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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the first half of this book! It felt honest and real, and totally tugged at the heart strings. I really loved all of the characters to start.
After that I was kind of bored, and didn't love the rest of the story. It was a bit mundane and slow, the characters just plateaued and Ann was the absolute worst. It was all very predictable. I found myself wanting to shout "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER" more often than not.
After that I was kind of bored, and didn't love the rest of the story. It was a bit mundane and slow, the characters just plateaued and Ann was the absolute worst. It was all very predictable. I found myself wanting to shout "JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER" more often than not.
That wasn't without flaws, but it was a beautiful story and one I'm glad to have read!
I'm not going to do a really long blog review for this one, but since I received it from Netgalley, I'll sprinkle some thoughts here.
I really loved the first half, but found the transition from it to the second was a little rushed, maybe forced. The second half wasn't as interesting until the whole family was reunited at the end and then it made me tear up just a little.
This isn't the cute and sweet story I had hoped for. It's incredibly hard to read at times, especially during the graphic rape scene, and with the ultimate falling apart of their family. However, it's a beautiful story of forgiveness and love and family (blood or not) that I think is quite important. It's raw and real and I really appreciated that.
Moreover, it's also incredibly well-written. Everything feels so authentic and real and I know part of that comes from the author's personal experiences with a "second home," but also probably from innate writing skills.
But anyway, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
-Book Hugger
I received an ARC of this from the publisher and NetGalley. This is no way impacted my review.
I'm not going to do a really long blog review for this one, but since I received it from Netgalley, I'll sprinkle some thoughts here.
I really loved the first half, but found the transition from it to the second was a little rushed, maybe forced. The second half wasn't as interesting until the whole family was reunited at the end and then it made me tear up just a little.
This isn't the cute and sweet story I had hoped for. It's incredibly hard to read at times, especially during the graphic rape scene, and with the ultimate falling apart of their family. However, it's a beautiful story of forgiveness and love and family (blood or not) that I think is quite important. It's raw and real and I really appreciated that.
Moreover, it's also incredibly well-written. Everything feels so authentic and real and I know part of that comes from the author's personal experiences with a "second home," but also probably from innate writing skills.
But anyway, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
-Book Hugger
I received an ARC of this from the publisher and NetGalley. This is no way impacted my review.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. I was pretty excited for this book, however, there's not much that I am excited about after reading it. I couldn't get into the story, I wasn't a fan of a single character in the book, and I felt like it just dragged on way too long. I wanted to stop reading it so many times, but I kept pushing through to fulfill my obligation.
Fans of family drama, look no further; The Second Home is full of it. The Gordon family spends summers on Cape Cod, and after one particularly tense summer, their lives change forever. This book is not a light read as the cover may suggest, and I found the story’s depth to be a pleasant surprise. I love this kind of book, yes, family drama, but specifically the sibling relationships - I found myself equally rooting for and yelling (in my head!) at the characters. Sure, there’s a few threads to this plot that aren’t super believable (umm, the giant missteps in communication for one thing) but I was able to look past that and just enjoy the ride. I was getting a little The Most Fun We Ever Had vibes although this story was just scratching the surface of that greatness. A good debut novel and while this is not a ‘beach read,’ it’s definitely one to pick up this summer!
It’s been 15 years since that terrible summer. The one that changed all their lives forever. Now Ann’s parents have passed and she must go back to get the cape house ready to be sold. The house has been in her family for generations, but coming back here is bringing back all the memories of that last summer. All the sudden, not only are the memories returning, but Michael is suddenly back as well, and wants to set the record straight.
This novel was so great. Clancy’s writing left me feeling like I knew each of the characters, and I could truly imagine the situations they were going through. I’m all about a good family drama and I felt this one was not only great but had a lot of unique storylines that I haven’t seen in a lot of other books. I hated characters, I loved others, and I wanted to scream when they were manipulated and turned against each other. If you enjoy family dramas, I highly recommend picking this one up on June 2nd!
Thank you to St. Martins Press and netgalley for my gifted copy of this book!
This novel was so great. Clancy’s writing left me feeling like I knew each of the characters, and I could truly imagine the situations they were going through. I’m all about a good family drama and I felt this one was not only great but had a lot of unique storylines that I haven’t seen in a lot of other books. I hated characters, I loved others, and I wanted to scream when they were manipulated and turned against each other. If you enjoy family dramas, I highly recommend picking this one up on June 2nd!
Thank you to St. Martins Press and netgalley for my gifted copy of this book!
The Second Home is a widespread family drama. It focuses on one family, both the parents and kids, as the teenagers grow and make their way through adulthood. You meet the children in high school over the span of two summers. But then one event changes everything. You skip quite a few years and get to see how their lives have changed and how they try to reconnect, after all this time.
I liked the contrast of seeing who everyone was versus how they are now. Especially because as the reader you know some stuff the characters don't, which isn't common in many books. Usually the author hides some details from the reader.
Christina Clancy does an amazing job building the world her characters live in. The contrast she builds for the Cape setting and the Milwaukee setting helps build the drama of the book. Her characters are realistic and relatable and I was quickly sucked into the book and invested in what was happening.
I think there's a huge plot whole in the middle: I don't know if two siblings who were as close as Ann and Michael were supposed to be would let this event rip them apart so easily. I think they would have put up more of a fight, but I have never found myself in the position they were. I was able to suspend some disbelief and still enjoy the rest of the story.
I liked the contrast of seeing who everyone was versus how they are now. Especially because as the reader you know some stuff the characters don't, which isn't common in many books. Usually the author hides some details from the reader.
