I absolutely loved the premise of this: three intergenerational women from the same family going through simulate experiences in different eras. There were very poignant and powerful moments. The narrator kept be entertained but the plot was difficult to follow at some points with the timelines jumping around so much. However, I felt there was something lacking. Certain things were left unresolved and I found the ending to be disappointing. The first 3/4 definitely made the read worth it though.

This book was difficult to listen too and I probably would have been able to focus better had I read it instead. I struggled with the pacing, the narration (same voice for all of the characters made it incredibly difficult to stay focused and follow who was who) since there were multiple time lines going. I did enjoy the timeline between the sisters, but I honestly couldn't even tell you how it ended or what really happened as I was so lost. Just not for me I guess...

I’m new to the historical fiction genre, so it’s taking a bit for me to get them. This especially was difficult because the pacing is so slow. I loves the sisters relationship and the actual story line a lot though!

Five Oaks is the family Lake House owned by the grandparent’s of Wren and Sylvie Pritchard. The girls remember visiting Five Oaks when they were younger but it has been years since their last visit. This particular summer, Wren was 15 years old and Sylvie being the younger sister tried everything she could to keep her sister from slipping into adulthood and all of the temptations that come with it. However, there was no stopping Wren who was fascinated by mysterious boys, received a lot of attention from young men, loved a life of thrills, and enjoyed sneaking out of the house only to return just in the knick of time the next morning. It seemed like every night the risks that Wren took kept getting more dangerous and that she kept returning back to the lake house later and later each morning. Simultaneously, Sylvie was facing challenges of her own. She found a strong but odd friendship with the neighbor next door and was starting to learn about her own feelings as they pertained to young men.

I really enjoyed the coming of age, multi-generational viewpoint that Julie expresses so well in her novel. She leaves the reader remembering that in adulthood, you can never really look at the world through the safe and innocent eyes that you once did as a child.

This one is a coming-of-age character study of sisters Wren and Sylvie, sold in three generations. It's a story of resilient women and the consequences of actions.

There was so much about this book that I liked, and the audio really added to the layers of the story.

The final third of this book was just too rushed for me. There was so much depth there and so much meat, and I wanted to know so much more, namely about Wren's mental health and the ways this played out for her family.

I wanted to know a lot more about the supporting characters, too, namely Hollis, Cash and Dixie, and I wanted to know more of Georgia and Paul's story.

I liked this book... I really did. I just felt like there were missing pieces, and I wanted more from it.

I did love the Arkansas setting of this one, as I could easily picture it. What is the setting of your current read?

I wasn't very impressed with this book. The narrator was good, but the story was a bit boring. I preferred one storyline over the other but it still wasn't great.

Three generations of women and their coming of age stories. Amazing writing! The descriptions of the people, places and events are so well done I feel as if I just watched a movie. I love the setting and the character development.

Spending their first summer away, staying with their grandparents in the Ouachita Mountains, and in a story told partly from her sister Sylvie's perspective, this book describes how 15 year old Wren begins to test her boundaries without realising the possibly extent of the danger she faces in doing so. Sylvie herself, although much younger, also experiences an awakening of sorts with a local boy named Hollis.

Although the book begins with the stories of Sylvie and Wren, it is a family saga that explores the impact of intergenerational secrets and damage.

This one was a bit of a mixed bag. I enjoyed parts of it, particularly the section that was told in Sylvie's voice. For whatever reason, the earlier generation's stories did not feel as compelling to me. Also, it felt inconclusive to a degree that was frustrating. It may appeal to those who like intergenerational family histories with a focus on the female line.

This coming of age story of three generations of women was well plotted out. The various timelines weren’t confusing and I wanted to find out what happens next. However, the ending left me with so many questions. There were some key loose threads that needed clarification that left me mystified and confused why they weren’t resolved. Because of the incompleteness, the book resulted in not being a hit for me. However, the narration was done very well and I thought she did a fabulous job with the character differentation.

One of the highest compliments I can give, this reminded me so much of Ann Patchett’s work.

A story about family and summers in the south. About love and life and loss of innocence. It was beautiful and tense and tender and engaging.

“I would remember something a geometry teacher once said back in high school, how a triangle is the most stable shape. How it can transform to accommodate shifting distance and shrinking angles.

In that moment as in so many others over the years, I would be vigilant about the secret currents that threaten the space between us. Like a wide bay that looked serene on the surface but was pocked with the danger of things long submerged.

