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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Reading during the pandemic has added an extra layer of elements onto my regular reading rhythm. When I began this book, in July of 2020, my mind was full of anxiety and it may have influenced how I felt about the beginning of the book. The book description and cover gave the impression that this is on the lighter side and that the family saga would be a balm during the tumultuous time. However, the beginning of the book felt dark and suspenseful. I was so concerned that there would be violence that I could not handle at that time. So I let the book sit for a little bit on my electronic devices until I was in a better head space. I was pleased to realize that the characters were engaging and I grew very fond of them. When the book ended I was sad to see them go. All of this is to say that if the beginning is difficult, keep reading because it gets better.
I didn't expect to love this family drama as much as I did. Instead of rehashing the plot (the book summary on Netgalley and Goodreads does that already), I want to talk about how this story made me feel.
Nostalgia, grief, tears, laughter, closeness, longing, FAMILY. It had it all. I instantly found myself wishing I was a part of this perfectly flawed family.
Don't let my emotions fool you, though. This isn't all rainbows. Truth is, the story is dark most of the time. I think that's what I adored. I felt like these characters were real.
I understand the reviews that mention how unbelievable some of the plot was. It's true that many of the issues were caused by bad communication. I just reminded myself that these were kids.. teenagers who were scared and manipulated.
TW: there is a sexual assault, so be forewarned going into this one. It had me a little over emotional at first, reliving my own trauma. The author did a great job making it feel real without crossing a line.
4 stars!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book and give my honest opinion!
Nostalgia, grief, tears, laughter, closeness, longing, FAMILY. It had it all. I instantly found myself wishing I was a part of this perfectly flawed family.
Don't let my emotions fool you, though. This isn't all rainbows. Truth is, the story is dark most of the time. I think that's what I adored. I felt like these characters were real.
I understand the reviews that mention how unbelievable some of the plot was. It's true that many of the issues were caused by bad communication. I just reminded myself that these were kids.. teenagers who were scared and manipulated.
TW: there is a sexual assault, so be forewarned going into this one. It had me a little over emotional at first, reliving my own trauma. The author did a great job making it feel real without crossing a line.
4 stars!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book and give my honest opinion!
Oy vey this was a bear of a book. I really thought this was going to be an at most 3 star rating for me, but the last ~50 pages moved me to my core; It’s rare i like an ending this much. That being said, the rest of the book i have a lot of mixed feelings about. This story is very complex and follows a family and their traumas over a period of approx. 16 years. For a book encompassing woven family disputes and complications, you’d think it would have been more interesting, but i found it pretty muddy and slow at most points. Regardless the underlying message of unity and connection ultimately saved this book for me!!!
Ann’s life drastically changes one fateful evening when she’s a teenager during her summer at the Cove. The ripple effect of what happens changes her entire family. Michael disappears, and Poppy, who was in the beginnings of acting out, takes to a life of surfing anywhere but home. Told in alternating timelines of the past and the present, we watch the family come to terms with the changes in their lives. We see how the past has shaped them into the people they are today as they learn the art of forgiveness.
While the pace was sometimes slow, the message of trusting your gut, of not jumping to conclusions, and of loving your family is very strong in The Second Home. Ann was a very standoffish person, and I understand why she was that way, but her refusal to listen to Poppy or Michael was very off-putting. Certain things that Anthony did were a stretch. I’m sure sometimes in life what he did does happen, but the way things went so smoothly for him was just too much. The incident that fractures the family is one that could easily happen, and no one worked to get to the bottom of it, which was saddening.
I loved how descriptive the book was. It made me want to visit the Cove. I think the girls’ parents were wonderful characters. When Poppy fully came into play, she made a great addition to the story. All the characters are well written and Clancy brought them to life on the page. Overall, this was a heartwarming and touching read. Thank you, St. Martin’s for sending this along!
