I normally love family drama books and while this one held my interest I was not completely drawn in or attached to any of the characters. If you are a fan of family dramas I would still suggest picking it up as it was a good book, it just wasn't a top favorite of mine.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts and was very fortunate that my dad built us a small cottage on a lake in rural NH as a second family vacation home. It’s still in the family today after 60 years with so many special memories made there. Many aunts and uncles also acquired second homes on the cape so this was a book I thought I could relate to and was ready to settle in for a comfortable journey down Memory Lane.

There was definitely a lot I could relate to regarding the second home, special places visited, repairs, winterizing the house, so many tourist and crowds to compete with during the on season, etc. I also enjoyed the characters Ann, Michael and Poppy.

The story itself felt exceptionally long, I think because the plot was so darn predictable! I wish the author had taken the story in a different direction and left out the rape and the underhanded going ons centered around that entire episode. It would have made for a much better read. Enjoyable. Complex. 3 stars

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.

I didn’t love or hate this book but I liked it. It dragged a bit in the middle but I was invested so I wanted to see how the story concluded. The author’s descriptions of Cape Cod were very well written. The characters were hard to connect with, not very engaging. Overall, an ok read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Fifteen years ago, Ann spent a summer at her family's second home in Cape Code. Only, what was supposed to be a fun-filled, memorable time for the young seventeen-year-old became a nightmare, and the aftermath ripped her family apart for years. Now, Ann's parents have died, so she sets out to sell that second home and split the proceeds with her sister, Poppy. Then, without warning, their brother Michael returns to stake a claim on the family estate, and to declare that he wants to keep the second home. Secrets, nightmares, and drama ensue as the family decides whether to tear itself apart, or mend the past, all because of a summer gone terribly wrong when they were barely more than kids.

I thought I might like this story going into it, only it became clear after some time that Ann has the moral fiber of Jafar (yes, Iago, that Jafar), and though she did suffer from a horrible traumatic experience, she took a lot of it out on her family, and particularly her brother Michael, and she's still trying to hurt him years later, despite him being generally good to her, and despite her being already terrible to him. Certain other things Ann did didn't make a whole lot of sense, and I found myself frustrated with her character. This story is certainly one built on poor communication, misguided lashing out, and trauma. If you're interested in a bit of a train wreck that tries to pick up the pieces years after it would have been sane to do so, then you might enjoy this. I find it difficult to get into a story when I dislike the protagonist, and The Second Home just couldn't get me to root for Ann.

Ed and Connie Gordon live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with their teenage daughters Ann and Poppy. The family adopts teen boy Michael.
They summer at their home in Cape Cod, passed down in the family for generations.
After a painful and distressing summer, things are not the same with the family. They grown apart and Michael becomes estranged.
After the deaths of their parents years later, Ann and Poppy must sell the summer home. Though they love it, they cannot afford to keep it.
But Michael comes back into the picture, and he wants the house.
As the remaining family come together again, will they be able to reconcile their differences and work through their traumatic past?
This family saga/contemporary fiction novel kept me engaged and captivated. Not all the characters were likable, but I thought there was a great mix of personalities that made things so interesting.
An emotional and compelling story.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

My expectations of this book were totally different from how the book played out. I loved the characters and how they interacted with each other. You cheered for them many times, but struggled with their choices at other times. The Second Home made you feel like you wanted to the lovely mother and father in the story. I liked how the author presented the story from all the characters. This was an easy read, very engrossing and hard to put down. You want to keep reading to discover what happens along the way to the siblings and the second home that left them with many memories.

I enjoyed this book very much. A new voice and story that kept me reading. It's a big story that the author tackled with care and style. I look forward to more from her.

All in all, I liked The Second Home quite a lot. The Cape Cod setting and dysfunctional family dynamics both appeal to me. Clancy did a great job establishing that sense of place and love for a family home. The family’s vacation home in Welfleet reminded me of summers spent on my grandparent’s cattle ranch in California.

“The sun was beginning to rise, and a layer of yellow like a line of highlighter shone at the crease of the horizon. The wind pushed the cold off the ocean to shore and made her hair whip around her head. She could taste the salt on her lips. She liked being there early. It made her feel like she had the world all to herself.”

The family itself felt mostly genuine to me, though when communication is so poor for so long, as it was with this family, it always gives me pause. The biggest flaw in this story of a family torn apart by secrets was its villain. He was a terrible man and all the characters knew that, yet they believed every unlikely lie he told them. For me, that felt false and required some suspension of disbelief. Still, I was entertained by The Second Home and was always eager to get back to reading. I knew where the story would end up, but remained curious of the path toward getting there. It’s a beach read, but with a serious tone.

Note: I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The Second Home by Christina Clancy tells the story of a long ago summer, three siblings and a home that may mean more than they thought. The story centers around Ann, Poppy and Michael and what happened that long ago summer that led them go down separate paths. When their parents die, they need to decide what to do with the house and are suddenly all back together again. What follows is a family drama full of intrigue, secrets and miscommunications. I am excited to read more from this author!

Happy reading!

The Second Home held my interest from beginning to end. Told from the points of view of each of the "siblings" in this family, the character of the second home came to life. It was almost more developed than the characters of the siblings, at least I wanted to visit and know the second home more than I wanted to know Ann, Poppy or Michael. While all three were developed well, they remained distant and closed off, even to this reader. The story though, was interesting and certainly held my interest. Throughout the book, I suppose the plight of Michael was the one most painful to witness, though Ann and Poppy had very difficult times to overcome, most of those were of their own making, and Michael's was more of a combination of what was thrown at him and how he reacted to that.
I would recommend this book for certain as I think it is a perfect summer read.

