I don’t know how I’ve managed to please the ARC gods, but I just read my THIRD genuinely 5-star advance review copy in a week, which has literally *never* happened in the history of me reading ARCs. A major thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for providing a promotional copy of one of the most engrossing books I’ve read in ages so I could provide my honest thoughts on it.

To start, I am completely unsure how to define the genre of this book. It’s sort of semi-fiction, semi-romance, semi-ghost story, semi-“women’s fiction”, and 100% unique. I *loved* being inside the main character Piper’s head, and vibed with her more than probably any main character I’ve read about in recent memory.

Here are two of my very favorite examples as to why:

Piper was unexpectedly called by her ex-bf—whom she’d shared a relationship with for 7 years, just to have him move out on her without warning, leaving her high & dry on rent and their lease, and then ghosting her for the next few years—so he could ask her to fly her across the country (all expenses paid) to personally tutor his FIANCÉE in how to draw a children’s book…something which had always been Piper’s dream goal for herself.

Piper’s mental response to this bizarre and emotionally loaded request: “I took all of this to mean he was in therapy now.” This thought caught me so off-guard with how funny it was that I almost choked on my seltzer.

Then, not even a page later,
“I would need three thousand {dollars}.”
“How about twenty-five hundred?”
**How about fuck you.** “Let me sleep on it.”

In that moment, I knew I was going to love this book. Piper is not your typical “snarky, defensive heroine who uses deflection as a shield to protect her vulnerable core”, and thank goodness for that. I am SO TIRED of that character, and need a LONG, LONG BREAK from them. Instead, Piper was flawed, honest, and *interesting* in a way that left me really liking her despite any less-than-perfect choices or past mistakes she might have made.

The author’s use of inner thoughts/dialogue as a one-two combo punch was absolutely FANTASTIC. By 3% in, I already suspected that this book was going to be a 5-star read for me, and sure enough, it was.

Right out of the gate, Piper acknowledges the strangeness of the arrangement with her ex and his aspiring author fiancée. Piper’s inner reasoning and self-awareness were great: “Tutoring Victoria sounded weird and uncomfortable, but it would be a break from my life—on my ex’s dime.”

Right there, those two thoughts are both realistic enough (who isn’t broke and mentally/emotionally burned out in this economy) AND petty enough that I perfectly understood her urge to get literally paid to fly across the country by someone who’d hurt her, even if it wasn’t necessarily the smartest idea.

To sum up the plot of this book in a way that completely fails to capture its emotional depth and interesting storytelling, the ghost—who is haunting the house that the main character Piper’s ex and his fiancée live in—literally offers Piper a bargain that Piper can’t emotionally turn down, in exchange for driving her ex’s fiancée out of the house (ideally by Piper getting her ex to fall back in love with her). The fiancée has wronged the ghost—she is not aware of this, btw—and the ghost wants revenge against her.

The ghost’s bargain with Piper is one that almost anyone who has experienced a major loss would take. However, the terms of this bargain put Piper on a path she REALLY doesn’t want to be on: actively planning to become a homewrecker to drive away her ex’s fiancée, while temporarily living in their home making art for the fiancée’s book, all while feeling deeply conflicted about the fact that her ex abruptly abandoned her without explanation in the first place (plus the fact that she’s living her own life dreams through someone else’s project).

Normally, I hate books that involve any level of cheating. However, this book in no way glamorizes the idea, and instead does the opposite—making it clear that it’s a deeply uncool thing to do. It contained exactly the right amount of self-loathing and self-acknowledgement of Piper’s reluctance to deteriorate her own morals, and I was shocked when I ended up finding the cheating aspect sort of interesting due to how it highlighted the way EVERYONE directly involved sucked in their own unique way.

The fact that I liked Piper for basically the entire book shocked me, and I also liked the way the author slowly changed my initial opinions about the other characters in the book in ways I didn’t expect. There were so many little twists and turns to the plot, and I absolutely LOVED the last 15% of the book. Even when I saw some of the plot twists coming, I wasn’t even close to correctly guessing how they ultimately manifested, which was so good and satisfying as someone who reads 100+ books/year.

I will absolutely read more from this author—what a talent.

