I really wanted to like "Surfside Sisters" by Nancy Thayer, but most of the characters not only weren't likeable, in a lot of cases I found them to be incredibly annoying and juvenile. I also found myself rolling my eyes at the book's ending. (That in and of itself made me reduce my rating from 3 stars to 2.) However, I did find myself wanting to keep turning the pages, hoping that something would happen to make Keely, the main character, wake up and choose a better path for herself. Unfortunately, that never happened.

There were so many things that frustrated me about this book. First, we only got Keely's side of the story, and frankly she came across as kind of whiny and pathetic a lot of the time. She was so desperate to be accepted by the Maxwell family that she put up with - even encouraged! - what seemed like very poor treatment from both Isabelle and Sebastian. That said, my perception of events might have been different if we had heard Isabelle's side of the story too.

From Keely's perspective, Isabelle came across as an incredibly selfish, entitled person who was never truly a friend to Keely, and yet, no matter what, Keely still wanted to be her friend to the end. There were a few times I wanted to reach into the book and slap Keely for not recognizing that their "friendship" had become toxic and it was time to move on. It's not like Keely didn't have any friends besides Isabelle! Why she kept clinging to Isabelle and the rest of the Maxwells was puzzling to me because they really didn't seem that great. Keely didn't seem to appreciate how great her own parents were, either. So what if the Greens didn't have as big of a house as the Maxwells, or if they never had any pets because her parents were allergic? Those were such stupidly petty things to complain about that, again, I wanted to slap Keely for complaining about them.

As for Sebastian, he seemed to keep Keely dangling on a string for years and she just kept coming back for more. Except for one time when he was a freshman in college, he never went out of his way to contact her. Basically, unless she was standing right in front of him, it didn't seem like he even thought about her, despite his protestations to the contrary. Sebastian only decided to pursue a romantic relationship with Keely when it was finally convenient for him, after he broke up with his Swedish girlfriend and moved back to the island full-time. That was fine with Keely, apparently, since she was still so desperate to be a part of the "wonderful" Maxwell family.

Then there was the Keely-Tommy-Isabelle love triangle. What a ridiculous saga that was! I couldn't figure out why Keely even wanted Tommy in the first place - maybe just because Isabelle wanted him and had him first? How much could Keely really have wanted to be friends with Isabelle by that point anyway if her idea of "friendship" allowed her to start dating her supposed BFF's ex the day after they broke up? I'm not saying that what Isabelle and Tommy did was right, but Keely's behavior wasn't exactly perfect either.

There were plenty of other things that annoyed me about this book, but this review is already way too long. Bottom line: I was really disappointed with "Surfside Sisters," though the writing itself was decent and I was interested enough in what would happen next to keep reading to the end. I would give another one of Nancy Thayer's books a shot in the future. Hopefully the characters and storyline will be less frustrating!

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Perfect chick lit! I loved the premise and the characters were well developed! I recommend this for anyone looking for a light and fun read!

I was in the mood for a light read and this book was perfect for that. I got caught up in the characters and the story though I can't say I especially liked many of the characters. Actually, I found it rather hard to believe why Keely was so besotted by her "best friend" Isabelle who seemed flighty, entitled, and perhaps was only friends with Keely because she felt so superior to her. I felt sorry for Keely's hardworking and stable parents who most assuredly could tell Keely was envious of the Maxwells and thought she would have preferred to be in their family.

It seemed sort of pathetic to me that Keely kept trying so hard to renew her friendship with Isabelle while getting basically nothing back from her for several years. I also felt sorry later in the story for Gray who was dropped like a hot potato when Keely had someone 'better'. It also seemed strange how the narrative dropped him so suddenly too after he'd been a seemingly important character then poof, he was gone.

I did enjoy the book most of the way through although the ending seemed rushed and thrown together. Of course the ending was predictable, I expected that - - but it felt like the author just ran out of time and quickly wrapped everything up with a neat bow.

This is a good beach read and enjoyable for this genre.

This book was a great read. I read it in two days. The story takes place in Nantucket. It’s about two friends from when they were young to adult. How their lives took different paths but both were envious of each other. This is my honest opinion and I received a copy from NetGalley.

I've always loved reading Nancy Thayer's books and her newest book, Surfside Sisters, ranks right up there with the best of them :) It's the perfect time of year to read a book set on Nantucked\t and the story was as compelling as the setting! Lifelong friends, family ties & commitments, hopes and drems, disappointments, forgiveness, and coming full circle. Loved it!

