Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Julie moves in to her late mothers house with her husband Liam and their young son Charlie. Liam who is a writer becomes inspired to wrote a book based on their new neighbours.

In the blurb it says one single moment at a party changes everything. I was expecting this to be a bigger part of the story than it was. I felt the book was more an honest representation of parenthood and the effects it can have on a marriage.

I felt that it fairly represented everyone's points of view. I did not know really what to expect from the book as I am not familiar with the writer but it surprised me and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I found it moving and also realistic portrayal on bereavement, relationships, family life, friendship and honesty.

I highly recommend it.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. I’m sure a lot of people will love it, and it’s well written and very ‘publishy’. But I can’t stand all the middle class mothers and the endless details and the competitiveness and the ghastly children and weedy husbands. It’s like Motherland and those awful joke birthday cards about mummy needing a gin all rolled into one. It’s very well written and I’m sure will do well. But it’s not for me.

Everyone Is Still Alive by Cathy Rentzenbrick
Pub Date: 8 July 2021
It is summer on Magnolia Road when Juliet moves into her late mother's house with her husband Liam and their young son, Charlie. Preoccupied with guilt, grief and the juggle of working motherhood, she can't imagine finding time to get to know the neighbouring families, let alone fitting in with them. But for Liam, a writer, the morning coffees and after-school gatherings soon reveal the secret struggles, fears and rivalries playing out behind closed doors - all of which are going straight into his new novel.
Juliet tries to bury her unease and leave Liam to forge these new friendships. But when the rupture of a marriage sends ripples through the group, painful home truths are brought to light. And then, one sun-drenched afternoon at a party, a single moment changes everything.
This is Cathy Rentzenbrink's, the Sunday Times bestselling author's debut work of fiction. Everyone is Still Alive is a well-written, observational, enjoyable, and intimate, heartfelt story. I Highly recommended it.
I want to thank NetGalley, Phoenix Rentzenbrink for a pre-publication copy to review.

Incredibly moving and a realistic portrayal of modern day family life, relationships and bereavement.

Everyone Is Still Alive follows Juliet, Liam and their son Charlie as they move into her late mother’s house. It is truly packed with emotion, it’s impossible not to feel what the characters are going through. The storyline often left me in or close to tears and I finished this book in around 12 hours, I just couldn’t put it down.

The characterisation is complex but also well written. You really get to know the vibe of Magnolia Road and it’s residents, by the end you’re rooting for them all to live ‘happily ever after’.

Just the right length as well. I often find character driven novels can be too drawn out, but this is the perfect balance between an in depth examination of character and a snappy read.

One thing which may be triggering for some is the discussion of bereavement, death and cancer, which did hit me hard at the start. However, Rentzenbrink is frank, honest yet sensitive and relatable in how she deals with the topic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book to review.

This is Cathy Rentzenbrink’s first fictional novel, and as an adorer of her book Dear Reader, (I’ve enthusiastically bought it for lots of other book lovers in my life, and intend to buy more copies!)I was really pleased to have been approved for this DRC. Thank you to NetGalley and Phoenix - part of the Orion Publishing Group.

The premise is a middle aged couple, Liam and Juliet, move into Magnolia Road with their 5 year old son, Charlie. The house as Juliet’s Mum’s until she died of cancer, and everything is still quite raw. Liam is a writer who is struggling to write his second novel, and hopes he can get inspiration from the school run, while Juliet works full time in the city.

They quickly get sucked into the clique, meeting perfect Stepford Wife Sarah and her perfect girls, wannabe Helen and Dan in the flat (to be pitied), drunken Lucy, her Dutch husband Bas and their nightmare twins. Well, that’s how they can be summed up - but they’re written much more sympathetically than that. Sarah in particular is a well defined, individual woman - not a caricature. She’s a real person who gives good advice, not the dictator Queen Bee she could have been. The bond the families have reminded me a bit of Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies, actually. Without the murder mystery in the middle.

The narrative is built around each character getting a viewpoint, or at least, most of them - and this helps to make them human, I think. Flawed but well intentioned.
The couples spend a lot of the book bickering and detesting each other, which I found quite depressing at points. Complaining about washing not done, plans forgotten - one husband ignores his wife’s birthday in favour of hanging out with another mum. The pay off is worth it, I think, but it happens after a near disaster makes them actually be honest with each other for once. I’m not sure what the central message is - maybe that it’s normal for couples to argue, at least some of the time, and we just need to make sure we keep connecting? There’s also something about people not being all they seem, and we bring a lot of ourselves to the party. Our own judgements and assumptions can affect the smallest of gestures, twisting intention and changing our view of people as a result.

