This was my first There Anne Fowler novel, and I quite enjoyed it! It's another dysfunctional family saga focused on a family with three middle aged daughters and their families (mostly relationships with husbands/partners).

There was nothing I disliked about the storylines/characters, and some relationships were very sweet, but the novel was not as well crafted and tight as I would have liked, which prevented me from loving it. It is not a short book, yet many aspects of the story and characters felt underdeveloped, or just not very tightly crafted and plotted.

The setting of the Maine house was lovely, and more of that would have been great for the summertime atmosphere.

Overall, I did enjoy the audio especially, and would recommend it as a summer read for dysfunctional family story readers!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Unfortunately this book is just way too slow moving to keep my interest. I have no idea where it’s going and I’m 40 per cent in. The characters are likeable enough but with very little plot I’m just not interested enough to finish.

This is a lovely book, with interesting and fully-formed characters. The protagonists are three sisters, and I appreciated the fact that they came across as real people with real problems. Their relationships--mostly with each other, but also with their recently-deceased mother and other family members--are complex and relatable. I loved the settings in New York and Mount Desert Island, and how these places formed the characters in different ways. I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, narrated by the fabulous Barrie Kreinik (one of my favorite audiobook narrators). This may be a somewhat "quiet" novel, but it is highly recommended for readers who love family drama, challenging relationships, and character development. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook!

I’m usually a fan of a family saga but this one just didn’t do it for me, the characters were hard to root for, and the storyline was slow. Teresa Ann Fowler’s writing is beautiful though, so I intend to read more of her books. So many of hers have been on my TBR for a while now and despite not liking this story, I have a feeling I’ll like her others. This story didn’t pull me in. There were sparks of interest, Marti’s secret, the setting, the description of the Camp while the realtor is showing CJ around, and CJ himself but for me, they never amounted to anything. I think this book might be one of those that you really need to read at the right moment of your life in order to properly connect with it, perhaps during that midlife crisis period?

It All Comes Down to This is the first book that I have read by Therese Anne Fowler. I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan audio for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Barrie Kreinik. Ms. Kreinik does a good job of voicing all the characters in this book. I had a difficult time with this book which starts with the death of a mother of three grown women and explores the lives of these women. The characters were shallow to me and I couldn't relate to any of them or their struggles. The unrequited love that one sister has with the other sister's husband (who happens to feel the same about her) fell flat for me. And, the decisions that these women continue to make did not feel realistic at all. It was really hard to connect anything that went on with reality. I had been interested in reading some of Ms. Fowler's other books, but now, I'm not so sure...

It All Comes Down to This - this book being a little odd for me. I didn't really get interested in the characters until about halfway through the book. At that point, I was interested in what was happening but at the end, the timing took a weird turn and I felt like I missed part of the book but I didn't. This is family drama, for sure. I just didn't love the characters enough to worry about them.

I enjoyed the narrator. Her voice was easy to listen to.

A family drama surrounding three sisters and one summer cottage.

Their mother will be dying soon and leaves her financial intentions in her will. We follow each of her three daughters on the surface through others eyes, but also on the inside as we are shown their insecurities, problems, desires and heartaches.

I loved meeting and truly getting to know each woman. Every human on this earth has their own struggles and trials. This is what the book showed. I loved how deeply we become integrated into each of their lives, to a point of "I get it!" I understand WHY they behave the way they do and I WANT them to succeed!

This was a deep character study, that I don't always tend to care for, but this one worked for me! The audio was great and I was easily able to tell which sisters story was being told as they rotated through the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advance audiobook.

This book was okay for me. I had a hard time relating to and connecting with the sisters. It felt like most of the book was describing each character's life and no real tension was building. Then there was this weird breaking point at the end and then it jumped way into the future with a ribbon tied neatly around it. I wish we would have seen more of how they ended up where they did instead of why they had their problems/secrets because that would have been much more interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this ARC for my honest review.

I knew having read the authors previous book that she writes character driven novels about family so while my expectations were set accordingly, there was still something off about this one for me. Usually when I’m engrossed in an audiobook I have no problem following along but here my mind was wandering at different points along the way and I had to really try to focus and pay attention. I think part of my issue was that I didn’t really care for any of the Geller sisters so it was difficult to be invested in their story. The whole thing just felt kinda messy and pointless but I will say between the good writing and the wonderful audio narration I did finish it so it definitely wasn’t all bad. I just think I wanted an overall better connection to the story and characters.

I listened to this book. The narrator's voice was nice. The characters on this family drama, kept my attention. I liked the sisters' dynamic and the storyline. I would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book and cannot understand the numerous three star and lower reviews. It was a compelling family drama with a certain amount of romance. I was sorry for it to be over and plan to read the author’s previous book and am looking forward to it.

This book took some work to get through. I enjoyed the premise; the lives of 3 sisters after their Mother's death. But, the problem was the characters; the sisters were shallow and self absorbed.
After the death of their Mother, the sisters are tasked with getting rid of the cottage in Maine.
I found the switch between the characters to be jarring. Just as I somewhat grasping the life of one sister, the next chapter takes a hard left to another one.
It just never came together for me, and the ending was trite and tidy.
Thank you NetGalley & St Martins Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was my first Therese Anne Fowler novels and I wasn't sure what to expect going in. The premise sounded interesting enough - three diverse sisters, separated by age/location/occupation, are joined together by their dying mother and somehow this C.J. Reynolds character comes into play in a way that impacts all three of the sisters. I was really hoping for a breathtaking plot twist that would connect these characters together but it unfortunately fell a little flat for me. I did however enjoy the sisters' stories, thought that Fowler had distinct voices for each of them, and really loved how everything worked out in the end of the three of them. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest book by Therese Anne Fowler and beautifully narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Barrie Kreinik - 4 stars!

