This book started great but boy was it a slow burn. The storyline was okay. Overall it didn't hold my attention very well.

Highly recommend this novel - with a fun surprising twist !will be recommending to others ! A new author to me - will def be planning to read more books by her .

A mom is sick and has 3 daughters. This is their story. We get to know each daughter pretty well. I have daughters and wonder what their relationship will be when they are older so this book definitely spoke to me. Overall, I liked it but not as much as I had hoped.

It All Comes Down to This takes place after the death of matriarch Marti Geller. The Geller sisters are directed to sell their “camp” in Maine. Beck Geller wants to keep the camp in the midst of her changing midlife. Dr. Claire Geller is fine with selling, she’s overwhelmed after her recent divorce. And Sophie Geller just needs the money.

Enter CJ Reynolds, looking for a fresh start, who is willing to buy the house and free the women from their ties to Maine.

I love a family drama. But this one just wasn’t working for me. Sophie and Claire were not in Maine and I think that’s why I didn’t connect with this family. It was so disconnected.

And there were secrets that, honestly, just did not interest me.

I did love the Maine setting. I loved the second chance, mid-life, renewal stories. But overall, I just wasn’t connected much to this story and found myself skimming towards the end.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for tgecafbaced e-ARC of #itallcomesdowntothis..

Family drama and a setting in Maine - two of my favorite things in a novel! In It All Comes Down to This, we meet Marti and her three daughters: Beck, Claire, and Sophie. As the book opens, Marti is dying. She’s been. sick for a while and has had time to fully arrange her affairs. Your heart will be sad as she goes through this transition.
Marti’s death and subsequent revelations push the sisters together and forces them to face their own personal challenges.
There were many emotional and relationship issues floating around in addition to what you might expect after the death of a parent. They weren’t all fully developed and doing so might have added to the depth of the book. Each of the sisters did have an interesting life on their own, but my favorite character was CJ Reynolds. He played the role of interloper - a Southerner who returns to Maine to settle down and rebuke his life. The relationship I found most genuine and fully portrayed was between CJ and Arlo.
Ms. Fowler always does a good job with developing interesting stories and characters and I look forward to her next novel. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s press for the opportunity to read It All Comes Down to This in exchange for an honest review.

Marti Geller is dying. Her three daughters have all chosen wildly different paths, but Marti hopes her final wishes as outlined in her will brings them together. I liked Fowler’s previous book, A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD, and expected this to be a story about family dysfunction. It was that, but I have to say it packed very little punch. There were secrets revealed, but the stakes felt so low and the plot moved so slowly that would-be dramatic revelations felt tepid at best. Simply put: this wasn’t emotionally messy enough to be interesting even though it really should have been since it’s ultimately about righting wrong decisions and creating the life you want.

Thanks to @stmartinspress for this ARC. Out now (and for the past year lol 🥴😆).

Marti Geller is dying, and one of the provisions in her will is for the family’s beach house to be sold and profits split equally between her three daughters, who gather at the beach house one last time. Beck, the oldest, is a journalist who secretly wishes to live at the beach house and write a novel. Her marriage is platonic these days, and she knows her husband is hiding a secret. Claire, the middle daughter, is a cardiologist who recently divorced her husband after he found out she is in love with another man. Sophie, the youngest, is an Insta-celebrity whose life isn’t what it looks like on the outside. When C.J. Reynolds shows up with an interest in the beach house, secrets will be revealed.

This is one of those books where if people would just tell the truth, most of the problems could be immediately resolved. Instead, we just keep hearing about the same issues over and over. Unfortunately, I did not click with any of the characters, which made it hard to get into the story. If you are into family dramas with unlikeable characters, this book might be for you; it just wasn’t for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Family sagas always work well for me, and the story of these sisters is no exception. The complexities of family, of sisterhood shines well throughout this story. A solid read.

The cancer part in this hit too close to home so I just couldn’t read it. Nothing to do with the writing style or author. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this copy for review

Hmmm. I listened to the audio and was interested in the story but at some point it just fell flat for me. I wanted more from the last third. I love drama & messy family dynamics but I was just left feeling meh. It was okay! I enjoyed the writing.

A family drama about three sisters who recently lost their mother. I thought there was going to be more. I didn’t feel very interested by the mothers secret or C.J. And Becks teenage romance- it seemed way blown out of proportion for what it was, whereas a sister and brother in law dating was normal??? Couldn’t get past that!

Sisters Beck, Claire and Sophie aren't close, which each leading very different lives. Beck is a journalist hoping to become a novelist, Claire a pediatric surgeon, and Sohpie an art dealer and Instagram influencer. When their mother dies suddenly, they are forced back together to deal with her estate. They soon become aware of all that they've missed in each others' lives, and each is facing a turning point in their life. Additionally, they learn that their mother died without revealing a dramatic secret and parts of their parents' idyllic romance were tainted with secrecy.

It All Comes Down to This started out strong, and I was intrigued by the hints of each character's past. However, as the story unfolded I began to strongly dislike the sisters and their drama didn't resonate with me. Toward the end, Beck became whiny and entitled. I didn't really understand the need for the storyline with C.J. and his reason for imprisonment kind of baffled me. Additionally, Marti's deep dark secret didn't land well; the only daughter that seemed to care at all about it was Beck - Sophie and Claire seemed unaffected. All in all, the book was fine but I grew bored with first-world problems. And Beck's pivot on the subject matter for her first book made me roll my eyes.

Short synopsis: Three sisters navigate the death of their mom, and her wishes to sell their family cabin.

My thoughts: I went into this totally blind so I had little to no expectations other than the cover was pretty.

The writing was so well done, and the stories of each woman and their different struggles was so raw and emotional.

I enjoyed the different perspectives from each woman as we delve into their histories and current struggles. I wasn’t sure how C.J.’s story would tie in, but I did enjoy his story as well. Overall, great family drama!

I especially loved the ending, where we are told life is short. Life is rough but there is beauty to be found in all aspects, especially during hard times.

Read if you love:
* Family Drama
* Multiple perspectives
* Difficult life situations
* Hidden secrets
* Jewish representation

Thank you St Martins Press for a copy of this book!

I was excited to read this one but was left disappointed.

It was fine.

I found the plot to be unorganized and the pacing was off.

I so loved The Good Neighborhood and was eager to read this next book by Fowler. It All Comes Down to This didn't hit, for me, the same way that I'd hoped for. And I'm certain it will be a just right book for a lot of readers.

I had really enjoyed Fowler's previous book, A Good Neighborhood, and was excited to read this one. Clearly it's unfair to go into a book with expectations based on the author's previous books and this one left me flat. I struggled to stay engaged. For whatever reason, I just found this book to be boring and personally I would tell book friends to go with one of her other books.

I was so bored so early on that I knew that I couldn't continue on in a book this size. A book this size needs an attention grabber and not sleep inducing start.

I truly enjoyed this novel about sisters and getting what you need even if you don’t realize it. Each sister will remind you of yourself or perhaps your sibling or someone else you know. Their struggles are real and will resonate with readers.

I do hate to say this, but I had to DNF this title. I am not even sure I can put my finger on why, it just didn’t hold my interest, to the point where I would completely forget I was reading it.

I enjoyed the settings of the book and the pace but there were way too many characters and storylines to keep up with. I had to keep track of three sisters (plus spouses and exes), the parents' storyline, and another three people in Maine. It would have been so much better pared down. And the very ending of the book was just a little too over the top for me--rolling my eyes --as to "what are the odds?" Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book.