Christina Clancy does an amazing job building the world her characters live in. The contrast she builds for the Cape setting and the Milwaukee setting helps build the drama of the book. Her characters are realistic and relatable and I was quickly sucked into the book and invested in what was happening.
I think there's a huge plot whole in the middle: I don't know if two siblings who were as close as Ann and Michael were supposed to be would let this event rip them apart so easily. I think they would have put up more of a fight, but I have never found myself in the position they were. I was able to suspend some disbelief and still enjoy the rest of the story.
I love family drama type stories, but the last few I've read disappointed me.
I picked up The Second Home with lower expectations, thinking maybe I was "over" the family drama storyline, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised.
The story is told from the perspectives of three siblings, two sisters and their adopted brother, and begins during a fateful summer at the family's summer home on Cape Cod when they're all teenagers.
As a Massachusetts native, I loved Clancy's depiction of the Cape and its charms.
The story was unique and I felt invested in the characters. A solid read with a little more depth than I was expecting! This is one I'd easily recommend to friends and family.
I picked up The Second Home with lower expectations, thinking maybe I was "over" the family drama storyline, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised.
The story is told from the perspectives of three siblings, two sisters and their adopted brother, and begins during a fateful summer at the family's summer home on Cape Cod when they're all teenagers.
As a Massachusetts native, I loved Clancy's depiction of the Cape and its charms.
The story was unique and I felt invested in the characters. A solid read with a little more depth than I was expecting! This is one I'd easily recommend to friends and family.
The Second Home is a family drama that starts with a life-changing summer on Cape Cod - the effects of which ripple out for 15 years before coming to a head when Ann, Poppy and their adopted brother Michael see each other again after more than a decade apart.
The characters in this book are rich and developed, each having a distinct personality. All three siblings have heartbreaking stories, in their own way. The paths they each end up taking align perfectly with their personalities, and there's nothing incredibly surprising here.
I'll be honest - these character-driven, family sagas aren't my usual cup of tea, but I found myself really loving this story and dying to know where they would all end up. I think this will be a very popular book this summer - it would be a great beach/vacation read for those who want something a bit heavier and in-depth.
Content warning: there's a pretty descriptive and upsetting rape scene in this book.
Thank you St. Martin's press for the digital ARC of this book!
The characters in this book are rich and developed, each having a distinct personality. All three siblings have heartbreaking stories, in their own way. The paths they each end up taking align perfectly with their personalities, and there's nothing incredibly surprising here.
I'll be honest - these character-driven, family sagas aren't my usual cup of tea, but I found myself really loving this story and dying to know where they would all end up. I think this will be a very popular book this summer - it would be a great beach/vacation read for those who want something a bit heavier and in-depth.
Content warning: there's a pretty descriptive and upsetting rape scene in this book.
Thank you St. Martin's press for the digital ARC of this book!
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
On paper this was one I thought I would really like: a family drama set in Cape Cod and with a blurb from Chole Benjamin (The Immortalists) on the back. But in reality, I struggled with this one.
The book begins when the Gordon children are teenagers, over the course of a couple of summers at their Cape house. A tragic series of events drives them apart, changing everyone's lives. Fast forward to fifteen years later, and Ann, one of the siblings, has returned to the Cape to sell the house. But what follows is a conflict over who truly has claim to the estate and who doesn't.
One of my biggest pet peeves in books is where conflict could be solved by the characters having a simple conversation. The inability of anyone in this family to say anything of substance to each other drove me crazy! Pretty much everything in this book could have been solved by one conversation early on. When the conflict was eventually solved in the end of the book, it wrapped up so quickly and neatly because of this; everyone's resentment of one another seemed to vanish in thin air. Other twists in the plot just felt contrived.
I enjoyed each of the characters, though they often read as caricatures of people. Poppy initially did not feel necessary to the story, but I liked how she eventually played her role later on in the story.
Semi-spoiler, but there is a sexual assault scene at one point in the book that was unnecessarily graphic and I almost put the book down after it.
I think that I am not the right audience for this book, and others might really enjoy the plot and characters here. It certainly feels like a good book to bring with you to the beach (maybe even the Cape!) and read there.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
TW: sexual assault; suicide; death of a parent; unwanted pregnancy
2.75-3 stars
The book begins when the Gordon children are teenagers, over the course of a couple of summers at their Cape house. A tragic series of events drives them apart, changing everyone's lives. Fast forward to fifteen years later, and Ann, one of the siblings, has returned to the Cape to sell the house. But what follows is a conflict over who truly has claim to the estate and who doesn't.
One of my biggest pet peeves in books is where conflict could be solved by the characters having a simple conversation. The inability of anyone in this family to say anything of substance to each other drove me crazy! Pretty much everything in this book could have been solved by one conversation early on. When the conflict was eventually solved in the end of the book, it wrapped up so quickly and neatly because of this; everyone's resentment of one another seemed to vanish in thin air. Other twists in the plot just felt contrived.
I enjoyed each of the characters, though they often read as caricatures of people. Poppy initially did not feel necessary to the story, but I liked how she eventually played her role later on in the story.
Semi-spoiler, but there is a sexual assault scene at one point in the book that was unnecessarily graphic and I almost put the book down after it.
I think that I am not the right audience for this book, and others might really enjoy the plot and characters here. It certainly feels like a good book to bring with you to the beach (maybe even the Cape!) and read there.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
TW: sexual assault; suicide; death of a parent; unwanted pregnancy
2.75-3 stars