This novel is told from the alternating viewpoints of Ann, her sister Poppy, and their adopted brother Michael who their family takes in as a teenager. It’s set mostly in Wellfleet in Cape Cod, during the eventful summers of 1999 and 2000, and in the present day when their parents have died and the now mostly estranged siblings come back into each other’s lives as a result. Having seen that the book was set on Cape Cod, had a cover illustration of a beach, and was titled “The Second Home,” I thought this was going to be a fun, light, beach-y read, but it’s actually a serious and sad book about secrets and lies and the issues those cause. So it kind of took me a while to adjust my expectations to the book I was actually reading. I also found the characters all kind of annoying - they definitely had sympathetic sides but it’s that kind of book where you just want to go in and shake the characters to clear up the issues they create. It was well-written though, I just didn’t love it the way I had hoped to. 3.5 stars.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. The past always come back to haunt you and secrets never stay secret. Summers on the coast and a summer that goes "wrong" changes the lives of the three main characters as they now come back together again years later at the place where it all happened. A good summer beach read.

I really enjoyed this one! I'm big into family dramas and while this wasn't my absolute favorite, I found it to be unique, engrossing, and very readable. It's the debut novel for Christina Clancy and one that will certainly have me following to see what's next for her.

The book centers on the Gordon kids, including Anne and Poppy and their recently adopted (as a teenager) brother Michael. The Gordon family is from Wisconsin, but vacations on the Cape every summer; the Cape house has a very special place in their hearts. And as he joins the family, Michael quickly falls in love with it, too. But then while vacationing on the Cape one summer, everything changes in ways that will effect the Gordons' lives forever.

The book begins with Anne as an adult at the Cape house getting ready to sell it. We know that her parents have passed away and that she isn't close to her siblings anymore. The rest of the book dives into the past and helps us understand why. Each of the characters has their flaws and while I didn't particularly love any of them, they felt realistic to me and I did find myself rooting for them all in different ways. The book is a reminder that no matter what you see on the outside, no family is perfect and every family has their own struggles.

With Cape Cod one of the main settings in the story, The Second Home makes for a wonderful summer read. It certainly holds more drama and has a level of seriousness that the average "beach read" doesn't have, but if you grew up with a summer home or with a regular vacation destination, you'll likely be able to relate to the Gordons and will enjoy this novel.

Although this book was slow-moving and difficult, I finished it hoping for more. There was a lot of drama and darkness in the then and now story that takes place in the beautiful Cape Cod setting and you need to know that this is not for the easily triggered. The summer does not end well for this sibling trio and leaves them with wounds and scars that they never seem to let go of. A sad story with so much tragedy and so many secrets and hurt, told from the different points of view from the family members, first in the summer of 1999, then fifteen years later after the parents have passed. For sure, nothing lighthearted about this read, and although it is well written and descriptive (relatively speaking) I couldn't give more than three stars because of how hard it was to move through. This is just one opinion. I received a complimentary copy from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

The fate of a family's second home is in jeopardy as three adult siblings must determine its fate. This non-linear novel does an excellent job of creating fully-realized characters that struggle to relate to and connect with each other. The story moves back and forth between two summers in the past when the siblings are teens and the current season of deciding ownership of the house on Cape Cod. The inciting moment blows the novel open about a third of the way through the book after which the novel was completely captivating. An excellent summer read for those that prefer some extra weight and drama in their books.

This is a story of lost and found family, irritating characters, and a nice, neat ending wrapped up with a bow.

Classic trope of if the characters would just have ONE conversation then they could have all lived a nice happy life together.

The oldest sister, Ann, didn't have any redeeming qualities for me but I enjoyed reading about Michael and Poppy and their character growth so they made this read worth it for me.

The Second Home centres around a family's summer home on Cape Cod and a particular summer that changed the lives of teenage siblings Ann, Poppy and their adopted brother Michael forever. We go back to the past and that fateful summer and then meet the siblings again 15 years later, when they must decide the fate of the home following their parents' death. Told from each siblings' perspective, I struggled with this book (although I seem to be in the minority here).

Firstly, I found none of the characters to be very likeable or relatable. Secondly, the author seemed to skate over/make light of important plot points and conversations like they weren't tragic circumstances. Then there were times I was so frustrated with the book that I didn't want to keep reading. However, I did finish The Second Home, only to find the ending to be too neat and perfect after so much turmoil. For me personally, The Second Home was just too inconsistent and unrealistic.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the review copy.

I liked this one. Easy to read and a decent story. I'd read further books by the author. I'm rating it 3/5 stars.

I requested this book because I really appreciate a family drama every once in a while. While I enjoyed it, I wasn’t prepared for such dark elements in this story.

Ann is back at her childhood Cape Cod home sorting through things after her parents die in a tragic car accident. She is trying to get the home ready to sell along with her sister Poppy, but the home wasn’t just left to the two girls- their adopted brother Michael was included in the will. And despite Michael not being a part of their lives in over a decade, he learns of the will and doesn’t want to sell the house. Ann and Michael have quite a history and she isn’t happy that he’s back in the picture.

This story follows the events that happened with these siblings over 15 years ago and then jumps to present day when they’re reunited. This was definitely a complex family drama, it was emotional and heartbreaking. However, I did feel that after everything these siblings endured, I wanted more from the ending.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this copy.