Great book! I devoured it and have recommended it to friends! It's one of those novels that is perfect for a warm afternoon outside with a glass of iced tea! The storyline is easy to follow and a novel set in Nantucket and New York is bound to be full of surprises!

Highly recommended! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing - Ballentine for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I have been a huge fan of Nancy Thayer and the way she makes Nantucket and the surrounding areas come alive.
I enjoyed this story of Keely and Isabelle and their time growing up on the island.
This book however wasn’t my favorite for several reasons. At first when you start this book it starts in a certain time then jumps to flash backs of her childhood without really giving you a notice. Then throughout the book it jumps forward months, seasons, and years without letting you know. This caused this book to not flow well. This could simply be fixed by giving dates before every time change. This would allow the reader to know they are moving ahead in time.
The other really frustrating point of this book was the relationship between Keely and Isabelle’s family. I could not get behind Keely’s character because she allowed Isabelle and her family to abuse her emotionally. To me the friendship wasn’t a true friendship unless it was at Keely’s expense.
So in all this would not be my favorite Nancy Thayer book and I would not recommend it. I like to champion the main character and feel proud of him or her. In this case I found myself embarrassed of how she was allowing people to see her and what she accepted to be normal.

Keely and Isabelle have been friends forever. Even as young children, they both loved words and wanted to be writers. As adults, things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes, life just gets in the way.

This story follows Keely as she faces disappointments and sorrows. We watch as she grows as a person and the reader will love her even more as she matures. We are buoyed with happiness when her wishes are granted. We want to pull her in for a hug when she is lonely.

This is a fun beach read. It will make you laugh; make you cry and offer plenty of times to reminisce. The characters of Keely and Isabelle are displayed in all their glory and flaws. Keely is developed extensively as she matures and life deals her good and bad cards. I would have liked Tommy and Sebastian to have been painted a bit more thoroughly, but it doesn’t distract from the story, as such.

This is the book you want to grab with your towel and sunscreen. Nancy Thayer has another hit on her hand.


I received an ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book.

Surfside Sisters is a light read set in beautiful Nantucket. This is the perfect book to cosy up with on the beach for a day ;).

I enjoyed the perspective of Keely from childhood to present day. I was bummed out that we didn't get to see Isabel's perspective and think that this would have added an additional star to my rating. I think overall I was wishing that the characters were more in depth and better developed. I didn't particularly connect with anyone in the book and was wishing I would have!

It just fell flat for me unfortunately without the depth of the characterization. It was a decent read but not sure I would read something else by this author.

3 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: 7/2/19
Published to GR: 7/3/19

Surfside Sisters is a Nantucket story of two close childhood friends. Nancy Thayer gives insight what it is like growing up in a small place with best friends who know everything about each other. Somehow through the ups and the big downsides of friendship the Surfside Sister made it.

The book is told from Keely’s perspective. While I liked her much more than I did Isabella, both girls seemed to understand each other. Becoming so infatuated on one guy was a new idea for me, they seemed to be unable to let their high school crushes go even when they were adults. I am sure I had crushes but can’t even tell you who the guys were now. What I did like and completely understand is pursing a dream while still living your life.

The ending, well parts were great. The house that I am not sure I agreed with or the man that went with it. I loved the island setting, understood Keely wanting to come home but somehow wished she had chosen the other man.

A heart-breaking tale of best friends pursuing very different dreams! I had a little bit of a rough time getting into this book, as it takes the entire first half to set up the backstory. Keely Green represents a lot of readers, at least in my heart, so to watch her suffer heartbreak, loss and betrayal was brutal. Her best friend Isabelle leaves a lot to be desired in my book, most of the time I wanted to throttle her. Sebastian, the life-long crush, yet unattainable brother of her best friend, will have you wanting to know what his story is. Once the story was brought to the present-time, I couldn't put it down. A great summertime read, but have the tissues ready!

Beach read, chick-lit...either is appropriate for Nancy Thayer’s newest summer in Nantucket book. Neither the characters nor the plot are original and I feel like I’ve read two similar books recently. But for light reading this is fine. Never discount Nancy Thayer.

This is a wonderfully done book that will make the perfect beach read. Love them or hate them, the characters will make an impression on you and your emotions will be all over the place. This is the story of two girls from childhood through to adulthood and the journey their lives take. As kids they shared a passion for writing and words as well as a dream to become published authors. Some dreams are realized, hopes and desires change, relationships are strained but through all life throws their way the hope is that their friendship will remain. This is definitely a recommended read for all chick lit fans!

