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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
4/5 Stars
The Gordon Family spends every summer at their beloved summer home on Cape Cod. One particular summer, Ann, her sister Poppy, and their adopted brother Michael, experience a series of events that change their lives forever.
15 years later, after their parents have died, the Gordon siblings are reunited and are left to decide what to do with their summer home on the Cape. As they work through the logistics, secrets are revealed that may push the once tight knit family - even further apart.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved all of the family drama - and believe me there is A LOT of it. At a quick glance, the Gordon family seems to have everything together, but as the story develops you start to see how no family is ever really “perfect.”
I must say, the cover is deceiving (and beautiful! ) I picked this up thinking it would be a light and fun summer read... but it is much more complex than that, as themes of blackmail, trauma and abuse are present throughout. This made for a surprise, as the plot line was more complex than I had originally expected.
I did find though, that I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters in the book. I felt the story line was more of a focus for the author than character development. That is the one thing I felt was missing from this book for me. I really love when I can connect with a character or really understand a character and I didn’t feel that with this one. But, overall - it was an enjoyable and interesting read!
If you are a fan of Elin Hilderbrand books - you will most likely enjoy this one too. Don’t let the light hearted cover fool you - as some parts of this book may be a little heavy!
CW: physical abuse, rape, death, suicide
The Gordon Family spends every summer at their beloved summer home on Cape Cod. One particular summer, Ann, her sister Poppy, and their adopted brother Michael, experience a series of events that change their lives forever.
15 years later, after their parents have died, the Gordon siblings are reunited and are left to decide what to do with their summer home on the Cape. As they work through the logistics, secrets are revealed that may push the once tight knit family - even further apart.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved all of the family drama - and believe me there is A LOT of it. At a quick glance, the Gordon family seems to have everything together, but as the story develops you start to see how no family is ever really “perfect.”
I must say, the cover is deceiving (and beautiful! ) I picked this up thinking it would be a light and fun summer read... but it is much more complex than that, as themes of blackmail, trauma and abuse are present throughout. This made for a surprise, as the plot line was more complex than I had originally expected.
I did find though, that I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters in the book. I felt the story line was more of a focus for the author than character development. That is the one thing I felt was missing from this book for me. I really love when I can connect with a character or really understand a character and I didn’t feel that with this one. But, overall - it was an enjoyable and interesting read!
If you are a fan of Elin Hilderbrand books - you will most likely enjoy this one too. Don’t let the light hearted cover fool you - as some parts of this book may be a little heavy!
CW: physical abuse, rape, death, suicide
Oh man. This book. I am a huge fan of the dysfunctional family genre. Those books always grab my interest. I came from a seriously dysfunctional family, so it’s almost therapeutic to read about other families with issues. This is a story of three siblings, two biological and one adopted. It’s a story about the damage that secrets and miscommunication can cause. Without giving away anything, there is a big sexual trigger warning in this one. It’s very hard to read. But the story here is so compelling. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these characters and felt very invested in how their story came to a close. Pack this one in your beach bag, because it’s a winner.
After tragically losing his father, a boxer, after an injury, and his heroine-addicted mother to AIDS, teenager Michael Davis resigns himself to a depressing future. He’s both surprised and elated when the Gordons—liberal Ed and Connie, along with teens Ann and Poppy—announce they want to adopt him.
The family spends an idyllic summer together at the Gordon family beach house on Cape Cod, but by the following year, the ties between them are fraying. With her parents busy with lawyer’s meetings and court appearances related to the adoption, Poppy feels overlooked, and Ann and Michael try to ignore their burgeoning attraction to each other.
Ann busies herself babysitting for the Shaws, a wealthy family living in an ostentatious mansion, Poppy starts surfing with a group of locals, and Michael begins a landscaping job while Ed and Connie are unaware of the simmering tensions beneath the surface. Unaware, that is, until a tragic evening and subsequent misunderstandings lead to an abrupt departure from the Cape and point everyone’s life in a new direction. Soon, Michael leaves the family that adopted him while Poppy begins an itinerant lifestyle chasing waves and seeking spiritual solace.
Fifteen years later, Ed and Connie die in a car accident, leaving Ann to deal with the aftermath. Unable to find a will, she names herself executor and decides to sell her parents’ two houses so she and Poppy can split the proceeds. Before they can list the Cape house, though, Michael reappears in their lives, pressing his claim to the house as a legitimate heir of Ed and Connie. The unresolved tensions and betrayals of the long-ago summer return to the fore—and the beach house might be the very thing that can hold them together, for force them apart forever.
The Second Home powerfully evoked Cape Cod in a way that made me want to travel there immediately. I was lucky to spend a week there a long time ago, but it was so long, I don’t remember it well. I wish I had taken advantage of all the beauty Clancy describes!
The characters were generally well-sketched, and although Poppy had her issues, I really enjoyed her. Ann was more of a conundrum to me, and it was hard for me to understand Michael’s attraction to her. Others, such as Brad and Carol, and even Ed and Connie to some extent, seemed a little too flawless, and I might have liked to see a bit more range.
The book was emotional, at times difficult: I found it particularly hard to see how teenagers can be their own worst enemies. At one point, I just cried and cried. Though the book describes loss in many forms, it also shows the strength of the bonds of the families we are born with and that we make and the connections to place and how nourishing that can be.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
The family spends an idyllic summer together at the Gordon family beach house on Cape Cod, but by the following year, the ties between them are fraying. With her parents busy with lawyer’s meetings and court appearances related to the adoption, Poppy feels overlooked, and Ann and Michael try to ignore their burgeoning attraction to each other.
