3.25⭐️
(ARC review) — Thank you to author Hannah Orenstein and her publisher Dutton Publishing. I received an Advanced Reader Copy for the May 2025 release of 𝑀𝘢𝑖𝘯𝑒 𝐶𝘩𝑎𝘳𝑎𝘤𝑡𝘦𝑟𝘴 in exchange for my honest review. Family drama in a great Maine setting in a cabin on the lake. This was entertaining and definitely lots of secrets unraveling but I had a hard time connecting with the characters. They just were hard to like. Easy read though and the ending did come together and I liked how it finished. The book has modern day “Parent Trap” vibes for sure. {P.S. cover is adorable… love it}

This unfortunately was not for me. I loved the cover but that was about it. I found the characters miserable and whiny, especially for their ages. This is my first book by this author and I unfortunately don't enjoy her writing style.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein is a novel with Parent Trap vibes.

Lucy and Vivian both have the same dad — however, they don’t meet each other until they are in their 30s after their dad has died. The two of them end up at his lake house in northern Maine and start to uncover secrets. Vivian is a city girl from New York who was raised by their father along with her mother who is a best-selling romance author. Lucy was raised in the shadows growing up with her mom in Maine and spending time with her dad in secret throughout the year - mainly in July at the Lake House… he told Vivian and her mom that he was on a business trip during this time.

Vivian intends to sell the Lake House so that she can start a business with her boss/boyfriend who oh by the way is married… Lucy is going through a divorce and hopes that she can stay in the Lake House till she figures out her next move. The two of them spend the summer getting to know one another while also exploring other friendships and romances in good ol’ Maine.

I went to college up in Bangor so I was delighted to have a references to my favorite night club HALF ACRE. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an emotional read filled with family drama.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Books Dutton for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Grab your copy on May 13, 2025.

This was an interesting read and take on being a Parent Trap for adults. This dealt really well with what happens when you are suddenly confronted with the kid you suspected your dad hid from you but didn’t really know about and how do you start on the right foot when only one of you actually knows about the other. I loved the evolution of their relationship and how they became a family. Both Lucy and Vivian grow as people and realize that the situations they are in romantically don’t work for them anymore.

Thanks to Dutton and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

What I loved? The beautiful cover, the storyline, and the glorious setting of a cabin in Maine. What I didn't love? The insufferable sisters who acted like middle schoolers.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Maine Characters" is a dual-POV following two sisters, Vivien and Lucy, as they come to terms with their father's unexpected death. Lucy, the product of an affair, desperately wants a sister relationship with Vivien; however, she is rebuffed at every turn. Vivien, resenting her father for his affair, wants nothing to do with her sister and is only interested in selling her father's beloved lake house. While both of the sisters have great character arcs/development, they were both insufferable in their own ways. Lucy was especially frustrating as she placed most of the blame on Vivien and was almost incapable of understanding why her sister A) has a complicated relationship with their father and B) may not want a relationship with her. The plot was also predictable and sometimes cliche.

"Maine Characters" was overall enjoyable, and I would recommend it for readers who like feel-good, easy reads. (3.5)

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and ..... it was OK. There was Jewish rep which is why I came and why I like this author.

Definitely more women's fiction than romance, and the alternating POVs were very confusing at first.

Lucy and Vivian are half sisters who are shoved together after the death of their father at the Maine cabin he owned. Neither character is very likable. I didn't care about either of them or their drama. Or why they needed the money from the sale of the cabin.

There are romance subplots, mostly involving cheating and miscommunication but keep the story moving and entertaining. There are lots of wine references so if you're a cork dork you'll probably like this one.


TW: Cheating/infidelity, death of father

Again, another huge thank you to Net Galley for sending me this ARC!

I truly didn’t know how I would end up feeling when I finished this book. I was unsure of it until about halfway through but I was enchanted by the authors writing and how easy it was to read. I fell in love with the sisters and the relationship they ended up curating. The way the author wrote about grief of losing a parent, falling in and out of love, and going from selfish to selfless captured me and had me on the edge of my seat. This truly had the perfect ending, now I just need a book dedicated to each sister for how their lives have progressed and where they are now!!! And I also NEED a summer house in Maine!!!!

I love Orenstein's novels!!! I love the Maine lake house vibes, family drama dynamic, and parent trap vibes. Some of the plot points felt very predictable and some of the fights felt repetitive BUT the ending made up for it.

An easy 5 stars for this Hannah Orenstein novel! This book perfectly pairs with a glass of wine (or an Allagash beer!) and a chair by the lake (or pool or any body of water)!

Vivian and Lucy are half sisters, but have never met. When their dad Hank dies unexpectedly, the sisters are brought together and have to navigate their dad passing, a marriage in turmoil, a secret that could end one's career, and deciding if they want to know each other.

The way Orenstein perfectly describes the setting of the lake in Maine made me feel like I was right there with Vivian and Lucy on the dock with my feet in the water watching the loons swim by. Both of the main characters have an incredible character arc, and how they navigate and grieve their shared and separate losses is so well told by Orenstein. This book will make you want to move to the (sadly fictional) town of Fox Hill, Maine and befriend the great cast of characters!

Thank you Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my review.

️I was excited to see that Hannah Orenstein had a new book coming out. Until now, I had only read Meant to Be Mine and Playing with Matches (which I enjoyed).

Maine Characters is about two half-sisters in their early thirties, Vivian and Lucy, who meet for the first time at their father’s cabin in Maine after his unexpected death. Between the sisters' separate lives/secrets and the family drama, I was hooked. Honestly, the book had no business being this messy. I LOVED it!

