Member Reviews
This is an excellent book. Having sisters myself gives me a good laugh about these sisters!
This author is fantastic! Be ready to put her on your favorite author list! Her descriptions of the sisters, to me, were on spot!
Definitely going to recommend this book!!
4.5/5 A family drama about three sisters. The story begins with their famous author of a father dies, bringing all of the sisters together. They discover through the last will and testament that there is, in fact, one more Sweeney sister. Liza, Maggie, and Tricia have to navigate through their grief to get to know Serena. A sister that they had no idea existed. An interesting family drama that kept me turning the pages. Thank you, William Morrow, Harper Collins and net galley for my review copy. All opinions are my own.
I won this as a giveaway. Thank you William Morrow and Harper Collins.
The premise of the book is interesting as DNA testing because more and more prevalent and accepted in our society. Can you image finding out at the reading of your father's will that you have another sibling?
The sister dynamic is well written with characters that are relatable and interesting.
This is a good story, very engaging and fun to read. I loved it.
Don't you love it when after the first ten pages of a book, you just say "Ahhh," because it is exactly the right book to be reading at that very moment? That was my experience with THE SWEENEY SISTERS. Although Dolan uses the familiar trope of family members coming together after the death of a parent and secrets are revealed, she does it with such skill that the story remains fresh and interesting. Dolan creates rich, believable characters and her writing is superb. I fell in love with each of the Sweeney sisters because of and in spite of their foibles. and Dolan handles the ever present character of the dead father beautifully; I despised him, I loved him, I wish I had met him. Just excellent. This was the first Dolan book I have read, but as soon as I finished this one, I promptly went out and purchased the other two. Yum!
Thank you to The FFBC and Netgalley for the gifted copy.
As soon as I read the synopsis for The Sweeney Sisters, I knew I had to read it. Following the sudden death of William Sweeney, literary hero and writer, the three "Sweeney Sisters" have to handle his estate AND hunt down his final manuscript that he has hidden in the house. On top of this, they find out that a former neighbor is also their half sister. Thanks Dad! She wants to meet the sisters and what starts as a tension filled situation turns into a really nice story of friendship.
In addition, we have some side plots with each sister, which I really enjoyed. I think it added depth to the plot and highlighted each girl's unique personality.
Have you ever read a novel that kept you flipping pages, feeling nostalgic, warmhearted and by the end you felt it was a novel meant for you alone? This book was exactly that for me. I don’t think I could pinpoint what I loved the most or why I was so drawn to the Sweeney sisters. Each one is battling their own life issues with their own eccentric personalities. I can’t begin to explain how well I understand the hidden secrets of sisters and why we put on the “I’m doing great” persona even for them. Trying to always be the strong one, the smart one or the carefree one. Piling weight after weight until the façade crumbles. This is what I read in these pages and it touched my heart.
You can tell by the synopsis that this is a story about personal family revelations and one father’s life choices that continue to shape this family even after his passing. The revelation of a half-sister and the hunt for his final memoir manuscript bring the past and present colliding together for the Sweeneys. Each character was well developed and so easy to connect with. You feel their emotions trickling off the page and I think that is what made them so genuine. Real life scenarios, real life feelings, just overall REAL.
It ended in a way I felt needed more. Don’t get me wrong, the ending completely fits the plot and I don’t want to give away spoilers. I did however have hopes for something deeper at the end with a little more meaning. Overall, it fits and when you read this I think you’ll agree.
Thank you to The Book Club Girls and William Morrow for the opportunity to read the arc Kindle version of this novel and provide an honest and unbiased opinion.
Themes: adultery, miscarriage, family loss and some language
With a plotline almost ripped from the headlines – a new sibling is in the mix for the Sweeney Sisters. They are mourning their famous author father when they find out that he fathered another daughter. The new sister got the results when she did a DNA screening test. The original three sisters – Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia – are redheads who have a close bond and they aren’t quite sure how this new half-sister will fit in.
