Name: We Are the Brennans
ISBN: 9781250796226

Tracey Lange

In the vein of Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes, Tracey Lange’s We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame—and the redemptive power of love—in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets...

We Are the Brennans

Syahla Aurel

You fuck with one Brennan, you fuck with six Brennans.

Well, it was hard to read the boring early chapters, the story only starts to be interesting when it reaches 50%. But I liked how the story ended on a cliffhanger because at least all the characters have solved their problems.

Kenzi Linton

This story will have you rapt from the first chapter. Its multiple points of view within the characters carry the story along as if you are witnessing it for real. The connections between the Brennan family are familiar and comforting. Anyone who's come from a family where the family is always first will feel a tug of familiarity with the Brennan siblings. I truly did not want this story to end. (and I may be holding out first a sequel) This is a feel-good story that will carry you with it from page one until the end. 

Jackelyn

In the vein of Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes and Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest, Tracey Lange’s We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame—and the redemptive power of love—in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets. When twenty-nine-year-old Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, bruised and battered after a drunk driving accident she caused, she swallows her pride and goes home to her family in New York. But it’s not easy. She deserted them all—and her high school sweetheart—five years before with little explanation, and they've got questions. Sunday is determined to rebuild her life back on the east coast, even if it does mean tiptoeing around resentful brothers and an ex-fiancé. The longer she stays, however, the more she realizes they need her just as much as she needs them. When a dangerous man from her past brings her family’s pub business to the brink of financial ruin, the only way to protect them is to upend all their secrets—secrets that have damaged the family for generations and will threaten everything they know about their lives. In the aftermath, the Brennan family is forced to confront painful mistakes—and ultimately find a way forward, together.

A Novel

Catherine Duplessis

3.25 ⭐️

This story was such a stretch. 😪

The main secret is not shocking enough to have caused this much damage in a family that tight.

And I predicted pretty much everything else.

It’s unfortunate because I liked that the characters all had very distinct personalities. The story had a great foundation, but really felt flat. 

(I really liked that when the POV switched, the chapter started with what the character last said in the previous chapter. A fun and unique detail!)

Trish

❝ Vivienne wasn’t wrong about the Brennans. The whole family was a mess. But they were his mess. He was part of them.”

An engrossing, impossible-to-put-down debut novel chronicling the events that lead up to Sunday Brennan, only daughter of the family, abandoning her life and love and abruptly leaving for California, and how it all unravels 5 years later when her eldest brother, taking advantage of a moment of weakness, convinces Sunday to move back to New York and face everything and everyone she ran away from. 

This novel has so many elements of what I love in a story: a family saga, family secrets waiting to implode, sibling dynamics, dealing with abandonment, small town vibes, family owned business drama, rekindled love, and second chance romance. 

Not to mention the writing and pacing of the novel is excellent. I mean, I stayed up until 2 am to finish this one. A little fair warning, once you hit the 45% mark, just find a comfortable spot on the sofa or in bed where you can read undisturbed, because you’re not going to be able to move or do anything else for the next 2 hours until you turn the last page. 

If I have any criticisms, it is that the book ended a little abruptly and much too soon! I totally would’ve relished another 100 pages with the Brennan family, especially once most of their secrets were out in the open and they were beginning to get a handle on their lives. But, I guess all good things come to an end - and I did get my nugget of satisfying resolution for Kale in the end. 

Also MAJOR PROPS to a book that has characters named Sunday, Grail and KALE 🥬 without explanation or apologies. That being said, I love Kale with all my heart (the character, not the vegetable). 

I highly recommend this to everyone, but especially if you liked Malibu Rising, Ask Again, Yes, and Everything I Never Told You. 

Finally, thank you to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for providing me a digital arc in exchange for an honest review. And congratulations to @tracey_lange on a wonderful debut novel! 

AND it’s officially out TODAY, Aug 3! ☘️

Kaitlyn Cortez

This was good but not great. Loved the family drama but there was almost too much going on. Felt almost like the author was leaving the ending open for a sequel, which could be interesting. Not overly exciting for me though.

Marissa Davis

I don't know what to say. The writing is good and the characters were amazing. But I just could connect with the story like I thought and hoped I would. But in the end its still a very good book and I know the world will love it.

Alex Flagg

The story of family drama, shameful secrets and what happens when your family finds out. Sometimes dramas can fall flat for me, but the characters in this story were so loveable and each sibling added so much. A little bit of romance and a little bit of mystery made it very compelling.