While the pace was sometimes slow, the message of trusting your gut, of not jumping to conclusions, and of loving your family is very strong in The Second Home. Ann was a very standoffish person, and I understand why she was that way, but her refusal to listen to Poppy or Michael was very off-putting. Certain things that Anthony did were a stretch. I’m sure sometimes in life what he did does happen, but the way things went so smoothly for him was just too much. The incident that fractures the family is one that could easily happen, and no one worked to get to the bottom of it, which was saddening.
I loved how descriptive the book was. It made me want to visit the Cove. I think the girls’ parents were wonderful characters. When Poppy fully came into play, she made a great addition to the story. All the characters are well written and Clancy brought them to life on the page. Overall, this was a heartwarming and touching read. Thank you, St. Martin’s for sending this along!
I'm kind of mystified at how this has such glowing reviews around here. I know I read an advance copy, but it's almost like I read an entirely different book. A completely implausible plot twist, conflict driven by people just not talking to each other, half-assed character development, this whole thing was an absolute mess.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Second Home is the story of a once close family torn apart by the actions of a self-serving, manipulative man. It is told in two main parts - the first when Ann, Poppy and Michael are teenagers; the second fifteen years later. The beginning of the story had me all in but my interest lagged in the middle when I just wanted to punch one of the characters. The ending was satisfying if predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape
"The world was one way, with the family I thought I knew, and then we were strangers with these major secrets."
Christina Clancy writes with such vivid wording and detail, that you almost feel like a character in the book. This debut novel will break your heart and then tenderly put it back together as you switch between three narrators- sisters, Ann and Polly, and their adopted brother, Michael.
Initially, I struggled with this book as I tried to get into it, but around 35% or so when I found out Ann's secret and how it came to be, I was hooked. This family drama mostly takes place on Cape Cod in the family's summer house, or "second home" as the Gordon family calls it. It starts in 1999 and unfolds all the way to 2015 and finishes in 2017.
There is a small scene that involves rape, which can make some people uncomfortable, so if this is a trigger for you I suggest either skimming through or not reading this part.
I will say I didn't connect or care for one of the narrators, which would usually make me stop reading a book, but I was too engrossed in the secret of this book and wanted to find out how everything was going to play out in the end.
If you love complex family dramas that involve secrets and siblings, then this book, with its rich wording and multiple points of view between siblings, is for you.
I received this book for free from St.Martin's via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Christina Clancy writes with such vivid wording and detail, that you almost feel like a character in the book. This debut novel will break your heart and then tenderly put it back together as you switch between three narrators- sisters, Ann and Polly, and their adopted brother, Michael.
Initially, I struggled with this book as I tried to get into it, but around 35% or so when I found out Ann's secret and how it came to be, I was hooked. This family drama mostly takes place on Cape Cod in the family's summer house, or "second home" as the Gordon family calls it. It starts in 1999 and unfolds all the way to 2015 and finishes in 2017.
There is a small scene that involves rape, which can make some people uncomfortable, so if this is a trigger for you I suggest either skimming through or not reading this part.
I will say I didn't connect or care for one of the narrators, which would usually make me stop reading a book, but I was too engrossed in the secret of this book and wanted to find out how everything was going to play out in the end.
If you love complex family dramas that involve secrets and siblings, then this book, with its rich wording and multiple points of view between siblings, is for you.
I received this book for free from St.Martin's via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Drawing on her own family’s summers spent on Cape Cod during her youth, author Christina Clancy’s debut novel The Second Home tells the story of the Gordon family and what happens one fateful summer during their Cape Cod trip that ends up changing the dynamic of their family forever.
