I'm a sucker for family sagas, coming from a large extended family who all used to go on holiday together, so this book was right up my alley.
I like how each cousin was developed with his or her unique story and take on things. The conflicts and related dramas were realistic and true to life.
A very good read.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book

A book about three siblings that must cope after their father copes unexpectedly. I didn't enjoy it at all. I was barely able to finish it. None of the characters were likable. I just didn't feel anything for anyone of them. I wasn't able to be sympathetic to the siblings and all their miniscule problems.

I love a good family drama, and this one delivered! I am very close with my family, so I always find it interesting to read about family dynamics that are so different from my own. I thoroughly enjoyed Parker’s writing style and the delicate way she handled some sensitive subjects. Penny was my favorite of the cousins, and her story really resonated with me, especially the way she reacts to conflict. The two male cousins Chris and William could have been more fleshed out, but I loved that the story focused on the three women in the family. The setting in the Vermont mountains was so vivid! My husband recently hiked Mount Washington, so it was fun to know a little bit about the area from helping him plan. A fantastic book to pick up for fans of family dramas!

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝘅𝘁𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘁𝘄𝗼-𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗱-𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁-𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺. 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲, 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀.

When Laurie, Chris and Penny’s father dies, what happens with the Family Compound will be decided through the will. Siblings Halsey and William have their own ideas of what to do with the land, even if their cousins outnumber them. The will throws them all in a bind. Laurie always assumed with the majority, it was going to be her brother, sister and she who had the biggest decision making powers. Naturally, she and Chris are the only Nolans who have real “careers”, and the place isn’t cheap to upkeep. Maintenance is just the beginning of their business problems and the estate funds have dwindled. The rub? The will states they must all agree on any decision that is made, and without money time is of the essence.

Keeping the home means they all must equally contribute, but with unequal earnings, it seems unfair to pay the same amount. Especially if you aren’t working at all. Halsey has plans to stay there forever, it was her grandfather’s favorite place on earth. It radiates family memories, her family. She has never worked, but she knows how to manage things, if not her own failed marriage, but she is a great mother. She hates how her successful cousin Laurie condescends. Laurie is resentful of what she sees as laziness, she and Chris are not about to carry their sister Penny nor cousins Halsey and William, no matter how fond they are of their home. Why should they deal with the financial problems enabling the lifestyles the other three lead? Penny is a fragile mess, with her own complicated drama, always feeling like she is in the middle- forced into the role of tiebreaker. It’s too much pressure. William just wants to focus on his yogi plans, his Instagram followers but he doesn’t want to sell, he is on Halsey’s side. Halsey’s entire life is there, there is nowhere else in the entire world she plans on raising her son Miles. There is a split, but it’s not going to be easy as all their personal lives start unraveling, worse, they are all drifting further apart. Truth be told, none of them are close anymore.

Money and death do strange things to people, live long enough and most of us learn this, sadly it can get ugly. Each of the Nolans feel critical of each other and are hardest on themselves. They hide who they are, run off, deny the truth, and feud; all so they can avoid the critical eyes of their family. Can they truly be diplomatic when there is so much judgement? Laurie and Chris feel superior, with their luxurious lives but are the others less? Penny is an interesting character, lost. But are Chris and Laurie as perfect as they appear? Halsey can be just as self-righteous in her resentment of the power Laurie has. William, for some reason didn’t take up as much space in the novel for me. Can this family come together? Is it possible to make a decision that lets them all win? I thought the ending was good and the characters issues with each other seem realistic. The will is a clever set up, one that demands family communicate. A decent read for those who love family drama.

Publication Date: August 23, 2022 Available Today

Lake Union Publishing

This is a predicament many families have found themselves. What to do with several owned property? The cuz compound sounded interesting so I dove in. The beginning was promising. But then the reading momentum slowed to a dribble. I found the characters uninteresting and their interactions lukewarm.
One of the scenes I did appreciate was Hensley finally telling Laurie off.
The ending redeemed the book, somewhat, but overall this was a mediocre read for me.

What an interesting and original story about families. The love between people and memories is in question in this story when the unexpected happens, five relatives are put to the test, forced to face who they are and how they became these people. Will they band together or will pride, dishonesty, and selfishness tear them apart forever? I highly recommend this story, it definitely becomes a page turner by the end and has an unexpected story line. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Family Compound is a novel about family drama, complex relationships, and personal struggles as a set of five cousins decide what to do with a family compound that comes to them as a joint inheritance. The land and homes that make up the family compound are an all or nothing deal. They must all sell, all stay, or give up their portion for $100. The rural Vermont setting and descriptions of the family compound were a highlight of the novel as the landscape was brought to life.

The story mainly focuses on the lives of the three female cousins - Laurie, Halsey, and Penny. Each one is facing a major individual struggle, including jobs, relationships, and mental illness. The two male cousins are far less fleshed out. Chris seemed two dimensional with some backstory and glimpse into his personality. William, however, is one-dimensional. I feel like all I really knew about him was that he was a free spirit, yogi influencer. I honestly didn't like the five cousins for the most part. Ranging in age from 35 to 45, they seemed immature, closed off, selfish, and unwilling to confront their issues as they tried to decide what to do with the family compound. Lies abounded. Some of their actions would have been unforgivable to me. Of the five cousins, Penny drew me in the most. She had a real vulnerability.