Emma Conarroe 

A very nice, somewhat predictable but comforting read

Julia

Summer Stanley

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
The ending did this one in. On track to be 4 stars, but the ending wrapped up to pretty and didn’t work for me. The “big reveal” was obvious and didn’t need to be saved for the last chapter. 
Overall, I enjoyed these characters, and we got adequate time getting to know them before the action really began. I would have loved a little more Jackie and a chapter from Shane’s perspective. 
Overall enjoyable, but disappointed by the ending

Cola

** spoiler alert **
           I enjoyed this book but I wanted better things for Sunday. I actually felt bad for Vivienne and Luke. Kale was kind of a piece of shit for leaving them in the end. I was hoping to see an ending where both he and Sunday could move forward with their lives but I just didn’t get it. I’m sure I’m in the minority here regarding their story line but I did not want to see them get back together. 

Maybe it just hit too close to home for me with some of the toxic family dynamic. Also no one except for Theresa makes it clear that what happened to Sunday in the bar with Billy was not all her fault. And Theresa only says it to Denny. 

I wanted to give Sunday a hug and tell her to just restart her life even in the next town over. This entire family is actually awful to everyone and then some how goes along their merry way? 

Let’s not forget Mickey had sex with Billy’s mother and then, ends up killing her son to protect his family from the problem he created for them years ago. And what does the family do? Immediately try to figure out how to protect their murdering father. 

I guess life is like that for some people though. They can never let go of the only way of life they’ve always know. They can’t grow beyond that and it’s enough for them. And this book does an excellent job of showing who those type of people are.

Tatyana

When you see a family on the outside and think they have it all together meanwhile it's not like that at all. The Brennans are filled with drama and secrets. Lying to protect loved ones, leaving and trying to run from the past but still having your family's back no matter what.

Stephanie Midolo

There's nothing inherently bad about this book, but there's also nothing inherently good about it either. After I'd read about a hundred pages and realized nothing hand really happened, I almost put the book down. It was just really boring, but I kept reading because there were a few questions I wanted answered.
Overall, I think maybe a novel wasn't the most effective vessel for this story. I liked the way one chapter would flow into the next, but the flashbacks were not done well. This would be better as a television miniseries where the flashbacks would be more clear.

paperandfiction

Dezarae Arnold

Sarah Erle

In the vein of Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes and Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest, Tracey Lange’s We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame—and the redemptive power of love—in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets. When twenty-nine-year-old Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, bruised and battered after a drunk driving accident she caused, she swallows her pride and goes home to her family in New York. But it’s not easy. She deserted them all—and her high school sweetheart—five years before with little explanation, and they've got questions. Sunday is determined to rebuild her life back on the east coast, even if it does mean tiptoeing around resentful brothers and an ex-fiancé. The longer she stays, however, the more she realizes they need her just as much as she needs them. When a dangerous man from her past brings her family’s pub business to the brink of financial ruin, the only way to protect them is to upend all their secrets—secrets that have damaged the family for generations and will threaten everything they know about their lives. In the aftermath, the Brennan family is forced to confront painful mistakes—and ultimately find a way forward, together. A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books "Reading this novel is like getting a view through a lighted window on a family sitting around a table after dark. Who are they? What are they talking about? All families have their own story and the ways they tell it to themselves, and untangling the many strands of this one was deep and richly satisfying. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I read it in one long delicious slide." -- Sarah Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Guest Book

Holli Clark

Fiona McDonald

**INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** In the vein of Mary Beth Keane’s Ask Again, Yes and Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest, Tracey Lange’s We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame—and the redemptive power of love—in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets. When twenty-nine-year-old Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, bruised and battered after a drunk driving accident she caused, she swallows her pride and goes home to her family in New York. But it’s not easy. She deserted them all—and her high school sweetheart—five years before with little explanation, and they've got questions. Sunday is determined to rebuild her life back on the east coast, even if it does mean tiptoeing around resentful brothers and an ex-fiancé. The longer she stays, however, the more she realizes they need her just as much as she needs them. When a dangerous man from her past brings her family’s pub business to the brink of financial ruin, the only way to protect them is to upend all their secrets—secrets that have damaged the family for generations and will threaten everything they know about their lives. In the aftermath, the Brennan family is forced to confront painful mistakes—and ultimately find a way forward, together.

We Are the Brennans

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