Brendan has worked hard to make all the right choices and curate the perfect life. He's got an impressive job on Wall Street, a beautiful wife, and a bright and capable teenage son. But when his estranged sister Cassie suddenly reaches out to reconcile on Christmas day, Brendan can't choose to be civil. He's devastated when he learns of his sister's sudden passing, which is complicated by a memoir and an envelope she asked to be delivered at the time of her death. Brendan suddenly finds himself in charge of his late sister's frozen eggs, and the weight of the responsibility along with the guilt of the past weighs on him. The fertility clinic gives him a deadline to make a decision while he also juggles working during a financial crisis and supporting his family. Will Brendan be able to make the right choices for the people he loves?

Honestly, what a great debut. I loved the nonlinear storytelling, how the present, the past, and excerpts of Cassie's memoir wove together to tell the story. The pacing was consistent and engaging throughout the book. Each main character had their own problem to deal with, but it never felt muddled or superfluous. My only qualm is the dialogue frequently felt a little unnatural, but reading was still enjoyable. Ultimately, this is a great book for people who love stories about family relationships and the value of being true to yourself. I would recommend!

Thank you to Net Galley, Wolf House Publishing, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review the book. All opinions are my own.

Omgggg this story was so heart felt and emotional what do you do with your dead sisters eggs make a baby keep her memory alive !!! It just brings so many emotions what do you do should you or should you not please put a trigger warning on this !! But this was a great book the storyline came together although emotions were thick and intense

Nice drama. Good strong characters. Well worth reading.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Tasked with finding a nurturing home for the embryos, he must also grapple with a struggling marriage, a distant teenage son, and the prospect of a past love resurfacing. Brendan O’Shay has built his life on certainty — as a high‑powered Wall Street trader at the height of the 2008 financial collapse he’s no stranger to high stakes. But when his estranged sister Cassie unexpectedly dies and leaves behind her frozen eggs, Brendan is pulled from boardrooms and spreadsheets into a deeply personal and uncharted emotional realm. WOW WOW WOW!!
Thank you to NetGalley and to Wolf House Publishing for allowing me to preview this book!

Paul Scheufele’s debut novel, Damaged Goods, is fabulous. He pulls you in from the first page and doesn’t let go. Scheufele experience in finance paved the way for several of his characters in this character-driven novel. If you enjoy stories about ethical dilemmas, you will certainly like this. This book is about family, secrets, decisions and making peace with your choices. I enjoyed how the story was told through Cassie’s memoir of the past, Brendan’s past and the present.
This book is masterfully written; it’s full of twists, and it kept me eager to turn the next page. I eagerly wait for his next novel!

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced reader copy, this author deserves the five star review.
Some books can touch on some difficult topics and i feel that the author has done a really good job of discussing IVF and how freezing eggs can really help give future parents a child.
Brendan our main characer undertakes a real journey , we are part of his busy career busting life when he is thrown into making decisions that involve his sister Cassie. But Cassie isnt here here,Brendan is taken back to his childhood and deeply relfective over his relationship with his sister.

The book undertakes different chapters with Cassie and Brenden and their lifes , i enjoyed being immersed and seeing their lifes develop over time showing key differences in siblings. Cassie is a free roaming spirit compared with Brenden but i think the contrast we would find in any siblings.

The characters are not portrayed as picture perfect and it shows that they dont have an idyllic childhood if anything it shows that both Brenden and Cassie both deal with their parents way of a lifestyle and struggle in their own ways to come to terms with it. This is very real for the reader and its been done to be very realistic and i think most readers would understand how this can impact on a family. The author is clearly knowedgeable about how adverise childhood experiences can affect younger adults but shape their thinking for the future.
It tackles some tough subjects e.g having a family, having that choice that can be taken away, its different when people have a choice but what are their options when they dont ? I think the author is bold to discuss subjects and give people hope as sometimes thats what people need.
There is a deep emotion built into this book with family values, a reflection on where careers fit into a family and how do you make a decision about your sisters frozen eggs.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a novel about family, the true meaning of a successful life, and complicated relationships.

📚Damaged Goods
✍🏻Paul Scheufele
Blurb:
The past collides with the present as Brendan O'Shay, a high-powered Wall Street trader, is forced to confront a haunting legacy. When his estranged sister Cassie dies unexpectedly, Brendan inherits a life-altering secret: he is now the custodian of her frozen eggs. This discovery thrusts him, his wife Laura, and their son Shannon into a whirlwind of emotional and ethical dilemmas.
Set against the backdrop of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, Brendan struggles with existential crises at work and home as he grapples with the possibility of bringing a part of Cassie back to life. His quest to find nurturing parents for the eggs evolves into a heartfelt exploration of love, forgiveness, and second chances.Damaged Goods is a captivating family saga that beautifully illustrates the complexities of human relationships, inviting readers to reflect on their legacies and the potential to rewrite their stories.
With the emotional depth of Jodi Picoult, the literary grace of Ann Patchett, and the moral complexity of Celeste Ng, Damaged Goods delivers a timely and profoundly moving story for fans of My Sister’s Keeper, Commonwealth, and Little Fires Everywhere. It’s an ideal choice for readers who enjoy book club fiction, literary family dramas, and stories about second chances.
My Thoughts:
Damaged Goods is a captivating story of contemporary themes that in many ways are timeless and relatable. Paul writes in a way that pulls you in from the first to the final paragraph, written with incredible emotional intelligence, leaving no stone unturned. He provided the opportunity to think of things I had never really considered. Highly recommend (also a great book group book)
Thanks NetGalley, Wolf House Publishing and Author Paul Scheufele for the advanced copy of "Damaged Goods" I am leaving my voluntary review in appreciation.
#NetGalley
#WolfHousePublishing
#PaulScheufele
#DamagedGoods
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great Debut novel! Choices are always hard and the pressure to succeed even harder. Making our own choices while learning to handle love, hope, loss, redemption, forgiveness, and more are captivated in this read. It also shows us to NEVER attempt to take over another's journey or life plan. We are individuals and deserve a chance !