The book spends quite a bit of time on the legacy of their father as they plan his wake, clean out the house, and search for the memoir he wrote just before death. We learn more about each sister and they each grow and change in the course of the book. There are some great family moments (and plenty of drama) and it makes me yearn for a bigger family!
It was an interesting glimpse into the life of a family with a famous writer and the publishing world. There were some really fun parties described too! As the sisters work their way through the estate and intellectual property, they come to terms with their new half-sister. I liked the setting in Southport, Connecticut with sailing, club dinners, and the glamour of New York and Yale nearby.
This one is a family saga that you can read and savor and perhaps escape to a world different than your own.
Unfortunately I DNF’ed this book 47% through. The Sweeney Sisters by Liam Doan deals with grief in a fascinating way as four sisters come to terms with the loss of their father. While I did enjoyed learning about each of the sisters and their relationship with one another, the pace of this book was a little too slow for me. While this book was not for me, I would recommend this to people who enjoy reading slice of life stories and are interested in flawed characters.
"The Sweeney Sisters" is the story of Eliza, Maggie and Tricia Sweeney, three sisters who grew up in seaside Southport, CT as the daughters of an international literary giant, Bill Sweeney. But when Bill passes, family secrets are revealed (including a fourth Sweeney sister who was the product of an affair) and the women are forced to confront their father's legacy as well as the choices they've made in their own lives.
I adored this book! From the vivid setting of WASPish Southport to the well-drawn characters, everything came to life for me. This isn't a novel with a huge mystery or dramatic message but its depiction of family dynamics is so realistic, you'll feel like the Sweeneys are a family you actually know. I rooted for them as they all grappled with personal upheavals and coming to terms with the sister they never knew, and I was so sad when the book ended and it meant I'd be leaving Liza, Maggie, Tricia, and the others behind - I wanted their story to continue. If you're looking for a character-driven story that will leave you with a smile on your face, "The Sweeney Sisters" is it.
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers and the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
First, thank you to the Net galley and Harper Collins for the ARC. I rate this book 3.5 stars out of 5.
The story begins when sisters Liza, Maggie, and Tricia find out that their father suddenly died and has left behind secrets for them to deal with. What unfolds is the story of how the sisters deal with the secrets and the fact that they have a half sister.
The story was somewhat interesting as the reader gets to know each sister and the choices they have made in life to this point as well as how their father's legacy impacted them.
The author did a reasonable job making the characters believable, including William Sweeney. She also did a good job introducing and explaining the characters.
I liked this book, but it was a little slow in parts for me. I really liked each of the characters and the story itself. I liked the ending of the book and I think it was worth reading.
This book would make a great beach read. I liked its setting in a coastal town and the descriptions of some of the homes. This is the type of book that I think would translate really well into a movie. Maybe Reese will buy the rights!
This is a quick-paced book about the three Sweeney sisters. It has always been the three of them against the world especially after the untimely death of their mother. Their dad's unexpected death sets the book off in a whirlwind of changes and revelations.
A DNA test won at a Christmas office party unleashes a Pandora's box for the Sweeney sisters. The book is mainly the Sweeney sisters dealing with the fallout from their father's death and a new found half sister.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
I'm always a fan of books about sisters, as I have 4 of my own and understand the complicated and yet, wonderful dynamic. The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan also understands that complicated and wonderful bond.
When William Sweeney unexpectedly passes away, his three daughters must come together to find his last manuscript and tie up his affairs. What they didn't except to find was another sister. The Sweeney family is full of secrets, each person wrapped into their own outer shell and full of inner layers that slowly come out.
This is a wonderful story about family, love and overall, the power of sisters.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.
