I really wanted to like this book, as I had really enjoyed the author’s last book. However, from almost the first page, I had a hard time with this novel. I found the format confusing, taking me a while to figure out which character was narrating. I made no personal connection to the characters—they were neither likable nor rebatable.

Three sisters (Beck, Claire and Sophie) are charged with meeting at their family’s summer cottage in Maine one last time following their mother’s death and then selling it.

There are secrets galore, lies galore and deceitful behavior galore (purported as well-meaning). I’m far from a saint, but these characters were some of the most self-centered, unsympathetic that I’ve ever read. Did not care for any of the bunch, and the story (told in various voices) was all over the place and not very cohesive.

With over-the-top scenarios as well as a too neatly tied up conclusion, this just wasn’t enjoyable for me. My rating is for the good writing and the overall message of “it’s never too late to reinvent oneself”, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough to earn much of a thumbs up.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing the free early arc of It All Comes Down To This for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

Oy. I hate to do this, but I just could not get into this one. I adored Fowler’s previous book and really expected to devour this one just as quickly. I felt like so much was going on, yet nothing was actually happening. I dnf’d at 35%

This was a total, it’s not you. It’s me type of read.

I was interested to start and then I just found myself thinking these sisters needed to smarten up with their “first world problems”. I just didn’t connect to any of them or their secrets. Again, I’m sure I’ll be in the minority and I bet the author was going for more a light read (especially after Covid). So that’s why I say, not the right time for me… and it’s not you. It’s me.

Thank you to the publisher for a gifted copy in return for an honest review. I feel like to have the opportunity to have read this one! Perhaps I’ll pick it up again at a difft point and enjoy it more.

This is another great novel by an author who knows how to use voice and make the characters relatable and real. I will read everything she writes.

2.5 stars
I'm in the middle on this one; I see alot of folks who were bored and hated it. I actually got that way with A Good Neighborhood but not here. Maybe it's bc I'm a Mets fan.

Essentially it's a lot of super messy family soap opera drama, with several POVs that have a distinct tone in each which is hard to pull off (hence moving up to 3 stars bc that's good writing whether you enjoy the characters or not). It's not fully character driven as there is a plot but the threads are disparate enough to not fully tie together to make a person invested enough in an outcome.

Anyway, it's well written and lots of Mets references which I loved. Have faith.

Marti is dying of cancer. She is going to leave behind her three daughters whom she knows are struggling. Beck is unhappy in her marriage and suspects her husband to be gay. Claire is recently divorced. Sophie is in a serious amount of debt. The three girls must come together at their family camp where they will reveal themselves and their secrets to each other in the wake of their grief.

I really liked the three sister protagonists. They were all really fully-developed characters and I liked how there were chapters from all of their POVs. The exploration of the dynamics of the relationships between all of the family members was also well done. However, there were subplots that were just unnecessary in my opinion and took away from the main story. Some minor characters were irrelevant (although Arlo was cute) and I kept waiting for some of it to be connected to the main plot. While the beginning is interesting with the setup of the family and their issues, it does slow right down. Thank you to @netgalley, @macmillan.audio and @stmartinspress for the review copies.

DNF at 25%. I had high hopes for this book after reading The Good Neighborhood and was disappointed by how slow this one is. Each time I picked it up, I had to remind myself what was going on because the story didn't stick with me. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and seemingly unnecessary details about all of them. The pace may pick up later but I didn't care enough to stick around to find out.

This book was very readable, though I didn't find myself looking forward to it or compulsively reading it. I don't enjoy extramarital affairs as a plot line so that put a damper on things for me. Love the cover, enjoyable read though won't be a favourite at the end of the year. Rated on goodreads.

Beck, Claire and Sophie’s mother is dying of Cancer. Marti is told at a doctor’s appointment that she only has a few weeks left. In that remaining time, she lays out exactly what she wants her family to do when she passes and finalizes her will. One of the stipulations of the will is that the daughters sell the family vacation home in Maine. Beck, the writer, was hoping to use the ‘camp’ to write a novel. Claire, the doctor, doesn’t have a strong attachment to the place. And Sophie, the Instagram famous and youngest of the women, has gotten herself into a financial pickle and needs the money. Insert CJ Reynolds, who comes to Mount Desert Island, Maine looking for a fresh start.

