It All Comes Down to This is a story for women in their 40s trying to figure out how they got to 40. It is the age of wondering how much longer you will have your parents, did you choose the right partner or the right profession. And in Beck, Claire and Sophie’s case- what to do with their childhood summer home in Maine. Fowler let’s us see the best and the worst of each of these sisters and still love each of them. Not always a happy read but a beautiful one.

This book was just very slow. I could not get invested in any of the characters or their lives. Honestly, not much happened in the book. The characters are whiny and many frankly got on my nerves. Maybe that was the point, but for me it backfired. I hoped that over time the book would improve, but it didn’t. I half listened to this book and half read it - and I struggled with my interest in both versions.

Marti Geller is dying and part of her estate is that her 3 daughters must sell the summer cottage in Maine and split the proceeds. The three girls all struggle with their mother’s decision - as well as their own lives. They are all hiding their own challenges and secrets, trying to live picture perfect lives. The sale of the Maine cottage adds to their woes.

PUB DAY: June 7, 2022

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

I’m a sucker for a messy summer drama, especially with a summertime setting. IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS follows three adult siblings as they navigate the death of their mother and their various imploding lives.

I was initially drawn into the storyline and enjoyed meeting the three sisters. As the novel progressed, I thought the story lost momentum and not all of the characters were fully developed. I enjoyed Beck’s sections and I wish that I had connected with the other characters in the same way.

The final reveal didn’t occur until later in the book and felt anticlimactic. The ending didn’t justify a 350 page build up, in my opinion. While I found the pacing to be off, I did enjoy the writing style and I am definitely planning to pick up the author’s debut, A GOOD NEIGHBORHOOD.

The audiobook was well-narrated by Barrie Kreinik, although additional narrators to distinguish each sister would have been a nice touch. Overall, if you’re looking for a leisurely-paced family drama, this could really work for you.

RATING: 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4 stars)

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s press and Netgalley for advanced electronic and audio copies in exchange for an honest review.

This slow paced family drama might have been too slow and too undramatic for me. When Marti Geller dies at the beginning of the story, her three adult daughters struggle with the loss and with the instructions that Marti left them in her will.
The three sisters - Beck, Claire, and Sophie - could not be more different and the character development was done really well but I felt like I was just waiting for anything to happen. The main conflict comes from whether or not to sell the family home, and when the sub plots come to light everything is resolved almost instantly. It felt like a lot of build up and then it was just over.
I thought CJ was going to play a bigger role, but he feels glossed over without the same development as the sisters.
The writing is great, but this story just wasn't my favorite.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc.

This novel had interesting characters and I liked the relationship between the three sisters. It was also well-written Unfortunately, I didn’t find the plot very compelling. There were two main storylines and I found one of the storylines to be underdeveloped and wanted ti know more about that character.

Sadly, this book just didn’t do it for me. I was initially sucked in by the Gellar sisters and their mother, Marti’s, death, but I quickly grew tired of the selfishness of all three of them. I expected a family drama where 3 sisters lean on each other while mourning a loss and, instead, I got soap opera drama with love triangles, revenge sex, and arguments over wills/money/who-needs-what-more. I couldn’t figure out if the sisters were close or not… all this backstory from Marti’s viewpoint of the girls sharing one bedroom and growing up in the city yet they were all so self-absorbed.
It All Comes Down To This just feels disconnected to me. Stories didn’t add up and it swung from sweet to drama too quickly. I guess if you’re into family dramas and themes of independence and self discovery, it’s probably a good read… but if you’d deal with a family death by supporting your loved ones vs. focusing only on yourself, this one might get under your skin.

Marti Geller is dying and she does not relay to her daughters how soon. It’s only a matter of days. She has organized everything herself, including the directive to sell her summer cottage to lessen the burden on her daughters after she’s gone, one final secret that she’s ready to tell them remains. After Marti’s death, the story follows Marti’s three daughters: Beck, Claire, and Sophia, as they process their grief and the messiness of their own lives they finally tell each other the truth of their lives. Then there’s C. J., recently released from prison and looking to buy a house in the same area as the Geller’s cottage. There’s not really much going on in the terms of plot. The story focuses on domesticity of life and the daughters. It was somewhat difficult to keep track of all the characters at first but less so over time. The beginning wasn’t all that interesting, but the longer I read, the more I became invested in these characters’ lives. It didn’t blow me away, but it was a slow read.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and the author for providing me with an arc via Netgalley.

