Thank you to riverhead books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

What I liked: I love books that deal with personal dynamics especially ones that go way back. I think the author did a get job giving the reader enough backstory information to help explain current actions. All characters were well defined. The story was interesting and love seeing the arc from their youth to middle age.

I would highly recommend this book to readers of contemporary fiction. It was a nice pace and great story

3.5 stars

I found this very readable and it was the perfect book to read while sitting in the sun on a balcony overlooking the ocean, but I never felt like I cared too much for what happened to the characters mainly because I found them to be either fairly unlikable or a little on the undeveloped side. About 3/4 through it started dragging but I finished and liked the way Straub wrapped everything up by including "articles" that appeared 4-5 years after the book ended--OK, so maybe I did care a smidge about what happened to them.

I gave it a passable grade for the readability and the commentary about contemporary relationships between lovers, spouses, and children, and the Brooklyn setting was very well done.

I enjoyed this novel, which was compelling and fun to read with hints of Shakespearean family drama and plenty of realistic sentimentality.

For all the hype surrounding the book, I expected a more engaging, more exciting book, but this was very underwhelming. The writing was okay, no doubt, the story just didn't do anything for me.

Could not get past the first 100 pages of this. I really did try, but I just could not make myself care about the characters.