This was such a good book! I loved the characters, and their story. The dialogue was realistic and enjoyable. I was very surprised by the ending!

Wait is an emotional novel about two sisters whose mother goes missing. I am a lover of books set on Cape Cod and Nantucket, and this hit many of the notes I expect and want when I pick one of these up.

Set on the island of Nantucket, this story speaks to class dynamics and includes wonderful nature imagery and details. Burnham wrote so well to the divide between summer visitors and tourists and working class year-rounders. With beautiful and emotional details about plovers, an endangered species of the area, this really is a well rounded book. So to move beyond setting, this is a very character driven novel with a few key plot points but no clear climax and dénouement. The sisters, Sophie and Elise, are together again for the first time in four years since Elise has just returned from UNC Chapel Hill. There are clear rifts to repair as a result of Elise never visiting during her four years of undergrad, and when their mother does not come home for days on end the stress rises for everyone.

Elise and Sophie spend much of their time with Sheba, the very rich heiress to the Play-Doh fortune who Elise met at UNC. Each girl has their own baggage and way of interacting with each other and the world, and that's really the meat of this book. In a short number of pages, these characters are so vivid and feel fully formed, ready to come off of the page and into the world.

I had a wonderful time with Wait by Gabriella Burnham and I know I'll be reading her backlist. I highly recommend this one!

Heads up: No quotation marks! However, Burnham's writing style is easy to adapt to and it becomes very clear what is spoken versus internal dialogue.

4.5 rounded to 5 for Goodreads

I found it difficult to get through this novel. It’s a touching story of a young woman who returns home to learn that her mother has been deported. There was too much that rang untrue to me. I couldn’t pull it all together.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. L

A coming-of-age story about two sisters navigating the world after their mother is deported. I thought this was a beautiful novel. I enjoyed Gabriella Burnham’s first novel It is wood, it is stone. I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. I look forward to hearing more from her in the future!

This book was different with an odd flow. Not sure if it was just my format since I read an ARC but no quotes in conversations and such made it jarring to read. But otherwise a good storyline with characters. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review.

The protagonist of this novel comes home from college to find her mother has been deported. The storyline interweaves a lot of commentary about wealth when her wealthy college friend are juxtaposed upon her circumstances. That addition felt like the mile too far for me, really.

“Wait,” by Gabriella Burnham, follows a family (mother and two daughters) having to adjust to life after the mother is deported back to Brazil. The daughters have to adjust to life not only without their parent, but also trying to continue in general. This book had a lot going on - deportation, immigration, survival under difficult times, and social class clashes. This book was interesting, but something about it just didn’t work for me - and it could be as simple as lacking quotation marks. I would recommend this book to others as I think the underlying topics were interesting ones, but I’m probably not the target audience for this book.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it had a strong concept that I enjoyed and the sisters were wonderfully written. I was invested in figuring out what happened to their mom and enjoyed reading this journey with them. It was beautifully done and a great story about womanhood. Gabriella Burnham has a great writing style and the characters were realistic and glad I read this.

Thank you One World! In reading the summary, I was intrigued. I am a reader that likes to read of other places, especially places I have never been. The writing allowed me to envision a bit of Nantucket and I enjoyed the dynamics among mother & daughters, sisters and college friends.

What was not favorable for me was the lack of care or compassion the neighbors had. Was this due to their own lack of empathy? Were these not lifelong neighbors that encompassed looking out for each other or was the mother not one who asked help from "her village"? And was that fault of her being an immigrant? A fear she had since day one?

I felt the storyline with Sheba was one that I can see as the privileged, especially the young ones, do not recognize their privilege. Could Sheba have helped more? Was she doing all she is capable of?

All in all, this was a good read.

Despite being set in Nantucket, this is certainly not a beach read. Two sisters, raised on the island come back together the summer after their mother is deported to Brazil. They are trying to take care of themselves by moving into the home of a college friend (that house/wealth IS similar to a beach reach). The summer becomes complex with romances, limited funds, issues with friends and the underlying worry about their mother.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy of this book. I love a coming-of-age story, and I love the premise of this book. I wish that some of the themes and characters were more fleshed out, as I think it would have really added to the impact of this book.

Wait is the story of Elise, about to graduate college, when she finds out her mother has been deported to Brazil. She rushes home to Nantucket to watch over her recent high school grad sister, Sophie. I have read many novels set on Nantucket. Most focus on the beach life, romance, and the wealthier set. This was a unique perspective on an illegal immigrant family, but mixed in was Elise's best friend Sheba and her very elitist mothers. When Elise and Sophie are evicted from their mother's home, Sheba offers a new way of life, where the laundry is automatically cleaned, the fridge is always full, and work is not necessary. Although I enjoyed the story, I felt the end was unresolved, too many loose ends left.

