4 stars

I've been fortunate to be on a strong debut streak, and this book is a noteworthy part of that. There are great characters, intriguing family relationships, secrets galore, unaddressed grief, and - of course - a lot of opportunities for hope, redemption, and healing. Prospective readers who enjoy a journey into family dynamics will find a lot to love here.

Three sisters return to their family home for a holiday, and they all show up with baggage from the distant and recent past. Though I enjoyed a lot about this book, the highlight for me is how well developed these characters became, especially in a relatively short text. I found myself really invested in all three sisters' outcomes, even when I found it challenging to root for them.

Because these women's lives are so clearly shaped by past loss and trauma, there are many vital reflections on the past. O'Neill weaves in that information seamlessly, adding to character growth and relationship development without ever creating disruption. Though this isn't the focal point, I found the exploration of characters' guilt in connection with loss particularly poignant and expect this will be largely relatable to most readers who've faced similar experiences.

I could have read much more about these characters. That's a testament to O'Neill's work here, not a slight. This is a great read and an enjoyable audiobook, and I'll be recommending it to a number of different types of readers.

This is one of those debut novels that does not feel like a debut at all. With "The Irish Goodbye", Heather Aimee O'Neill has crafted a beautifully written family drama that is an absolute page turner. There are some heavy topics explored in this novel, but they're all handled with tact. The pacing is also perfectly done — each character's story gets enough focus that it doesn't feel like the reader is being rushed through every conflict with the sole purpose of making it to one big happy ending.

The plot is quite simple: three sisters, with their partners and/or children in tow, all return to their childhood home to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with their parents. But the problem is this particular family has some unresolved trauma that none of them have ever properly worked through. This has caused tensions to develop among the parents and the sisters, while also leading to the sisters developing problems in their personal lives due to some rather unhealthy coping mechanisms that they've all developed.

I really appreciated how this story presented very real struggles and conflicts that many people face in their lives, and I think most readers will be able to relate to one, if not multiple, characters here. And even though there were multiple times where I wanted to reach into the story and shake some of the characters into their senses, I still thought all the characters were quite likeable overall (despite any of their faults).

I would absolutely recommend this one to anybody who's already a fan of family dramas, and I'd also recommend it to anybody looking to try one for the first time! And I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for any future novels from O'Neill.

(Thank you to Henry Holt & Company for providing me with a free ARC copy of this book via NetGalley! All thoughts and opinions shared here are my own, honest review.)

I wish that I could stay with the Ryan family of The Irish Goodbye for much longer than the novel's perfectly paced 288 pages. Set at their family's generational Victorian on the shores of Long Island, the three Ryan daughters continue to grapple with the tragic accident that upended their brother Topher's life two decades earlier.

The alternating POV between sisters Cait, Alice and Maggie puts their characters on full display, as the story feels just as character- as does plot-driven. O'Neill perfectly executes the depth and intricacies of this family's' relationships with each other, and develops each moment to turn this into a true page turner, despite a lack of TRUE mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautiful debut novel set on
Long Island, where the Ryan’s own a large Victorian home on the eastern shore, it has been in their family for generations.
Two decades ago, their lives were upended when a tragic accident happened on the oldest child Topher’s boat.
Since then, daughters moved away, a tragedy happens with Topher… secrets were withheld… The parent aged, and grandchildren were born.
They are now coming together now for a Thanksgiving dinner you won’t forget .
A great cast of characters, a story of family, grief, and forgiveness.
It was very hard to put this novel down at any point and I just wanted to stay with this family for a while longer!

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for the free ARC!

Publishing September 30th

I love a good family drama, and the comps to J. Courtney Sullivan and Mary Beth Keane drew me right in (and were definitely accurate!). This book was softly compelling; I couldn’t put it down, not because I needed to see what happened, necessarily, but because I cared about the characters so much and wanted to spend time with them. The story is told from the points-of-view of three sisters, and is the rare novel where I enjoyed each point-of-view equally.

If I had to sum the theme of this book up in one word, it would be: acceptance. This theme is woven throughout the novel, and manifests in different forms.

