The writing was boring and not to my taste and honestly the characters reflected the same as they had no substance and felt very 2D. Ended up dnfing after a couple of chapters.

Fun story of a wedding where the woman has a daughter Helena and the groom has 2 daughters and a son. Helena invites her best friend as her plus one. Unfortunately, he is also the ex of the groom's oldest daughter, who is engaged to another.

Helena is happy for her mother because she truly deserves all the love in the world and the upcoming wedding is a great way for them to celebrate that. However, Helena is not very happy that she will have to share her mother with other people, especially Amelia, her stepsister. Moreover, she herself has sympathy for Amelia's fiancé. She needs moral support for the event and her best friend Landon agrees to be her plus one. However, what no one expects is that Amelia and Landon have known each other for a long time, and their past will turn everyone's lives upside down.

The family drama was what I expected to get me as soon as I started the book. In fact, however, it did not overflow the pages at all and was well presented and sustained. I loved how the two stepsisters were portrayed and the gradation they both went through. I liked Helena a lot more than Amelia and her sense of humor kept me laughing.

As for the love story, it was clear to me how things would turn out for all four of them, but I still had a hell of a time watching the events. The author has a very pleasant writing style and the main characters from whose point of view we read have their own voices and it was apparent that they were very well built. I liked Cage and Landon equally. Yes, in real life something like this would hardly happen, but so what?

The events take place on a small island, which, to be honest, I wished I could be there too. If you feel like reading a lighthearted summer romance, then this book is a great choice. There is enough love, family secrets, wedding emotions and azure ocean that are in perfect balance = top choice for the beach!

I made it to 33% but this book just wasn’t for me. It was a bit too cheesy and hallmark movie-esque for my tastes. The situation the MCs ended up in had some potential, and some of the backstories were interesting, but the predictable awkward shenanigans were a bit much.

I was given this book by NetGalley and Thomas Nelson as an ARC. It’s about a woman named Helena whose mother is getting married for the first time in her life. The man she’s marrying has a few children from his deceased wife. There is some minor family drama (such as the two oldest daughters not getting along) as both sides come together for this marriage. Most of the book takes place on a private island.

The chapters are quite lengthy. I liked the story overall, but it moved a little slow for me.

it was very unfortunate that this was a dnf for me it wasn't because the book was bad, it just wasn't for me. thank you to the publisher/s for the free copy, i truly appreciate it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC of It's All Relative.

I found the premise of this modern retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream to be intriguing - unfortunately I struggled to get into this one. It felt a bit obvious and I couldn't get invested in the characters.

I don't give too many 5 stars to books, but this one deserves it.
A cute and relatable story of a perfectly imperfect family. The author made the characters all very relatable and like part of my family. I wanted to be a part of the festivities and enjoy their life.
The story moved along and the ending was perfect. Usually stories seem to fast forward at the end making you wish for more, but Ms. Magee took the time to make sure all the details were there too.
Definitely recommending this book to all my friends.

The story premise was super interesting and it started off strong but sadly it kind of fell flat for me. I couldn’t understand why any of the characters liked each other - there wasn’t enough depth to them. The location and set up were great and I really wanted to love it but I found myself majorly skimming. Sorry!!

3 ⭐️ DNF at chapter 13 (page 132). Literally the worst feeling, requesting a book, getting accepted, and not enjoying it! I don't DNF ARCs. Ever. I think this is my first one. But an author told me recently, and I quote, "I would rather people quit my books if they aren't enjoying them. Life is too short to read books you aren't enjoying!" And I have taken that to heart.

With that said, this book is still 3 stars because I think it had potential and could have been great past what I read. The storyline was intriguing, the author's writing is good too, I just think I couldn't get into it. There was no hook. All of the characters were kind of bland, nothing really happened, and I wasn't loving the whole, "I'm engaged but I have sparks with another woman" kind of thing.

Ultimately, I think most people should give this book a chance. I think I will pick this up again down the line and try and finish it. But for now, this is what it is.

*Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Rachel Magee for the complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

An interesting reimagining of a midsummer night’s dream with plenty of entertaining twists and turns. 3 🌟

this was quite charming. a really summery feel-good rom-com set on an island with all the characters preparing for a wedding. a retelling of shakespeare’s ‘a midsummer night’s dream’, it brings together four different characters as they try to navigate their relationships. all four characters have their own pov’s, which was a really great aspect of the book, although i finished it feeling like i didn’t get to know the characters all that well after all. i didn’t care that much for the romances, but i enjoyed helena and amelia’s journey towards accepting each other as stepsisters. i liked how much focus there was on family in general. the ending felt a little rushed though. and for being based on ‘a midsummer night’s dream’ it could definitely be a bit more whacky lol.

I really liked the way that this book explored a family dynamic and the characters were well developed. The romance between Amelia and Landon was an extra bonus, and I would definitely recommend that people check out this book!

5 stars for It's All Relative! I loved this Shakespeare retelling. I loved the dual POV and family dynamics, as well as the romances. My only critique (which I will admit is a bit nit picky) is how similar Helena and Amelia's names are. My brain was a bit spinny reading their names over and over sentence after sentence.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction, and Rachel Magee for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. It's All Relative publishes on August 6, 2024.

Great beach read rom com. complex character's and complex relationships. Trials and tribulations of blending families and traditions resulting in a happily ever after.

Really liked all of the characters and getting to hear all 4 perspectives. Was not a major fan of Helena at certain points I just felt she was a little unrealistically immature.

It's hard to say what about this didn't work for me except that I was SO bored. It felt like the book took forever to get going -- even at 50%, not much had happened. It lacked the fun and comedy of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The characters were awful and I didn't like any of them. Hope you have better luck.

It's All Relative comes out next week on August 6, 2024, and you can purchase HERE.

"The course of true love never did run smooth."

Helena narrowed her eyes on him. "Are you quoting Shakespeare to me?"

Landon winked. "Is it helping?"

Since whatever romantic connection there might have been between them fizzled sometime on their first date, Landon's boyish charm was completely lost on her. "No. Besides, it's not even relevant. No one said anything about the L word.
I've known the man for about fifteen minutes."
"My mistake. 'The course of crushing never did run smooth.
Helena rolled her eyes.

Thank you netgalley! I would give this a solid 3.5 /5 stars!
This rom-com follows Helena and Landon (platonic best friends) as they travel to her mother's second wedding to the 'perfects', and interactions with Amelia and her fiance, Gage. Only problem: Amelia is, surprisingly, Landon's first major heartbreak and Helena has a crush on Gage. I really enjoyed the fact that this was multi-POV as it let you really get in these characters heads as they interact over a summer weekend at the beach.
This is meant to be a retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and while there are hints of that narrative throughout (I think Peter, the brother who'd rather do youtube than a 'real job', is meant to be Puck?), I'm not sure I would have picked up on the connection on my own. It sticks to the meaning of the storyline but very little else.
I think Magee did a good job making you believe that the current 'pairings' of the books weren't quite right for each other and the intended pairings were 'better' without making you dislike any of the characters: kind of a hard task to pull off. The setting is beautiful, the descriptions are lovely, the comedy is really well done. I also enjoyed that each character had their own unique voice: even without the chapter titles, I would have known who was 'narrating' each section.
All in all this was a fun, lighthearted, read. Very PG.

I absolutely adored this book. I loved getting to know the characters and watching their relationships change and develop throughout the novel. I related to Helena a lot as a type B teacher who tries to do everything as good as possible but inevitably just messes stuff up and is constantly hoping I can charm people into forgiving me. I also liked how we got to read from multiple different characters throughout the story and we didn't listen to the entire story through Helena's perspective. I highly recommend this one!

A unique plot, well developed characters and situations we can all relate to help to make this book an enjoyable read.