This book had a lot of moving pieces and kind of all over the place. I felt some parts could have come together quicker and before the end to help confusion.

Book was good, I enjoyed it., just wish that it wasn't so all over the place!

The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can't write, maybe because she's lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters' friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever--if only they could trust each other. 
The Float Test is a slow burn of a family drama, with bits of all four siblings stories being told. While being a first person POV from Jude, the story focuses mostly on Fred and George. The writing style confused me a bit - I couldn't really tell if this was supposed to be Jude telling this story to her daughter, Cass, or if it was just a story in general. And we're getting stories from a side character that Jude had no way of knowing... All four siblings are having their issues, a lot possibly stemming from the rich upbringing and their own levels of depression in adulthood, they're just not very likeable. You definitely want to scream at them at moments while reading... I could have done without the big moment at the end, and wish it had been something else that finally brought them all together. 
Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for a review.

I had to dnf this one 30% in. There were parts I loved and quotes I wrote down but overall I just could not get into it which made me sad.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this. I really enjoyed FLIGHT, by this author. I liked this book by the end.
This book is a family story about siblings coming together after a tragedy in the family.
I chose this one because I do love family sagas. But I have to agree with others that I spent a good while being confused. But once it clicked... it clicked.

I think this is a good story with a very clever premise, but I just couldn’t connect with the stream of conscience writing. It felt very disjointed, and I found myself lost quite a bit of the time.

With that said, I did enjoy the book.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I wasn't fond of THE FLOAT TEST by Lynn Steger Strong. I did like her previous novel FLIGHT.

This is a wealthy (although “new money”) dysfunctional family that comes together after the death of their mother. I didn’t care for any of the characters. Now I don’t always need to root for or even like characters. Gosh, I love a despicable main character! But these weren’t despicable nor likeable characters. They were all blandly problematic and navel gaze-y.

I wasn’t sure why the perspectives didn’t completely switch. Jude, the main character, is the third oldest sibling with a solid first person perspective. But when it’s from Fred or George’s perspective, it feels like it’s a close third person perspective, but then she would say “I” (as Jude) even in situations when Jude couldn’t have been there to observe the situation. It felt odd to me, but maybe it’s a higher literary technique that goes above my head.

There was some information (what happened between Jude and Fred) that was kept from the reader until the end, and it felt like the author was being unnecessarily coy because it didn’t land as a big reveal (maybe it wasn’t supposed to be?). And did the death at the end need to happen?? I think that’s going to put a bad taste in the mouth of many readers due to how it happened and to whom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

It publishes April 8, 2025.

Meet the Kenners: sisters Jenn, Fred, Jude and brother George are the children of a strong mother and a quiet but present father. Having grown up in Florida with a fierce and opinionated lawyer mother and a CPA father the children have never wanted for anything - they had the world at their fingers. But love and support can't be bought. Now that the children are all grown up with children of their own, they're all back in Florida together after a loss. Over the course of the book, we hear through Jude's voice the experiences of their younger years, how each of them changed and grew and how now that they're all together they're finding ways to process and cope with all the things they've held inside over the years.

The Float Test is a reflective story that offers a powerful insight into the influence of nurture on children growing up. The story shows the struggle of families as they grow, age and become extended families - siblings become more distant, small grievances pile up, and hurtful actions lead to estranged relationships. I found the relationships between the siblings in their adult years to be burdened by histories they never learned to cope with in their younger years leaving them all to carry baggage that was a disservice to their growth and happiness. I think this book would be good for readers who enjoyed Banyan Moon or are looking to read a story about changing family dynamics in relation to aging parents.

I will note that during my readings their were times I struggled with the stream of consciousness writing style - one that felt like we were living in Jude's mind. It was a powerful tool to present the story, but there were several times I had to reread to make sure I was understanding what was being said. I also think it would be important/beneficial to note that there is depiction on page of a graphic animal death that should be included in a content warning. In the case that I didn't miss a warning that was included I will say that I was disappointed to get to that part of the story and be so close to the ending that it felt cruel to choose between finishing the book or stopping immediately due to the content. Personally I have chosen not to read or consume content that involves animal (pet specifically) death but was blindsided here. Besides that, I found this tory to be reflective and important especially being relatable as my parents are around the same age as the Kenner siblings and having to learn to interact with their siblings and aging parents in similar ways.

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for allowing me to read and review this book early!

