Member Reviews
Thank you Netgalley and Kensington for this arc.
A story about forgiveness and friendship: rekindling old memories and friendship and moving on: this story is promising and entertaining. The characters are well written, and the plot is excellent. It is also a quick read despite having many chapters. Because the chapters are just short, so that makes up with the number of sections it has. The story was told on a few people's perspectives, and narration was alright. It’s an easy read.
Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed All Our Summers, by Holly Chamberlin. It was a story of family loyalties, misunderstandings, infidelity, and need to belong. The book is broken down into short chapters, which I like. I find I read "just one more" because it is short and suddenly, I am halfway through. This would be a great book to toss into that beach or pool bag!
About halfway into the book I realized that it wasn't really pulling me in. It felt like a story I could live without and I hated to feel that way. I wouldn't say it was bad, but I wouldn't read it again.
The story focuses on the relationships between sisters and all the drama between them.
Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this and provide my honest opinion.
This book felt really fragmented to me - the chapters were REALLY short, and there were a lot of them. As in 141, which seems excessive. They are told from about 5 alternating viewpoints, and I wasn't sure if that was deliberate by the author, to show how fragmented the characters' relationships are, or if it just happened that way. I like summer books set in Maine and on the coast, but this one did not pull me in. I was intrigued by the dynamics of Bonnie and Carol's relationship, but didn't feel like this format allowed enough development of it.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Two sister and two daughters make up the main characters. Problems abound with these families, but all is resolved at the end. These are complex, yet flawed characters that Most readers can relate to. The Ascher family take sus through the good and bad and their lives and who doesn’t like a Maine setting.
It causes quite a stir when Carol Ascher arrives in her hometown of Yorktide, announcing she has left New York and big city life behind and is moving back to reclaim the family homestead. There is one major problem.... her sister Bonnie has the same plan. Bonnie's husband recently died and since she has always loved her family home so much, she has decided to move back there. Bonnie's daughter Julie is having problems of her own. Her marriage is in jeopardy, ever since she discovered her husband cheated on her. Carol's daughter Nicola is at a crossroads as well. She thought she wanted to join the Peace Corp, but now she isn't so sure that is the right move. But if not, then what is? And then to top it off, her mother, who she hasn't seen since Carol sent her away when Nicola was a teen, is back in town. Well, this is shaping up to be a great summer....
I have mixed feelings about this book. The first half felt weighed-down by Julie's inability to move past her husband's cheating, and Bonnie's petty & almost immature attitude towards Carol. Once Julie seemed to start coming out of her depression and Bonnie and Carol were able to have normal conversations without someone storming off mad or crying or both, then I really started to enjoy the story. It is definitely not the light beach read that I expected, but taking all things into consideration it was a good story overall.
When I requested to read an arc of All Our Summers by Holly Chamberlain from NetGalley and Kensington Books, it was based primarily on the fact that I had read so many of this authors books and had really enjoyed them. This one, not so much! It’s not that the storyline was bad, it just seemed to drag on and on in my opinion. It felt like it was the longest book and that it would never end. Hopefully others won’t feel this way and maybe I’m just in some sort of readers slump! One thing that I did like about it was that the two main characters, who were sisters, were seniors like myself. You don’t find a lot of books with the characters being this age. It was a story based on 2 sisters, one who stayed in their hometown while the other moved to New York City looking for more to life than just what her small town had to offer. Through the years there was jealousy and a little animosity between them and secrets were kept. Overall, it was a story of family, forgiveness and acceptance. I feel really bad only giving this a 3 star rating and hope that others find more enjoyment in reading it than I did.
Not familiar with Holly Chamberlin’s books but loved this one. Bonnie and Carol are sisters who have always Had sibling rivalry issues. They own the family home together but disagree on who should live there! Their extended family are all dealing with their own problems but they all share their feeling with each other that keeps you interested in how they will all end up! Great read and I will definitely read her other books!
Thanks to Kensington Publishing and Holly Chamberlin for this book!
I enjoyed All Our Summers by Holly Chamberlin. It is a real, raw story of a family that has a very long history in the small Maine town of Yorktide, where everyone knows everyone else's business including how sister Carol left town many years ago when she was 19. Now in her mid 60's Carol shows back up wanting to claim the Ferndean house as her own, despite her sister Bonnie being half owner. Little did Carol know that Bonnie had her own plans for the Ferndean home.
