Review: Arrivals and Departures by Amanda Eyre Ward

Arrivals and Departures by Amanda Eyre Ward

Blurb from Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters comes a witty and wonderful new novel about one unforgettable family and the journeys we take—across oceans and through heartbreak—to find our way back to love.

The Perkins family has problems.  They’re scattered across the globe. Lee, a glamorous reality-TV star, is struggling with her mental health in the spotlight. Reagan, her younger sister, has fallen for a romance scammer and vanished overseas. Cord, their charming brother, is one drink away from losing it all. And their mother, Charlotte, still longs for the love she let slip away a decade ago, a lover who sailed off with her heart to a remote island in Greece.

When Reagan disappears, Lee flies first-class to Athens to save her family—again. There, against the glittering Mediterranean and the shadow of the Acropolis, Lee contends with emotional nieces, relentless paparazzi, and her own fragile heart. Lee is desperately searching—for her sister, and for the hope and joy she thought was gone forever.

Across continents and crises, each member of the Perkins family must face the same is it ever too late to choose love?

Featuring characters from Ward’s bestselling novel The Jetsetters, Arrivals and Departures is brimming with humor, honesty, and hope. It’s the story of a family finding the courage to say the only words that can save us—I love you.

 

I enjoyed this one a lot more than the first book involving these characters.  This was so much deeper and nuanced.  It was unique and interesting.  Plus, the setting was tops!  Definitely give this one a try if you like crazy family dynamics and/or an intricate narrative and mystery with a good pay off. 

Arrivals and Departures comes out next week on June 16, 2026 and you can purchase HERE.  

Flora found the note when she got home from school:

Girls, I am headed off to my Santorini collage workshop!!! Love you both so, so much and I will be home on Sunday by lunchtime. You can order pizza and get what you need with my credit card but be cheap!

Love, love, love, love, Mom.

Their apartment in Athens, Greece, felt empty-emptier than usual. Flora wished she could bike over to her Grammy Charlotte's house the way she'd done when they lived in the same gated community in Savannah, Georgia. Grammy kept a pantry of snacks for Flora and her sister: Nutter Butters, Mallomars, off-brand Chex mix, nuts.