Kristin Hannah

Firefly Lane

I’ve come to expect greatness from Kristin Hannah’s work, and I’ve also come to expect that I will sob near the end. This was the perfect story of female friendships, the ups and downs and all the joy in between. I didn’t finish the show on Netflix but after reading this novel I’m not sure I ever will, because it won’t do the characters justice. Another amazing read in the books.

Ariel Correa

Alissa Maloney

If you have seen the Netflix show before, keep in mind that there is quite a bit of divergence in their stories although they both keep the heart of the story and their friendship front and center. I actually enjoyed seeing the differences between the two.

BUT - keeping that in mind, it was really special to get a little more insight into Kate and Tully's thought processes and their dynamic. A lot of their internal thoughts from the books helped me understand some of their choices in the show.

Gina O

** spoiler alert **
           Loved this story until the ending. Haven't cried about a book like that in a long time! I am interested in reading the other books!

Lyric Hooey

** spoiler alert **
           This book was just so friggin’ sad! But I loved it. Tully is kind of the worst and I so badly wanted everyone to be only nice and loving to Kate forever but alas you can’t have everything. The writing and story telling is amazing and I truly did love it.

Nichole Bogard

I am currently bawling my eyes out and my face is all red and my husband is looking at me all kinds of funny. I’ve read this story once a couple of years ago, I knew how it ended and it still ripped my heart out. You’ll find it on the ground stomped all over! I savored this story this time around and I didn’t want it to be over. 

This is an amazing heart wrenching story of two best friends who spent the better part of a decade being friends through everything life threw at them. And like all great relationships they had ups and downs and although there were times they didn’t talk they always found their way back to one another.

Kate and Tully met on Firefly lane just two teenager girls looking for acceptance and finding it in one another. Kate was the shy, nerdy girl next door and Tully was the cool, hip new girl. Once they came together they were inseparable and even in adulthood as their paths when separate ways they always found their way back. 

Get a hot cup of tea and several box of tissues and settle in for a story that won’t soon leave you. I am not crying your crying 🤧😭😭😭

Kaitlyn Lundebrek

My heart broke at the ending, but such a good story of friendship, love, and family. Can’t wait to read the next one.

On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn; Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship - jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

Ayden

Not sure how to rate this book 
It was super cliche yet i couldn’t put it down (not sure if I just wanted to get it over with or…)
Sometimes I hated the characters and sometimes I loved them 
Their friendship was often toxic and other times it just seemed real 
I don’t feel like I wasted my time reading this book but I’m definitely happy it didn’t take up more of my time 
Like all in all it was good but still….

Avery Baumel

When I tell you I sobbed. So hard. For like an hour. absolutely a must read

Kerry Kalinoski

I would’ve bet a million dollars I knew where this book was going and I hated every second of it, but I finished it and I was so damn surprised. Also I cried. Like a lot

Barbara Williford

I have so many mixed emotions about this book. As always, Hannah Kristen has a well written book that leads you on an emotional roller coaster. The book started out great, two young teenagers struggling to figure out who they are in the world. One a throw away kid who’s mom keeps abandoning her and the other a misfit from a seemingly happy home. Both have extreme insecurities. They find each other and become lifetime “BFFs.”

The book takes you through the years and how their friendship and lives evolve. Still the same insecurities just as adults. It seemed that even though they were there for each other through major events, they never were “true friends.” They had so much that was unsaid and secret about their lives. It seemed like a superficial friendship.

The book dragged about midway. It seemed the author was trying to rush through their lives in short spurts. Major world event, most popular music and fashion and more of their everyday life and insecurities. Rinse, wash, repeat. Those parts would never end.

Toward the end, she redeemed herself with unexpected twist. However, they never resolved their insecurities and their true feelings. Even though she tried to resolve their friendship, I feel it still fell short. Also, during this part there was extreme drama with Kate’s daughter which was a climax of the book and that too fizzled. 

Triggers: adult content, strong language, sexual content including rape.

Jennifer Filer

If I could give this more stars I would. Absolutely loved this story.