What a great story of dreams, disappointments, reality, forgiveness, choices and growing. These characters are very believable and I was right there with them. Did you end up with your dream job? What about your dream life? Everyone needs to be able to dream. Would you rather live in a small town or a big city? I would take a small town every time. Even if everyone does know your business. I hope you enjoy spending time with the Maxwells, the Greens, and friends. I did and hope to be with them all again. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

This is a story about two childhood friends. Keeley and Isabelle. Keeley was middle class and Isabelle was from a rich family. The two things they had in common was that they lived in the same Nantucket town and they both wanted to be famous writers when they grew up.

Their common interest kept them together until a romantic interest tore them apart. At that point, the lives moved apart rapidly and for what seemed like forever.

Keely managed to make her dream come true and is a famous author. When events in her life turn her in circles, she retreats back to Nantucket to help her mother.

The two ex-friends come in contact again and the story of how the deal with the issues that then them apart is the story of this book.

In some ways, the book is more of a YA novel as so much of it is centered on the younger years of the two individuals. Still, it was a good read and one that was enjoyable as a summer book.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

There is just something so appealing to me about books set in Nantucket, every summer I look forward to reading books set there and though this is only my third book by Thayer, it’s my favorite one so far! It had everything I look for in a beach read. It’s light and fun yet has plenty going on in the characters lives too, throw in a perfect summer location and some romantic drama and it’s the best possible combination for me for a summer read.

This is told solely from Keely’s perspective and begins when she’s a young girl and meets her future best friend, Isabelle. It follows both girls over the years until they’re almost thirty and you get to see them experience highs and lows, both in their separate lives and also in their friendship with each other. I’m really glad that Keely was the narrator as I liked her a lot more than I did Isabelle, she was just a genuinely good person trying to follow her dreams and maintain her relationship with her friend. Although Isabelle wasn’t my favorite kind of character both women were incredibly well developed and interesting.

Highly recommended to pack in your beach bag, this was charming, fun and featured plenty of drama and angst from the characters to keep you engaged.

The Surfside Sisters in three words: Breezy, Carefree and Charming

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

Keely and Izzy have been best friends since forever. Through their shared love of writing and their desire to be authors, their friendship grows. That is, until events in their lives cause them to drift apart.
Relationships change over time and Keely and Izzy move in and out of each others lives. At times, each character wants what the other possesses. Can they get past the things that divide them? Will they be able to overcome the obstacles that interfere with their friendship? Because I am not willing to give away any spoilers, you will have to read the book to find out.

This story is set on Nantucket in all of its charm. It focuses on two types of lifestyle on the island; the super rich and the working or middle class. However, it gives evidence that things like wealth, status, and social class are fluid and can change with one’s circumstances.

This is a great summer read. Take it to the beach and dive into it!

This was my first book by Nancy Thayer. I have another on my bookshelf and now I am dying to get to it!
Surfside Sisters was one of those books that is just a step or two above your average read. Thayer has done an incredible job of insinuating the reader into the lives of the two girls that started out as close as sisters and faced some incredibly difficult issues in their friendship as they aged. There were several difficult issues (love problems, parental death, parental illness, envy...) dealt with within the story that just added incredible layer after incredible layer to the story. Surfside Sisters was just a superb read!
I was given a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

First, thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-galley of this book.

I read this book while on vacation. I just laid by the pool and got caught up in the lives of Keely and Isabel.

These are 2 friends who have grown up together. Keely has always had a secret crush on Isabel's brother, Sebastian, but she never said anything because she cherished her relationship with Issy and didn't want to jeopardize it. Other girls on the island tried to befriend Issy just so they could get close to her brother, so Keely didn't want to be one of those girls.

In high school, Isabel fell in love with Tommy, even though they had never been on a date. Isabel just knew that one day, she and Tommy would fall in love and be together forever.

They go away to school, Issy to Smith, and Keely and Tommy happen to both end up at UMass but they never see each other. Tommy and Isabel finally end up together.

Years later, after heartbreak and pain, Keely is a successful author, and she finds herself having to go back to the island. Keely knows that being on the island means she is going to see her estranged best friend, Isabel.

What will happen? You have to read to see. I loved this story.
#NetGalley #SurfsideSisters

I thought it started out kind of slow. It took me a while to really get into it but found that Ms. Thayer was just taking the time to completely build all the characters. It takes time to get through all those years. There were years of angst suffered by everyone. I loved it that Keely got everything she wanted and everyone got the HEA they were seeking.

Young women should all read this so they learn to NEVER give up on their dream no matter what obstacles have been placed in front of them. A good learning experience was had by all....👍👍

This book was gifted to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.