My review has already been posted on Goodreads and I will be adding it Amazon, Barnes and Noble shortly as well as posting a review on my Instagram. Links will be updated as they are posted

Strong’s book Flight is one of my favorite books to recommend this time of year. Set over a single holiday weekend, it is an expertly crafted family story that is able to use a condensed narrative to deliver complex characterization and sincere emotion. The Float Test is a similar project in many ways, though the setting and scope give it a markedly different flavor. Like Flight, this is a family story in which the characters come together after the death of the matriarch and in which revealing who that matriarch really was is a primary element of the novel. I found the storytelling choices in this novel to be quite compelling, particularly the choice to have a novelist character who is the focus of the story but not the narrator. Instead, the narrator is her sister Jude and the book occasionally uses conventions that might be expected of an amateur writer and offers meta-commentary on what Jude knows versus what she imagines. Those elements worked well for me, along with a wonderfully vivid Florida setting and frank discussion of the impact of climate change. But I struggled profusely with the driving forces of the novel: secrets and withholding. “Family uncovers secrets after a death” has become something of a trope in literary fiction, such that I find its often used as shorthand in a way that allows the author to rely on the reader’s inherent interest in uncovering the secret rather than developing any authentic tension in the plot. Conversations turn just before a revelation and terrible things to come are hinted at heavy handedly so that I begin to feel manipulated. In The Float Test, this can most easily be summed up with the inclusion of a gun that one sister finds in her deceased mother’s bedroom. Not only does no one know why their mother had the gun, but Strong uses the looming threat of the object to propel the reader through the novel. I always resist when I can sense the author’s hand pulling me through a text so while I enjoyed the writing and characters, I never felt fully engaged or invested in this one. If you appreciate a family novel, I do think you might find much to love in this book, however, I fear that this is a type of novel that’s losing its once-strong grip on me.

I won’t be finishing this book unfortunately. I got about 20% through but am finding it hard to keep the characters straight, mostly because I don’t really seem to care about any of them. I’m sure this is a great slow burn for someone, but not for me.

This is a slow-burn, introspective, family-focused story. While not typically my favorite, I was pleasantly surprised with this one and how much I liked it. The writing style does take a bit to get used to, but it didn't take long for me to become invested in the dynamics between siblings and their secrets. I do wish that the structure of how it's told had a bit more editing to make it flow more seamlessly. I struggled sometimes with the timeline of events because of how much it jumps around, but it didn't necessarily detract from my enjoyment. I agree with the comp titles in the synopsis (Patchett and Lombardo) and I'd add Coco Mellors to it as well - this story is very much in the same realm in vibe and tone as some of their works. It's messy and emotional. I liked the environmental commentary and the Florida setting. It's not completely plotless, there's a bit of mystery to it, but it's definitely majority character-driven. I was invested in this family and along for the ride with them.

Something about the cover of this (yes, sometimes I'm guilty of judging a book by it's cover) made me think it was a romance, but, a romance it definitely is NOT.

The Float Test is a gripping family drama, which I think fans of Claire Lombardo and Coco Mellors will enjoy. This is definitely a character driven novel - there are very few plot points - more of a telling of this family's way of being as they all come together after the matriarch's death.

There are a lot of notes that speak to motherhood, secrets, family, ambition, secrets, and love. It's a beautiful exploration of this flawed families and all their layers and dysfunction. I really loved the bits about Ellen. This is a relatively slow pace, but definitely worth it.

I loved this emotional story of family dynamics!!!!!!!!!! It was truly inspiring and eye opening. A one of a kind book that everyone should read

This book wasn’t for me. It felt jumpy and sudden and just didn’t seem to be my preferred style of reading. I think this book could have been improved with more than one POV.

The Float Test drew me in by the cover but sadly this one was not for me. It is about four siblings who come together after their mom passes and they decide to go back to Florida to be near their dad and the place they grew up in. The plot moved slow for me and at times I did not understand what was going on. All of the characters were interesting in this one. Overall, this book was not for me but I do hope other readers enjoy this one. Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for this read in exchange of my honest review of The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong.

Next evolution of the writer's previous works. Fantastic, and I hope it finds a wide(r) audience than her previous feats.

I trudged through this book and wish I hadn’t. I should’ve just shelved it as DNF. It was boring, none of the characters were likable and there was no cohesive plot. Would not recommend.

Thanks NetGalley and Mariner Books for this ARC.

A deep look at the complexities of family through loss, age, change.
The Kenner family is unexpectedly reunited when the matriarch of the family suddenly dies. The reader receives an interesting perspective as our first person narrator is largely absent for much of the book and is instead looking at events primarily through her semi-estranged sister, Fred, and other two siblings. The reader is held in the dark about the nature of why the two sisters are not talking until near the end, which ended up being an incredibly emotional reveal. I particularly liked this choice as we had time to explore but not really understand Fred as we weren't getting her first hand account of events and emotions. This was somewhat of a slow burn but I realllyy enjoyed the writing and the very realistic depictions of both complications of family and the strange land of Florida.
This was a great read & I will definitely be recommending, though it may not be for everyone.

This wss a mediocre read about four adult siblings and their father dealing with the death of their sharp lawyer mother. The segue ways are disjointed, and I didn't care for the characters and the choices they made. There are a couple of heat wrenching scenes and not in a good way.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

Wow…this was the slowest, meandering story. I can usually handle a slow burn, but this one felt pointless most of the time. It also felt very politically motivated - endless references to climate change in Florida. Overall, too much agenda and not enough plot.

epic sense of place, that is NOT mached by the sense of character. disconnected asides, characters being the narrator that shouldn't be..... tysm for the arc. 3.5 stars..