I would think about the torn envelope.

Sometimes in my memory the white scraps of that letter look like ash as they float away.

Sometimes they look like blossoms.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC!

TW: SA both described and implied, kidnapping

Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Audio for the ALC of this novel.

I rated this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. While the story didn’t fully resonate with me on a deep emotional level, I did find certain elements meaningful and well done. If I hadn’t received this as an ALC, I may have chosen to stop reading during the abortion scene, which I found particularly difficult—this is a moment where I believe a content warning would have been appropriate and helpful for readers.

That said, I truly enjoyed the Southern atmosphere throughout the book, and the grandmother character reminded me so much of my own mamaw, which added a layer of warmth and familiarity. I also really appreciated the bond between Wren and Sylvie—their relationship felt authentic and layered, capturing the complexities of sisterhood. The novel provides a compelling portrayal of how generational trauma can shape families, though I personally wished for a bit more resolution or healing for the characters by the end.

Overall, there’s a lot to admire in this story, especially in its depiction of family dynamics and setting.

a beautiful story that felt really immersive and contemplative. i found myself wrapped up in these characters stories. there were parts that i felt dragged a little too much but over all a really gorgeous novel that i will be recommending. i thought the audio really brought this story to life and brought so much depth and expansion to this novel. the narrator did a wonderful job

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

This book didnt do it for me. I couldve DNF’d it and been fine. It never grabbed my attention and the story felt all over the place with all of the jumping around in timelines. It was hard for me to keep up with what era or age we were in at the time.

Also the end was abrupt and felt like the author didnt know where to go from there so she just ended it?

This may work for others but it was a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The description hyped me up for the story. I loved Courtney Patterson's narration, she did such a fantastic job with the story and the voices and the country accents that she used while narrating. The accent is a thick Midwestern one, but it was still easy to understand what she was saying.

I'm always a sucker for a good coming of age/generational saga, and this one appealed to me as soon as I read the summary. The story is an intriguing one, but there were several aspects that didn't meet the expectations that I had, and I finished the reading feeling mildly let down.

To start with, I loved the way that the relationship between Wren and Sophie was depicted. Hensley did a wonderful job with creating a believable bond between two girls with a bit of an age gap. The sisterly relationship that Wren and Sophie have is one that changes as the girls themselves change - Wren heading towards adulthood, and Sophie heading towards adolescence. As someone who has a sister with a big age gap between us, the way these two sisters interact reminded me of my own relationship with my sister, or what it could have been if we weren't as many years apart.

The pacing felt uneven to me. The beginning was so very slow that I considered DNFing it more than once. It did speed up a little bit, but the pacing was inconsistent, and the end of the book moved very quickly. One thing that I really struggled with was the flashbacks and keeping them separate from each other. It made it difficult to understand who was experiencing the events without going back to the very front of the chapter to see who was speaking. The literary voices of each of the women sounded too similar to me, and I had difficulty differentiating who was narrating and keeping track of the stories.

Overall, this wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't a great one for me. The writing was beautiful and made it easy for me to imagine this story vividly, but that wasn't quite enough to overcome the issues of pacing and character voices sounding too similar to each other. Also, there is a scene involving animal abuse, and I would have appreciated a trigger or content warning, because I always try to avoid reading books featuring that particular content. I'd suggest giving it a try, but take my review with a grain of salt - we are all unique, and experience a book differently, so this might be a book that you enjoy more than I did.

