I can't remember the last time I read a book with such a strong sense of place. Christina Clancy doesn't just write about Cape Cod: she gives you Cape Cod in all it's glory. The self-centeredness of the tourists and the newer home owners; the reverse snobbery of the long-time home owners; the frustration of the locals; the amazing scenic contrasts of the Cape itself: it's all there, and so is the reader, throughout the novel. Telling a story that happens as many times and in as many ways as there are families (the falling-out of three siblings, the death of their parents, and the sorting out of the estate), The Second Home asks questions common to all of us. What does it really mean to be a sibling? How does it happen that those who loved each other fiercely as children can be barely civil as adults? How do persons reconcile after years apart? What do family members owe to each other if they are to be a family? Exploring the answers to these questions with each adult member of the Gordon family against the backdrop of their family's homes and the events of a brutally hard Summer on the Cape, Clancy creates a wonderful read with an unexpected resolution.

A word of warning: this novel contains a sexual assault and references to that event.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book as I read thru it. I was engaged and yet for some reason resistant to it. Not sure how to explain it. I didn't love all of the drug use and how non-chalant and okay that was, so maybe that is where the resistance came from? The two homes were well portrayed I thought and very much portrayed how many people have two homes like this. I didn't really connect to any of the characters on a strong level and yet I wanted to find out how it all played out.

What a book. Most families have deep dark secrets. It took me a while to get into the book because I wasn't fond of any of the characters but one I got past that I enjoyed the book even though it was little choppy at first.

What a fantastic book! The body of the book starts out as kind of a mellow summer at the Cape story, but it quickly moves to a gripping story line which makes you sad and extremely angry on behalf of the characters. The characters all were flawed to various degrees, although even some of their most unattractive behaviors were understandable given how they were manipulated when they were young and vulnerable. I found that I did care about all of them and that each of the three main characters were fully developed. The transitions between their stories and the different time periods were smooth, with small reveals along the way filled in later to make a multi-layered and satisfying narrative.

The only thing I might have liked changed would be to have eliminated the prologue. As it turned out, I wasn't fully engaged at that point and there was a gap in time between when I started and when I got to the body of the book, so I didn't really remember what it had said. When I went back and reread it at the end, though, I felt that it revealed too much too early, so I was glad that I had forgotten it.

In any case, I really loved this book and highly recommend it. Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an advance e-copy of the book.

The Second Home is an impressive debut novel by Christina Clancy. The Gordon family from Wisconsin has a summer home on the Cape in New England. The first summer they spend on the Cape with their newly adopted teenage son, and two biological daughters, turns out to be a disaster. The seemingly perfect family is split apart because everyone has secrets they are hiding to protect other members of the family. The story of what happened and how it affected the family is told by the three children. A tragedy years later brings the children back together.

Ms. Clancy does an excellent job writing about the emotions of the family members and how the events of that one summer changed everyone’s lives. I look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance ebook.

I seem to be in the minority of people who had trouble reading this book. To me there were too many times when I wanted to ask why the characters didn't just communicate. Or how did the parents not notice or intervene at crucial moments. The characters just seemed so illogical to me. They assumed too quickly, gave up too easily, and didn't have normal relationships with anyone. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. It was an interesting read.

This was a good read. It deals with families and loyalties and lies. The kindness of a family leads to conflict and complications. When daughter Ann discovers, Michael, alone and parentless, she brings him home and he is adopted by her own loving, kooky parents. But, the first complication is that Michael cannot feel brotherly love, rather a much more romantic and sexual longing.

The family spends summers in their decrepit house on Cape Cod. Seeking extra money for college, Ann takes a babysitting job; and thereby hangs this tale. Violence, lies and death follow her. As a reader, I liked the characters and admired the loving family at the start but was saddened by the what ensued.

I really enjoyed the novel and I am always pleased when an author is able to pull all the threads together and lead to a satisfying closure.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

Thanks, NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this author's debut work.

The Gordons, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, parents are Ed and Connie, with their teen daughters, Ann and Poppy, and their adopted son, Michael. They vacation every year at their summer home on the island of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in a saltbox style summer home. Something tragic happened to Ann on the island 15 years ago, and it causes the close nit family to become estranged. Now another tragedy has taken place, can the family come together again?

The writing is descriptive and thorough, you can picture the scene unfolding in your mind's eye, however, it can be tedious at times. Overall would highly recommend this book.

This was a beautiful story about family relationships and all the connections to the family’s summer home on Cape Cod, The Second Home. When three siblings reconnect to settle the estate, things don’t go according to plan. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found myself cheering for the main characters.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

I have been trudging through this for a couple days, and I really really wanted to quit. I love a good book filled with family drama, but for some reason this rubbed me all of the wrong ways. I gave it a middle rating because I can't say what was wrong with it, I feel like I should have liked it, but I just didn't.

