I absolutely loved this book. I was unsure about it at first since every chapter is based around a different character, but it blended together seamlessly. I feel like we got to know all of the main characters. Some I liked. Others I pitied, but, at the same time, wanted to tell them to make better choices because it felt like they chose their unhappiness. I was sad to see this book come to an end because I became invested in the whole family and was enjoying seeing their story play out. I think this is a book I would probably read again. ( )

A riveting portrait of a family, told with compassion, insight, and wit, The Heirs wrestles with the tangled nature of inheritance and legacy for one unforgettable, patrician New York family. Moving seamlessly through a constellation of rich, arresting voices, The Heirs is a tale out Edith Wharton for the 21st century.
 
For anyone who adores characters and the way that each person's history might contribute to a larger picture, this is a must read.
 
This was a gorgeous exploration of the spiderweb way that one man's connections interact with the world and, without having the clichés found in a butterfly effect novel, the way that the decisions people make affect generations to come.
 
This is split up into chapters that loosely focus on characters and the way that the main events had played into their lives. Rupert and Eleanor had five sons, each of whom is well drawn and has a distinct personality from the others. Rieger's ability to create people that feel absolutely real is astounding, and while I was excited to read about new characters, I also found myself aching to know about the interplay between them all.
 
I enjoyed the general atmosphere of this book and the way that it read. While there wasn't a clear and distinct plot and it felt at points like a collection of short stories, I enjoyed the way it begun and the succinct way that it wrapped itself up, simultaneously giving answers and creating questions.
 
Rieger's talent for breathing life into characters is one I look forward to seeing again in the future.
 
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Overall I enjoyed this book, the characters where almost all very waspy types and effortlessly rich. I did find the pacing fairly slow and I was quite happy to put this down and read something else for a while at times.

I never felt that I really knew or felt for any of the characters much. It was told from a totally god like third person, telling us the backgrounds and feelings of people who where dead without any explanation as to where the information came from. This slightly annoyed me. I think the constantly changing perspectives meant that we as a reader never feel that we wanted one person to triumph over the others, or even care much at all what happened. It felt a little shallow and thin overall.

I found the ending annoyed me though, it really spoiled the book for me, not because it was bad, it just wasn't anything a bit of a damp squib. A strong start but seemed to lose it's way in the last 20% of the book.

On goodreads I rated it a 3 but it is probably more like 2.5. I have read a lot of good books recently and this one will be forgotten very quickly. Fairly well written but overall unmemorable with characters that I could take or leave. I never really got to feel very strongly about any of them at all.

Read more of my reviews on my book blog Engrossed in a good book ( )

Very well-written and wonderfully oblique. Despite addressing adultery in many different forms, it is told in a way to absolve those involved of any blame and manages to make them seem likeable. The story centers on Eleanor and Rupert Falkes just after his death. By all accounts, their marriage was a happy one that produced 5 sons (and 'not a "duffer" among them'). Eleanor (nee Phipps) came from New York society ("that class of New Yorker whose bloodlines were traced in the manner of racehorses" 2) and though it was the 1960s, she was forbidden from marrying a Jew (Jim Cordoza), so she married Rupert, an English orphan, who had made his wealth and respectability in the US and was as rebellious as Eleanor could get. After Rupert's untimely death to cancer, a woman (Vera Wolinski) surfaces and claims to have 2 sons with him who have rights to his inheritance. The family is thrown into turmoil, though maintains their upper class decorum and each son plays his prescribed role in the face of the threat. The sons (grown men) are charming and the family dynamic is really endearing, anchored by Eleanor, though Rupert was an involved father. Eleanor's father is also a likeable character and her relationships with men (husband, father, sons, former lover) show her strength and poise. The reality of the supposed affair is shared with the reader, but is never clearly resolved to the family. There are other instances of cheating and while the concept is abhorrent to me, the way it is deftly handled here makes it more of a case study in ethics than a heavy-handed morality tale. ( )

I received a copy of this book from "Blogging for Books" for an honest review :)) [6/3/17]