I think if you enjoy Contemporary books that have some family drama, you’ll enjoy this one!
Rating: 4.5/5
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.
I enjoyed this one so much more than I expected too! I received a surprise ARC of We Are the Brennans from Celadon Books. And I’m so happy to have gotten this opportunity. I don’t know if I would have picked this one up on my own.
I enjoyed this one so much more than I expected too!
We follow an Irish family, the Brennans. Five years ago, Sunday Brennan left her family to chase a dream on the other side of the country. Until one day she wakes up in the hospital after a car crash to see her oldest brother there. Sunday agrees at her brother’s request to come home just until she’s healed and back on her feet. However, once she’s back home she’s forced to confront secrets she’s buried. And she’s not the only one hiding secrets.
The biggest surprise for me with this one was the disability rep. It caught me off guard, as I wasn’t expecting it. But I was all for it! This is not something I often see within family dramas or within fictional books in general. And it was so well written. One of Sunday’s brothers was born with a hearing deficiency and an intellectual disability. The best way to describe him is as he may appear to be 25 years old, but mentally he’s about 12. And this hit home for me, as he reminded me of my own older brother. My brother was born with cerebral palsy and although it was never diagnosed, he’s also got a bit of intellectual disability. He’s mentally about 10-12 years old. So it just made my heart swell seeing the similarities not only between Sunday’s brother and my own but with a family who’s gone through hardships like mine.
The biggest surprise for me with this one was the disability rep.
This family, the Brennans is far from perfect, despite how it appears to those on the outside. And we learn all about their mistakes, lies, and secrets through various points of view of the family members in the Brennans. And while some of the choices the Brennans made were sometimes headbanging wrong, I could understand their reasoning for why they did them. It made all these characters feel more real that way. They were all flawed.
I especially connected with Sunday, I truly felt for her. She reminded me a lot of both me and my mom. For me, it was how Sunday felt when she was treated by the rest of her family, I recognized those same feelings as to how I have felt with my own family. For my mom, I saw a few similarities in the way Sunday had to deal with her family growing up to some of the stories my mom has shared with me.
I especially connected with Sunday, I truly felt for her.
The pacing of this book was great, it flowed so well. I didn’t want to stop reading. Even with all the different points of view, I never felt confused, which can often be the case with multiple viewpoints like this one. The story was so easy to follow, I was fully immersed in it and wanting to see how it would end.
I think if you enjoy Contemporary books that have some family drama, you’ll enjoy this one!