Every year during their months-long break from their jobs as teachers in their hometown of Wisconsin, Ed and Connie Gordon like to take their two teenage daughters Ann and Poppy to spend the summer at their beloved vacation home on Cape Cod — a house that has been in the family for generations. The summer of 2000 marks the second year that the Gordons are accompanied to Cape Cod by Michael, the teenager they adopted after his mother’s death the previous year. At first, the trip starts off like it does every summer, with the family enjoying all the fun and leisure that a vacation on the Cape has to offer. Not long into their stay, Ann — the ‘always serious, never without a plan’ older daughter — lines up a babysitting job with The Shaws, a wealthy family also spending their summer on the Cape. Meanwhile, Poppy — the free-spirited younger daughter — spends most of her time at the beach, where she hangs out with a group of surfers she just met. And Michael, still unable to believe how incredibly lucky he is to be accepted and loved so whole-heartedly by the Gordons, is perfectly content spending time with Ed and Connie in the Cape Cod house that he has come to love. Unfortunately, the family’s usually happy summer soon takes a turn for the worse when Ann becomes involved in a situation that not only upends her life and drives a rift into her relationship with both Poppy and Michael, it also destroys the underlying fabric of their family forever.
This is one of those books that left me feeling conflicted after I finished reading it. While there was so much I liked about the book — the engaging story, the descriptive writing, the atmospheric and beautifully depicted setting, the themes I resonated with — the main thing that prevented me from loving this one were the characters. Of course, I hated the character of Anthony Shaw like pretty much anyone reading this story would — it’s to be expected given his loathsome actions, plus he is the obvious “villain” in the story. What I didn’t expect was that I would dislike Ann — the main protagonist— as much as I ended up doing. As a character, Ann frustrated me to no end. Yes, her self-absorbed, pretentious, arrogant personality was annoying, but what frustrated me the most was her continued haughtiness and pettiness even after she got herself into the predicament that upended her own life and the lives of others — it made my blood boil the way she would be jealous of her siblings and begrudge them for living their lives on their own terms rather than staying behind to help her clean up the mess she made of her own life. Some may argue that she was young and naive, which ok, perhaps makes her behavior excusable at 17 years old, but how about 16 years later when she is in her thirties and still behaving the same way? It made it really hard for me to feel even an ounce of sympathy for her despite what she went through (and I’m pretty sure I’m probably the only who feels this way, which is fine).
Despite my strong reaction and the obvious frustration I had with some of the characters, I liked everything else about this book well enough overall for me to still recommend it as a worthy read. In fact, this one ended up being quite a page-turner for me, a story I was so absorbed in that, if I didn’t have to get up early for work, I very well could’ve finished in one sitting.
Received e-ARC from NetGalley and paper ARC directly from publisher St. Martin’s Press.
A single summer at their Cape Cod vacation home shatters the harmony among the three Gordon teenagers, splitting them off on separate, life-altering trajectories.
Clancy’s novel rests heavily on this plot point, a not-entirely-solid structure that raises questions of credibility for the remainder of the tale. The story jumps forward to 2015, when a reckoning on the future of the house must be made even though the three siblings are still pulling in different directions. While matters head toward not unexpected resolutions, the immersiveness of this holiday read remains hobbled by cool characters and an implausible plot.
Though critical of the structure, I believe this is a fine book. It won't blow you away, but you won't be disappointed at the end. It didn't make me scramble to pick up another one of Clancy's novels but the story was good, I think the execution fell a bit short of what was maybe originally intended.
Readalikes: The Paper Palace (Miranda Cowley Heller)
Clancy’s novel rests heavily on this plot point, a not-entirely-solid structure that raises questions of credibility for the remainder of the tale. The story jumps forward to 2015, when a reckoning on the future of the house must be made even though the three siblings are still pulling in different directions. While matters head toward not unexpected resolutions, the immersiveness of this holiday read remains hobbled by cool characters and an implausible plot.
Though critical of the structure, I believe this is a fine book. It won't blow you away, but you won't be disappointed at the end. It didn't make me scramble to pick up another one of Clancy's novels but the story was good, I think the execution fell a bit short of what was maybe originally intended.
Readalikes: The Paper Palace (Miranda Cowley Heller)