This is actually just adult GOSSIP GIRL and I loved it. ( )

Found this in my local Little Free Library. Perfect fun, fluffy novel that goes down easily and quickly. I liked the quirky characters— CvZ wrote a novel about the rich and famous but managed to do it in the vein of “celebrities—they’re just like us!” Neighborhood friends, I’ll be popping this back in the Poplar LFL this week! ☺️ ( )

I was delighted to receive the ARC for Cecily von Ziegesar's upcoming novel, Cobble Hill. I went into this one expecting Gossip Girl for adults, but I found was a more of a neighborhood ensemble novel, like Jonathan Vatner's Carnegie Hill or Candace Bushnell's One Fifth Avenue. Cobble Hill's in Brooklyn, so these neighbors are all in separate houses, not in the same building, creating a wonderfully gossipy, interconnected setting more like in Abbi Waxman's Other People's Houses, or Rosie Millard's The Square. I'm realizing I read this genre a lot, so maybe my next roundup post will be books about neighborhood secrets and affairs.

The characters of Cobble Hill are all a bit over-the-top, in delightfully Brooklyn-creative ways. The novel takes us into four families: a former pop star and his former model wife, a magazine editor (kinda) and her novelist husband, an artist who works in lava and fake blood, a designer who makes, uh, surveillance equipment? creepy manikins? sex toys? all of the above, really. Next to the wealthy creative types are the struggling Brooklyn creatives, a school nurse who's also a drummer and her music-teacher husband.

I loved how dramatic the secrets were, with spouses pretending to have a debilitating disease, disappearing for months at a time, pretending they haven't been fired, cheating, stealing, lying, etc., etc. Mandy, an ex-model, feels tired, heavy, and lazy. So tired and lazy that she has a bed moved into their living room, and pretends she's been diagnosed with MS. Somehow readers are led to this with almost sympathy and understanding for her extreme lie. Of course this is a horrible lie, but haven't we all said "I think I'm coming down with something" as an excuse to lie in bed and watch trash TV? Somehow, this ridiculous and outrageous lie seems like someone a real person would do.

When Wendy gets abruptly demoted from her upscale magazine editor's role to a maternity leave coverage on more of a middle-class imprint, she doesn't mention it to her husband. And she keeps not-mentioning it. Again, we're somehow led to this massive secret with understanding, it's barely even lying when her husband Roy doesn't pay much attention to the things she does say.

In Cobble Hill, British author Roy Clark has written a rainbow of similar novels. Orange is the most popular one, although it seems like no one has ever read it all the way through, not even his wife, Wendy. He's at work on his new book, Red, or maybe Gold, or maybe Red and Gold, questioning whether his new work -- which rambles into questionable sex-in-space scifi pulp territory -- is too much of a departure from the rest of the rainbow series. I couldn't help comparing this to the departure from Gossip Girl and It Girl found here in Cobble Hill.

But it's not a total departure, is it? Because Gossip Girl begins with a sharp eye for the fashion and customs of a certain group of Manhattanites, and then softly exaggerates the highs and lows, until it's less a manners novel than a manners fantasy. That's the feeling in Cobble Hill, too only this time with the focus on Brooklyn creatives instead of prep school heiresses.

Very fun character-driven story about the rather flawed residents of Cobble Hill. ( )

I personally didn't care for this one. The characters, and their concerns, did not interest me at all. Although, they were well-written, because I kind of hated all of them (ha ha)!
So, rather than giving a 1 Star review for "Did Not Like It", I'll bump it up to a 2 Star for "It's Okay", since the author did do a good job of story telling and giving an authentic glimpse into the every day life of of four American families. So, without further ado, here's my recap for those for whom this story might be a better fit:

A slice of modern American life in a small neighborhood in Brooklyn New York, which just might make you realize you’re not doing so badly after all. Perfect for fans of stories with a large cast of characters, such as the movie “Love Actually” or the novels by Maeve Bincy.

We meet four families who begin the novel as strangers, but who become close, although imperfect, friends by the end of the tale. We meet famous novelist, Roy, who is struggling with a six-year writer's block dry spell, his wife Wendy who is not sure what is expected of her at her fancy new job, and their teenage daughter, Shy, who has a concerning crush on her Latin teacher and is failing all of her classes but Latin. There’s Stuart the former rock star, whose wife Mandy has lost her zeal for life and fakes a serious illness, and their grade schooler Ted who becomes fascinated with fire. We also meet the vivacious, school nurse Peaches who attracts the attention of both Roy and Stuart, her musician husband Greg, and their teenage son Liam who has a serious crush on Shy. Lastly, there’s the awkward genius Tupper and his elusive, artist wife Elizabeth.

Quirky situations ensue, the characters cross paths in unusual ways, and secrets start to unfold as the neighbors’ circles tighten, and the various story lines move toward explosive conclusions. The large cast of personalities is at times a bit hard to keep track of. And while each individual character’s list of faults can be tiresome, it can’t be argued that the novel accurately captures the issues and struggles of modern, American, city life. The book is likely to be a huge hit with fans of “real”, if perhaps a bit gritty, fictional characters.

Thank you to Cecily von Ziegesar, Atria Books, and NetGalley.com for providing this Advance Reader/Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

#CobbleHill
#CecilyVonZiegesar
#AtriaBooks
#NetGalley ( )