The Book:
We Are The Brennans by Tracey Lange
Published August 3rd 2021 by Celadon Books
Date read: July 21, 2021
The Characters:
Siblings Sunday, Jackie, Denny, and Shane Brennan
Family friend Kale
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
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.
The Ending:
Sunday was assaulted by Billy Walsh, a bartender a few towns over. He caused her to miscarry Kale’s child, and that’s why she ran away to LA.
Billy wanted revenge and was screwing Denny over on his loan. Sunday figured out how to save the bar by threatening to report him for the assault if he didn’t let Denny repay his loans.
The Review:
Thank you to Celadon Books for a gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Character-driven novels can be somewhat hit or miss for me, but this one was definitely a hit. While these characters are certainly flawed and repeatedly make blatant mistakes, their flaws only serve to make them feel more realistic. As is often the case, many of their problems could have been solved by just being honest with each other, but it is very human to not tell the whole truth even when you know you should.
The Brennans had a lot of similarities to my boyfriend’s family, so it was kind of fun to have that mental connection too.
I loved how between different POVs, the first sentence of the new perspective was the last sentence that the character said in the previous scene. It made the change between POVs very smooth.
This title made for a great listen on audio–I absolutely adore Irish accents. It was very understated for the characters that had one, and came across just beautifully. I’ve listened to a few choppy audio productions lately, so it was even more apparent how high quality this audio copy was. The narrator didn’t really do different voices for each character, but it was always clear who was speaking.
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