User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
March BOTM pick...only to receive an ARC from Gallery Books and NetGalley after the fact. 😯
Regina, Adelaide, and Sophie all became friends 10 years ago when they were Army wives. It all started at the monthly book club, and they instantly grew close. They leaned on each other through the good times and the hard times...until a major revelation ruined the friendship between Regina and Sophie.
Present Day: Adelaide has stayed friends with both Regina and Sophie, albeit separately. Her husband, Matt, is stationed abroad, which leaves her with their young daughter, Genevieve. When Adelaide finds out she has to have surgery for an issue (sooner than later), she sends an SOS to her friends. She needs Regina to come out to help care for Genevieve and to cook. She needs Sophie to come out for her much-needed nursing skills.
She also has a plan to get the two of them talking again, and to work out their differences. Unfortunately, neither Regina or Sophie knew the other the other would also be there...and they aren’t thrilled. Can they somehow patch up their friendship and heal from past wounds?
This is a compelling read about the dynamics of friendship, betrayals, triumphs...and a love for books. Author Tif Marcelo masterfully weaves dual timelines: the blossoming friendship that started 10 years ago, ultimately leading to the end of said friendship...and the present day, where things are rocky, but maybe hopeful.
The book is divided into sections, and each one starts with a quote from the book the characters were reading at the time in their book club. I loved that little touch, and couldn’t wait to find to find out if it would end with a book club selection in current times.
Initially, I thought the reason for Regina and Sophie’s fallout (or more so the fact that they had a fallout for such a long time) was a bit contrived once everything was fully revealed. However, I thought about it...and it worked. We are all human, and a lot of change can occur in ten years as people evolve and mature.
Side note: The BOTM version has a handful of typos/grammatical errors. Hopefully that’s just the little OCD in me and nobody else will notice. 😂
An enjoyable read for a lazy couch day. It balances some depth with intriguing and likable characters.
In A Book Club Far Away will be published through Gallery Books on 4/6/21.
Review also posted at: https://bonkersforthebooks.wordpress.com
Rating: really liked it
December Tierlist Vlog is up! Click the link to see the video review of all the books read in December!
The Written Review 
Regina Castro, Adelaide Wilson-Chang and Sophie Walden were all
army wives years ago stationed together in the same area (Fort East) from 2011-2012.
In modern times (2021), the three of them live in completely different areas and there was a
significant tear in their friendship (resulting in Sophie/Regina splitting but remaining (individually) friends with Adelaide).
In 2021, Adelaide sends an
SOS message to her best friends, they both come running (and are mutually shocked that the other was there).
Adelaide has a two-year-old daughter, her husband is overseas and she's scheduled for an essential surgery.
She needs Sophie to take care of her (Sophie is a nurse) and Regina to take care of the two-year-old...And Adelaide secretly hopes her two friends would resolve their differences but after ten years, is there any relationship worth saving?
This book is
told through alternating perspectives ("modern" day (set in 2021) and the past (2011-2012)). As the book progresses, we get to see what drove their friend group apart and how that affected their current lives.
I normally don't go for contemporaries but this one was an exception. Well written, well-fleshed out main characters. I enjoyed the flashbacks and forwards.
I did think the
ending was a little rushed (not by a lot, but a little) but other than that, I really enjoyed this one!!
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest reviewYouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads
Rating: really liked it
Tif Marcelo captured the lives of military families In a Book Club Far Away. A lot of respect for these wives and husbands and their unique bonds. While reading this book, I couldn't help but think of a FB status "It's Complicated". Each relationship is unique to its own installation and obstacles.
Three women try to put their lives in perspective after huge sacrifices are made. Joined together by a book club while their spouses are serving their country....soon to be torn apart by a falling out ....until a crisis reunites them again. It doesn't happen without a fight. With each one battling insecurities unknown to their friends, they carry the outer facade everything is fine.
This was a heartwarming homecoming told in past/present with drama unfolding ....some times unbearable to read. They gain our respect even with their bickering. They have created a support network for the challenges that can't be unbroken even though their hearts have suffered loss and confusion. Much love for the ones who choose to live behind the honor of that uniform.
