"An Upper West Side Story" by Rachel Cullen offers readers a glimpse into the intricacies of urban relationships against the backdrop of the bustling Upper West Side. The story revolves around the lives of diverse characters as they navigate love, friendships, and the challenges of city living.

Cullen's portrayal of the urban setting is vivid and immersive, capturing the energy and complexity of city life. The characters in the novel come from different walks of life, each bringing their own perspectives and experiences to the narrative.

The interactions between the characters are dynamic and authentic, reflecting the connections and conflicts that arise in close-knit communities. The exploration of relationships, both romantic and platonic, adds depth to the story, allowing readers to connect with the characters on a personal level.

The writing style is engaging and descriptive, painting a vivid picture of the city and its inhabitants. While the novel successfully conveys the urban atmosphere, there were moments when certain character arcs could have been further developed to enhance the emotional impact.

In summary, "An Upper West Side Story" provides a multifaceted look at relationships, community, and city life. If you're interested in stories that delve into the complexities of human connections against the backdrop of a vibrant urban landscape, this book offers an engaging and relatable narrative.

This has been a super nice and cozy read to me, backed with its simplicity and the nostalgia of 2004's Upper West Side--it's almost make me feel the same things that I feel when I watched friends. It follows four different main characters with a completely different background stories are intertwined and find themselves live in the same floor at an apartment at Upper West Side--expect a changing POV between the four of them, but it's been executed so well that it's not hard to follow through. I love how it tells the struggles of each the character, how they managed to overcome it, and of course on how they became close to each other. Also, through it's simplicity there are more depths of the story than it's lighthearted theme.

<i> Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the e-ARC </i>

Charming novel about people needing roommates on the Upper West Side. Lots to like, but it was mostly a frothy beach read.

4.5 ⭐️ i really liked this book. It was so much fun to follow these characters and see them get closer to each other. Only complaint is that i wish it was longer 😜.

i enjoyed this one. i had to keep remembering that it was set in 2004 because when tory referred to per se as a new restaurant i got momentarily annoyed but if that's my biggest complaint, it could have been worse. i want separate stories of each character but i don't think that will ever happen.

A very fun, nostalgic romance that will be perfect for women in their mid to late 30s. I loved the lives of the women in this story and all the references you would only get if you were in a certain age range. It made the read more fun to feel like I was "in" on all the jokes and nostalgic bits, and this would do well on any display about the 2000s. The only issue I had was our main three woman had a lot of similarities in personality so it was hard to distinguish the stories from one another.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lime Street Press for the opportunity to read An Upper West Side Story by Rachel Cullen. This was fun and I really enjoyed spending time with these characters. Maybe we'll catch up with them again??

This book reminded me of an early 2000s sitcom, like Friends! The four different POVs weren't hard to follow, but some of the dialogue was cheesy but thinking about a sitcom, it makes sense. Due to its shorter length and short chapters, it's a perfect vacation or summer read. Thank you NetGalley for my copy in exchange of my review!

This was a great summer read, set in NYC in 2004, with some major Sex & The City vibes.

I posted an aesthetic on my Tik Tok account:: https://www.tiktok.com/@semperfidani/video/7263681403009666309

Note: I actually rank this a 3.5, but there is no 1/2 star options!

We follow four characters (Robin, Tory, Jessica & Zach). whose lives intersect at this Upper West Side apartment building. The four of them are brought together through a series of circumstances. They are all at a cross-road in their professional and personal lives, and we observe how they navigate that.

What I loved:

The author has a natural gift for writing and weaving these stories together, but still maintaining their independent beats.. I never felt confused despite the many characters and arcs. The professional aspects of their life was so relatable.

The pacing, dialogue and development of each character felt natural. The writing style was light and easy, and made for a perfect summer read and NYC was a great setting for this type of story. Loved the SATC vibe.

As someone who had graduated in 2001, I was immediately brought back to the era. I personally enjoyed the nostalgic references. (Aside; I miss the Motorola Razr flip phone, and flip phones in general.)

I really loved the Jessica/Zach arc. Honestly, I could have read an entire story just on them.


Critique:

There was a part of me that felt like we got a lot of build-up, but then once each character reached the climax of their plot, the march to the conclusion at times felt rushed or contrived/convenient Introducing a specific love interest for Robin felt was unnecessary; but if so, then there was more obvious options from her workplace (or even her ex-roommate) than who we got, which felt a bit out of left-field. Tory's situation was intriguing as a premise, but that resolution felt contrived, and thus, I never felt connected to her as a character because she was wasn't particularly relatable. And Jessica and Zach's conclusion felt very rushed post-California.

