I was so excited about the premise of this book being a Parent Trap retelling and it was one of my favorite childhood books. I’ve also really enjoyed Hannah’s previous books, especially Head Over Heels a few years ago.

This book honestly fell pretty flat for me from the beginning. I thought there could be a little more build up, and the girls meeting basically on the second page just led me to wonder why exactly I should care about these characters or their dad. I think we needed more back story to get any sort of investment from the get go rather than flashing back to bits and pieces of their childhood and retroactively explaining why things are the way they are and how things unfolded.

It also felt very jump to conclusions for a 14 year old to hear a girl on the phone with her dad and immediately assume for the next 16 years he has a secret other daughter.

My biggest harp on this book is the amount of love triangles. Every single character in this book was involved in a love triangle and it was just a lot to keep up with. Overall, I enjoyed the relationship between Vivian and Lucy, but this wasn’t a favorite of mine.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I really would have liked to finish this rom com but I ran out of time on my days to read it. I felt it could have been a least a 4 star with characters setting and plot development.

Keep this upcoming release on your radar, it will be perfect to read at the lake! (Or anywhere else while you dream of being lakeside.)

🌅 REVIEW: MAINE CHARACTERS 🌅

By Hannah Orenstein

📖 SUMMARY: Vivian, a career-focused New Yorker, arrives at her father’s lakeside cabin in Maine to spread his ashes and sell the property. She’s surprised to find her half-sister Lucy there — a sister, she didn’t know she had, and who didn’t know her father was dead. Turns out, they both grew up spending a different month with their dad at the cabin, and while Lucy wants to keep it for sentimental reasons, Vivian is desperate to sell for the easy cash. Can they try to form a relationship during the summer they spend together, or is a lifetime of being strangers too much to overcome?

💭 THOUGHTS: I’d been so excited to read this since finding out Hannah was writing a book inspired by her Maine summers. Please teleport me into the pages of this book immediately… I’ll happily be a background character! The premise of this is obviously a sticky situation for our two Maine Characters (😉) so I was interested to see how things would play out for them. What would their sister dynamic be? I was soooo frustrated with their interactions at certain parts of the book, but hey, that’s family, right? I also really liked the side characters and thought they added a lot to the story. Definitely pick this up in the summer!

Thank you to @ Dutton @ net galley for the ARC. This comes out May 12!

✨ MADE ME FEEL: obsessed with the idea of moving to Maine

🥰 YOU’LL ENJOY IF: you love The Parent Trap and similarly complex yet wholesome family dynamics

I found both Vivian and Lucy to be problematic characters for me. The book was only okay, IMO, because of them. They are both very one dimensional and do not change enough to make the storyline worthwhile. I couldn't connect with them. They're both insufferable, ungrateful, and immature.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this eARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton for the advanced copy

This book hooked me with its gorgeous cover, premise—an adult Parent Trap—and the setting on a lake in Maine. Two half sisters raised separately meet after their Dad suddenly dies and they need to figure out what to do with their Dad’s lake house. It’s a story of family (and lots of complicated, messy family dynamics), forgiveness, and grief. Lucy and Vivian are both flawed, relatable characters and their antics, especially at the beginning, drew me in. I loved seeing their sibling relationship develop but I wanted more of their individual character development. While their father Hank isn’t on page, I was really frustrated with him! I wanted more of an explanation for why he did the things he did. Overall, it’s an entertaining read with some twists and turns I didn’t see coming.

4.5 ⭐️
During the first 45% of the book I was having a really difficult time putting up with all of the whining coming from Lucy but as I continued to read it was beautiful to watch the character development not only from her but all of the characters. It was also refreshing to see everyone acknowledge Hanks faults and how messed up the entire situation he started really was. Overall this was a great read and that I will definitely be recommending as a cute summery book. Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 | ARC Review

I absolutely loved this one. Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein explores themes of family, grief, and love in this contemporary fiction novel. Lucy and Vivian are half-sisters accidentally meeting for the first time at their dad’s lake house following his death a month prior. Cue a summer of fighting, loving, growing, and family secrets as they grieve for their late father.

This book comes out on May 13, and I need you all to add it to your TBRs 🙂‍↕️ Thank you to @duttonbooks and @netgalley for the early read. I seriously adored this & Hannah — you truly are a master at your craft.

