5 ⭐️ alert!!! This is my favorite kind of book: real flawed characters living their lives making mistakes over hundreds of pages. I highly recommend this for fans of literary fiction focusing on growth.

Julia is 57 years old, happily married with 2 adult children when she runs into her old friend Helen. They haven’t seen each other since Julia’s marriage almost imploded over a decade ago and it brings up a lot of feelings for her. This is combined with a big announcement from her son and her daughter going off to college, all culminating in Julia reexamining her life and her self-sabotaging tendencies. 

Told in three timelines, the reader really gets to sink into Julia’s life at different crucial moments. She made frustrating and baffling choices at times (but don’t we all!) I rooted for Julia, even when I couldn’t fully understand her. I thought Lombardo’s prose was beautiful. I savored every page and honestly could have read another 500 pages about this family, which is always a great sign. I haven’t read her first book “The Most Fun We Ever Had” but DEFINITELY will next year. 

✨Content Warnings: Infidelity, Adult/Minor Relationship, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Mental Illness, Death of a Parent, Sexual Content, Medical Content, Sexual Violence, Dementia