Just finished this and would like to give a review straight away. I have to say I am privileged and lucky to have chosen this as my very first ARC read. I very rarely give a five star 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 and lucky to find one a year. A book has to move me to tears to do this and this did it for me. It is about a young girl Piper in her early 20’s trying to forge her life after her first love. We have all been there or most of us and can understand the obsession and cruel heartbreak that endures. I can honestly say it was read from in older perspective looking back at my own life and really resonated with my own feelings of lost love all those years ago. However this story goes further with a reconnection when Piper is invited to help her ex boyfriend’s fiancé illustrate her children’s book. It was bizarre I mean who on earth would ever revisit their past ever. Why would Arron her ex ask Piper his ex to come and live with him and his fiancé. I thought it was going to be a thriller in all honesty and that initially Piper was going to walk into some sort of trap and be killed. This turned out to be beautiful in the way it the story is centred around grief. It was a very powerful emotional read on many levels. We also encounter spirits that help the story unfold. I don’t want to give away spoilers but absolutely outstanding and glad I have discovered a new author to me. Looking forward to reading more of this author’s books.

"I've always hated that work-- process. Like tragedy is this chunk of raw meat and our job is to turn it into a hot dog. Something we can hold in our hands and digest."

Wow- I LOVED this book. I think it is going to get a lot of buzz. It is a little bit of everything. There is some suspense in what is going to happen, some magical elements, and broaches hard topics like grief and earth shattering heartbreak. Mandelbaum does a wonderful job of talking about moments we all experience in life and learn in the moment to navigate.

Piper is a struggling artist who is supporting her mom in the middle of nowhere Kansas- it seems like she does not have much going for her when her ex from college (her first great love... we all can relate) who blew up her life reaches out for her to stay with him and his fiancé. Piper picks up her life and moved to Washington to teach the fiancé to "draw." From there, it is a wild ride of navigating life... living with an ex, his fiancé, and how to move forward. I don't want to say too much because spoilers are around every corner.

In this fast-paced and highly engaging novel is one of the best books I have read this year. I am so excited for it to come out! I see this being a phenomenal book club pick for all ages and a great beach read. I did not expect to finish it in 3 days. but here we are!

5/5 stars-- HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars absolutely unputdownable!

I stayed up until 4am reading Homewrecker by Becky Mandelbaum - something I haven’t done for a book in a long time. I was completely hooked and didn’t want to let go for a single second. This was exactly the kind of unhinged, messy, comedic gold that I’ve been needing in my life.

The writing was pure perfection. I found myself laughing out loud one minute and later crying. What an absolute emotional roller coaster. I was feeling happy, sad, and everything in between, all while the plot kept twisting and pulling me in even deeper. The main characters chaotic choices and raw humanity make her impossible not to root for, even while her life is completely spiraling.

If you love sharp, witty, and unapologetically messy women’s fiction that hits every single emotion while keeping you glued to the page pick this up immediately (when it’s published).

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read the ARC for Homewrecker ! I had a great experience with this one.

A perfect book about imperfect people.

I absolutely consumed this novel - there were so many curious threads to follow and I loved the supernatural twist. There's something so compelling about the chance to speak to a loved one again and the things we would do for that chance. And who doesn't love a messy ex scenario????

This was so good I can't even begin to describe it. I picked this up for Camp Netgalley and was shocked how much I loved it. Becky Mandelbaum is a genius with giving you little tidbits and crumbs to make you need more. Addictive storytelling.

A surprising 5 star read! This book captivated me from the start and I was so locked in with the main character I wanted to keep reading just so I can see how everything played out for her. It follows Piper, a ‘struggling artist’ who was unexpectedly broken up with by her long-term boyfriend, Aaron, a few years prior to the start of the story. She hears nothing from him since he moves out and then all of a sudden he contacts her to come live with him and teach his fiance how to illustrate a children’s book she wants to publish. Piper is also still dealing with her brother’s unexpected death which plays a role in her deciding to try to break Aaron and his fiance up.

I feel like this story was a really good representation of how we can lose sight of ourselves and what we want after dealing with something traumatic and experiencing grief. On the other hand, it also showed how resilient we can be when we push ourselves to ‘move on’. I really liked Piper as a main character - she did make some choices that I was yelling at my Kindle about but I went through the story knowing she would make questionable decisions based on her situation. I was always rooting for her though!

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