Thank you Net Galley for my advanced copy of Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein. Upon her father's death, Vivian Levy has to drive from NYC to Fox Hill, Maine in order to get his lake house ready for sale. Vivian used to spend time during the summers with her father there, but over the years her and her father's relationship became very strained and she spent less and less time there. She has great plans with the money she will make off the sale, but those plans become quite complicated when she arrives to find someone is already at the house - a half sister she suspected she had but never met. Lucy knows all about Vivian and has secretly stalked her on social media, wishing throughout her life that they could meet. Over the years, Vivian has had a very contemptuous relationship with both her father and mother, while Lucy adored the man she only spoke to on the phone occasionally and with whom she spent the month of July every year with at the lake house.
Lucy is recently separated from her husband and Vivian is involved with a married man, who also happens to be her boss, and who has promised to leave his wife for her. Vivian is intent on selling the lake house so that she and her lover can buy a wine bar together, while Lucy is equally intent on convincing Vivian not to sell, or at least share half of the sale proceedings with her.
I liked the back and forth perspectives of Lucy and Vivian, and the gradual relationship the sisters finally begin to build together. I especially liked how Lucy fought for her own rights, and developed into a much stronger woman because of it. Vivian was also able to throw off the shackles and resentments of her own life, opening up to a much more enriching future for her, as well as a more understanding relationship with her overbearing and self involved mother.
This was an enjoyable beach read to while away a few hours with.

Sometimes love isn't enough, and sometimes it complicates and confuses. This book had a variety of emotions, from different viewpoints, and was the perfect mix of grief, loss, hope, and happiness. All of the characters were individuals with their own challenges with a shared one to join them together.

This book made me long for warm summer days spending with family on the lake. I loved the vivid coastal setting in Maine, the cabin, the lake, and the small town charm. This story is about two half sisters that are complete opposites in personality. One sister knows about the other but one has no clue until she finds her at her dad’s lake house. A story that will make you laugh, cry, form a sisterhood bond with two girls as they each grieve. A story with drama, family secrets, and forgiveness. I really loved how the story unfolded.

(3.5 rounded down)
Maine Characters is a book that centers around self reinvention and past trauma. There is a romance aspect to this book, but it’s not the focus of the story. This book was definitely a tear jerker, and the ending hit really hard and close to home for me. The interactions that the characters have with each other and the way that their stories intertwine is masterfully written. Let me say, the cover on this book is also stunning, probably one of my favorites of this year's new releases.. As much as I did enjoy this book, there were a couple key issues that stood out to me, the first one being the character perspectives. Maine Characters contains a lot of flashbacks and reminiscing, but I found it hard to tell if it was past or present at parts because the whole book is written in present tense from a 3rd person POV. Along with this, I was having trouble relating to Vivian, especially with her whole cheating situation, but that mostly has to do with my morals. Overall, Maine Characters is an emotionally heavy book (in a good way) that navigates complex relationships and new beginnings.

I loved the setting of this book, but it had such a long exposition and the buried plot points never really packed a punch. This felt more like a drawn out TV series than a can’t put down book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton | Dutton for allowing me to read an ARC of Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein, in exchange for my honest review.

This was a wonderful story with heartfelt emotions, growing and grieving pains, family messes, and forgiveness and acceptance (of others and self), set in a jealousy-inducing location.

I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more by Hannah Orenstein.

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein is such a heartfelt and emotional read. The story follows Vivian and Lucy, two half sisters who’ve never met until their dad passes away, leaving them to deal with their grief at his lake house in Maine. What I loved most about this book is how real both sisters felt. Vivian is this super polished sommelier from NYC with secrets she’s terrified will ruin everything, while Lucy is a small town English teacher dealing with a failing marriage. Their tension and misunderstandings felt so authentic, especially since they both have totally different relationships with their dad. The mix of resentment, jealousy, and curiosity between them was messy in the best way. It’s the perfect summer read, light but deep, dramatic but hopeful. Definitely recommend!

This book did a great job making the setting of Maine feel like almost like a separate character. The descriptions of the house, the lake, and the weather were so descriptive and really helped transport me through reading. The 2 sisters were relatable and I liked the dual POV. It did seem as though sometimes they were both too harsh and stubborn with each other, but I do feel like it worked out towards the end and they became much better at communicating. Overall really enjoyed this book and now I want to take a vacation to Maine.

This was.. okay? I read something incredibly similar by another author a little over a year ago as well.

This largely lacked likable characters (except you, Dawn). A lot of people who just don’t communicate with each other and basically nobody is faithful to anyone else. By the end, everyone seems to start to grow up/mature a bit but you have to get through the thick of this before you get to that point.

Good, albeit somewhat overdone, basis for a plot, but largely fell flat for me.

A sort of coming of age novel, but for 2 women in their late 20’s. And also a story of children realizing that their parents are much more complex than the children ever could have imagined. I thoroughly enjoyed this book for the Maine setting, the sisterhood, the love stories and the self-discoveries.

This was pretty good. I enjoyed the story and the characters. Maine is where I grew up and now my family has a seasonal site on a lake there, so the whole Maine part of the story and the lake reminded me of home. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked Head over Heels from this author so was so excited to see a new novel by her. I love the romance but more so the deeper meanings and themes in her books. This cover is gorgeous too. I will pick up anything this author writes.

I just finished a new book.Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein was a fun read. I think others will too.