A Novel

Neisha Gabrysiak

Every so often, I hear about a book or an author and I think to myself, "I really need to read that." I'll hear about it again, and again, from different people or sources. And each time I hear a good review, I think to myself, "I need to read that." And the next thing I know, it's been years and I still have not read the book.

That happened with Firefly Lane. I'd been hearing great things for years about both the author, Kristin Hannah, and the book. But, for some reason, I never picked it up. Then, I was gifted the Kindle version recently, and I decided it was time.

​I honestly wish I'd read it sooner. 

It took me a few days to get into it, between working full time, taking a college class, and helping my kids with their virtual school. I was afraid that I wasn't going to really get into it, but after a few days of only reading a chapter or two at night, I was suddenly thinking about the book randomly throughout the day. Then I found myself staying up late to read "just one more chapter". I finished the book in one frenzied late night reading session, and was left wide awake, analyzing it all for a few hours before I finally fell asleep. 

Firefly Lane is the type of book that you can really fall into - the characters became my friends, my family. I became invested in their lives - and had my heart completely shattered in the end. 

Firefly Lane is the story of two best friends - Kathleen Mularkey and Tullulah Hart. Two girls who couldn't be more different from each other, but who are there for each other year after year, decade after decade. Tully has had a rough childhood and, as a result, develops a very strong personality that helps her stand out in a crowd. Kate had the dream childhood - from Tully's point of view - a loving, stable family unit. The girls balance each other out very well, but Kate tends to get swept away in the wake of Tully. 

The story follows TullyandKate through the 70s and their teen years, into the 80s and their college years, to the 90s and adult life, into the 2000s and their 40s. There are many ups and downs, as no relationship is perfect, but their friendship weathers it all. 

It's a book that feels very much like Beaches by Iris Dart - another fantastic book (and movie) that told the story of two strong women and their lifelong friendship.

Anna Campbell

** spoiler alert **
           Kristin Hannah knows how to make me cry like no other. 
When I found out the new female-led Netflix series was based on a book, I had to read it. Now I know why the library wait list was so long for this one! 
I couldn’t believe that the story of Tully and Kate took on such a long and complicated life. This is no coming of age, high school friends story. This covers the ups and downs of 30+ years of friendship, fights, college and first jobs, shitty apartments, bad boyfriends, bad mothers and becoming mothers, careers and choosing to be an at-home mother, both with their challenges and rewards. Sickness and health, fights and making up, regrets and second chances. It was beautifully nuanced and felt so heart-breakingly real. 
The last 60 pages of this were a sob-fest, but every page was perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Jessica Guht

The last 50 pages of this book have left me a complete mess. Really great story but be prepared to cry.

Lauren Attaway

It's easy to read Firefly Lane as just a story about Tully and Kate, best friends forever. That was pretty much what I expected from this book, but I was so surprised that it really got into the impact of trauma, and the how parental relationships can impact everything that follows. I knew exactly what was going to happen in this book but I still had a strong emotional reaction to the conclusion. I think I'll definitely get on the wait list at the library for the sequel, and I'm definitely going to check out the Netflix show when it arrives.

Soon to be a major Netflix series Firefly Lane is an unforgettable coming of age story, by the New York Times number one bestseller Kristin Hannah. It is 1974 and the summer of love is drawing to a close. Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the secondary school social food chain. Then, to her amazement, Tully Hart - the girl all the boys want to know - moves in across the street and wants to be her best friend. Tully and Kate became inseparable and by summer's end they vow that their friendship will last forever. For thirty years Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship, jealousy, anger, hurt and resentment. Tully follows her ambition to find fame and success. Kate knows that all she wants is to fall in love and have a family. What she doesn't know is how being a wife and a mother will change her. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart. But when tragedy strikes, can the bonds of friendship survive? Or is it the one hurdle that even a lifelong friendship cannot overcome? PRAISE FOR KRISTIN HANNAH 'A rich, compelling novel of love, sacrifice and survival' Kate Morton 'A masterclass . . . This is a story that will stay with me for a long, long time.' Karen Swan

Elizabeth Scott

SA warning on page 33. Full tear jerker at the end there, but the first 3/4 were really engaging. 

