This Used to Be Us, Renee Carlino
This Used to Be Us, Renee Carlino
List: $20.00 | Sale: $14.00
Club: $10.00

This Used to Be Us

Author: Renée Carlino

Narrator: Rob Shapiro, Eileen Stevens

Unabridged: 10 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/09/2024

Categories: Fiction, Family Life, Sagas


Synopsis

There are two sides to every love story—and every breakup. Get ready for an emotional roller coaster of family, marriage, and divorce that will have you both laughing and crying, from the bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers.
 
“Hilarious, unnervingly relatable, romantic, and heartbreaking in the best way.”—Julia Stiles

“This book is a gut-punch to the feels.”—Karina Halle, New York Times bestselling author

After twenty-two years together, Danielle and Alex are getting a divorce. Once fiercely in love, they can barely stand the sound of each other’s voice. Instead of shuttling the kids between two broken homes, Alex and Dani decide to share a nesting apartment while swapping days with their two teenage boys at the family home.

In the apartment, Dani and Alex, on their own, begin to reflect on the last two decades—why they fell in love and why the marriage fell, spectacularly, apart. With the newfound space and time, they are given a chance to rediscover their autonomous selves again. They both get back in the dating pool. Dani finds major success at work as a showrunner on her own TV project, while Alex faces the challenges of a new relationship.

Still, they find that they just can’t stay away from each other, and somehow, the distance allows them to remember (for the first time in years) what each used to love about the other. When a family crisis draws them back into each other’s orbit, Dani and Alex are once again put to the test, which leads to a dramatic conclusion that will have readers weeping.

About The Author

Renée Carlino is a screenwriter and the bestselling author of Sweet Thing, Nowhere But Here, After the Rain, Before We Were Strangers, Swear on This Life, and Wish You Were Here, which was optioned for film with Julia Stiles directing. She lives in San Diego with her two sons.


Reviews

4.5/5 ⭐️ - This book has SO much depth and I really feel like anyone who has been in a long term relationship or marriage will love this story. Would be the PERFECT read for a book club because there are so many deeper themes in this. Be warned that this book is vastly different than the believed bef......more

2.5stars⚝ Danielle and Alex, who have been together for twenty two years, are getting a divorce. Instead of having the kids move between two homes, they decide to share an apartment while swapping days with their sons. In this new space, they reflect on their past, rediscovering themselves and even d......more

So so so many stars for this one! Renee Carlino always knows how to break me and her writing in this book is on another level. This story is all about losing and finding yourself, second chances, falling back in love, and appreciating life and the people by your side. I totally fell in love with the......more

Goodreads review by Kayla

Danielle and Alex were happily married for 22 years, until they weren't. While going through the process of divorce, Danielle and Alex decide to share a nesting apartment so that their two boys don't have to leave their family home. While in the apartment, they each have silent downtime for the firs......more

Goodreads review by Christy

3 stars 

Renee Carlino’s writing is stunning. This Used to Be Us had great prose, an interesting storyline, and was character-driven. Unfortunately, I was not fond of the main characters for most of the book. That was my biggest issue with this story. By the time I started liking them and rooting fo......more


Quotes

“I’m recommending Renée Carlino’s This Used to Be Us to everybody this summer—it’s a wincingly funny, jabbingly poignant examination of two people locked in an absolute car crash of a marriage, and like a car crash, you can’t look away.”—Kate Quinn, People

“An emotionally-charged and heartfelt look at the realities of marriage in all its beautifully broken moments. Carlino’s engaging prose brings Dani and Alex’s vibrant love story to life while reducing you to tears. This book is a gut-punch to the feels.”—Karina Halle, New York Times bestselling author

This Used to Be Us is an unflinchingly raw and relatable tale of humanity that stirs laughter even while your heart aches for the characters. I was utterly immersed.”—K. A. Tucker, USA Today bestselling author of The Simple Wild

This Used to Be Us is a sharply penned, wincingly funny, jabbingly poignant examination of a marriage in shambles: Alex and Danielle snipe and snarl their way through a divorce, aware that they have become the worst possible versions of themselves, wondering where exactly they went wrong. The answers are complicated and painful, as they navigate co-parenting, new romance, and old wounds around the memories of what they used to have. Renee Carlino’s knack for answering the hard questions of the human heart is masterful.”—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Diamond Eye

“Hilarious, unnervingly relatable, romantic, and heartbreaking in the best way, I devoured this book. Renee Carlino has that rare ability to utterly transport you, and to create deeply human characters you won’t soon forget.”—Julia Stiles

This Used to Be Us is a real and heartfelt portrayal of the rollercoaster ride that is our time on this planet. It made me laugh, it made me weep, and it made me so grateful for each small moment of beauty in my life. This book will stay with me for a long time to come.”—Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost

“Renée Carlino takes us through the anatomy of a failing marriage in this heartfelt novel that hits all the right notes. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll fall in love with Dani and Alex as they fall in and out of love with each other. You won’t want this book to end!”—Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, authors of Forever Hold Your Peace

“Carlino has written an exquisite novel about love and the pain that comes with divorce and loss. . . . This heartbreaking novel will have Tracey Garvis Graves’ readers hanging on every word.”—Booklist