Wow is all I can really say. Dara Levan's debut novel, It Could Be Worse, resonated with me in ways I was not expecting.

There is a lot going on in this novel and it takes place over a long range of time, which includes flashbacks to Allegra's youth and teen years. Through these flashbacks, along with what is taking place in the present, we get a real idea of what Allegra's life is like with her parents. Allegra doesn't have it easy at any point in the story, when it comes to dealing with her parents. They are the absolute worst and I actually was crying on her behalf sometimes. I also felt so angry every time they said something to her. How can anyone be so cruel to their own child, no matter what age they are? The range of emotions is definitely a roller coaster, but it's worthwhile to stick with it and just feel them. I reached out to Dara after a pivotal scene to tell her how relatable and accurate I felt it was.

I did have some concerns, however. Because the story spans over a large amount of time, I felt like there were a bunch of timing inconsistencies. Like something would happen one day and they would refer to it as "yesterday" and then "four years ago" somehow at the same time. Even though four years hadn't actually passed by. This is just a rough example, but it's something that I would get confused by. I also found it strange that Allegra would only stutter when saying "Dad" or would refer to him as Dr. Curt. (His first name is not Curt, as I learned later.) I get that she had a strained relationship with him, but both the stutter and the formality seemed off to me. Finally, the synopsis threw me off in terms of what Allegra found out about her parents. I don't want to say anything more as to not spoil what she finds out.

Overall, this was a profound story about family and love and it will stick with me for a long time.

(Trigger warnings below)

Movie casting suggestions:
Allegra: Ginnifer Goodwin
Benito: Oscar Isaac
Dr. Curt: Michael Douglas
Roberta: Lesley Ann Warren
Ruby: Ellie Kemper
Jack: Max Rhyser
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TW: child abuse, emotional abuse, rejection of LGBTQ+ child (not from main character), medical procedures, miscarriage

Unfortunately I DNF this pretty early on. The first 2 chapters were boring. Nothing about them made me want to read further and yet I did. Made it to chapter 5, nothing has happened and I’m not hooked.

I loved the Jewish rep and generational trauma shown as this is important to highlight in today’s world.

It Could Be Worse is not my typical read. It’s general fiction/women’s lit and I’m ordinarily a sci-fi/fantasy/mystery gal. But having followed Dara Levan for quite a while, I was excited to check out her debut.

And I loved it. Maybe it’s the magic of her storytelling that I can’t pinpoint why. I just know that I kept thinking about MC Allegra’s journey and I was so completely pulled into her story. Levan tackles quite a few difficult topics, but she does so with care. In It Could Be Worse, Allegra is coming to terms with the fact that her parents are emotionally abusive narcissists while juggling the challenges of her career, motherhood and her health.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I listened to about half of the book and I have to say the audiobook is very good! Thank you to Regalo Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

It Could Be Worse is out now!

Content warnings: emotional abuse, miscarriage, cancer, fat shaming, homophobia.

What I Liked:
-Jewish Representation
-Protagonist not in her early 20s

What I Did Not Like:
-How many more bad things could happen to this woman? I felt like I was keeping a laundry list of her trauma. This was in a way where it just felt like omg, enough already, rather than in a way that made me sympathize with her.
-Time jumps felt out of place
-Plot was too slowly paced

Thank you to Regalo Press for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This heartfelt, moving and beautifully written novel by author Dara Levan is equal parts hopeful and heartbreaking. A complex multi-generational family drama that gives us permission to acknowledge that the loyalty we owe ourselves outweighs the loyalty we owe our family

Synopsis:
Mired in self-doubt and blind loyalty, Allegra Gil suspects her charmed life may be a gilded cage. She has a devoted husband, Benito, two loving children, a thriving therapy practice, and lifelong friends. But when a surprising discovery in a piano bench reveals a shocking family secret, Allegra questions everything she thought she knew about the two people who raised her. Was it true? Did her father, a respected pediatric neurosurgeon, harm instead of heal? And Allegra’s mother—how much did she know?


Thank you to @regalo_press and @netgalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The publisher’s blurb did not really prepare me for the intense nature of this story. What I thought might be a book focusing on a family secret was more of an examination of abusive, narcissistic parents and the effects of their abuse on their adult daughter and her children.

Allegra (Ally) is living in Miami, where she grew up. She has a loving husband and a successful therapy practice. We live through pregnancy, labor and delivery, as well as a miscarriage with Ally. The author tackles these subjects with both sensitivity and realism.