Also, on a personal note, as someone from a family of Irish Catholics immigrants, I related to this book so much. Especially the part about having a priest that’s practically part of the family!

I will certainly be putting this book in the hands of many people once it’s released - especially the hands of my Irish-Catholic family! I absolutely loved this.

This is a story that got my attention very slowly. Several times early on in the story I thought about stopping but I did stay with it and finally began enjoying it. It is one of family dynamics and all the differences, pain, hurt and loyalty that make up a family. The book covers life, love death, suicide, and coming out so there were just too many emotions woven into this story of the coming together of a family at Thanksgiving. I think I would have liked it more if there had been fewer scenarios with which to deal.

I wish to thank Net Galley and Henry Holt & Co. Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed this advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gosh I loved this book so much! It reminded me a lot of the Family Stone. Not the same storyline, but the family drama of it all during thanksgiving. I loved the development of the characters and their storylines. TW for abortion and suicide. This was a quick easy read, highly recommend to read around the holidays this year! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

This book follows a dysfunctional family over a Thanksgiving weekend. We follow the three daughters Cait, Alice, and Maggie.

Cait throughout the vast majority of this book is selfish and really only thinks about her wants. Even in the flashback chapters she was selfish so I really couldn't stand her throughout most of this book, but she did manage to make me like her when she stood up for her sister... and then immediately make me dislike her again about a page later. So she's kinda an awful person but a pretty decent sister.

Alice is the push over and people pleaser, she stretches herself paper thin trying to do everything and be there for everyone. And also greatly resents her sisters mainly Cait because they moved away and they haven't had to sacrifice as much. When Alice eventually starts thinking about her own self interests I was rooting so hard for her.

Maggie's story line in this wasn't as interesting to me, I didn't dislike her as much as I did Cait and she wasn't as compelling as Alice. So I'm very middle of the road on my feelings for her.

Everyone in this family is a train wreck and couldn't have a conversation with each other if they tried. Not a single conversation felt like it had any sort of satisfying conclusion, they just talked around the issue or they'd constantly get interrupted.

This book was a struggle for me to get through, but I clearly seem to be in the minority so if a somewhat sad family drama sounds like something you'd be into I'd definitely recommend giving this a shot. It's written very well, and I would be interested in reading more from the author. But this one was sadly a miss

Book Review: The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O’Neill.
Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for my gifted ARC, and to LibraryThing for the giveaway win—I truly appreciate the opportunity.

Let me just start by saying: if you’ve ever walked into a family gathering muttering “Here we go,” then The Irish Goodbye will feel like home—in the best, worst, most emotionally complicated way possible.

This debut novel is a sharp, layered, and surprisingly cozy look at a very un-cozy family Thanksgiving. Heather Aimee O’Neill introduces us to the Ryan sisters—Cait, Alice, and Maggie—three grown women who return to their childhood home on Long Island for the first time in years. Technically, they’re there to celebrate the holiday. Emotionally, they’re hauling around twenty years of guilt, secrets, regret, and unfinished business—plus, one guest who might as well be carrying a match and a can of gasoline.

Let’s break this down.

Two decades ago, a tragic boating accident killed a neighbor’s son and set off a chain reaction that unraveled their family. Their brother Topher, who had been driving the boat, was consumed by guilt and eventually took his own life. The sisters scattered, emotionally and physically, each building their own carefully controlled version of a life. But the past, as it tends to do, didn’t stay buried. And now here they are again, under the same roof, pretending to act like a family over turkey, wine, and an emotional minefield.

Cait, the eldest, is a single mom who fled to Europe and came back with two kids and a head full of secrets—including one about the night of the boating accident that she’s never told anyone. She’s also rekindling a romance with Luke—yes, that Luke—the brother of the boy who died on Topher’s boat. Because emotional danger is obviously her favorite pastime.

Alice, the middle sister, is back with a marriage hanging by a thread, a career she’s trying to restart, and a surprise pregnancy she’s not exactly celebrating. Her husband and her mother are staunchly Catholic, and the decision she’s weighing might blow up what little peace she has left.

And Maggie, the youngest, is bringing her girlfriend home for the first time—an act of bravery, given their mother’s rigid faith and the fact that the Ryan household is not exactly known for open arms and warm welcomes.

