about two estranged half-sisters who are forced to deal with the unexpected death of their father at their summer lake house, this was as light as it was heavy (does that make sense? probably not). hannah has such a crisp, clean way of writing that i admire (i could use her editing eye—my editing days are mostly spent killing off fluffy, rambling darlings). i also absolutely adore that she wrote this novel on her own dock—you can tell how special this book is to her.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in advance! This book was a cute summer read, but definitely took a long time to really get into the story. It was about half way through that I felt invested in the characters and the ending of the book really brought everything together. I do wish there was a little more of a climactic event.

When half-sisters Vivian and Lucy meet for the first time at their father’s lake house in Maine after his sudden death, they’re thrust into a summer of unexpected truths and relationships.

Though the story starts off slow, it finds its footing, building tension around the cabin’s fate and the hidden truths about their father’s life. Hearing the story from multiple POV adds some layers to the story and depth to the situation.

This book was a bit hard to get into and the beginning dragged, it started to all come together when I was about halfway through.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the opportunity to receive the ARC.
Book Publication Date - May 13, 2025

Seeing this cover and "Parent Trap vibes" immediately drew me to this book. It's gorgeous, and, after reading, I also really enjoyed the story overall. Kind of hate that dear old dad ends up getting away with everything and all of his choices given he's dead by page one, but also like that more of the story is the story of the characters coming to an understanding. This was a really like, but not over the moon love read for me. It felt like it took me a while to read this, but I did spend my time with it and overall appreciated the two perspectives between sisters. For me, I wish I'd gotten a little more of the mothers' stories, or even their perspectives through flashbacks, but it probably would've made things a bit more unruly. I wanted to throttle both main(e) characters at different points throughout the novel, but did enjoy seeing them grow and develop their new sisterly relationship.

Every summer, Lucy spends July with her father at the lake house, and Vivian spends August. Never together. In fact, Vivian isn’t even supposed to know that Lucy exists. Both are going through their own struggles when their father passes. Vivian is immediately ready to sell the house and use the money to open her own business. When she arrives however, Lucy is there and the two are forced into close proximity for the foreseeable future. Could they possibly forge a relationship?

Ok first of all, within the first few chapters, this book mentions Mars 2112, and if you never went there you missed out. That is a core childhood memory. The food was terrible, but the atmosphere and how you got to the restaurant could not be beat! So automatically I was already in love with this book. As is my norm these days, it did take me a bit to finish, I mean throw in a devastating election while reading and that will certainly cause some trouble reading, but I just loved every second. I live for Hannah’s lake stories in the summer, so reading about the dock, and the sunsets, and of course the loons had me swooning. Dealing with my own grief right now…the grief aspect of this, though insanely different than my own, made it both harder to read at times, and comforting at others. I have been anxiously waiting this book from Orenstein, and it was so worth the wait! I believe my comment to her when she said she was writing about the lake was “Girl I would read your grocery list! But I would READ THE SHIT out of a book set at your lake.” Well, read the shit out of it I did…and as expected, LOVED!

Thank you to @duttonbooks and @hannahorens for my gifted copy of this book!

Maine Characters pulls readers into a heartfelt exploration of family secrets, messy relationships, and the beautiful (and sometimes painful) bonds between siblings. When half-sisters Vivian and Lucy meet for the first time at their father’s lake house in Maine after his sudden death, they’re thrust into a summer of unexpected revelations and reluctant bonding. While Vivian is a driven New Yorker with her own set of hidden struggles, Lucy’s life in a small Maine town is unraveling before her eyes.

The dual POVs give insight into each sister’s complex emotions and bring depth to their strained relationship. Though the story starts off slow, it finds its footing, building tension around the cabin’s fate and the hidden truths about their father’s life. This book is a lovely love letter to lake life, with hints of Parent Trap vibes for adults. For fans of family drama and sibling stories, Maine Characters is a slow-burn gem that balances charm and emotional depth perfectly.

Thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the opportunity to receive the ARC.
Book Publication Date - May 13, 2025

I grew up taking summer vacation trips to a small lake in coastal Maine. The house was 20 minutes to town which closed down at sunset and we were 45 minutes to the nearest big city. The house is still in the family even after my grandparents passed, but we dont get to visit as often.