Burnham's debut novel WAIT brings to mind those indie films made without scripts where the cast provides the dialogue. It's meandering, occasionally thoughtful, but without a strong thread to keep you invested. You spend time in a film like that--or a book, in this case--because you enjoy the atmosphere of it, the vibe. Burnham's prose is where she shines; there are beautiful phrases throughout. I did not find myself invested in the characters in the slightest, because I felt at arm's length of them the entire time. They are wispy, never looking you in the eye. As a result, you don't ever understand their desires or motivations, and they come across excessively passive. The thematic material is there in a slight sense. I think there are missed opportunities here to really dig into the themes of economic privilege versus disadvantage... but because the protagonist, Elise, seems so passively accepting of things as they are, we never get into the meat of those topics. Read it for the prose, but pass this one over if you're a character-driven reader.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Elise is excited about her upcoming graduation. When she arrives home, her mom is not home. When she learns where her mother is, it causes all kinds of problems. I enjoyed the different characters in this book.

Elise and her sister Sophie are forced to figure out a plan for their living and working situations when their mother is deported to Brazil. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, Elise’s friend from college has an enormous mansion they can stay in. The story really kicks off when Sheba enters the picture and it was fascinating to witness their interactions and different outlooks on life.

This was an interesting read and I enjoyed the writing style despite not liking the characters all that much (at one point Elise’s behavior made me almost feel bad for Sheba which is not a position I want to be in!). I think there was a missed opportunity to more deeply explore the issues it sets up from the start including immigration, gentrification, social class.

Would recommend this for readers drawn to stories about young adults facing many challenges as they figure out what’s next for them. 3.5 stars.

Thank you very much to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Thank you Net Galley and Random House for an ARC of this book.
I must say this was a very different story than I expected. The setting being Nantucket with 2 young sisters trying to find their way in life after their Mom is deported was interesting. They get evicted from their home waiting for their Mom to come back to them. They end up staying with a very rich friend and the Mom stays in Brazil in the whole story. I finished it but it felt like it just ended strangely . I don’t think it’s a book I would recommend but I am sure I’m too old for this book.

WAIT is an interesting coming of age story about a young woman, Elise, who is graduating from college. When her mother, Gilda, and sister Sophia, don’t show up for graduation, she contacts her sister and finds out her mother is missing. She immediately flies home to Nantucket and after several days, they discover their mother has been deported in Brazil for not having papers. Sophie, who is just graduating from high school, goes to work while Elise works at her pre-college job for the summer. Gilda is trying to get back to daughters runs into immigration red tape. The girls lose their home because a nosy next-door neighbor told the landlord that the mother whose name was on the lease was gone. Fortunately, Sheba, Elise’s friend from college has a guest house in which they can stay. The relationship between the three girls is interesting. They are continual sexual undertones. Sheba is a “summer” girl and quite affluent. A party gone wrong hurts the relationship between Sheba and Elise. Elise and Sophia must leave the guest house permanently. Sophia goes off to college after being waitlisted. Gilda has found her way back to family in Brazil. Elise is planning to go to Brazil. WAIT is like New England weather. Wait a few minutes and it will change.
Thank you to NetGalley and One World Publishers for this advance copy.

First, thanks to NetGalley, Random House & Ms Burnham for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I was the wrong audience for this story based on the reviews I have now read.
Written in 3rd person POV, please know this ahead of time, as I find it distracting. Their mother(who would leave the girls alone previously) has been deported to Brazil & starts her life over without her girls. The girls work, have the next door neighbor who tells their landlord the house is a dump & he evicts them with no notice. Elise, has a rich roommate from college who happens to arrive at her summer home & decides Elise & Sophie will live with her. The roommate was not only rich, but out of touch with reality, self-centered & annoying. The story ends with Mom happily in Brazil, Sophie magically having a full ride to Berkley & leaving for CA, & Elise texting her mom (who hasn't had any contact recently with them) that she is "on her way" to Brazil.
Again, others may enjoy this story & read into it, however, I did not.

3.5 stars

There was so much going on in this book - deportation, coming of age, clashes between social classes, and so much more. However, by the end, it felt unfinished. I wanted more resolution.

It’s written in a third-person omniscient POV which is not my favorite. That’s a personal preference, not a critique of the writing.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - One World and NetGalley for the invitation to read a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

This may well be a Four-Star review for others, but the book did not speak to me. Present tense narration is very intrusive to me and distracted from the story.

And the story is about an unusual friendship between two college roommates: Elise, the daughter of an illegal resident from Brazil and the offspring of the Play-Dough fortune heir (Sheba, who has two mothers). Elise's younger sister Sophie has just graduated from high school and Elise from college. The girls live on Nantucket and suddenly find their mother absent. It turns out she has been deported (restoring ties with her sister and father in Brazil)

There is much drinking and partying on the island, particularly after the girls are evicted and move in with Sheba in her mothers' mansion. There are several extraneous characters, Harry and Rahul for example, whose inclusion in the novel escapes me. Sheba is a neurotic rich girl with endless supplies of money.

So is this novel highlighting the tale of friendship, of sisterhood, of the pain of parting from a deported parent? And why does the novel end so abruptly? An acceptance and scholarship for Sophie? And what for Elise? And Gilda, their mother? But at this; point, I did not truly care.

Thanks to NetGalley and One World Publishers for an Arc copy to read and review.