Too much going on and also not enough going on at the same time. Could not get into any of the characters but it had some bright spots.

The Float Test by Lynn Steger Strong is a recommended literary family drama set in Florida.

The four Kenner family siblings come together after their mother dies. The oldest daughter Jenn, lives nearby and has a large family, Fred (Winnifred) is a writer who is unable to write, Jude is a former lawyer who has a teenage daughter and a grudge against Fred, and George is estranged from his wife and job. Jude is the omniscient narrator and describes everyone's experiences over two months during the summer in Florida.

First, the writing is quite descriptive and the potential for a great literary drama following a dysfunctional family is present. The descriptions of the hot, humid atmosphere in Florida is palpable.

All of these siblings have a strained relationship with each other, including secrets and grudges they are holding. There are numerous interpersonal issues, backstories, subplots, secrets, anxieties, and actions going on throughout the novel. unfortunately, none of the characters are compelling. Fred is decidedly annoying and the story focuses on her the most.

Unfortunately all of the well-written various parts don't coalesce into that one whole, complete story. 2.5 - rounded up for the descriptive writing. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

I love this author's writing. WANT is one of my favorite novels, and I think THE FLOAT TEST is just as good, if not better. Lynn Steger Strong is so gifted at writing relationship dynamics, and I love a good old complicated family. She's also amazing at writing about Florida as a location, and the weather helps compound the emotional themes of the book. I loved sinking into the world of the characters and their problems, while also pondering the larger, global issues that Steger Strong weaves through.,

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc

I should've checked the reviews before requesting this book. While the cover is stunning, this book was a chore to get through.

I think I am done reading from this author. I read her debut, Want, and I liked it but I wasn’t blown away by it either. I love reading about family dynamics, but this was so tedious to get through, I think it’s her writing style that doesn’t mesh well with me. Her prose meanders to the point of aggravation. There’s too much exposition and not enough dialogue. I didn’t like anything about this novel, it was a total snooze fest. Yawn.

Lynn Steger Strong’s The Float Test is a dark, offbeat family drama exploring sibling tension, grief, and personal struggles. While the novel’s complex characters and slow-burning plot kept me engaged, an unsettling scene near the end dampened my overall enjoyment

The state of Florida just oozes its muggy humidity over Lynn Steger Strong's The Float Test. In it, four siblings assess their current situation after their mother unexpectedly passes. They reconvene in Florida to help out their father and think about their futures. Secrets are slowly revealed through the book and the author leaves clues along the way. The eldest Jenn is a mother of too many children and is frazzled, Fred is a writer who no longer writes, Jude (the primary narrator) primarily is seen through her simmering feud with Fred, and George, the youngest is estranged from his wife and unsure about his future. There are so many scenes of sweltering humidity in this book, I felt choked by the general ambience and murkiness of secrets. I found the overall resolution somewhat fulfilling on this one, but struggled with investment in the characters.

Thank you to Mariner Books via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

I really enjoyed Lynn Steger Strong’s previous novels, WANT and FLIGHT, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of her forthcoming release, THE FLOAT TEST. I’d best describe this one as a complex family drama with flawed and multi-layered characters that’s a little dark, dreary, and offbeat.

Right off the bat, the reader notices that there’s some bad blood between two of the sisters—Jude and Fred. We don’t know what caused the rift and it adds a mysterious element to the story throughout. I kept asking myself, “Oh my goodness, Fred! What the heck did you do?” I just had to find out.

Each sibling is dealing with their own individual woes and issues like divorce, job loss, and parenting problems as they come together to support their father after their mother dies. We receive snippets of the past and present and learn how the relationships between the siblings have evolved from childhood into adulthood.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Family drama and dynamics
- Sisterhood
- Secrets and betrayal
- Florida setting
- Flawed characters
- Marriage and divorce
- Writer lifestyle
- Reflections on loss and grief
- Slow-burning plot lines

I can’t end this review without mentioning a scene at the end that left a sour taste in my mouth. I’m going to be totally vague and not give any details because I don’t want to ruin your reading experience. With that said, I found it quite upsetting and unnecessary. It honestly made me knock my rating down a bit because of it, so that’s unfortunate.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this novel and thought that it was a solid family drama. I love Lynn Steger Strong’s writing style and will read anything she writes. I’m gonna go with 3.5/5 stars for THE FLOAT TEST. It’s out on April 8th!

This would be a great summer read as the story takes place in Florida over July and August. The author does a great job at making us feel like we are in Florida - I could practically feel the humidity. I can also appreciate the sub plot about the importance of deforestation/environmentalism.

Honestly and unfortunately, I had a tough time getting through the book. While the premise was interesting with dysfunctional family dynamics and complicated sibling relationships, the story just couldn’t hold my attention throughout multiple parts of the book, mostly in due because I was confused about what was going on up until the resolution.

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Float Test is a novel full of promise, but unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me.

The writing meandered here and there throughout the story, bringing in information about environmental issues and global health issues when more time should have been spent developing the dysfunctional Kenner family members.

The plot did eventually come together for a worthwhile conclusion, but I never would have reached that point if I hadn't committed to reviewing this title. I would have quit reading out of boredom before the halfway point.