Beck, Claire and Sophie are the daughters of Marti, who is dying of lung cancer. Marti has planned her estate to make things as easily as possible but it includes one stipulation - their Maine cottage must be sold right away and the proceeds split between the sisters. But each of the sisters has a secret and each is struggling with their life.

I absolutely loved this author's previous book, A Good Neighborhood, and thought it was a must read for everyone. This one didn't invoke the same passion for me, but it was a good family saga and character study. I loved the setting and the importance of family stories. It's beautifully written - I'll look forward to Fowler's next book!

I usually like any story that deals with a summer cottage, I do love beach reads, especially the locations, it's hard being stuck in the middle of the US away from the water when you grew up around it. So I was excited to give It All Comes Down To This. I did not, however, go into this book really expecting a beach read.

I thought the authors writing was good, the characters were well exucated and I like all the sisters and the relationship they had with each other, but I felt a bit disconnected from the story, like it was not fully connected.

I will however look for whatever Therese Anne Fowler writes next, because I thibnk her writing is stellar, I just have to find a story I connect more with, and that could very well be her next one.

Normally, I breeze through audiobooks in a couple of days, especially a book like this one about complicated family dynamics, but for some reason, I found myself choosing to listen to other things while working because this book did not grab me the way I’d hoped. I didn’t particularly like any of the sisters, which is probably why I didn’t care enough to find out what happened to them. I increased the speed of the audiobook at the halfway point just to get through it. This one didn’t work for me.

Story aside, the narrator of the audiobook was excellent.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

A multigenerational family drama about three grown sisters dealing with the death of their mother and the sale of the family summer house on an island in Maine. I really wanted to love this one more than I did but unfortunately I didn't really connect to any of the characters and didn't find the story very interesting or compelling. Full of secrets, lies, infidelity, mid-life crises and authorial aspirations. Recommended for fans of The paper palace. The best part was maybe the narration by Barrie Kreinik. Much thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review an early copy.

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I have enjoyed Fowler's writing in the past, but I just had a hard time connecting with these characters although I did enjoy the audiobook narration. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

This story is about finding love, fulfilling desire, and connection. It is also about keeping secrets and each woman in this book has one. The story begins with Marti Geller going to hospice to die peacefully alone. She leaves her three daughters, Beck, Claire, and Sophie a letter explaining that she wants them to sell their cottage in Maine that each would visit in the summers growing up.

The sisters have very different personalities and aren’t close. Yet, they must come together to get the house in order. The reason Marti wants to sell the place does becomes clear. Marti also began her life based on a lie. So, what held my interest with this book was why each sister was behaving the way she was. I think it is important that each is living with a secret and that secret is based on a lie about themselves. It is not really possible to create intimacy in your life when you are pretending for whatever reason. It comes down to being true to yourself and being honest with yourself. Once you do that, it is possible to reconnect. This begins to happen with Beck, Claire, and Sophie as I got further into the book. I liked that change and connection is always possible.

I had some issues with this book. The biggest was really connecting to the characters. I don’t think any of them had found a way to connect to themselves, so what could each offer me the reader? Yet, I related the most to Beck and understood her feelings and decisions, while Sophie I hardly understood at all. Claire, somewhat, but needed more. Some of the twists and turns in the sisters’ lives did not seem plausible or if they did happen would cause a lot more problems then presented. The male character CJ, who is looking to buy the house, I thought he was not well developed and that part could have been dropped completely.

The bothersome parts of the book were not enough to keep me from liking it. I kept coming back to the theme of pursuing your own passion and being authentic and how that changes a person for the better. It is really the only way to live a full life. The book explores this and finding joy in your life. I like Therese Anne Fowler’s writing and connected to this story.

I had both the Kindle book and the Audio book. I really like reading this way. The narration by Barrie Kreinik was done very well. Reading the book allows me to absorb all the writing and highlight passages that I thought presented the book’s message.

Thank you NetGalley, Therese Anne Fowler, and St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for a copy of this book to review.

3.5 Stars

Overall I really enjoyed this, it was an easy listen and I felt invested in the sisters' lives and seeing how the story unfolds. The narration was smooth and engaging, I think this also enhanced the book for me.

In a story of the Geller sisters, each one unique in their own way and struggling to find their path after the loss of their mother, Marti. In Marti's will and in her infinite wisdom, she leaves behind their family cottage in Maine to fix up and sell. It's as if she knew each of her girls: Beck, Claire, and Sophie, needed this each in their own way. Enter C.J. Reynolds, just released from prison and looking for a fresh start, to come and mix things up.

I appreciated the character development, and could truly see the personalities of the sisters come out in the story. I felt invested in what happened to them, and hopeful to see them succeed in whatever way they needed. There were a lot of story lines and things happening between Marti, the three sisters, Paul, and C.J., that at times it was a little difficult to keep it straight as well as decipher the connections amongst them all.

In the end, I felt that the most attention went to Beck, which may be how it was intended, but I would have liked to see a bit more of how the other sisters fared as well. But all in all I would definitely read other works from Therese Anne Fowler, as this was a great read to get connected with your inner self.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio/St. Martin's Press for an Advanced Listener Review in exchange for an honest review. Full review to be posted on my IG @manis.and.manuscripts during pub week!