Each sister has her own fully realized arc, told through alternating perspectives that manage to feel distinct without being jarring. You know those multi-POV books where you dread flipping to a certain character’s chapter? This is not that book. I found myself invested in each of their stories, even when I didn’t always like them—especially when I didn’t like them. Because let’s be honest, that’s family. It’s rarely tidy or easy or free of side-eye.

The emotional core of this book isn’t just the tragedy that rocked their family years ago—it’s the silence that followed. O’Neill excels at portraying how grief morphs over time, how families can carry trauma like inherited furniture: too heavy to move, too familiar to throw out, too painful to sit on. What makes this book work is the way she captures the unspoken language of siblings—the sideways glances, the decades-old resentments, the memories that only make sense to people who lived in the same walls. And it’s funny, too—not laugh-out-loud slapstick, but that dark, knowing humor you get when someone says what you were thinking but would never dare say out loud.

Is it a perfect novel? Not quite. Some of the emotional revelations, especially toward the end, feel just a touch tidy for a story that thrives on chaos. A few character beats skim the surface when you want them to dig deeper. But those are small gripes in a book that otherwise nails the tone of complex, deeply flawed love between sisters who both hurt and heal each other—sometimes in the same breath.


Quote:
“We were all grieving the same person, just in completely different languages.”

Pair it with: An Irish coffee with extra whiskey—because this book is warm and bittersweet, goes down easy, and will definitely leave you a little buzzed from emotion.

Final thoughts? The Irish Goodbye is the kind of book that creeps up on you. You think you’re just reading a family drama about three sisters with secrets, and then suddenly you’re thinking about your own relationships, your own silences, your own moments when you should have said something and didn’t. It’s a quiet burn of a novel—cozy in setting, cutting in emotion, and full of the kind of mess you can’t help but love. I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye on what Heather Aimee O’Neill writes next. If this is what she does with her first novel, I can’t wait to see what she tackles next.

“The Irish Goodbye” by Heather Aimee O’Neill is a family drama that centers around three estranged sisters. They come together with their aging devout Catholic parents for a Thanksgiving celebration, each sister carrying many untold secrets. On top of this they are also still grappling with the lingering ripples of their shared horrible childhood tragedy.
I couldn’t fully connect to the characters so I wasn’t as fully invested in the story as I would have liked to be. I do think anyone who likes novels about flawed families will enjoy this book. The trauma the family faced felt really emotional and authentic and that kept me reading till the last page.

Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

If there’s anything I love, it’s a slow-burning family drama and The Irish Goodbye delivers. Told through three points of view, it follows the Ryan sisters as they return to their childhood home on Long Island for Thanksgiving. Within 24 hours, they’re overwhelmed by grief, resentment, forbidden love, and enough Catholic guilt to qualify as a fourth sister... Everyone decides to get together for thanksgiving and at the center is a long-buried tragedy that still haunts the family (dun dun dun!)

This is a messy, tender, emotionally layered debut about sisterhood, forgiveness, and the crushing weight of everything we leave unsaid (my personal favorite emotional domestic drama). If you liked Ask Again, Yes, Commonwealth, or The Latecomer, you will probably enjoy this as well.

The Irish Goodbye is a heartfelt family drama that pulls you into the lives of three sisters as they reunite with their parents for a Thanksgiving that stirs up old wounds and unspoken truths. Each sister—Cait, Maggie, and Alice—brings her own struggles to the table: a broken marriage, the fear of introducing a same-sex partner to a devout mother, and a life-changing decision looming over a seemingly stable marriage. All of these present-day challenges are layered over the long shadow of a childhood tragedy—the loss of their beloved brother, Topher—that continues to shape their lives in subtle but powerful ways.

At under 300 pages, this novel moves quickly while still offering distinct voices and perspectives for each family member. The writing captures the messy complexity of sibling relationships and the enduring pull of family, even when it’s uncomfortable. That said, I did find myself wishing for 50-75 more pages to dive deeper into the emotions and backstory; the ending felt a touch rushed, and a bit more depth could have elevated it to a five-star read.