Gritty, honest, and emotionally raw. Scheufele delves into trauma, recovery, and self-destruction with unflinching candor, creating a story that’s tough but deeply human. A stark, compelling read.

What an emotional book! This was a very thought provoking family drama. If your book club is looking for their next read and you are fans of Jodi Picoult, give this book a try.

A book that was good until the ending felt too planned, too good to really work out. The family dynamic between brother and sister was powerful,
but the power came too late
for Cassie. My drop to four stars is my preference for how the story ended.

I love a book that’s not afraid to tackle big questions. As a fan of Picout, Pachett and Ng I was drawn to this character-driven, literary family drama that focuses on relationships, regret, and forgiveness. Set during the 2008 financial crisis, it follows Wall Street trader Brendan O’Shay after he inherits custody of his late sister’s frozen eggs, which immediately pushes the story into the complex moral emotional territory of family, legacy, and second chances. I think this would make a brilliant book club pick as there is a lot to unpack here and plenty to chew on.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for letting me read a copy of Damaged Goods in exchange for my honest thoughts.

What a wild and thoroughly modern dilemma - what to do with your dead sister’s eggs? This premise is just the start of a really great read. The character development is strong enough to make them seem real and relatable without belabouring the process and the dialogue is crisp and credible.

This debut novel caught my attention and didn’t let go. This book had many moral, ethical and religious issues that were expertly handled by the author. I love books that delve into issues and dissect them from multiple points of view. The book displayed good character growth that allowed you to fully understand their point of view while also moving forward with their lives and understanding others. Great storyline and characters makes this a book that I will be recommending.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eGalley of this book. #DamagedGoods #PaulScheufele #NetGalley

At the beginning of Paul Scheufele’s debut novel Damaged Goods, we meet a fleeting Indian character who introduces herself as Dr. Prana. Prana is the Sanskrit word for life-sustaining energy. Later on, we learn that another character is a Doula who helps women give birth. The metaphors with birth and life are hard to miss, and foreshadow the themes of the book. But then a character dies. Damaged Goods ponders questions of a fulfilling life, wasted potential, and legacy.

Brendon is a 50-ish-year-old Wall Street trader whose sister’s passing forces him to reckon with the circumstances that made him successful while denying the same opportunities to his sister. Damaged Goods is set mostly in New England, with bitter cold winters helping isolate the characters. The timeline of the novel precedes the 2008 mortgage crisis, but we also travel back to the 1970s to learn about the characters’ formative years. The narrative is generally from a third person point of view, interspersed with Cassie’s first person narration of her youth.

The novel deals with some weighty themes. What is the role of chance in life? “How much did success depend on luck, and how much on preparation?”, reflects Brendon. Brendon and Cassie share an imperfect childhood. Their father is a daily wage earner working as a butcher, slowly devolving into alcoholism. Brendon is hyper-focused on the American dream, and works hard to leave the shadow of his family. Cassie would probably have loved to as well, but she is trapped in a vicious cycle that she cannot escape. ‘Just when I thought my fortune had changed, Lady Luck said, “Hell no, Cassie. Hell no!”’ The fact that she is a woman growing up in a lower-income Irish family is significant as well. Brendon’s ambition – he is a football star and a sincere student – gets him what he wants. But does it really? He ends up as a controlling and absent father. While Brendon’s father misses his first day at college so as to not lose one day’s wages, he himself misses his son’s first day because his bank might lose millions of dollars.

Damaged Goods is an engaging read. For a debut author, Paul Scheufele does well in terms of craft. However, there are flaws that creep in. The dialogues feel unnatural. When Brendon gets a phone call, it is described thus: “He reached in his pocket for his vibrating cell phone and glanced at the number. Oh no. His Irish twin sister, Cassie, born ten months before him, was calling.” I can’t wait for the next time I get called by my brother to exclaim “oh no, my Indian brother!” The following phone conversation has some grating dialogues: “What about stopping by my place for an early meal, say one o’clock, then going back to your place in Vermont to meet your friends at night?”, followed by “You come to my place in New Hampshire then scoot across to Vermont in the late afternoon.” These lines are informing the readers, rather than taking us into the world of the characters. I don’t think I would talk to my family this way. Not unless I am deliberately misdirecting eavesdroppers who are stalking me to physically stop my parenthetical asides.

Though Scheufele admirably refuses to take the easy way out on many occasions, for life is messy, the major plot points are tied up conveniently. Brendon is a flawed character. He unwittingly does some irreparable damage to his sister, and drives away his son by being inflexible. ‘“A child is a do-better,” he said. “Parents want their kids to do better than they did. That’s part of the American dream”’. He redeems himself on some of these aspects, but not all. Towards the resolution, we get this trite line: “[d]esire good for all, and the universe will work with you”. No, it won’t. I don’t mind books that have sugary endings, but this does not seem earned.

And finally the narrative perspectives left me with questions. In Cassie’s “memoir”, the description of events is as detailed as a diary entry. Is Cassie writing this as an older person recollecting events from decades ago, or were they penned as the events happened. Is Cassie the sort of person who would journal every day? The Dutch House by Ann Patchett is another novel on sibling relationships that shows masterful control of perspectives. Patchett treats memory as fallible and the narrative is firmly of a man reminiscing on his sister’s life, while acknowledging gaps in his knowledge.

Damaged Goods has great ideas that vie with middling execution. It left me unsatisfied.

PS : Thank you NetGalley and Wolf House Publishing LLC for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.