Rating: really liked it
Book Club SOSRegina, Sophie, and Adelaide started a book club ten years ago and bonded over their love of books. They were together for ups and downs and all other life events during that time. But then something happened that changed their friendship. Adelaide speaks to both Sophie and Regina, but the two women do not speak to each other. Why? What happened?
Eight years later (present day), Adelaide has sent a book club SOS to her friends. Her husband is away, and she needs help as she must have surgery and has no one to look after her two-year-old daughter. Thus, the SOS that brings all three of the women together again.
Reunited and it feels so good - NOT
Relationships are complex. Has the past hurt festered? Does time really heal all wounds? There are past hurts and things that have never been fully discussed. As a reader we are in the dark, which led me to make my own assumption. I was in the ballpark but did not quite hit the nail on the head. Can they work through the emotional pain? Will books bring them together again? Can their friendships be saved?
I appreciated how the author titled each section, so you knew what time frame and character is being featured in the chapter. There is no confusion, and it keeps things flowing. As the book progresses, we learn more about each woman but also, I wanted to know what-went-down that caused a rift in their friendship.
If you have been an army spouse or been a member of a military family, you may be able to relate to some of the issue that the women face. Regina is not only a military spouse, but she serves herself.
This was a charming book about female friendship, marriage, relationships, feeling betrayed, guilt, being in a military family, and being a reader.
Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Rating: really liked it
This is a women's fiction. This book follow a group of women that started a book club while their husband's/boyfriend's where in the Military. The three women reunite when one of them needs surgery and need the other two to help her recover. Well, They are together they flashback to the event that pulled them apart years ago. I really was pulled into this story, and I really loved the storyline of this book. I have to say that the storyline is in the drivers set in this book, but the characters are really developed. I found myself slowly falling in loved with the characters of this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Gallery Books) or author (Tif Marcelo) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.
Rating: really liked it
tbh this was one of the worst books i’ve ever read. This was my BOT pick and I really regret it. I dnf’ed it because it was just so boring. the reason why they had that tension was so underwhelming. I cant believe i wasted my pick on this.
Rating: really liked it
99.7% stupid drama, 0.3% book club
It's my own fault for not looking closely and seeing that the Beyond the Point (BLERG) author was the one who blurbed this for BOTM.
There are so many stupid plot holes that I had to mark this as spoilers in order to vent:
So Sophie doesn't want to marry Jasper because he could be deployed? But is fine with having children with him? HOW DOES SHE GET HEALTH INSURANCE?!?!?!?!?? WHY ARE YOU WITH A MAN IN THE MILITARY FOR 20 YEARS AND NOT GETTING BENEFITS?!?!?!?
Hey, why not have the toddler's birthday party at the park instead of the house OF SOMEONE WHO JUST HAD SURGERY?
If Reggie's mom can afford a townhome in Alexandria, why was Reggie ever worried about money?!?!?
November book club meeting: with everyone's spouse deployed, most people had to bring their kids to book club
February book club meeting: ROAD TRIP TO NYC!
Also would have been interesting to hear about being a wife in the military but I think it was mentioned like twice that Reggie went to "work"? Why wasn't she deployed?
Also also, UGH on "my life would be complete with a baby from my own loins."
Also also also, seriously, was every issue in each relationship solved by just one conversation?
Also also also also! I especially "loved" two sections into the book where she abandoned the book club premise and instead shoe-horned in a one-paragraph description of the book.
I would have DNF'd but I was trapped and it was my only option. Don't make the same mistake I did.
Rating: really liked it
I did enjoy reading this, but upon reflection am a bit annoyed. I never like it when a character holds a grudge for YEARS and it ends up being something a conversation could have solved. Then when they do have the conversation it's amazingly all better. So that all annoyed me, but when I was reading it I was invested in the story and found it enjoyable.
Rating: really liked it
This was a heartwarming book about friendship gone wrong! The trio of friendships was relatable. The military aspect was a nice touch and really opened up a new viewpoint on military families and the struggles they face. I have a new appreciation for these families and what they go through! Watching the women work through their problems and find their way back to the sisterhood was wonderful. The addition of books and the characters love for them made my bookworm heart happy. My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.