A dysfunctional family novel really relies on its characters. If you can’t connect with the characters, it’s hard to be invested in their progression. I felt like we never got to know any of them enough, especially Fred. I kept catching myself trying to make assumptions about why they were making the choices they were instead of being able to rely on their story for some context. I know siblings go through things but they all seemed a little *too* stubborn at times. I did really enjoy the ending scene with them and their dad, I wish we got to spend more time with him. At its core, the plot was incredible and had a lot of potential. I just had a hard time getting invested.

A deep dive into a dysfunctional family following the death of the matriarch. Fans of Strong’s previous works will love raw, unflinching look at the different families members as the story unfolds in multiple timelines until it all wraps up in the final pages.

Wasn’t the book for me. The story was all over the place and not coherent. I didn’t enjoy this but someone who likes family drama may.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book had a lot of moving pieces and kind of all over the place. I felt some parts could have come together quicker and before the end to help confusion.

Book was good, I enjoyed it., just wish that it wasn't so all over the place!

The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can't write, maybe because she's lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters' friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever--if only they could trust each other. 
The Float Test is a slow burn of a family drama, with bits of all four siblings stories being told. While being a first person POV from Jude, the story focuses mostly on Fred and George. The writing style confused me a bit - I couldn't really tell if this was supposed to be Jude telling this story to her daughter, Cass, or if it was just a story in general. And we're getting stories from a side character that Jude had no way of knowing... All four siblings are having their issues, a lot possibly stemming from the rich upbringing and their own levels of depression in adulthood, they're just not very likeable. You definitely want to scream at them at moments while reading... I could have done without the big moment at the end, and wish it had been something else that finally brought them all together. 
Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for a review.

I had to dnf this one 30% in. There were parts I loved and quotes I wrote down but overall I just could not get into it which made me sad.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to read this. I really enjoyed FLIGHT, by this author. I liked this book by the end.
This book is a family story about siblings coming together after a tragedy in the family.
I chose this one because I do love family sagas. But I have to agree with others that I spent a good while being confused. But once it clicked... it clicked.

I think this is a good story with a very clever premise, but I just couldn’t connect with the stream of conscience writing. It felt very disjointed, and I found myself lost quite a bit of the time.

With that said, I did enjoy the book.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I wasn't fond of THE FLOAT TEST by Lynn Steger Strong. I did like her previous novel FLIGHT.

This is a wealthy (although “new money”) dysfunctional family that comes together after the death of their mother. I didn’t care for any of the characters. Now I don’t always need to root for or even like characters. Gosh, I love a despicable main character! But these weren’t despicable nor likeable characters. They were all blandly problematic and navel gaze-y.

I wasn’t sure why the perspectives didn’t completely switch. Jude, the main character, is the third oldest sibling with a solid first person perspective. But when it’s from Fred or George’s perspective, it feels like it’s a close third person perspective, but then she would say “I” (as Jude) even in situations when Jude couldn’t have been there to observe the situation. It felt odd to me, but maybe it’s a higher literary technique that goes above my head.

There was some information (what happened between Jude and Fred) that was kept from the reader until the end, and it felt like the author was being unnecessarily coy because it didn’t land as a big reveal (maybe it wasn’t supposed to be?). And did the death at the end need to happen?? I think that’s going to put a bad taste in the mouth of many readers due to how it happened and to whom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

It publishes April 8, 2025.

Strong’s book Flight is one of my favorite books to recommend this time of year. Set over a single holiday weekend, it is an expertly crafted family story that is able to use a condensed narrative to deliver complex characterization and sincere emotion. The Float Test is a similar project in many ways, though the setting and scope give it a markedly different flavor. Like Flight, this is a family story in which the characters come together after the death of the matriarch and in which revealing who that matriarch really was is a primary element of the novel. I found the storytelling choices in this novel to be quite compelling, particularly the choice to have a novelist character who is the focus of the story but not the narrator. Instead, the narrator is her sister Jude and the book occasionally uses conventions that might be expected of an amateur writer and offers meta-commentary on what Jude knows versus what she imagines. Those elements worked well for me, along with a wonderfully vivid Florida setting and frank discussion of the impact of climate change. But I struggled profusely with the driving forces of the novel: secrets and withholding. “Family uncovers secrets after a death” has become something of a trope in literary fiction, such that I find its often used as shorthand in a way that allows the author to rely on the reader’s inherent interest in uncovering the secret rather than developing any authentic tension in the plot. Conversations turn just before a revelation and terrible things to come are hinted at heavy handedly so that I begin to feel manipulated. In The Float Test, this can most easily be summed up with the inclusion of a gun that one sister finds in her deceased mother’s bedroom. Not only does no one know why their mother had the gun, but Strong uses the looming threat of the object to propel the reader through the novel. I always resist when I can sense the author’s hand pulling me through a text so while I enjoyed the writing and characters, I never felt fully engaged or invested in this one. If you appreciate a family novel, I do think you might find much to love in this book, however, I fear that this is a type of novel that’s losing its once-strong grip on me.