“Books, Briefly” is back to spotlight a fairly new release and recent Book of the Month, We are the Brennans!
Title: We Are the Brennans
Author: Tracey Lange
“What I’m saying is, if you can be happy, do it. If you know what you want in life, don’t wait for someone else to give it to you, go after it, and don’t let anything stand in the way.”
We Are the Brennans – Tracey Lange
READ IF YOU LIKE: family dramas, soap operas, contemporary romance, slow-burn literary fiction, character-driven novels, stories that highlight sibling relationships, pub settings
MOOD: Contemplative, serious, emotional
WARNING: Sexual assault
| Likes | Dislikes |
| Strong family (especially sibling) connections are well-developed | Extremely character-driven; made the book too slow at parts |
| Transitions between chapters by making the last line of dialogue the first line of the next chapter and alternating the point of view | Missing more to the father’s backstory |
| When I switched to audiobook (made it easier to stay involved in the story) |
FINAL THOUGHTS: We Are the Brennans is a good choice for the dramatic, family-oriented, slow-burn reader. If you are / have an interest in Irish families and the Irish-Catholic family lifestyle, even more perfect! I do want to emphasize the slowness of the plot and the focus on characters and their relationships; if you are an action-seeking reader, this one is not for you. Each chapter jumps from character to character; I personally found this worked really well for this novel and kept it more interesting. Bonus points to Tracey Lange for ending each chapter with a line of dialogue that starts the next chapter and switches the point of view; how clever!
**Thank you to #CeladonBooks for the gifted copy!
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