Ally has - let me be blunt - horrible parents. It’s amazing to me how she managed to become someone so funny and sarcastic and loving. She jokes all the time, even in the operating room during a C-section! Her father, as a simple example of his awfulness, criticizes her body, even while she’s pregnant! Her mother is extremely cold and self-centered.

The blurb refers to “a surprising discovery” in a piano bench but we don’t get to that until over halfway through the novel.

The story follows Ally through the years, as her children grow. There are many (clearly labeled) flashbacks, some of which took place at her beloved music camp in Michigan (where she met her best friend, Ruby), and others that illuminate how she was treated by her parents as a young girl. There are references to her beloved grandparents and how much she loved spending time with them but I would have liked some actual scenes with them instead of just a mention here and there.

I loved the Jewish rep. Ally is Jewish, of Ashkenazi (Eastern European heritage) and her husband, Benito (Ben) is also Jewish, but with a Cuban background.

Thank you to NetGalley and Regalo Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

IT COULD BE WORSE follows Allegra Gil, a happily married mom of two with a fulfilling therapy practice. Deep down Allegra knows that her relationship with her parents is more than just complex. The constant shimmying around their critical remarks and baneful behavior is exhausting and begins to wear not only on her, but her family as well. As she navigates marriage, an unexpected medical diagnosis, and becoming a mother for the first time, she begins to draw parallels between her childhood and the one she is creating for her children. It's when she discovers a secret from her father’s past that she must decide once and for all, what she is willing to compromise to protect herself and family.

Allegra’s story bounces between the present day and her childhood, exploring the complexities of growing up in a toxic family. Levan writes about sibling love, powerful female friendships, summer camp nostalgia, and the peaks and valleys of motherhood with a familiarity that captivated me. She highlights the dangers of abusive cycles in families and the everyday struggles to break these destructible patterns that often go unchecked. She taps into the great lengths a mother will go in order to protect her family and keep her children out of harm’s way.

Dara Levan’s writing is fully charged with all the fiery emotions that come from navigating a dysfunctional family rooted in narcissistic abuse. Her family drama is unrestrained in the best possible way and her lyrical prose, musical metaphors, and infusion of the color purple enthralled me to no end.

This was a really well written book with Jewish rep! I was definitely engaged as the story continued and I would recommend this for sure.

alli's parents were so cruel to her as a child as well as an adult. it was too close to home for me to want to keep reading. dnf 40%

Allegra has spent her life making allowances for the dysfunctional family she grew up in. But motherhood has shown her the pull of her parents and their controlling behaviors don't work with her life, and that of her family.

An unexpected discovery threatens to blow everything she ever knew out of the water. The compounding pressure has become too much, so with some tough, but understanding, love from her husband, advice from an old friend, and help through a new therapist, Allegra starts the healing process. She grapples with a potentially life-changing decision, and she will need to find the strength to move forward to find peace at last.

With reflections from childhood interspersed in the story, we get a view of what Allegra has experienced her whole life and find compassion for all she goes through.

A compelling read I highly recommend.

I applaud this author for tackling a tough topic. I enjoyed the story and character growth. One couldn't help but root for Allegra as she learned to stand up for herself and cut ties to toxic relationships.

Allegra Gil is compassionate, living life open to love, and she adores her husband and two children. But their grandparents are causing problems and untold stress in Allegra’s life. Through flashbacks to her childhood, we learn they were not the best parents — fat shaming and not supporting her. Now, they are causing similar issues with their grandchildren, too.

When Allegra makes a shocking discovery of an old document in a piano bench, she knows she has to set boundaries with her parents. But how? And what happens when you realize that you can’t change others, only yourself?

It Could be Worse is a captivating exploration of dysfunctional parents and their lasting impact on adulthood, the challenges of boundary-setting, and an intergenerational cycle that it takes courage to break.

Full of difficult choices, Dara Levan, the author, takes us on a heartful and emotional life journey with Allegra through pregnancy, sickness, a loving marriage, and dealing with her dysfunctional parents.