This is my first book by this author. I have one of her previous books waiting on my shelves to read and will be moving that book up based on how much I loved this one.

The lives of the Geller sisters are very different. I found something interesting in each of their stories. Fowler takes on marriage, love, infidelity, trust and grief.

Being a woman who has been in a monogamous relationship for almost 24 years, I was able to identify with some of the thoughts and feelings that go on around long relationships. I think the strength of the novel lies herein. The assessing of one’s current situation, the wondering about how things might have been different had you taken a different path. What story about yourself that you’ve shared and what you want for those that come after you.

Mixed in with this literary aspect is the mysterious presence of this new person to the community and how his intentions will affect the sisters.

The ending is hopeful which you don’t always get in a family story.

While the character of Sophie will look more familiar to the younger generation, I think the audience that will get the most from this book is a more mature audience with some life experience behind them.

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinions. It All Comes Down to This publishes June 7, 2022.

You'll relate to the characters as these three sisters are strong. They have to deal with understanding their mother and why she kept her secret until after her death.

It All Comes Down to This
by Therese Anne Fowler
Pub Date: June 7, 2022
St. Martin's Press
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
* Fiction * Family * Comtemporary
This book was not a hit with me. I have mixed experiences with Fowler's books. Unfortunately, this is one I cannot recommend. I could not get invested in the lives of any of the characters. Marti Geller, the mother of three adult daughters, dies at the start of the story. Her daughters are very different from each other and not particularly close. Fowler does a good job of making each character distinct, with their own issues.
It's not a good sign when you keep checking how long the book is.
3 stars

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book in advance!

It All Comes Down to This tells the story of three adult sisters, whose lives are in turmoil for various reasons. Their mother dies after a battle with cancer, forcing them to come together.

I really enjoyed this story and how it focused on more adult situations than the average novel. Descriptions of Maine were also enjoyable to read, and really set the stage for me.

Messy family drama is the perfect way to describe this novel. I appreciated the ages of the sisters in this book--they were in their late 30s and 40s which I feel is rare to find in fiction. The family secrets kept me turning the pages, although it was difficult at times to keep up with all of the story lines. According to the cover and the blurbs, I thought most of the story would take place in Maine but it actually took place mostly in New York, which was fine but I wonder if some readers would be misled by the blurb being about a house in Maine. It was carefully plotted and yet I would definitely categorize it as a character driven book. For the most part I enjoyed it! I definitely liked some characters better than other, but likable characters is not important to me as a reader. It took me several chapters to really get into the novel, and I wish it had been 50 pages shorter. I thought it dragged on at the end. The only story that fell a little flat for me was CJ's. I felt that his time in jail just didn't fit into the story and when I learned why he was put in jail I thought it was a little unbelievable. I think this will make a great beach book. It's family drama with depth.

This was an engaging read about family drama, grief, unrequited love, emotional turmoil in general, and unfulfilled expectations. Matriarch Marti Geller is dying of cancer and will leave behind three daughters. She has a secret but doesn’t want to burden her daughters with it until she is gone. The novel alternates between the perspectives of the three sisters, Beck, Claire, and Sophie, Beck’s husband, Paul, and the new man in town looking to settle down in Mount Desert Island, Maine. Each character is dealing with their own secrets and the character-driven plot unfolds slowly and in a largely satisfying way. I found myself switching allegiances between the characters throughout the novel.

It All Comes Down to This reminded me a bit of Anne Tyler’s French Braid, which also focuses on complicated family dynamics. I recommend this to fans of Therese Anne Fowler’s other works, fans of Anne Tyler and Ann Patchett, and literary fiction and (women’s) fiction readers looking for a compelling family drama with characters who aren’t entirely likable.

Thank you very much to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I adored read a “Good Neighborhood” by Therese Anne Fowler, so I was excited with the opportunity to review “It All Comes Down to This.”