This book just didn't do it for me. I really struggled to stay with it. It was pretty slow. Some of the plot made me cringe. I was at 91% and had no idea how the author was going to wrap it all up. The ending was kind of abrupt, but it was concise and probably my favorite part.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

It All Comes Down To This is a delightful story that captured me right from the beginning. I enjoyed the various character storylines and the stories from the mother’s perspective. It took a little too long for a connection between the sisters and CJ. I also wanted a little more to CJ’s story line, but overall I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it to friends for summer reading!

Thank you to Therese Anne Fowler, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an exchange.

This book puts the drama in family drama. There was certainly a lot packed in here, but even still the middle dragged a bit. Maybe because of my current stage in life, I didn't feel myself connecting with any of the characters in a meaningful way, and it was easy to get irritated at the things they brought in themselves. I've you're looking for a messy family, you'll like this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 I read and listened to this and enjoyed both formats.

Therese Anne Fowler never disappoints. Although supposedly lighter fare than her usual work, It All Comes Down to This displays her skill with in-depth characterization, compelling plots, and wonderful turns of phrase.

Families are messy and the Gellers are no exception. Beck, Sophie, and Claire lead very different lives and it takes their mother's death to bring them together and set them on new paths, both personally and professionally. In fact, Marti Geller made sure her Last Will and Testament would force them to make some changes. Each sister is at a crossroads in her life and second-guessing her decisions.

To complicate matters, C.J. Reynolds wants to buy the Gellers' summer cottage. He's a charming artist with a troubled past, and he's either a big problem or the perfect solution.

This is a story with everything--family secrets, scandal, humor, and the hope of true love.

We can never escape our past. And sometimes that's a good thing.

Having LOVED A Good Neighborhood, I was ecstatic to get It All Comes Down to This from the publisher as an early read. I honestly think Fowler is one of the most talented contemporary writers I’ve read. I love the way her words flow on the page and create complicated emotions in her characters and her readers.

In this book, the characters discuss Jung’s “meaningful connections” throughout and I feel like I have to note that the book, in and of itself, has a very meaningful connection to me. I am about to travel to Bar Harbor, Maine - a place I had never heard of before… nor has it ever been a setting in a book I’ve read. But guess what place I learned all about while reading this book? Yep. Bar Harbor. So cool!!!

I didn’t particularly LIKE any of the characters on their own much, but I loved their interactions and the way the coped with their situations. I didn’t want certain things to happen, but for some inexplicable reason, they needed to happen. The story goes exactly as it should - even if the reader wishes for another outcome. I am not usually a fan of a happy ending where everything is all tied up, but in this story, it just makes sense!

I do have a big BIG thing to note about this book. IT HAS CHAPTER TITLES! I didn’t know how much I missed them until I saw them again. It made my heart so happy! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Three adult sisters grapple with family secrets after their mother dies in IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS by Therese Anne Fowler. I have a special interest in books about sisters, so this plot held great appeal to me. The beginning and ending are just great while the middle is a struggle at times. Author Fowler has, perhaps, created too many very distinct characters and given them each such defined attributes and personalities, that I felt overwhelmed by details and tidbits. I wished to know less about some of these characters and more about others. I really wanted more about the mother’s backstory and hoped for a larger meaning for her story. There is a gentleness to this tale and a softness to the pace that often works well; although in the middle I became impatient, hoping for more. On the whole, this book is well worth reading and enjoying. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I just realized that I never sent a review for this even though I read it a while back and loved it! Blame it on the pandemic! This was super fun - the sisters who are so different yet who love each other deep down. Made me miss my own sisters. Well done.

It All Comes Down to This
by: Therese Anne Fowler
St. Martin's Press
Pub Date: June 07, 2022
Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction

This is a complex family drama about three sisters whose mother is near the end of her life. It is a character driven story of grief and settling the family estate. Those who enjoy slower paced books with a multigenerational centered plot might want to check this out.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader's copy and opportunity to provide my unbiased review.