3.75 Stars
This book was an absolute delight to listen to. Starting off with Sylvie our FMC and narrator of the story of 5 Oaks located on a lake in Arkansas, a family vacation home for the family stone that spans over 3 generations. Sylvie our FMC tells the story of her grandmother, Georgia, her mother Margaret and her sister Wren. The book touches on the stories of 3 generations of women and how they came to be in the world. Starting off in Texas 1942 with the story of Georgia, how her love for Byron spans a war, how she experiences heartbreak and loss when he goes away to war. How Georgia’s fragmented relationship with her mother leads her to keep a devasting secret. In tandem we follow Margaret in Vermont the early 1970’s in college where she endures a heartbreaking trauma that shapes the rest of her life but she keeps it a secret too. Georgia is Margret’s mother and Wren and Sylvie are Margaret’s daughters. Wren’s story is told in the present day of the year 1988 and is told by Sylvie who goes through her own trials that one year they visit their grandparents at 5 Oaks. The Generational trauma in this book is told with such subtility that I had to concentrate on nothing else but the story whilst listening to these crucial parts. Julie Hensley sure knows how to keep the reader guessing at whether they are on the right track with conclusions. Wren’s story is eerily similar to that of her mother Margaret except the sign of the times is evident even just 15 years into the future. Kids were getting more daring with what they get up to when their parents aren’t looking. The confusing parts were in Wren’s story as I didn’t quite understand what actually occurred. The ending does explain it from Sylvie’s perspective having been present that summer at 5 Oaks and not even she had a grasp on what occurred. All in all, the book does go through some heavy themes and some mild trigger warnings might be needed for this book. I’d give a solid 3.75 stars out of 5. I would have loved to read a copy rather than listen, but for an audio book consumer, the narrator did a good job of getting the accent right for the part of the US, Arkansas, Texas and Vermont, that the book talks about. Fantastic read for lovers of subtle story-telling, incredible descriptions of scenery as well as the feelings evoked within the characters of the book. Job well done Julie Hensley.

Unfortunately this book did not do it for me. I finished it, but had little interest in it. I did not care for the narrator. 3 stars

Many thanks to Net Galley and Brilliance Publishing for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Five Oaks is a beautifully layered, multi-generational coming-of-age story. I was moved by the emotional depth and the exploration of identity and family across generations. That said, the pacing felt uneven at times, and the large cast made it hard to fully connect with every character. I found myself wanting more space for key relationships and moments to unfold. Still, the themes stayed with me long after finishing, and I’m grateful to have read it.

Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the chance to listen to this title in exchange for my opinion.

Julie Hensley's Five Oaks is a mesmerizing, multi-generational saga that unfolds amidst the lush, enigmatic beauty of the Arkansas mountains. It's a novel that hums with the unspoken language of family, the fierce bonds that both sustain and threaten to shatter us, and the enduring quest for self-discovery that echoes through generations of women.

Hensley masterfully transports us to Five Oaks, a seemingly idyllic lake house that serves as the crucible for the Pritchard women. For fifteen-year-old Wren and her younger sister, Sylvie, this summer marks a pivotal moment. It's a season of firsts, of stolen moments, and of the intoxicating allure of freedom. Wren, on the cusp of womanhood, embarks on a journey of exploration, her nights filled with a forbidden romance and a growing sense of recklessness.

Through Sylvie's eyes, we witness Wren's transformation, a thrilling yet unsettling dance on the edge of innocence. Hensley paints a vivid portrait of sisterhood, capturing the delicate balance between loyalty and fear, the silent pacts, and the agonizing weight of secrets. Sylvie's vow of silence becomes a character in itself, a tangible presence that permeates the narrative, amplifying the mounting tension as Wren's nocturnal escapades become increasingly perilous.

But Five Oaks is more than just a coming-of-age story. Hensley skillfully weaves a tapestry of past and present, revealing the hidden currents that flow beneath the surface of this family. The halcyon days at Five Oaks are not as they seem, and as the truth begins to unravel, we discover that the secrets harbored by mothers, daughters, and sisters have far-reaching consequences.

Hensley's prose is both lyrical and evocative, capturing the raw beauty of the Arkansas landscape while simultaneously hinting at the darkness that lurks beneath its serene surface. She delves into the complexities of female relationships with unflinching honesty, exploring the ways in which love, betrayal, and sacrifice shape our identities.

Five Oaks is a powerful and unforgettable novel that will resonate deeply with readers. It's a testament to the enduring power of family, the weight of secrets, and the resilience of the human spirit. Julie Hensley has crafted a story that is both deeply moving and utterly captivating, a haunting exploration of the ties that bind us and the truths that set us free. This is a book that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page.

Five Oaks Honest ARC Review:

4.5⭐️

Well written, poignant and filled with heartfelt accounts of one family over a span of three generations, Five Oaks is one you don’t want to miss.

At times, I felt that each generation of characters were relatable, complex and developed further throughout the novel.

Small tragedies, family secrets and beautiful memories intertwine to allow access into the world of one family of strong, resilient individuals. Each family seems to have a perfect life, until the story unfolds.

I found this to be engaging, entertaining and inspiring.

Thank you for sharing this ARC with me.

Thank you netaglley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.
Loved this story. Had so much nostalgia for me and really liked the single narrator and all the voices.