If you love stories that explore family dynamics, long-buried secrets, and the delicate dance between past and present, The Irish Goodbye will resonate. It’s a story about connection, forgiveness, and finding your way home—even when home isn’t quite what you remembered.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Irish Goodbye is a beautifully written debut novel.I was drawn in from the first pages a story of family and relatives.told from the point of view of three sisters.An author to follow.#NetGalley #henryholt

I just finished this book, and I really liked it; honestly, there wasn’t anything I didn’t like about it as written. It’s almost like I just needed a little more? It is a classic family drama, my favorite genre, with a cast of characters I found interesting enough. I didn’t love anyone, but I didn’t hate anyone either. I really loved the “flashbacks” format within each characters’ chapters as a way of revealing the things that happened in the past that shaped this family in the present day. I could practically visualize the flashbacks and scenes, like they were a movie, which to me indicates great writing. It didn’t quite hit 5 ⭐️ territory for me simply because I felt like it was lacking an ultimate point or ultimate event to bring it all together, if that makes sense? It just sort of felt like a snapshot of a big family with a troubled past on a random holiday weekend — but it wasn’t clear to me why the author was writing about that particular weekend, other than it was a convenient setting that allowed her to bring all of the family members together. That being said, again, I liked it a lot, would recommend it as a solid family drama, and mostly just felt like I wanted a little bit more to tie it all together and wrap it all up.

Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley! This book comes out in September.

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Irish Goodbye." The three main characters, who are sisters, exhibit notable differences while also sharing certain similarities. They come together with their aging parents for a Thanksgiving celebration, but their lives have been profoundly impacted by a tragedy that occurred many years prior, creating a rift within the family. This tragedy has influenced their lives in ways they may not fully comprehend. As they attempt to address their differences during this holiday gathering, tensions rise and emotions run high. If you appreciate family stories that delve into themes of drama and the long-lasting effects of trauma, this book is a must-read.

The three Ryan sisters are heading home for thanksgiving. It's been years since they have all been together, since their brother committed suicide. Now they return with secrets. Alice is not happy to discover she is expecting. Their son is a teen and she is considering an abortion which will upset her devout Catholic husband and mother.Maggie is gay and bringing her girlfriend home for the first time. Cait has never told anyone she was involved in a boating accident that led to her brother's suicide. A good family story.

This multi-POV family drama weaves together three adult sisters’ perspectives of a family tragedy that shook their childhood. Present-day Thanksgiving brings the three back together at their family home, each arriving with personal dramas (among them, a recent divorce, a conflict between being a mom and launching a career, and a kiss with a complicated ex). Meanwhile, they are all still grappling with the lingering ripples of their childhood tragedy. Oldest sister Cait brings an unexpected guest to Thanksgiving dinner, and this figure from their past stirs up old family drama and opens old wounds.

This book kept me turning pages, and the family dynamic felt genuine. I liked how different the three sisters were and how their stories came together seamlessly. But I wasn’t in love with any of these characters, so I wasn’t as invested as I might have been. And the climax felt somewhat contrived instead of a natural conclusion. Still an enjoyable, emotional read, especially if you enjoy family drama.

Content warnings: suicide, some discussion of abortion

what a great read! i haven't read anything by this author before and this was a pleasant surprise. i loved the writing and characters. the plot was intriguing and addictive. really fantastic read for the summer

A stunning, beautifully written debut novel by Heather Aimee O’Neill. The characters are very well developed and the story flows so smoothly you won’t want to stop reading.
I love this book!

I’m a big fan of a good family drama and this one exceeded my expectations. Each chapter is told from the POV of either Cait, Alice or Maggie, sisters who’ve returned to the family home for a long Thanksgiving weekend. There are secrets, traumas, resentment and grief, some of which have not been dealt with properly, leading to a very emotional holiday.

Highly recommend to fans of family dramas. It’s outstanding.

I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

The family struggles with the past and how to move forward. Partially a look at how to navigate sibling relationships amidst the struggles of having aging parents and partially a study on how one tragedy breeds so much more than the initial event. The ripples from that tragedy are still affecting the Ryan family so many years later.