Marti knows she is dying of cancer so she sets out to make her estate easy to handle. She makes all of her own arrangements and leaves specific instructions for her 3 daughters - Beck, Claire and Sophie. One of the provisions of Marti's will is that the family "camp" in Mount Desert Island, Maine be sold and the proceeds divided among the girls.

Beck, the oldest daughter, now a grandmother is living in marriage that she is not happy in. Paul her husband is a good provider and they are friendly, but the love is not there. Claire, a pediatric cardiologist, is newly divorced and learning to navigate life as a single mom. Sophie, the youngest, is an influencer who seems to have it all, but in reality is falling apart.

This is an epic family saga about life and loss. We are able to explore what makes each of these three sisters tick, the intricacies of their relationships, the things they have kept secret, etc. Family dynamics are always interesting and I really enjoyed this character-driven family drama.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I wanted to like this book as I loved Fowler’s last novel, but this one just didn’t do it for me. The main problem for me was that none of the three daughters were all that likable, which made it hard to root for them as they got their lives figured out. Also, everything was wrapped up way too quickly and neatly in just a few pages at the end. I like Fowler’s writing style, so I will probably pick up whatever books she writes next, but this one was mostly a miss.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC!
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I really, really loved Fowler's previous novel, A Good Neighborhood, so of course I wanted to read her new book, It All Comes Down to This. I must say, the two are drastically different. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but in this case - it was for me. It All Comes Down to This just felt like a whole lotta nothing? This is a character-driven story which I really, really like - but I also like when at least something happens. And honestly I didn't feel like anything really happened. The character build-up leads the reader to thinking that something monumental is going to occur for these characters, but in my opinion, it did not feel like anything out of the ordinary. Reading about ordinary life is fine, the story was just very anticlimatic. I enjoyed the character development and found certain parts interesting, but not enough to truly hold my attention.

Beck, Claire, and Sophie are living three very different lives. The death of their mother and a stipulation in her will not only bring them closer together but also expose the unhappiness hidden behind their lies.
Beck tries to envision how her life would be with a passionate partner, something that she and her husband Paul have never had. She dreams of writing a novel and her decision to clear out her mother's cottage and get it ready to be sold, changes her perceptions of everything.
Claire is a successful doctor. She divorced and tried to navigate her busy life and the custody challenges that come with it. She discovers that a long-held secret crush will never be anything more than that and has to face that reality( or does she).
Sophie lives an instafamous life, barely keeping her head above water. Credit card debt is killing her, and her perfect life is not so picture-perfect. She suffers three losses almost simultaneously and has to decide what is truly important, coming on the heels of her mother's passing.
Then there is CJ, a man with a murky past who connects with a young orphan boy. Staying at a friend's home and trying to make a new life,he is surprised to find a woman from his past.
A slow-burn character-driven tale and if it wasn't for one(to me)unrealistic connection between characters( and something one of those people did), it would have been a solid 4 stars. I just couldn't get past my issue though. In this case, it may well be me, not the book.3.5 stars.

After matriarch, Marti, has passed, her three daughters must come together to sell the beach house and come to terms with family secrets Marti has surprised them with. At the same time, an old friend of the eldest sister comes back into her life and to the beach. For all three sisters decisions must be made involving their romantic lives and work lives.
Ok, this is my third Therese Anne Fowler book. And I was wanting more. There was so much going on in this book it could have been two books. Too many chapters from different POVs. Too many loose ends not tied up. Too many obstacles that seemed either too trivial or too difficult to get through in the limited time with each sister. The sisters were the worst and didn't have one redeeming quality among them. The youngest sister who was completely out of control ended up being the most successful after one good idea? Even better than the dr sister? I don't think so. Beck, the oldest is entitled and acts like a teenager even though she's rounding forty and doesn't have much to show for why she thinks her book could sell even though she's never written a book before, just keeps playing around with the idea without actually working on it.
Marti narrates a couple of the chapters at the beginning alluding to a family secret. Once the girls find out the secret, it's talked about one other time and there isn't a resolution. Maybe it's more real that way, but I want messy family drama to be about family drama, not these petty arguments between sisters. Like I said, too many loose ends and not enough resolution for my taste.