When matriarch Marti Geller discovers her cancer is terminal, she not only wants to die with dignity but without her three daughters present. But one of the stipulations of her will is that the three daughters come together to prepare the Maine cottage for sale. Beck, Claire, and Sophia not only wrestle with their grief but also how to prevent their secrets from spilling out. The oldest, Beck, doesn’t want the cottage to be sold as she views it as a place to write. When the women come together, not only are they forced to address their own angst, but react to what their mother managed to hide from them during her lifetime. There is also a side plot of recently released from prison, C.J. who intersects with the Geller women in a few different ways.

Fowler is a beautiful writer who pulls her readers right into the tension of their characters. She handles the dynamics of the Geller family with plenty of aplomb. The sisters do not necessarily have likable traits but that does not mean they aren’t relatable. My favorite scenes were those when the three women were together, demonstrating that without Mom, all you have are your sisters. Additionally, the setting of Maine was spectacular.

Thank you Therese Anne Fowler, Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to give this an early read.

This one was just ok for me. It All Comes Down to This is a bit all over the place. I never connected to the characters as the transitions were choppy. Entertaining enough to finish but not much more than that. If you enjoy family dramas it may be a bigger hit for you. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion. It All Comes Down to This will be available on 6/7/2022.

I would describe this best as a lazy afternoon read, maybe when you’re on an obligation visit to an elderly relative and don’t have much else to do. It wasn’t especially interesting or well-written; the story was uneven and all over the place.

The Geller sisters are left with the family camp in Maine, after their mother, Marti, dies. Marti left instructions to sell it - but she also left a video explaining she wasn’t exactly who her daughters thought she was. Carrying new knowledge of their mother, the sisters grapple with their own secrets and shame, all coming to a head during the final sisters’ weekend their mother asked them to have.

Again, it wasn’t that interesting. The characters were pretty flat and underdeveloped. I was hoping for a more dramatic family saga, and it had the ingredients, but never got there.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS: A Novel: Therese Anne Fowler

Therese Anne Fowler’s latest work is a novel about three sisters. The plot is basic: how will the sisters’ lives change after the death of their mother, Marti. Well, death always brings about change and surprise, but before Marti leaves us, there are things she might have guessed, but probably didn’t know: one daughter would like to have the husband of another; one daughter would rather live life through Instagram than plan for her future; and one daughter is totally against a specific order in Marti’s will: that her summer cottage in Maine be sold, the monies split three ways to provide for her daughters, Beck, Claire and Sophie.

Sister novels are not a new thing: Little Women, The Vanishing Half, The Lilac Girls, Sisterland…to name a view. And each of these novels took a different approach to sister emotions, the love and misunderstandings, the occasional fiery hate, the normal jealousies and physical differences that are part of being sisters. And finally, this being crucial, the need for each sister to find and make her own way, never ever falling for the same male another sister has fallen for. A literary trope. It happened in Little Women, Sisterland and it happens in this novel, though in a more well I’m done with him so you can have him way.

But when a novel presents characters who are surface in their needs, their stereo types, and when the plot rolls out in a predictable fashion, and as one critic says Fowler has written a novel that is “light in structure, and light in message” then maybe the use of tropes doesn’t matter. After all this is Therese Anne Fowler, author of: Z A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, published in 2013. Fowler did her homework then, engaging the reader, bringing us into the blossom filled South with its heat and gorgeous homes, it’s peculiar social system. I read it, enjoyed Fowler’s ability to carry us into that time period as we watch Zelda meet and fall in love with Scott.

There is nothing like that in this lighter story—though as one reviewer pointed out, it is interesting that as Fowler conceived this story, the most interesting character is not one of the sisters, but a male character, C. J Reynolds, an enigmatic southerner ex-con with his own hidden past, who complicates the situation. Maybe the heat of the south should fuel more of Fowler’s work. And readers who get through the mistakes of the sisters might hang in there and thus enjoy the arrival of C.J. As for me, I’d rather reread “Z”.

I really wanted to like this book. I wish it had focused on just one sisters story and given us more details about that. I was unable to finish because of the language and bizarre sexual parts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.