The setting of this book was like going to our lake house. It was so comfortable.
My mom passed away earlier this year and my sister and I had to come to terms with a lot of her lies and untold stories. Again, this book felt so relatable, almost weirdly so.
Maybe because everything felt familiar, I had a hard time feeling good about any of the characters. Lucy was the only one who hadn't made a poor decision that had or would wreck a person's life. I struggled falling into a good rhythm while reading because I'd get too upset, but isn't that a tell of good writing, making the traders feel?!
I really enjoyed spending the summer with the sisters.

It took me way too long to finish this - at zero fault of the book. I absolutely loved every page. The relationship between Lucy and Vivian was heartbreaking and raw - and bring in the moms? Cue the tears. As someone who grew up with a beautifully stable family, there wasn’t much that I could personally relate to, at least on the surface. But the writing was so wonderful and characters so real and flawed, it pulled me in immediately. I can’t wait to read more from her!

Took me until 50% in to really get into it. I wasn’t invested in the way I wanted to be.
But once it picked up I really enjoyed my time.
It felt a little predictable to me. But as someone who lives in New England it felt like a summer afternoon.

I really enjoyed Vivian and Lucy’s sisterhood grow. I really hope there is a follow up book where we read about life in Portland!

Oh what tangled webs we weave…

Loved the setting of this story in an old family home on a lake in Maine where the evening sunset is an observed ritual each day.

The parent trap style family drama is laid on pretty thick, and sometimes is a bit too much. A few of the characters aren’t likeable at all.

If you like wine talk, complicated mother daughter relationships, and families working through secrets, you might enjoy this book featuring a sommelier as the protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Ju

The idea of this book is what drew me in because I love Parent Trap! But there are just wayyy to many characters so it was hard to keep up for sure!

Prefacing this with the fact that I am always grateful to both the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read books early.

With that said, this was downright painful to get through. The two main characters are insufferable. The chapters were LONG & writing very disjointed.

The tense made it hard to follow.

It was overly descriptive with little reason for being so. There was so. much. FLUFF. that didn’t add anything of value to the story.

It felt like a trauma dump gone wrong.

Yes the resolution at the end was okay, but that’s the reason for the one star.

Overall, this was not the book for me.

I had a hard time getting into this book at first- I struggled with the dynamic of the “sisters”. I understand their view point but struggled with how they spoke to each other at points. However, as the book continued on I enjoyed the story line and the happy ending (more than just romantically.
I enjoyed the plot and concept of this story and how the sisters stood strong in their beliefs and their individual histories!

really loved this book. There was so much good character development. And I loved the small town lake setting. I liked Lucy’s point of view best because Vivian could be a little obnoxious but by the end they had both entered into my heart.

An interesting story about two half-sisters. I will recommend it to patrons. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

3.25/5 stars!

I have to say, I really enjoyed Hannah’s writing and thought the pacing was great and it felt very atmospheric in its setting. However, I just wasn’t feeling a connection to the characters. I found them to be a bit unlikeable and overall just wasn’t feeling it with Vivian and Lucy. I definitely think this book will find it’s people though, and again, loved the setting and writing!

I really love the cover of this book, and I loved the idea of it! Parent Trap vibes plus Maine, where I spent a week this summer, really added up to what should have been a winning combination for me! I love Orenstein's writing style, but unfortunately, Lucy and Vivian were both too unlikable for me to relate to/care about. The last half was kind of a slog for me to get through- I'll give it 3 stars because it was a solid idea and the writing is nice, but I definitely wouldn't read it again. (Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!)

Overall I enjoyed the story, the setting and plot. However, Lucy was driving me crazy to the point I considered DNF a few times.

Super cute book! I loved the characters, the sisters and their bond. It had great character development as well. Definitely a cute book for the summer.

4⭐️’s. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I was excited to read this as this is a new author for me as well. Took a few chapters to get into the book, but once I did I was hooked and read the rest in one sitting. The character growth of both Vivian and Lucy was great to read on the pages as the book progressed, and I was really happy with the ending and seeing how there was resolution to their story. How both Lucy and Vivian’s characters were in their relationships really showcased how they were impacted by how they each grew up. Definitely recommend to anyone this summer when it comes out.