The Solvang family of Brooklyn finds themselves in Goodnight, Kansas due to a series of circumstances. They hope it is temporary- they plan on returning to Brooklyn as soon as they are financially able. Jobs are hard to find and they find themselves purchasing the May Day Diner. As they entrench themselves in Goodnight, they find they are less eager to return to Brooklyn.

Audiobooks for epistolary novels can be hit or miss. This started out rough for me- the letters/emails/articles are very short and a lot of characters are immediately introduced. It made it very hard to follow at first. So much so that I considered DNFing. But I persevered- and I am so glad that I did.

Goodnight is full of some crazy characters, and I loved them all. Disco is my favorite character in a really long time! Behind the craziness, you find a family that arrived out of obligation and became a pillar of the community in a short time.

Because of the beginning, I'd recommend the print version over the audiobook. It did get better, but it was a lot at first.

Hillary Huber narrates. Her actual narration is great. It is just the quick blurbs from a large amount of characters in the beginning that makes it overwhelming.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

📚A Town with Half the Lights On by Page Getz

Okay, real talk—I went in blind with this one and had zero idea what to expect. The storytelling structure? Definitely different. It took me a minute to settle into it, but once I did? Goodnight, Kansas, wrapped me up in its small-town charm and didn’t let go.

This book doesn’t follow one neat arc. Instead, it delivers the story through the people—residents of a town who are flawed, funny, stubborn, sweet, grieving, and growing. It’s the kind of book that reminds you that community isn’t about liking everyone. It’s about knowing them. Sharing history. Feeling tied together by something invisible but undeniable.

Reading this felt like sitting at a local diner eavesdropping on conversations, then suddenly realizing every one of them connects. It’s quirky and heartfelt, and by the end, you realize the town itself is the main character—and it’s a good one.

Audiobook lovers, Hillary Huber did a phenomenal job bringing this book to life through her beautiful narration. I highly recommend enjoying this audiobook if you have the opportunity.

Small-town slice of life
Tropes:
Found family (but it's a whole dang town)
Grief and healing
Everyday magic in ordinary lives
Unlikely connections

Would I Recommend This Book? Absolutely. It might start quiet, but it ends with a full heart.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark, Tantor Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

his is such a lovely story, of finding family and home where you least expect it. After leaving New York, the Solvang family relocates to the small town of Goodnight, Kansas where things are completely different to what they are used to. The people in the town do not like strangers, and the people now living in the old Victorian house are strangers to them. But after the dad of the family purchases the diner in the town, they become part of it, and understand more about the people and the town; they now face the same problems. There are also alpacas, adventures, and eventually a town that becomes home. I loved the way the story was told. Through emails, letters, newspaper articles, you can see stories develop from different perspectives, and the characters develop and their unique backstories, and authenticity shines through. I'd definitely recommend this! For the audiobook, the narration does take a while to get used to, especially if you are not aware how the book is organised and written, but the narrator does a great job of distinguishing between characters, and also forms of communication. I enjoyed it very much.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved the unique format of this book, told entirely through written communications (letters, newspapers, etc.). The quirky characters added to the fun and cozy vibes. The ending was predictable, but I still enjoyed the whole journey to get there. 4 out of 5 stars!

3.75 stars

I took some time to adjust to the writing style. Once that happened, I enjoyed it. We follow the journey of three New Yorkers moving to a small town. Throughout the book, we get to see how they went from feeling that this move was temporary to not seeing themselves living anywhere else. We also got the POV of other townsmen who either agreed or disagreed with the changes the newcomers were implementing. I feel the narrator, Hillary Huber, did an amazing job of distinguishing the voices of each character. Without those changes, I would have struggled to keep the characters straight. This is a book that I would recommend for immersive reading. I feel I would have benefited from seeing the text while listening.

“I think we drove through the whole town in five minutes” - Harlem Solvang

I first came across this story from GR friend, MonReads, and her lovely 5star review about the story of the Solvang family’s arrival in "Goodnight, Kansas, where there are no strangers." It sounded like my kind of story and I knew I had to have it.

The book summary basically introduces the primary storyline for this epistolary story told through a series of emails, local newspaper articles, journal entries, prayers and even a will along with anything else written by the Solvang family and/or the residents of Goodnight, KS regarding the plight of their town and the May Day Diner. The May Day Diner has been a beloved and historic establishment of Goodnight for decades, but with the declining population of Goodnight, the elderly owners want out. A local real estate developer wants to buy it cheap and turn it into a Taco Bell or a Burger King.

Sid Solvang, a failed chef, fled Brooklyn, NY after bankrupting the family deli that had been in his family for three generations. Sid’s wife, Scarlet, who is also a chef, was the youngest daughter of Alpaca farmer Pops Bannister. Scarlet left Goodnight 20+yrs ago and fled to NY to become a chef and never looked back. After she and Sid failed miserably in NY, broke with nowhere else to go, Scarlet drags her family back to Goodnight after learning she was the sole beneficiary of the family farm after her father’s death. Needless to say, this did not go over well with her three older sisters who didn’t leave KS and stayed to take care of their Pops before he died of cancer.

There is also a secondary storyline of Harlem Solvang believing that her grandfather has left some treasure somewhere on the property and she is determined to find it and use it to get her family back to Brooklyn asap. Through all the emails, local newspaper articles, journal entries, prayers and secret notes between the Solvang family and their loved ones back home in Brooklyn and their new friends and neighbors in Goodnight, the reader learns about the history of Goodnight as well as the current state of the residents and business owners.

