recounts the heartbreaking murder of his sister, Karen, and the decades-long struggle to process his grief. His raw honesty and vulnerability make this book a powerful tribute to his sister’s life.

However, the book’s structure is somewhat chaotic, with stream-of-consciousness writing that can feel repetitive and disorganized. While Grammer’s emotions are palpable, the lack of a clear narrative flow may make it difficult for some readers to fully engage with the story.

Despite its flaws, *Karen* offers a poignant look at grief and resilience, making it a meaningful read for those who have experienced loss. If you’re looking for a polished, linear memoir, this may not be the best fit—but if you appreciate deeply personal reflections, it’s worth exploring.

A Heartfelt, Yet Unpolished, Tribute to a Lost Sister

Kelsey Grammer's Karen: A Brother Remembers is a deeply personal and often harrowing account of unimaginable loss. As a reader, my heart went out to Grammer from the very first page, confronted with the profound grief and enduring pain of losing his younger sister, Karen, to murder and rape. His love for her, and the crushing weight of her absence, is palpable and truly moving. He clearly yearned to tell Karen's story, to honor her life beyond the horrific circumstances of her death, and in that, he undeniably succeeds.

Grammer's candid recounting of his memories, his process of grappling with such disturbing events, and his raw emotional honesty are the book's greatest strengths. It's evident that writing this book was a profoundly difficult, perhaps even therapeutic, endeavor for him, and one can only imagine the anguish involved in recalling such traumatic details. He absolutely deserved the opportunity to share Karen with the world, to paint a picture of who she was—vibrant, loved, and more than just a victim.
However, the book's structure ultimately hinders its impact. What emerges is a long, meandering journal entry, at times difficult to follow. The narrative often shifts without clear transitions, making it challenging for the reader to fully engage with the timeline and emotional arc. While the raw, unedited quality might be a reflection of Grammer's genuine process, it ultimately feels like a disservice to his powerful story. This is where the role of an attentive editor becomes critically apparent; Grammer deserved stronger editorial guidance to help shape his deeply personal reflections into a more cohesive and accessible narrative.
Despite these structural shortcomings, Karen: A Brother Remembers remains a testament to enduring love and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unspeakable tragedy. I commend Kelsey Grammer for his bravery in sharing such a vulnerable part of his life. My sincere hope is that in telling Karen's story, he finds a measure of solace and peace.

Karen: A Brother Remembers is a heartfelt and tragic memoir from Kelsey Grammer, written in memory of his sister Karen, who was brutally murdered in 1975. The emotional weight of the book is undeniable, and Grammer’s raw honesty is moving throughout.

That said, the structure is difficult to follow. The timeline shifts frequently, and at times the reflections feel scattered. It’s clear this book was written from a deeply personal place, which makes it hard to critique too harshly—but as a reader, it can be disorienting.

Ultimately, it’s a powerful tribute marked by grief and love. While not the smoothest read, it’s a sincere window into a brother’s pain and remembrance.

I found this to be a very powerful and emotive tribute to his sister, from the actor Kelsey Grammer. It is never easy to lose someone close in such a brutal manner, but in this 'memoir' we see the impact that this loss had on him, his family and loved ones, and how it still causes so much pain so many years later.

It's told in a very rambling manner, which may grate on some people, but I found this really replicated his manner of processing the trauma especially as he looked back over the years and the memories he has of the happy times with his sister Karen, alongside those darker ones, and you really feel his despair and sense the 'therapy' he went through in the writing process as he confronts the different feelings he encounters along the way.

you also get the sense of the love that he had with his family, his sister in particular and how they spent so much time together with happy memories. And then the sadness he felt that he couldn't protect his sister, on that fateful night when she was murdered. The 'what ifs' play out in his words on the pages, and how he has struggled at times in 'letting go'.

It isn't easy reading, and the timeline does chop and change but that just added to the way that life unfolds and how our memories come and go in a random matter. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of the book, "Karen A Brother Remembers" by Kelsey Grammer from NetGalley. Kelsey writes a book to remember his beloved sister, Karen Grammer who was murdered when she was only 18 years old. This book took a few years for the author to write. Although the book is about his sister and how close they were. He also writes about other parts of his life, his mother, his maternal grandparents who helped raise Kelsey and Karen. His starting career as an actor and even his beloved dog, Goose. This book is a nice devotion to his sister Karen and the short life she lived. To me this book is all over the place. It is like he writes whatever he is thinking that day so it goes back and forth from childhood to his adult years even those after Karen died. I would give this book a 3.5.

This was almost a DNF for me, but because NetGalley had provided a copy for me, I felt compelled. I have been a Kelsey Grammer fan for years, and I also have a fascination for true crime. I thought this book was a sure thing, but it was just too much to handle. The stream of consciousness writing, the cavalcade of names, the bizarre jumps through time...it was virtually impossible to follow. Unfortunately, and I hate to say this, it came across as more of a vanity project than a true memoir of his sister and the fallout from her murder.

ARC received from NetGalley 3.5 star
an emotionally raw, reflective memoir tackling grief, family bonds, and healing
stream of consciousness that bounces all over the place ( Kelsey says told in reverse but more like back and forth ) not so much about karen as random stories with a lot of repetition.

Kelsey is a great story teller and gives insight to his childhood

The author (who, of course, is best known for acting in Cheers and Frasier) discusses his close relationship with his sister Karen, who was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered by a group of men. He does discuss the crime, but mostly he focuses on his warm memories of Karen. He does not allow her to be known only for the awful way she died, but for the kind and loving way she lived. Overall, a touching tribute for both fans of the author and people dealing with grief. Karen would be proud of you, Kelsey.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.