I could not stand Lucy; she was too whiny and childish. I liked Vivian more, even though she still had her faults.

The cover is gorgeous, and I loved the Maine setting.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton, and Hannah Orenstein for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a drama filled book with the best Maine vibes, but not the drama I wanted. The characters were early thirties and acted like my sister in high school lol Vivian and Lucy were so annoying I think they just needed to slap each other and call a truce. There were characters added in that would shine and then just like disappear? The story finished nearly which I’m fine with and honestly the drama was so annoying I was fine to finish the book because at least it wasn’t me going through that lol

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

2/5 stars. Vivian was SO unbelievably frustrating. Honestly both female characters were so childish and annoying. I did not feel anything for them. The writing was good but the chapters were long and Vivian was just so insufferable

*Maine Characters* by Hannah Orenstein is a heartfelt story about two half-sisters who meet for the first time after their father’s death. Vivian, a city girl, and Lucy, a small-town teacher, are total opposites, but as they spend time in their dad’s Maine cabin, they uncover family secrets and start to rethink what family really means.

The setting is super immersive, the characters feel real (even when they’re frustrating), and there’s just enough romance to keep things interesting. If you love stories about messy families and personal growth, this one’s a great pick!

Hannah Orenstein loves to write an unlikeable female main character but in this book, she managed to write two unlikable FMCs and that has to applauded for how difficult that must be. Crisp prose and a bit of a time hopping plot leaves you wanting to implore - no, demand - that Vivian and Lucy go to therapy. Please. For me? Just go to therapy. If not therapy can I recommend lobotomies? They do not call in an emergency therapist and thus hijinks ensue. They are both so hurt and mean that it was physically painful to read. I was twisted up in knots the whole time. Around the 75% mark, you start to think maybe these two women are not actually the worst people on earth. To her credit Orenstein sticks the landing, maybe wrapping it all up a little to cleanly and quickly but no matter, by the end you don't hate Vivian and Lucy, so I guess there's that.

For as much as I didn't like reading the first half of this book, I actually think I would recommend it to friends. But with the caveat that they have to give it two hours before they're allowed to DNF it. If you can make it two hours, you'll eventually be hooked and the payoff is, begrudgingly, worth it.

The Maine lakeside setting is the true winner in this story ready-made for your summer TBR pile.

The two main characters share a dad, and though the part-time daughter in Maine (Lucy) is fully aware of her half-sister (Vivian), the full-time daughter in New York City, Vivian has no real knowledge about Lucy, just a hunch that her dad has been keeping secrets. The two meet at the family’s lakeside cottage when Vivian arrives to clean out the cottage and prepare it for sale following her father’s death. Vivian shows up in July, typically Lucy’s month at the lake with her dad, startling Lucy and upending her entire world. Lucy doesn’t even know that her father has died, and now Vivian wants to sell the only tie Lucy has really had with the man she sees but once a year during this coveted, idyllic month each summer.

The girls have a contentious dynamic, learning to navigate their circumstances as well as the other’s relationship with their father. Each of the girls have complicated love lives that will be resolved in surprising ways for each of them by the end of this tumultuous summer. Along with their mothers and a circle of new and old friends, they ultimately form a small, unconventional family, who gather at the lake to say goodbye to the man that brought them together in the first place.

There are other dynamics at play throughout the story, making it a layered and complex telling that is not your typical light beach read, but the lakeside setting will still make for a satisfying summer escape.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Probably closer to 3.5 ⭐️ but I loved reading Maine Characters. It was predictable and cozy in the best way, I only wish I was at a lake house and it was currently Summer.

The title makes perfect sense for the story line and while it was predictable, I did really enjoy it and thought everything from character development to twists and turns were well done.

Once I was in the groove of reading it, I couldn’t put it down.

I’ll pick up any book compared to the Parent Trap. I loved all of the family drama and the ways everyone at the lake is intertwined. The multi-timelines and flashbacks were well done to give the story more depth. I also enjoyed all of the pop culture references tucked into the writing and Celeste’s book titles. My only critique is the ending tied up a little too perfectly for me, but that’s personal preference. Would be a great summer beach/lake read!


(Thank you to NetGalley for my eARC)

I honestly had such high hopes for this one because I’ve loved her other books AND the premise of this was so cute!! But honestly the writing just felt messy… It was split POV but the two characters interacted so much it was hard to keep straight whose mind we were in? There were some lines where the narrator would observe something so personal about the other sister that it took me a minute to remember whose perspective I was supposed to be in. And even though the story was super powerful and I loved it a lot, some of the characters were just so hard to like or understand and it really took away from the whole experience.

Definitely fun summer parent trap vibes though! Although it did feel like the same issues were just repeating themselves, with all of the back and forth about selling vs not selling the house, and eventually it got kind of stale.

All in all it wasn’t terrible but it did not meet expectations, and felt a bit all over the place :(

(That being said, I'll still buy it when it comes out, and will recommend it to my friends, because the premise of the story was fun!)

Two half sisters must come to terms with the existence of each other and their inheritance after their father dies unexpectedly.
This book was somewhat reminiscent of The Parent Trap, but make the girls grown-ups and kind of a hot mess. Overall I thought this was a cute read but I think I wanted a bit more character development that we got. Each character felt sort of stereotyped in a way that didn’t make me invest in them enough. I would definitely read more from this author though, I enjoyed the book!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for this ARC!