Lovers of family drama, who don’t steer away from tough conversations, and understand the power of therapy will appreciate the realistic portrayal of family life in It Could be Worse

IT COULD BE WORSE, Dara Levan’s heartbreaking debut novel, is a tour de force chronicling a woman’s journey in addressing one parent’s toxic narcissism and the other’s enabling of it. Despite the dark circumstances that propel her protagonist Allegra’s anxieties and fear, Levan provides the necessary crises that provoke several insightful reckonings and propel her to open up to her husband and friends. But it is her own parenting skills that provide needed proof that clarity comes at all ages and stages of life. The climax makes for a fabulous ending.

At times enlightening, heart wrenching, sad, and amusing, Dara takes us on the roller coaster ride that is dysfunction.
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She also left me asking questions about the choices Allegra had to make—could I, would I do what she did?

I really enjoyed Dara's debut novel! Allegra (Ally) is the "good daughter" and tries her very hardest to not only appease her parents but to also keep the waters calm within her immediate family, no matter how hurtful her parents may be. Ally's parents actions are beyond cringe worthy and yet, not far fetched at all. A story of a woman who takes her responsibilities of being a daughter, wife and mother with complete seriousness, even if it means costing her own health. After all...it could be worse.

This powerful debut takes us into the lives of two Jewish families: Allegra Gil and her beloved husband Benito and their two children; and Allegra's growing up family with her narcissistically abusive parents, who mentally torture her even as an adult.

If you love family drama fiction, you will appreciate the poignant emotion and ultimate redemption of IT COULD BE WORSE. Trigger warnings: emotional abuse, fat shaming, miscarriage, and cancer.

Author, blogger, and podcaster Dara Levan radiates light and love in the world. In her debut novel, It Could Be Worse, Levan writes with passion and emotion in the story of main character Allegra Gil. The narrative is character driven and both heartbreaking and uplifting. Readers who enjoy a well written family drama should add this book to their shelf.

Thank you to Kate Rock Book Tours, Net Galley, and Regalo for the gifted advance reader copy. My review is my own.

IT COULD BE WORSE
𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚊 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚗
3/12/24

🕎 𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜:
Allegra Gil is a therapist, wife to a devoted (hot) husband, mother of two, and best friend. It would seem she has the perfect life. Or so it would seem.

Allegra grew up in a wealthy, picture-perfect household; well respected pediatric surgeon father, private school administrator mother, little brother, and even a dog. Weekend sleepovers and Shabbat with grandparents and Sunday brunch. Summers at music camp with her best friend in Michigan. It would seem she had the perfect life. Or so it would seem.

Allegra discovers a secret in a piano bench and while investigating that secret she discovers so much more. What part did her parents play in this secret? And can Allegra rebound from her discovery?

📃𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:

This was a pulsating story of love and pain, loss and forgiveness. We go back and forth in an ebb and flow with current day and flashbacks, in no particular order, to memories of her past. Some are touching and lovely, others are gut wrenching.

This was a fascinating look at families and the damage they can do but also how much support you can receive from those you love if you aren’t afraid to ask for it.

💜𝚁𝙸𝚈𝙻:
-Family drama
-Jewish rep
-Narcissist people
-Flashback scenes

This debut novel from Dara Levan was about motherhood and taking care of your own family while dealing with extremely challenging parents.
It took me a little while to get used to the writing style. At the beginning especially, it felt a little like I was just dropped into scenes with little context that didn't always seem to connect. It also felt like not a lot happened even though we are with this family for about a decade.
I really appreciated Dara Levan's portrayal of pregnancy and post-partum life. I found it really relatable.
I got so mad at Allegra's parents and the way they treated her. At times I couldn’t decide which parent was actually harder to deal with. As time goes on, we see Allegra becoming more confident in herself, with the support of her husband and children. I loved how supportive Ben was of Allegra but I wish we had gotten to see more of their relationship. I also know that Ben is a Jewish Cuban and I wish that had been explored more.
I feel like the shocking discovery that Allergra makes about her father wasn't really a prominent enough part of the novel. She only finds out about it about 60 percent of the way through the book and I think the effects of the secret could have been more fully explored.
Overall, a good debut novel from Dara Levan, but I think could have used a bit more editing and more detail in certain places. I really liked the Jewish representation and I'm looking forward to seeing what she writes next.

This was truly excellent, A fantastic telling of how those who we love could actually be the worst people for us, As a therapist myself, I loved the emphasis on how important it is to take care of yourself when you are in that role. This is not an easy read (lots of trigger warnings-miscarriage, body shaming, emotional abuse) but it’s an excellent and important one.