Ann, Poppy, and their late adopted brother Michael spend their summers in Cape Cod with their family. In part one their traditional summer vacation finds itself filled with distant relationships, and raging teenage hormones leading to devastating consequences, and broken relationships.

Part two takes place fifteen years later and the siblings find themselves (after so so much drama) back together trying to mend those broken relationships and battling over that home that bonded them all at one point.

I feel like there was so much packed into part two especially. There's blackmail, abuse, rape, trauma, and more. All of the elements of a great book, that just didn't work for me. I didn't love any of the characters, and I was left with a meh feeling at the end. Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to review this release early. I seem to be in the minority so perhaps give it a shot if you like a good family saga. It hits shelves June 2nd, 2020.

I read this as an ARC from netgalley.com. Thank you for the opportunity. I gave it 3 stars and 3.5 would be more accurate. This is a family drama which I enjoy, but isn’t my favorite genre. There is plenty of dysfunction here with characters storming off to near and far locations to nurse their wounds. However, my beagle could have found Michael, the young man Ann persuades her family to adopt, in 24 hours. The parents are portrayed as loving people who work hard at good jobs. They are approachable and hold back on judging their children, but the struggles faced by Ann and her sister seem like news to them. The children have all built walls around themselves in the presumption that they are not ‘good enough”. And in doing so and as would be expected, there is little productive communication. The twist is very contrived, but you just roll your eyes and keep reading, hoping for a really satisfying ending. A good enough read, but not a “must read” by any means.

A beautifully written book about family. I did feel that the ending was a little too rushed and very simplified especially considering everything that needed to be resolved. Nonetheless, this was excellent.

I received a complimentary copy of The Second Home from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Great storytelling! I had a difficult time putting this one down. My heart went out to Ann, Michael, and Poppy...Each grieving the loss of their innocence in different ways. What a heart-breaking tale! Although I saw some of it coming as the all-knowing reader, I was still surprised by some of the events which unfolded. Everything this family endured and the avoidance to deal with issues seemed so very real. This was a well written novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Absolutely loved this book. Emotional roller coaster with the characters different points of views. Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for an arc copy. Release date is June 2, 2020.

The plot of this book sounded interesting and so I began reading with high expectations. The story surpassed those expectations, and I was intrigued by every character. It’s such a “normal” family, in that they have complicated relationships, and fall away and come back together in different ways. When I realized I was near the end of the book I actually felt disappointment that the story was ending. Well done, Christina Clancy.

This book just didn't work for me. I did enjoy the descriptions of the Cape and all of the details the author provided. However, the horrible people in the story and they way they just did not communicate made me angry. Also, there were quite a few situations that just did not make sense, like how easy it was for a teen to avoid foster care after the death of a parent, the lack of emotion after two characters experience a very violent situation, and the ease in which everything was resolved in the end to have a happy ending were all just unrealistic. After all that I do believe it will be a very popular summer read.

The Second Home is a woman’s fiction novel revolving around two events. One, a summer where siblings Anne, Poppy, and Michael’s lives take a turn and two is when Anne’s parents die and she has to deal with their summer home in Cape Cod. Except there’s a catch. The siblings have been estranged from each other for the past fifteen years. The book is about resolving and salvaging relationships that have been beaten through by years of misunderstandings.

I enjoyed the relationships and the struggles. The events that lead to the split in their lives was disturbing and anger inducing for me. It’s a solid family drama but at times fell short of target. I kept asking myself, "couldn't this issue have been resolved differently?" Some of them, yes. Some of them, maybe. I was vested in the characters and was rooting for them. I guess that's why I got angered at the choices the characters made.
In general, I wanted to read and wanted to know the resolution throughout the story and I felt the writing kept me curious enough to finish. (3.5 stars for me).

Trigger warning: rape but the scene is blatant and quick.

The Second Home is the debut novel  by Christina Clancy.  At times The Second Home is a feel good story and at others it shows the reader how secrets can destroy a family. Looking forward to seeing what Ms Clancy writes next. I want to thank Net Galley and St. Martins Press for the early copy to review.

The Second Home, a story of family secrets, lies, and betrayals centering around the Gordan family.
If you are looking for a quick, intriguing, summer read this book may be exactly what you need.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Christina Clancy for the ARC.

O liked the book and the way it should human mistakes and miscommunication are keys to most problems in families. It showed family dynamics, sisters complex relationships, and gave a good outlook on what an adoptee must feel like to come into an already formed family. I really liked this book. Thank you for letting me read it.