I did like that Liam’s plot point about writing a book about his neighbours, is in a book which is about him writing about his neighbours, where we find out about his neighbours. It’s a nice little meta-textual addition which I thought was pleasing.

In the same way that the adults were multi-faceted, I liked that the kids were, too. They are well rounded people in their own right, from loving beetles and tarantulas to being jealous of their new sister and loving Star Wars.

I’d recommend this for fans of Rentzenbrink, of course, but also Joanna Trollope and Liane Moriarty. It’s out for sale on July 8th - pre order now! You can get a signed copy from Waterstones, here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/everyone-is-still-alive/cathy-rentzenbrink/9781474625500
Faber members can also attend an online event on July 29th, where Cathy talks to Georgia Pritchett about her book “My Mess is a Bit of a Life”. Get your ticket(s) here:https://www.faber.co.uk/blog/event/georgia-pritchett-and-cathy-rentzenbrink-in-conversation/

'Everyone is Still Alive' by Cathy Rentzenbrink is not to be read wearing non waterproof mascara. Whilst it is definitely clever and witty, it also focuses on grief and the fear of loss in an all too relatable way. As a result, when my young daughter found me this morning, I was crying over my book!

The story is set in a London suburban street - Magnolia Road - and focusses on four different families with children at the local primary school. Julliet is the protagonist, a woman who is trying to keep it together whilst coping with the death of her mother. The novel explores the roles and responsibilities of parenthood and marriage.

Rentzenbrink takes artistic license in parts - there is no way at my local primary school a dad would be invited to coffee with the mums within a week of arrival. At times the novel feels quite conventional, and similar to themes in the TV comedy Motherland. However, it wasn't long until it got under my skin, it was so very well observed, and I was very sad to finish it.

What a lovely story !
The ups and downs of a city street, with a lovely community of families. You will recognise these characters ......... you are one of them.

I found this novel easy to read but frustrating. Whilst the author was dealing with one family, all was clear, but when all the characters came together I had to think hard who was the partner of whom, which children belonged to which parents.

I did not find the charcters likeable but I did feel that the book was an interesting exploration of modern relationships, parenting, anxieties.

Judith's mum dies and leaves her house to ger daughter so the little family of author dad and small boy move in to the house.
In order for her husband to write she needs to work. Unfortunately any dreams of motherhood and intending to follow her own mother's way of baking with her child, feeding ducks etc has to be sacrificed.
Meanwhile her husband not only gets to spend time with his son but joins the schoolgate mothers for coffee etc.

Only a great event can break through the submerged resentment and suspicion. Whilst this sounds a little harrowing it is a gentle story and the mothers with all their failings are quite likeable, very fallible characters.

In some ways not a lot happens- but to this little family it is a turbulent year.
I really enjoyed reading this easily-accessed story.

A lighthearted and enjoyable novel where relationships, family and love come under scrutiny. When Juliet’s mother dies she, her husband Liam and son Charlie move into her house in Magnolia road. They meet the other families in the area and see their different parental and marriage ideas.

I finished this book last night and have been thinking about it ever since. I read Dear Reader, the last book written by Cathy Rentzenbrink, and I knew she was an excellent writer. Her new novel, #EveryoneisStillAlive absolutely proves this, and more. This is a gentle yet powerful read. Nothing too much happens, but I didn't want to put it down. I was able to immerse myself in the lives of people I grew to care about, who live hundreds of miles from me and who I have little in common with. Now that is a skill for an author to have!
The author understands grief and this comes through in her writing. Not every author can achieve this. Juliet and her husband Liam move into her late mothers house with their little boy, and the story unfolds. Juliet is struggling with her grief, with her husband's lack of progress on his second novel, and juggling work and home. She is relatable and likeable. Liam is annoying and difficult to like, but that is the point. Juliet loves him, and I unexpectedly found that was good enough for me. The way his working class roots were portrayed helped me to understand him, and provided a few chuckles along the way. The children were well written too - always a plus for me.
I one hundred percent recommend this lovely book.
Thank you to the author, her publishers and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I’m grateful to receive this advanced copy but I just don’t think I was in the right frame of mind to appreciate it.

