Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Big Reads: The Nest



The Nest. 

THE hot book of the summer.

The one all bookstagrammers bought for the cover alone.

Well, I finally finished it. I have some thoughts about it, but they're conflicting.

This was a very interesting read for me. It was one that I never felt super driven to read but once I did pick it up, I flew through it.



The Nest is the story of the Plumb siblings (Leo, Bea, Jack, and Melody) and the inheritance they're supposed to receive on the youngest siblings 40th birthday. Because they were all counting on this money their entire lives, they never really grew up.

Of course, the well runs dry. Leo is involved in an accident and their mother taps The Nest (what they call their inheritance) to pay off the parties involved and keep it out of the press. (Did I mention they're New York society types?) Obviously, they're all pretty upset about that and the novel is about what they do next. How do they recover? Or do they even recover?

There are many minor characters along the way: spouses and children of the Plumb siblings, boyfriends/girlfriends, neighbors, bosses, strangers. Every single character was flawed and real in a way that really drew you into the story. This was a story about real people and their real lives and their real struggles and triumphs.

But the big four? The Plumb siblings? Leo. Bea, Jack, and Melody? I didn't relate to Leo so much, but I saw myself in the other three. It was like holding up a really dysfunctional mirror to myself and made me really connect with their story. It made me sad in a way that had me reflecting on how I live my life.

The Nest is beautifully written and the only word I keep thinking of is "real." That being said, it has a very real ending. It's not satisfying. But its exactly what I expected.

Some of the people I've chatted with on Instagram about The Nest loved it. Many weren't too impressed with it. Or it was enjoyable enough, but they didn't love it. Or they were kind of disappointed with it and it ended up being just a cover buy. But I really loved it. I can definitely see why so many people were reading is this summer. I can even see why opinions on it can be so differing. Even with all of that... I would still recommend it.



Have you read The Nest? What did you think?


2 comments:

  1. I read it because of bookstagram and enjoyed it too! I'm not sure that I would recommend it, but I would definitely read more books by this author. Enjoyed your review!

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    1. Thank you! Bookstagram gets me everytime. I just can't live with FOMO.

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