I just finished reading our newest Read With Us selection, Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell, over the weekend. And, oh my! What a quick read it was! Very compelling. A real page-turner with a main character I was totally rooting for.
I do feel, though, that we need to put out a bit of a trigger warning here. As Bonny mentioned in her post last week, one of the main themes in the book is emotional abuse and coercive control in the context of a marriage, and how difficult it is for a victim of such abuse to escape and begin again. I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from reading this book. I just want to give readers fair warning, because it can be a sensitive topic. (And certainly one worth learning about and discussing together.)
That said, Nesting is an excellent read, and very much worth the hype. The author, in her debut novel, gives us a realistic – but not melodramatic – look inside the head and heart of a young mother fighting to find herself again after her world has been turned inside-out by a gaslighting (jerk of a) husband. The story is poignant and heartbreaking, yet ultimately hopeful. It’s a story of strength and resolve and resilience.
I hope you’ll grab a copy and . . . Read With Us.
I can’t wait to talk about it with you!
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Nesting is currently available on Amazon in hardback ($25.06), Kindle ($12.99) or Audible versions ($27.00 or 1 credit). You can also check your local bookstores for a copy — and, of course, the book should also be available at most libraries and on the Libby app, although availability and wait times will vary.
Our book discussion day for Nesting is Tuesday, June 10, 2025. Bonny, Carole, and I will each post discussion questions on our blogs that day, and then – later in the evening (7:00 pm Eastern time zone) – we’ll be hosting a live book discussion/meet-up on Zoom. If you’d like to join the Zoom (and we’d really love it if you do) please let me know in the comments or send me an email with your confirmation (link in sidebar or on the Read With Us page).
By the way, I’ve just finished updating that Read With Us page . . . to include all kinds of information about our selection, Nesting. You’ll be able to find synopses, information about the author, links to reviews and interviews, a character list – and even a bit of information on emotional abuse.
C’mon along!
Read With Us!
I just finished it as well! And I think you are wise to note a bit of a trigger warning about abuse, it is very real (and done incredibly well) in the novel. I confess to crying at the author’s afterward… I have not yet rated it, but I have not stopped thinking about it since finishing it! Thanks for updating the page… I will go check out some of those resources!
I plan to read the book again next week and not race through it this time. The husband is a gaslighting jerk and while I was relieved to not find any physical violence in it, the emotional and psychological abuse is even worse. I’m not sure I understood that before and am looking forward to my re-read and our discussion.
I read it super fast because I had to get to the end and make sure everything turned out okay. Now I want to read it again and slow down and really absorb it all.
I’m still waiting for my copy from the library! It says four weeks, but usually that’s about double how long I wait, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed I’ll get it this month. If not, I’ll just buy it on Kindle!