Book 20/30.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Nest is the story of four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives. I may have rated it 3 stars, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would 😅
The Plumb siblings – Leo, Melody, Jack and Bea – were months away from finally receiving their joint trust fund. If only an inebriated Leo did not get behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger because the accident, and its aftermath, has endangered The Nest. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.
Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would for two major reasons– first and foremost was the writing. As a writer myself 💁♀️ I kept reading certain sentences over and over again as I was awed by how impressive they were. I took a Creative Writing Masterclass once, and one tip they gave us was that when you read you ought to have a notebook with you as you should read to study and to steal (obvs the word steal is used loosely). It has been a while since I read a book that made me want to “study and steal”, but this one certainly did so 🤩
Second were the characters. They were unlike any I have read in a while in that Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney did not downplay their mean streak, especially with their thoughts. We all get a little, sometimes even a lot, mean in our internal monologue so it was refreshing to read a book where the author was not shy about showcasing that. These characters could be downright mean, and at first their awfulness put me off as I am not a fan of unlikeable characters, but it was not long before I appreciated the humanness of their meanness and warmed up to them.
View all my reviews
** A guide to ratings **
1 star – did not like it
2 stars – it was okay
3 stars – liked it
4 stars – really liked it
5 stars – it was amazing
Lwile the Leo 