The writing is beautiful, and the characters brilliantly flawed and troubled. The grief is what hit me hard, but it’s written well.

Hopefully I’ll give it another go later on!

Juliet and Liam, together with son Charlie, have just moved into Juliet’s late mother’s home in Magnolia Road. It’s the height of summer, it’s a lovely house in a good neighbourhood, but Juliet isn’t sure how she feels about living there - too many memories that are still pretty raw and hard to deal with. The fact that she and Liam aren’t getting on too well, doesn’t help either.

Juliet works full time, whilst Liam is a writer, and inevitably, it’s Liam who integrates into the new neighbourhood, after school coffees, and meetings with the mums from Magnolia Road, who all have kids around Charlie’s age, and as he listens to their gossip and hears about their private lives, he decides to make them the subject of his next book.

Then one lovely summer’s day when the whole street,(adults and kids alike), are celebrating a birthday, something happens in Magnolia Road that will put everything into perspective, not just for Juliet and Liam, but for all the other families too.

The author paints a sensitive and sometimes amusing picture of middle class suburbia - the triumphs, dramas, hopes and anxieties, obsessive and competitive parenting, marital problems, how the hierarchy works in a small community, and I have to say, she paints it to perfection. A novel about life’s ups and downs, becoming a mature adult, and recognising what’s really important in life.

I was delighted that Netgalley gave me the chance to read “Everyone is still Alive” by Cathy Renzenbrink. An excellent title for this book which deals with many topics including grief, something that Cathy talks about with sensitivity. Having read her excellent book “Dear Reader” about the books that have given her joy and comfort, I know that she has had her own share of grief. But this book is about so much more. I read it almost in one go. It is about friendship and relationships and people who are human beings with their good and bad qualities. Excellent!

This is the second book I have read by Cathy Rentzenbrink but I've really struggled with this one. I literally couldn't see the point of it. The couples were horrible and not liking the characters always puts me off the book. Not really a book I would recommend.

Everyone has preference in their reading genre and I thought this debut novel by Cathy Rentzenbrink would be to my liking., unfortunately, it was not to be. I was disappointed and looking forward to reading Everyone Is Still Alive but sadly there was no connection to any of the characters or the storyline. I did complete the book with a struggle. BUT, there will be lots and lots of people who will LOVE this reading genre.

I give a 2 star rating, only as the book was not for me.

I WISH TO THANK NETGALLEY FOR THE OPPORTUNITY OF READING AN ADVANCED COPY OF THIS BOOK FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

I really liked the character of Juliet and her adorable son but Liam I could take or leave- he came across as a bit too needy, a bit too lazy, a bit too unfocussed and a bit too full of himself!
Moving into her late mothers house on Magnolia Road seems like a dream come true, more space, more garden, great neighbours (or so she has heard, as Liam does all the socialising) but as the family get more involved in the community the cracks begin to show.
This is a great "sitting in the garden with a tall, cool drink in the late summer evening sun" kind of a read!

This is the story of Juliet, who moves into her recently deceased mother's house with husband Liam and little boy Charlie. Juliet has an important job and Liam is a writer and a stay at home dad. Liam immediately gets involved with the social life of the mothers at the school gate and Magnolia Road and Julia feels left out. Most of the book is about the lives and relationships of the residents and Liam hopes to use this for his next book. They socialize quite a lot but there is a bizarre custom of singing hymns at the end of the night which I thought was weird. An accident happens and things change but there is a happy ending for all. This is a light read with not much plot but it is entertaining.

I absolutely love Cathy Rentzenbrink's non fiction and so was thrilled to read an advance copy of this, her first work of fiction. Everyone is Still Alive is a beautifully written and well observed novel and the author is so skilled at writing fully rounded characters with flaws so empathically that they are likeable and believable. This is a novel that flows seamlessly and I barely noticed that I had almost finished it. It is a gorgeous novel full of heart and warmth and I found Juliet's love for her mother and sense of loss after her death so moving and emotional. The author brings her honesty, warmth and observation of humanity that she so beautifully displays in her non fiction into this novel and I know it will stay with me long after I finished it. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.

Beautifully and sharply written - I raced through this. Loved the writing and the characters were very realistic