Among the residents there is poverty and hardship at the mercy of corporate corruption, fraud and greed. There was a divided town because of their loyalties to those modern-day robber barons and eventually community pride and advocacy from the residents that stood together for their survival and eventually bring down those same robber barons.

“It’s contrary to every instinct of self-preservation to share a dream with a world that doesn’t need another dream and one so hostile to dreamers.” - Sid Solvang

For the Solvang family, there were failed dreams and the development of new dreams as well as loss of family and the creation of new family relationships. There was the reality of discovering that “home” doesn’t always have to be the place where you were born and raised, but rather that place that you find where you feel loved, seen and heard and where you want to be more than anywhere else. At this moment, I am reminded of a distinction I learned a long time ago. I can’t remember where I learned it, I am tempted to say my Gramy Jules (she was infamous for her sayings) because she didn’t believe in luck – good or bad, which is something that I definitely learned from her.

”Fate is what happens to you and destiny is what you make happen”

Anyway, I loved the development of so many of the characters, especially the Solvangs. The pacing was steady and the storyline very interesting. The writing was wonderful and I loved all the different types of mediums that were included in telling the story. I especially loved the ending! Please Ms Getz!!! More Goodnight, KS!!! I flipped back and forth between the ebook and the audiobook and as much as I enjoy audiobooks, I think I liked the ebook better for this story. I think for stories like this, listening to the narrator rattle off email addresses, oh idk, about a gazillion times , got kind of annoying. I’m not marking the audiobook down for that, I just wanted to mention it. I’m looking at an overall rating of 4.5 that I will be rounding up to a 5star review. I want to thank NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and Tantor Audio for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #TantorAudio #ATownwithHalftheLightsOn

This was a DNF for me. I did not enjoy the strange format of the book and it made it hard to listen to and follow.
Maybe others will enjoy it but this wasn’t for me.

Cozy heartwarming story with a unique take on storytelling using several forms of media. Audiobook was excellent. Enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author.

A refreshing listen! Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for the ALC. The narrator did an amazing job of narrating a book written in email format!
I truly enjoyed the story and each of the characters!! It is a book full of characters for sure! I would have had an easier time following the characters with a book format, but managed well enough and enjoyed it!! Fans of the format of Gossip Girl and Bridgerton will enjoy "A Town with Half the Lights on."

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Tantor Audio for the gifted copy of A Town With Half the Lights On, an unexpected hit! It’s out 4/22.

Normally I’m not the biggest fan of epistolary novels, but this one had me hooked from page one. The format is surprisingly easy to follow (so much so that I might change my stance on the modern epistolary novel!). It features the right amount of characters — enough to keep the format fresh and interesting, but not so many that I couldn’t keep track of the important players. The writing also strikes the right balance between reality and storytelling to keep readers engaged.

Beyond the format, I really liked the plot itself! It’s a family “fish out of water” story centered on the Solvang family. After running their Brooklyn deli out of business, they’re forced to relocate to Goodnight, Kansas, where the wife/mom grew up and where her recently deceased father left them his home. What unfolds is a classic “who saves who” story, where the Solvangs need the town, the town needs the Solvangs, and they both save each other.

Told through emails, diary entries, town newspaper clippings, and more, this book captures the magic of small towns and the power of second chances. It’s absolutely heartwarming and not one I’ll forget anytime soon.

Audio: Hillary Huber (LOVE!) narrates, so the audiobook is of course fantastic. I do recognize that epistolary novels can be trickier to follow when listening rather than eye reading, so just make sure to choose the format that will be easiest for you to follow and enjoy!

What a sweet story. It's very timely, and I kept forgetting it was supposed to take place about 20 years ago. Before anybody gets mad at me for it being too upbeat, it probably IS just as optimistic as your average romance novel (if I didn't hate Hallmark I'd suggest you think of the the family as the girl from the big city and the town as the guy from the small town, but I don't enjoy Hallmark movies). But I think we could all use a story like this right now, and I say this as a New Yorker who has no interest in ever visiting Kansas again. (A Jayhawk is a college student, not a bird, for anybody who reads that line and wonders what the person is talking about.)

I love this town! The subtle humor with the characters (and, goats and alpaca) are just fun and I loved the format that this book is written in emails, newspaper articles, journal entries, etc. This is an eclectic group of people and I just loved as more and more layers are reveled of the people in town, and the newcomers from NYC. This book is quirky and different and for people looking for a feel good but funny book, this is perfect! I always love when authors do something different and for me this book works and was so enjoyable!
The Narration is great, and the author does a good job of distinguishing the different emails, articles, etc. Her different voices and inflections were so helpful too!

Story 4/5 stars
Audio 3/5 stars.
I’ll start off by saying that I am a fan of anything that gives Stars Hollow/ Gilmore Girls vibes. This did exactly that in all the best ways. I love all the quirky characters and the added aspect of the town being extremely religious. The story was cute and the twist at the end with the editor was predictable yet charming.
The style of this book is very different than what I’d normally read, but I actually enjoyed it. It was a cool way to really get to know all the characters and see things from so many different point of views. The problem I had with the audio was that when it came to reading the emails, the constant saying of the email addresses got extremely annoying. I felt like every other word was @ .com at one point. I feel like if I read this book instead, I would have enjoyed it much more. Still though, I will be recommending this to anyone who likes Gilmore Girls.