This is a story of past hurts and how a families love is strong enough to overcome those hurts. It's never to late to start over and sometimes the courage to starting over can reward you with a life even better than you imagined.
The Ascher family includes Bonnie, Carol, Judith, Julie, Scott, Sophie and Nicola. They all are dealing with their own issues and they all find a way to lean on one another, sometimes having to endure tense gatherings, to get to the bottom of what is most important - being there for each other.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #KensingtonBooks for an advanced copy of #AllOurSummers in exchange for my honest review.
I really thought from the description that I would enjoy this book. It just seemed to drag from the beginning. I found the characters dull and not relatable. The tone of the book was somber and not interesting or engrossing. I ended up not finishing the book.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book.
I feel badly about the not-so-great rating, but this was, unfortunately, a not-so-great novel.
Y'all...this book has 141 chapters. Short, choppy chapters full of whiny, annoying, self-indulged, characters who really liked to meet for tea. But when the conversations became too serious...yikers! They would dramatically walk out of the house/cafe/room saying, "I need to leave," or, "I really must go."
...and the chapter would fade to black...
Then the next two-paragraph long chapter would start and would repeat the same process.
At the end of the day, this book ended exactly as you'd expect it to end....the characters doing exactly what you'd expect them to do.
I'm certain this book has an audience somewhere, but it simply wasn't for me. And for the life of me, I can't figure out what that cover has to to with the story. There wasn't a pool to be found anywhere, and I think the beach was only briefly mentioned once or twice. It's very misleading.
Available June 30th.
**Thank you to the publisher for my review copy.
A Successful city living interior designer returns to small Maine hometown to rebuild relationship with sister and daughter. This book really reminded me of a hallmark movie and felt a bit cheesy at times. The sisters and mother did not seem to have the typical family dynamics. I did enjoy how light of a read this was. This was the first book I have read by Holly Chamberlain.
This book is a little on the slow side. Not fast-paced but gives you time to really get to know the characters as their stories unfold. At times, it felt a bit a much and I just wanted to yell at all of them to get over themselves, but the story offers a glimpse of the ties that bind families and of love and redemption.
Thank you Net galley and Holly Chamberlain
This is my 1st Holly Chamberlain read.. while the character identity and history was cumbersome at times...
Sibling drama, family secrets, summer, generational turmoil wonderful start the summer season read
3 1/2 stars
Being the oldest of three girls, I could totally relate to the dynamic Holly Chamberlin created between the characters. I think anyone with siblings, especially sisters, can relate. Family after all can be the most complicated relationship in our lives. I think this story is layered and complex and I enjoyed that aspect of it. There's a fair bit of drama but I think it added depth to the story instead of just being there for shock value. It took a little while for me to get into this book, but once I did I started to really enjoy it. I liked how the characters and evolved and the lessons they learned along the way. All in all, this is a good book that I enjoyed reading. I would recommend it to everyone.
Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the review copy! I really enjoyed this read.
I couldn’t love this book anymore if I tried. Great characters, relevant and believable storyline and a great setting. A great read if you need to escape. It will stay with you long after you finish it.
All Our Summers author, Holly Chamberlain, chronicles the love-hate relationship between sisters beautifully. It is a complex story about family, perceptions, jealousies and forgiveness. Full of family conflict, you can’t wait to see how it’s resolved. A great read!
Two estranged sisters makes for a lot of family drama in this book. I’ve read a lot of this authors books, but this one is a lot different. The premise is great. I found myself wanting to know more, but also bored some of the time.
Dysfunctional family + Summer + Secrets = a great beach read! Holly Chamberlin tells the story of 3 generations of women in All of Our Summers. There are struggles, pain, love, and hope. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
What would we do without family? They make us laugh. They frustrate us. They make us want to kill them sometimes. The Ascher family is no different.
Elder sister Carol decided to move back to the family homestead, Ferndean, after a lifetime in NYC. Her sister Bonnie and daughter Nicola are less than thrilled with this. Niece Julie is having a hard time in her marriage and with her teenaged daughter.
This is a long book. The chapters are short, and there are a lot of them. I did enjoy reading it, but it seemed to drag a bit in places. There was a lot of introspection by all the female characters. The perspective changed also, from chapter to chapter. Sometimes I would forget whose voice I was supposed to be hearing.
Overall good, but long.