The other minor quibble is that, to be honest, while the characters as a whole were inter-connected via the various story beats and circumstances of where they lived, the group as a whole never felt very connected to each other (at least not so much that they would be the great friends they were portrayed at the end). Maybe, in part, instead of bringing their original friends back into the story at various times, the same effort could have gone into deepening Robin, Jessica, and Tory's relationship. The handful of "friendship" scenes we got felt stilted and awkward,

But all of my quibbles are minor, because this was a great story overall, and I would read more from this author.

***
I want to thank Lime Street Press and Rachel Cullen for permitting me to read a DRC through NetGalley. In exchange, I offer my honest opinion.

Thank you for allowing me to read and review this book!

What a lovely book!

It was a bit of an adjustment to travel back to 2004, but the amount of references to specific mobile phones made me laugh- it was exactly like that, the type of phone showed how cool you were!!

I loved spending time in New York City and the descriptions of the neighbourhoods and streets and buildings and other places of interest were great.

It was a bit hard to keep track of all the four main characters’ points of views.
Zach was easy as the only guy, but almost every chapter I had to remind myself who Jessica, Robin, and Tory were, what jobs they did, and which life story was there.

Thankfully, around half way it got easier and I was able to discern between everyone and really enjoy the flow of the story.

This one was an adorable, light hearted read. It's on the shorter side so if you're looking for a quick, light read this is a great one. I found the transitions between POVs to be a little abrupt and feel they could have been smoother. Also I wasn't able to really connect or become invested in any of the characters since the chapters were so short and switched POV so quickly. Overall I thought it was a cute read.

A quick easy read but I didn’t really feel anything. I didn’t hate it, but I don’t think I liked it either. I think out of all the characters I liked Tory the most, but I really did not like Zach. He gave me major red flags.

I would say that anyone who likes multiple POVs & 2000 vibes should give this a chance.

Super cute! I really enjoyed all of the 2004 references and callbacks, as I moved to the UWS in 2004. A really lovely story told from 4 perspectives, which I wasn’t entirely sure how it would end. Really lovely and sets itself apart from other books in its genre.

An Upper West Side Story is a perfect read for when you want something fun, quick, and easy. I couldn’t put this book down when I had the time simply for the characters. This is how Sally Rooney THINKS her characters are.
Rachel Cullen did a great job at creating characters you actually care about and their atmospheres. So excited for this book to release!

I received this book from NetGalley.

If you're looking for a feel good, quick read then this is one for you. This is one of those books where every character gets their own chapters and things are told from their point of view. I do like that in a book but the beginning did get a bit confusing because there are so many characters to get to know. Once you grasp that it's totally fine.

Overall, not one of my top books but also an enjoyable read with likeable characters that have decent storylines.

An upper west side story

This book follows 4 individuals living in New York and their struggles in work and love.
- Tory who wants to move out from her rich parents' house
Robin, who's trying to get a promotion
Jessica, who's meant to move in with her boyfriend, but it doesn't quite go to plan
-Zach who is trying to get over a painful romantic entanglement from his college days

Tory's story was my favourite. If the whole book was about her getting out of her family home and finding her independence, I would have loved it. I especially enjoyed the ending of her story and the developments in her relationship with her mother.

Unfortunately, I kept getting Robin and Jessica confused. I'm not sure why, and at one point, I thought they were the same person. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the chapter headings that tell you who the POV belongs to. Perhaps it's because they both had job and romance issues that were quite similar.

I feel like we were meant to root for zach, but honestly, I did get big stalker vibes from the situation. From the minute he met Jessica, his POV was all about her, and it made him feel quite 2 dimensional. He clearly had a lot of backstory that could have been used better.

I've given the book 2 stars because I found myself losing focus on it often, but Tory's chapters did pull me back in. It had potential, but it just wasn't for me.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, Rachel Cullen, and the publisher for the opportunity to read the book.

It was fine? I read it fairly quickly over a couple of days but as soon as I finished, it just seemed to be something I forgot about. It was okay at the time but nothing I will remember.

Very fun, breezy read about a group of friends with shitty jobs, apartments they can't afford and lousy boyfriends. It was pretty predictable and used miscommunication as a plot device but I already knew what I was signing up for and just enjoyed it for what it was.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Told in multiple points of view, this early 2000s throwback was engaging from the first page. It was fun, light and a great summer read. It reminded me a lot of the TV show friends. Thank you to Rachel Cullen, Lime Street Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Enjoyed this read, was nice to read of friendships and and more. I like that your drawn in from the very beginning of the novel.