ARC - Advanced Reader's Copy,  Author's Last Name: A - E,  Book Reviews,  Book Title: F - L,  Contemporary,  General Fiction,  Women's Fiction

200-word review of How To Bury Your Brother by Lindsey Rogers Cook

October 2, 2020 /

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads rating: 3.82 with 257 ratings (as of 10/2/2020)

Alice always thought she’d see her brother again. Rob ran away when he was fifteen, with so many years left to find his way home. But his funeral happened first.

Now that she has to clear out her childhood home in Georgia, the memories come flooding in, bringing with them an autopsy report showing her family’s lies-and sealed, addressed letters from Rob.

In a search for answers to questions, she’s always been afraid to ask, Alice delivers the letters. Each dares her to open her eyes to her family’s dark past-and her own role in it. But it’s the last letter, addressed to her brother’s final home in New Orleans, that will force her to choose if she’ll let the secrets break her or finally bring her home. …Synopsis from Goodreads

200 Word Review

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

How To Bury Your Brother is the debut novel of Lindsey Rogers Cook. The title drew my eye, and I thought it would have been a humorous novel. Reading the description, you quickly realize it is not. After selecting the book, because of personal reasons, it was not easy to start reading this book. However, once I started, I could not put it down.

Alice thought she would see Rob, her estranged brother, again. His funeral happened first. Years passed, and while cleaning out her parents’ house, she discovers a box of letters her brother wrote to other people. Devastated he did not write a letter to her, Alice is determined to learn about the brother she lost and discover why he left by delivering the letters and meeting people who knew Rob.

Doing so forces Alice to look at the dysfunctionality of her seemingly normal family, how Rob and his abandonment shaped her life, newly discovered family secrets, and secrets she has kept from her family and friends.

The well-written story is a fast read. Cook pulls from her Georgian background to accurately portray southern families, their interactions with each other, with the community, and the stories they tell.

This review was published on Philomathinphila.com, Scribd.com, Smashbomb, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Kobo, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble on 10/2/20. When available, the review will be published on and, using Overdrive, will be rated in 9 libraries.

Genre: Contemporary, Fiction
Print Length: 384 pages
ISBN: 9781728205373
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: May 12, 2020

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Born and raised in Philadelphia. Enjoys reading, movies, theater, and traveling.

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