I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Hazel Says No: A Novel by Jessica Berger Gross Published by Hanover Square Press Genres: Fiction / Coming of Age
Pages: 352
Format: ARC
Source: Edelweiss
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When a tight-knit family moves from Brooklyn to Maine, their lives are upended by an event that will alter their new community forever, in this big-hearted, sparkling debut for fans of Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Pineapple Street and Schitt's Creek.
*A Today Best Upcoming Book*
When a tight-knit family moves from Brooklyn to Maine, their lives are upended by an event that will alter their new community forever in this bighearted, sparkling debut for fans of Now Is Not the Time to Panic, Pineapple Street, and Schitt’s Creek
Hazel Blum, please report to the principal’s office. Hazel Blum.
When Hazel Blum’s father gets a tenured job at a prestigious college, she and her family relocate from the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn to a middle-of-nowhere college town in Maine. With her mother, Claire, a clothing designer, and her father, Gus, an American Studies professor, Hazel and her eleven-year-old brother, Wolf, spend the summer at the town pool, where they acclimate to their new lives and connect with the town’s sprawling community. That is, until a dramatic fallout on the very first day of her senior year tips the fickle balance of idyllic Riverburg and impacts everyone in her family.
Tracking through the perspectives of each member of the Blum family, this relatable fish-out-of-water story handles big issues with great empathy and humor, capturing the love that unites one unforgettable family and the essence of life in small-town Maine. Emotionally deft, authentic, and compulsively readable, Hazel Says No is a debut novel not to be missed.
Review
You know what’s funny about fish-out-of-water stories? They work because we’ve all felt like that fish at some point. In Hazel Says No, Jessica Berger Gross drops a Brooklyn family into the deep end of small-town Maine, and watching them splash around is both hilarious and heartbreaking.
Gross knows her stuff. As a New Yorker who made the same urban exodus to Maine, she nails those tiny details that make you nod and think, ‘Yep, that’s exactly how it feels.’ The Blum family’s culture shock hits different for each member, and Gross lets us peek inside all their heads as they grapple with their new reality. It’s like watching a reality show where everyone’s internal monologue is turned up to full volume.
The real magic here is how Gross handles the big event that rocks both the Blums and their new community (no spoilers, but trust me, it’s good). She keeps things light when they need to be light, and heavy when they need to be heavy. The result? A story that feels honest without being depressing, and hopeful without being fake.
Maine itself becomes a character here, but don’t expect any postcard-perfect scenes or Stephen King-style horror. Instead, Gross gives us the real deal: a place where old-timers and newcomers dance an awkward tango of mutual misunderstanding and occasional breakthrough.
Best-selling author Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney calls it “both timely and timeless,” which pretty much nails it. At its heart, this is a story about knowing when to dig in your heels and say “no” – even when everyone else is nodding yes.
3.5/5 stars. If you loved Elizabeth Strout’s Maine stories or got sucked into Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, this one’s for you. Just maybe don’t read it right before making any major life decisions about moving to the countryside.