Jackelyn

Grab your tissues and get ready to have all the emotions with this one from sobbing to laughing. The story of Kate and Tully is relatable and heartbreaking. Every set of best friends will see themselves in their story at one point or another. Kate is grounded and thought through constantly trying to keep up with the wild and passionate Tully. They are a match made in heaven even when going through the toughest of times.

Content Warnings: Rape, Cancer, family issues, drug abuse and use, child neglect.

Rina

DNF at 34%. I dove into this book not expecting a lot to begin with, but in my experience, I sometimes end up liking the books I don't expect to enjoy. Well, this book was not one of them. I was really disappointed because Kristin Hannah's  The Nightingale  is one of my favorite books of all time. So what went wrong here? 

First, the characters. I felt this was a character-driven story, and the fact that I didn't like the two protagonists (or their love interests) was a big issue for me. I found Tully a bit annoying, and Kate needed more courage to do what she wants and not follow in Tully’s footsteps; that girl wasn’t even paying attention to Kate. I wasn’t rooting for any of them at all.

Second, the plot. I didn't reach fifty percent but this book was basically about two girls of different worlds and different personalities becoming the best of friends. But as the years progress, one friend doesn't listen to the other, and one became jealous. I started to question if they really  were  best friends because it didn't feel that way. I also felt that there were a lot of cliché things, this wasn't offering anything particularly new or mind-blowing or heart-wrenching like Kristin Hannah’s other books. It was also quite obvious that Kate and Tully’s friendship would go downhill based on the way they thought of each other.

I think I’ll try this again sometime, when I’m in a better headspace for it. But as of now, I don’t think it’s for me.

Ruth Parker 

I loved this book so much. It made me sob. Literally ugly cry. This was a great portrayal of female friendships and while I understand criticism of the characters as being fairly one note and one dimensional, it worked for me and I found them believable and likeable despite their faults and sins.

From the New York Times bestselling author of On Mystic Lake comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable. So begins Kristin Hannah's magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives. From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness. Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn't know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she'll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she'll envy her famous best friend. . . . For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test. Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone's Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it's the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It's about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you'll never forget . . . one you'll want to pass on to your best friend.

Hana

Made the mistake of listening to the last 3 hours at once and now my eyeballs are completely dry.

Leelynn Brady

“That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours. ” 



I'm not much of a women's fiction type of reader, so I had a lot of reservations about reading this. I don't remember why I was reading this, probably for a book club that I didn't end up going to (I have a bad habit of NOT finishing the books on time but getting to them months later after everyone forgot about it). But anyway, once I started I just wanted to get it over with.



I don't know if that's a good or bad thing at the moment, but I do know that it was a little better than I thought it would be. I kept waiting for the huge betrayal that the synopsis mentioned and I feel like I had to wait until almost the end of the book for it to happen, but trust me. You knew what it was once it happened. And trust me. It was a pretty bad betrayal.



So this book was about two girls that end up becoming best friends forever, from when they first met in middle school until their middle age life - pretty much their entire lives. The story is broken into decades, since of course it makes sense to see Tully and Kate grow into themselves by the years. It was a nice story, although the ending really broke my heart. It was nice to see how different their paths were after leaving school, even though their dreams seemed to be one and the same. I also really liked the success story of Tully, how she stuck to her guns and did whatever she needed to in order to make her dream come true. She didn't let her circumstances stop her from getting what she wanted, and the love that Tully and Kate had for one another was one that I wish I had with my own best friend. Of course, there were moments of jealousy just like any other girl friends - or even guy friends, but that's another story - but they were always able to support one another when it really mattered.



I don't think I'll read the sequel since one of the main characters of it is a person that I absolutely hated, but don't knock it if you want to find out what happens next. It wasn't terrible, just not my cup of tea.

Meagan Fowler

Once again Kristin Hannah has me ugly crying...

Firefly Lane

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