I was excited to read this book because I'm a redhead and the story is about redhead sisters - what could be better than that?! Unfortunately, the story did not live up to my expectations. The book is about three sisters dealing with the aftermath of their famous father's death and unexpectedly finding out they have a half sister. As I read the story, I was wondering when it would actually begin. The drama around the sisters fell completely flat for me. Their relationship between the sisters was fun to read, but the set up and background of each character at the very beginning of the novel did not pull me in, and it actually dragged the story down. There was a lot of tell, not show - meaning that in order to fill the reader in on each character's backstory, there were pages of boring "history" that took me out of the moment of the story and almost made it seem like a chore to get through. It seemed disconnected and dry and left me wanting more - and not in a good way. The ending was sweet enough, but I wasn't invested enough in the characters to really care.
What would you do if your whole world gets turned upside down? Not just because your father died but because now you have found out you have a half-sister?
For the Sweeney sisters, this is their reality.
The reason I wanted to read this one is because it is based around sisters. I have three sisters and I always enjoy reading about this type of bond. It just makes it easier to relate to the characters.
This story covers all their point-of-views told in third person. It made it easy to understand how each one was feeling when it came to the death of their father and the news about their half-sister. I also liked that we got a point-of-view from her too.
Not only are these sisters facing grief but there are so many questions they have and their lives are far from perfect when it comes to their relationships and even their jobs. Each sister is facing different things and I liked reading about each one. Some of the twists, I definitely wasn't expecting.
There is definitely heartbreak found on the pages but there is also humor. The author does a great job of weaving the two together.
Overall, I enjoyed this one! It was just the right book to take a break from fantasy and dive back into a contemporary read.
What happens when three sisters discover after their father's death that there is actually a fourth sister. This is the premise of The Sweeney Sisters. Maggie, Eliza and Tricia are as different as sisters can be. They grew up the daughters of a well-know writer and professor but gradually drifted apart after the death of their mother. When their father passes away they learn that as a result of an affair with the next door neighbor, they have a sister that they never knew about. The discovery leads to each of the sisters have their own journey of discovery as they try to figure out what the addition a new sisters means to them, their past and what they believed it to be, as well as to the writing legacy that their father left behind.
I give this book 4.5 stars. Liza, Maggie, and Tricia are the Sweeney Sisters, very different adult sisters dealing with the unexpected death of their father, a famous author, William Sweeney. While dealing with the memorial and estate, they are shocked to discover they have a fourth sister, Serena, daughter of the family next door while they were growing up, and now an accomplished reporter. Their father not only left a surprise daughter but an unpublished tell all autobiographical manuscript, which the sisters must find and work to control.
This book tells the story of sibling support and rivalry; surviving a parent's shortcomings, especially when you're also overshadowed by their success; and rebuilding and transforming yourself when life isn't going how you hoped (or how others hoped it would go for you.) Set in the idealic town of Southport, Connecticut, where image is everything and gossip runs rampant, this book questions this pristine outer appearance and shows the fallout when deeply hidden secrets start to be revealed.
Even with the author's pointed dig at my alma mater, I still enjoyed this book and would recommend it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.
The Sweeney Sisters is a wonderful book! There's something relatable about each sister which makes them very endearing. You'll be hoping for an invite to their Fourth of Just parties and will miss them all when the book is over!
THE SWEENEY SISTERS is an ode to adult sisterhood. The book begins with the three Sweeney sisters finding out that their literary father has died. Their father's books are taught in schools around the country, and he has a very recognizable name. Not long after his death, they learn that they have an older half-sister who was actually a neighbor growing up. As they get to know her and work to settle their father's estate, each sister must confront her own shortcomings and forge her own path forward.
This was overall a really engaging read. I am not sure if I actually liked any of the characters, but by the end of the book, I really respected them. There are a lot of facets of sisterhood that shine through the story. The three sisters are very different, but they manage the situation in their own way. The writing is quite captivating, easily bringing the reader along with their story.
Overall, this was a really interesting and thought-provoking read. I would recommend for people who enjoy literary fiction.
Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.
The Sweeney Sisters has it all: courage, forgiveness, secrets, and family. This would make a terrific selection for bookclub as there would be much to discuss. I definitely recommend!