Rating: really liked it
I hated this so much that I couldn’t finish it. It felt like every cliche in women’s fiction tied up in one novel with mediocre writing. I love good story about female friendships but the plot/conflict/characters were sooo poorly written. And as nicki pointed out in her review, this author waaaaaay overuses the word “tummy.”
Rating: really liked it
In a Book Club Far Away is a book that I thought would hit my heart just right. I am a military spouse and I met my best friends through a book club. It sounded like exactly the kind of story that would speak to me.
Unfortunately, I expected a tale of friendship, the struggles of military life, deployments, relationships, all mixed in with the bonding over their love of reading. What I got was a very immature set of women who fail to communicate with each other and who's friendships end over this lack of communication for an entire decade.
The parts of the military lifestyle we got during the past time line did feel pretty realistic and a lot of the sentiments the women shared were true to my own experiences. The chaotic time before your spouse leaves when you're almost just ready for them to go instead of hanging in limbo, the honeymoon period upon return combined with learning to readjust to life with each other, filling up your time while they're gone to distract yourself. The friendships formed during this time period should be strong, trust filled. These women are supposed to be there for each other, leaning on each other, and the conflict that drove them apart was something that just simple and honest communication would have solved. I hated that they fell apart for ten years and then after all of that time, still had petty squabbles with no growth at all.
It took a long time to get to the break up of their friendship and the entire problem seemed to be resolved instantly, which is crazy because they'd been holding onto this for so long, why now were they okay to just let it all go? I don't feel like the character development, especially on Regina's part, was there to justify this resolution. They were still being immature and ridiculous just a couple of chapters before this, throwing petty insults at each other like they were never friends at all.
The writing was very clunky and a lot of details felt inconsistent. At one point, Sophie's boyfriend (not husband because she doesn't want to marry someone in the military yet stays with him for his entire career, receiving no health care benefits, having no military id, not being able to shop or do anything on post.... but I digress) is said to be in the Navy during one of the first book club meetings, but later on is said to have retired from the Army.
So many of the actions of the characters made me irrationally angry. I just struggled to read this because no body made decisions with their brains. Regina gets mad that Adelaide invites her and Sophie without telling her then throws a party after Adelaide's surgery, invites all her friends to her house, doesn't even ask, and is surprised Adelaide is mad about it. Just no logic at all.
Had this book been solely from the past time line and focused on the friendships between the women as they went through deployment and Army life, I think this would have been a much more pleasant read. I understand there needs to be conflict but I think having these friends hold each other up in times of struggle instead of having them fall apart for a decade would have been a stronger story.
Rating: really liked it
3 old friends reunite after not speaking for 10 years. They’re military wives and one of them needs her gallbladder out so she calls on the other 2 to come stay with her daughter while she is recovering from surgery. This book was about friendship, Army life, marriage, infertility, etc. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. Published 5/2021.
Rating: really liked it
Meh.
Three friends have a fight. The three don’t see each other at the same time for 10 years. Real story of fight comes out. Real story of fight is stupid. Makes you want to hate the characters more than you already do.
Rating: really liked it
I loved the author’s previous books and was eagerly awaiting this one. And definitely there were parts I liked of this story, but I just couldn’t get past the weak reason for the friends’ major dispute, and Adelaide’s totally irrational anger for it 10 years later. That colored my entire mood regarding the overall story, unfortunately.
Rating: really liked it
In A Book Club Far Away was honestly the perfect read for me right now. I loved it. First off every chapter started with a quote from a book that the author used to name the chapter. So perhaps I now have more books to read?
This is the story of 3 friends who met in...you guessed it....BOOK CLUB. The story of a falling out wasn't super. Landing it 4 stars. What was super is it got me reflecting.
I grew closer to my sister over books the last 2 years. I am standing up in my friends wedding next year and while it wasn't over books we met, it's books that bonded us. I talk daily to 5 amazing women 4 of whom I've never met in person over a fb book group we run. So did I get this book? Right down to its lovely core. Due to this book group I have interacted and came to enjoy many others.
If you love books and have friends because of it this is just the perfect novel. Much love for this one!
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