Ann busies herself babysitting for the Shaws, a wealthy family living in an ostentatious mansion, Poppy starts surfing with a group of locals, and Michael begins a landscaping job while Ed and Connie are unaware of the simmering tensions beneath the surface. Unaware, that is, until a tragic evening and subsequent misunderstandings lead to an abrupt departure from the Cape and point everyone’s life in a new direction. Soon, Michael leaves the family that adopted him while Poppy begins an itinerant lifestyle chasing waves and seeking spiritual solace.
Fifteen years later, Ed and Connie die in a car accident, leaving Ann to deal with the aftermath. Unable to find a will, she names herself executor and decides to sell her parents’ two houses so she and Poppy can split the proceeds. Before they can list the Cape house, though, Michael reappears in their lives, pressing his claim to the house as a legitimate heir of Ed and Connie. The unresolved tensions and betrayals of the long-ago summer return to the fore—and the beach house might be the very thing that can hold them together, for force them apart forever.
The Second Home powerfully evoked Cape Cod in a way that made me want to travel there immediately. I was lucky to spend a week there a long time ago, but it was so long, I don’t remember it well. I wish I had taken advantage of all the beauty Clancy describes!
The characters were generally well-sketched, and although Poppy had her issues, I really enjoyed her. Ann was more of a conundrum to me, and it was hard for me to understand Michael’s attraction to her. Others, such as Brad and Carol, and even Ed and Connie to some extent, seemed a little too flawless, and I might have liked to see a bit more range.
The book was emotional, at times difficult: I found it particularly hard to see how teenagers can be their own worst enemies. At one point, I just cried and cried. Though the book describes loss in many forms, it also shows the strength of the bonds of the families we are born with and that we make and the connections to place and how nourishing that can be.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC of The Second Home in exchange for an honest review. This is a family saga that centers around a summer home that has been in the family for generations. One fateful summer, things happen that change the dynamics of the family, which was heading for changes anyway. Lies and secrets contribute to the misunderstandings taking place in the family. This is an excellent beach read, especially since it centers around a beach community. Nice quick read.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pregnancy
This story took me on an emotional roller coaster full of dark family drama. I had an idea of where the story was going but that did not diminish the gut punch I felt when I got to the reveals. I had trouble connecting with the characters at the beginning but for the most part they became more relatable as the story unfolded. I found myself being drawn more to Poppy and Michael’s characters than I did to Ann.
Ann is a liar and a manipulator. She completely railroads her siblings while taking over management of her parent’s estate. I can see why her siblings chose to stay away all those years and the fact that they forgive her at all makes them better people than me. Her serious problem with communication is just one of the many flaws that I found frustrating throughout the book. The chapters for the three siblings are narrated separately and I caught myself rushing through Ann’s part of the story so I could find out what was happening with the other two. Poppy and Michael are what made this such a good read. They are both very damaged but so endearing that I couldn’t help but feel bad for them having to deal with Hurricane Ann. It was especially heartwarming to read about Poppy’s journey. Out of all three of the main characters I was most pleased with how her story wrapped up. I’m glad she was able to find what she traveled the world searching for.
Christina Clancy’s writing is richly detailed and pairs well with the Cape Cod setting to tell a superb story about a hauntingly beautiful family. Despite a couple inconsistencies this is an amazing debut and I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next.
Ann is a liar and a manipulator. She completely railroads her siblings while taking over management of her parent’s estate. I can see why her siblings chose to stay away all those years and the fact that they forgive her at all makes them better people than me. Her serious problem with communication is just one of the many flaws that I found frustrating throughout the book. The chapters for the three siblings are narrated separately and I caught myself rushing through Ann’s part of the story so I could find out what was happening with the other two. Poppy and Michael are what made this such a good read. They are both very damaged but so endearing that I couldn’t help but feel bad for them having to deal with Hurricane Ann. It was especially heartwarming to read about Poppy’s journey. Out of all three of the main characters I was most pleased with how her story wrapped up. I’m glad she was able to find what she traveled the world searching for.
Christina Clancy’s writing is richly detailed and pairs well with the Cape Cod setting to tell a superb story about a hauntingly beautiful family. Despite a couple inconsistencies this is an amazing debut and I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next.
This is the family drama that I have been looking for all of my life. This novel intersects between the past and the present, telling the story of one family’s second home out on the Cape. Ann and Poppy are sisters who seem to have the idyllic family life: in fact, their family life looks so good from the outside, that they adopt Michael, a 16 year old whose desperate for a home. While Michael works on bonding with Ed, Poppy becomes involved with the surfing crowd and Ann becomes enamored with the nouveau-rich people she’s begun to nanny for. As the connections between family members begin to splinter, lies and scandals begin to filter through the cracks, creating a compelling novel as the estranged “siblings” come back together after their parents untimely death. I loved this book! It definitely has a bit of a taboo relationship which helped add to the plot line. I was definitely enjoying tracking the stories of all these characters. The dialogue could have been tightened up a little more or gone a little deeper in conversations.
Fui ler esse porque achei a capa belíssima e acabei gostando muito da história também. Não vou negar que teve umas partes que uma personagem me irritou um pouco e eu só queria puxar esse povo pelo braço e forçarem eles a conversar ahahaha mas sei lá, me apeguei a história do mesmo jeito
Set on Cape Cod over many years, The Second Home follows a family with two daughters and their adopted son making the best out of their vacation and situation. An incident on the Cape shapes their lives forever, and 15 years later the children are left reconciling with just how far they have grown apart.
I wasn't sure if I would like this book when I started reading it, but was quickly swept into the family drama and the idyllic setting.
I wasn't sure if I would like this book when I started reading it, but was quickly swept into the family drama and the idyllic setting.