Overall, the story was an interesting family saga with a fair share of drama.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC.

A book about family dynamics, beliefs and working together to keep a family property viable.
Although I thought the storyline slow at times, those who enjoy family drama would like this book.
The characters are all different with issues that are relatable, the pace does pick up and newer characters ensure that the story is readable!

Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This novel has multiple POVs. This was a fun read for me. I really enjoyed every character. Every character is wonderful in his/her way. I found this novel like a comedy show.
This is a compassionate and insightful novel about family, broken dreams, and holding on to everything in life that matters.

Loved this one. The characters felt full and real and I really enjoyed the setting and the feeling of family the story evoked.

The Family Compound, by Liz Parker, offered far more than I expected. When an elderly parent dies, five adult cousins inherit a large parcel of land in Vermont. According to the Will, the land cannot be divided or sold without all five agreeing. Drama, strife, and childhood hurts surface as the cousins struggle to decide what to do. The decision is affected by the personal issues that each cousin is dealing with and complicated by the complex historic relationships between siblings and cousins.

This was an extremely rewarding story. It did take a bit of time to sort through how each of the characters were related and which issues each was dealing with. I truly believe that the last stage of adulting is dealing with life after your parents are no longer available to parent. How these cousins grew individually and as a group to resolve the challenge of the bequest caused me to contemplate my own life and those with whom I was fortunate to travel.

Highly recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read a digital ARC. It was a pleasure.

Five cousins must decide what to do about property they've inherited-sell it or keep it. This focuses primarily on the women - Penny, Halsey, and Laurie- who have, it seems, the more challenging lives- but those who read family drama novels will recognize each of them (including William and Chris) as classics in the dysfunctional family. I was curious as to what the group would do but not truly surprised. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

This is a compelling and interesting story that focuses on family. It takes a bit to warm up to the characters and the story, but it's a good book that's hard to put down.

Thank you Amazon Publishing for my e-ARC in exchange for the honest review.

When Penny, Chris and Laurie’s father died The Compound was divided to the siblings and two cousins evenly. For the siblings, for them it was so hard to talk about their parents because of what happened. All they have was each other and they’re cousins.

they start voting if the compound will stay or sell, they start arguing about that. The compound leave to the five cousins but their dad/uncle never leave any money for them. So all they have was the house. Halsey, she was divorced and raising her child. Chad was an asshole for cheating with their babysitter.

This book has multiple POVs.

If you like a novel based on family saga, then this book might be great one for you.

This is a story of five cousins, Laurie, Penny, Chris, Halsey and William coming into terms with land and two homes left for them after their parents died. Each of these characters have their own personalities--Laurie had been fired from her position as a lawyer in a law firm, Halsey is newly divorced and discovers something about herself, and Penny is seem to be suffering from depression. The story is maily told in Laurie's, Penny's and Halsey's perspectives.

At first, the book did not really get into me and at a point, I was kind of bored with the book. But by 30%, the book suddenly grew into me and soon, I want to know what is going to happen to the land and also to the cousins. The book also mainly talked about the relationships between the cousins, how estranged they were with each other. The pacing grew by the 50% of the book to the point when suddenly I was interested in the ending and wanting to know what is going to happen next.

So if you are into family sagas and family dramas, then this book might be one for you. Worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

While interesting, just not my cup of tea. Interesting family dynamics and plenty of drama as cousins sort out an all or nothing deal with the properties they could inherit.

This book tells the story of 5 cousins who find themselves co-owning land after the death of their parents. The land has been in their family for generations and holds their childhood memories. Each cousin has their own opinion on what should be done (stay or sell).

I felt the book was slow to start, but picked up around half way through. Each character is complex and I liked how their past experiences were revealed to the reader and not the other cousins. The reader was on the outside looking in and was the only one who knew the whole story/truth of each cousin.

The book is under 300 pages, but was slow paced. I liked the premise, but thought it could have had a little more drama, especially with the story with Penny.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy an exchange for an honest review.

In the beginning, admittedly, I found this one difficult to keep reading, only because the characters were so hard to care about or understand. I silently yelled at more than a few of them but continued on. The preface is more common than some would believe. Second generation raising the next generation on family land and when they are all gone, leaving the last generation, they have little to no idea how to continue on. There was no physical work involved, no sacrifice toward the land that was now theirs, and no idea how to go forward. I found them to be selfish and self-centered, just like the author intended! Character Development! The author was able to hold my attention to the end and I'm thankful I did. Well done

I have also loved the idea of Vermont and this one caught my eye! When five members of a family inherit an estate what will be outcome. Well written and flowed well.

Looooved this one. I'm a big fan of family dramas and this one did not disappoint. Can see it being picked up by a bookclub!