A Riveting Family Saga: The Nest

Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's Five-Star Novel About Family, Love, and Identity

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"He never imagined that as the fund grew so, too, would his children's tolerance for risk, for doing the one thing Leonard had repeatedly warned them not to do, ever, in any avenue of life, from the time they were old enough to understand: count the chickens before they hatched."

The Nest is a family saga about the Plumbs and their dysfunction. The siblings in the family all find their own, unique problems. They all have one thing in common, however: they believe the inheritance money their father set aside for them when they are older will solve all of their dilemmas. Estranged from each other, they come back together in hopes of salvaging their wrecked lives with the money only to find things are much more complicated than they could have imagined.

This book touches on so many important themes. It deals with expectations, the power money can have on our lives, love, and how family loyalty is everything. During the course of the book, destruction of each individual character eventually is what leads them back together and what helps them realize that money truly isn't the answer.

I loved the multiple points of view of this novel because it kept it fresh and exciting. There was so much to the plot of this book that it never dulled. I loved following each individual family within the Plumb family and how their lives were a chaotic mess at times. I also really liked the idea of how small of a world we live in because other characters kept coming into the picture in various ways.

Most of all, this book emphasizes the impact we have on others and how our choices can affect so many around us. Sweeney highlights that we truly can't force our family to be what we want them to be. However, at the end of it, we realize that family, even with their flaws, is exactly what we all need to find happiness.

This book has such literary depth. I feel like I could read it again to catch the subtle nuances I missed. Sweeney expertly switches point of view in such a flawlessly smooth fashion, I felt like I was constantly seeing the whole story from every angle. This kept me engaged and helped pull out various themes. This book is a book to make you think and to make you appreciate your own family, troubled past and all.

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