Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
slow-paced
I love Meg Mitchell Moore books. I was thrilled to receive the ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. And I'm disappointed I could not find much to like about Mansion Beach.
Contrary to the author note saying this was inspired by The Great Gatsby and not a retelling, it's a retelling. Maybe the parts with the podcast gives her the right to say that, but it's fooling no one. I had high hopes for the podcast portions because I thought we'd get more of a mystery out of the story via the town council, but no. Will some readers be surprised to learn year round residents in places where rich people vacation really hate said rich people? Maybe, but probably not.
Because this is The Great Gatsby with gender roles swaps the characters felt flat and not what I'm used to from Mitchell Moore. I didn't care about any of them. So much happens off the page that the reader is then told about from a conversation between two characters. It didn't feel like this author's previous work. I wasn't invested in their lives enough to care about the outcomes. If you love The Great Gatsby this is worth a read.
Contrary to the author note saying this was inspired by The Great Gatsby and not a retelling, it's a retelling. Maybe the parts with the podcast gives her the right to say that, but it's fooling no one. I had high hopes for the podcast portions because I thought we'd get more of a mystery out of the story via the town council, but no. Will some readers be surprised to learn year round residents in places where rich people vacation really hate said rich people? Maybe, but probably not.
Because this is The Great Gatsby with gender roles swaps the characters felt flat and not what I'm used to from Mitchell Moore. I didn't care about any of them. So much happens off the page that the reader is then told about from a conversation between two characters. It didn't feel like this author's previous work. I wasn't invested in their lives enough to care about the outcomes. If you love The Great Gatsby this is worth a read.
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at William Morrow for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Mansion Beach follows outsider Nicola Carr as she spends the summer on Block Island as the oldest intern ever at the local conservatory. Her neighbor, Juliana George, disrupts Nicola's sleeping pattern nearly every night with outrageous parties. Juliana George was only ever hoping to catch the attention of her neighbor across the water (and Nicola's cousin) David Carr who is married to the heiress of a real-estate empire, Taylor Buchanan. Over the summer, the rich become careless with their wealth, with their bodies, with others' feelings. When the end of the summer comes barreling at them, they'll make some grave mistakes they can never hope to undo. Mansion Beach comes out on May 27th and is available for preorder now.
Because I just finished this book and read the acknowledgement pages I want to address something. The author writes in those pages that this is "not a retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby." GIRL. I need you to be so real right now. This is a joke, right? Having read the entirety of this book I have to tell you that you're wrong. This is a straight The Great Gatsby retelling. You hit every single beat. Come on now. For some reason, I went into this expecting more of a murder mystery element, but that's not what happens here. I think the author tried to create that feeling by adding a podcast element to the story, but the podcast doesn't add anything at all and is just some locals bitching about rich people doing rich people thing. I get it. But it didn't add any tension or mystery to the story. I also spent a ton of time waiting for the plot to kick off. I was constantly thinking that it's all about to start. On the next page. Or the next page. But it was the same drudgery throughout. Even at the end of the novel, we don't SEE the life changing action of the story. Everything gets told second or third hand. The writing style also drove me up the wall a few times. For some reason, the author inserts emojis in the story at random moments to describe a character's facial expressions. She doesn't even just describe the emoji it's just a straight insert into the novel. It felt pretty jarring at times. There was also a moment when the author felt the need to explain to the reader what the word "diluted" means. Could someone please send this girl an editor?
The characters were all as awful as you expect them to be in a retelling of The Great Gatsby. So, they are pretty true to the originals. I also found the setting to be really well described and set up for the reader. Block Island is a place where the author has obviously been quite a few times so it was always fun to see the characters running around all over the island and getting up to rich people non-sense. For the most part, I liked Nicola, but as the outsider she was always expected to be the reader's favorite. She's more realistic and down to earth as she watches the summer of drama unfold.
Overall, I realize that this was never going to be for me. It's more General Fiction than Mystery/Thriller. That genre never does well with me. I think this is a good read for those who like the genre or just someone who enjoys a good The Great Gatsby retelling.
I had high hopes for Mansion Beach, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to expectations. A lot of the plot felt disconnected and didn’t seem to contribute meaningfully to the overall story. Shelly’s death, for example—spoiler alert—felt so inconsequential, I honestly didn’t care.
It was clear that the author was trying to craft a modern spin on The Great Gatsby, but it came off as more of a poor imitation. The green light, the lavish parties, even the character names like Daisy and Buchanan? Too much of a stretch. It just didn’t feel original.
The affair between David and Juliana also felt so unnecessary by the end, even though it took up so much of the storyline. It didn’t add anything to the plot, and I was left wondering why it was even included.
And don’t even get me started on the characters—they were all incredibly hard to like, making it difficult to care about any of them or their journeys. Overall, Mansion Beach didn’t do it for me. It lacked depth, and the connections just weren’t there.
It was clear that the author was trying to craft a modern spin on The Great Gatsby, but it came off as more of a poor imitation. The green light, the lavish parties, even the character names like Daisy and Buchanan? Too much of a stretch. It just didn’t feel original.
The affair between David and Juliana also felt so unnecessary by the end, even though it took up so much of the storyline. It didn’t add anything to the plot, and I was left wondering why it was even included.
And don’t even get me started on the characters—they were all incredibly hard to like, making it difficult to care about any of them or their journeys. Overall, Mansion Beach didn’t do it for me. It lacked depth, and the connections just weren’t there.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
slow-paced
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow! This book just got better and better with every chapter.
Mansion Beach has so many more layers to it than I originally thought. I enjoyed that we got so many different POV’s throughout the summer. It helped me be unbiased towards each character, I was able to see their faults but reasoning for those faults - which is key for a book like this.
There are so many plot twists that really helped keep me engaged throughout the book. I am still reeling from the ending.
Amazing! Thank you Net Galley for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Mansion Beach has so many more layers to it than I originally thought. I enjoyed that we got so many different POV’s throughout the summer. It helped me be unbiased towards each character, I was able to see their faults but reasoning for those faults - which is key for a book like this.
There are so many plot twists that really helped keep me engaged throughout the book. I am still reeling from the ending.
Amazing! Thank you Net Galley for giving me this arc in exchange for an honest review.
A modern day Great Gatsby style love affair meets Elin Hilderbrand style book. Mansion beach is set on Block Island in the summer, switching POVs between two women, Juliana and Nicola. If you’ve read The Great Gatsby, you know the premise of the story; A person with new age wealth, trying to capture the attention of their long lost love through glamorous and extravagant parties, in hopes that that one specific person will arrive as a guest one night. Mansion beach is no different. Julianna George, self made millionaire, throwing elaborate parties that she doesn’t even care for at her new Block Island home, all in hopes of capturing her loves attention.
I really enjoyed this book! I am always looking for a book with a beachy, summer theme, but also an air of mystery, mixed in with some light romance, this story has it all. It’s a light & easy read that kept me captivated. This was my first Meg Mitchell Moore book, but will not be my last!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and William Morrow Publishing for the advanced copy.