I truly enjoyed this book! It went deeper than a typical light hearted women’s fiction- a happy ending sure, but bittersweet. Great characters- flawed and honest yet incredibly likable. I would definitely recommend this book. You want to keep reading!

There was so much drama, It was such a fun read!

The MCs started out hating each other, and throughout the book we get to see their relationship progress. I loved seeing that natural sisterly bond between them. The characters were well developed, and easy to follow. I instantly connected to them. The story gives off major summer vibes, and the writing is so good, I felt like I was actually there. The house and town gave off such a charming setting, I absolutely adored it. Definitely a great book when you need a little refresher!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the free ebook!

DNF @ 35%
As someone whose favorite movie has been The Parent Trap since childhood, I really wanted to love this book. However, I couldn’t get past the premise and the main characters’ reactions and processing of the news that the other existed seemed way too downplayed. The pacing was also way too slow for me.
Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for providing an advance copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

A beautiful and, at times, difficult story about love in multiple forms.

There are several story threads here but the central thread revolves around half-sisters Vivian and Lucy, who meet for the first time after their father’s death. While things get off to a contentious start, they eventually grow closer, all while unraveling their shared history and dealing with their own messy romantic pursuits. I loved each sister’s character arc equally and found them both to be strong, well-written characters.

Conten-wise, this leans more towards Women’s Fiction than Romance. Yes, there are romantic plotlines, but they take the backseat to Vivian and Lucy’s relationship.

I will say that it took me a while to get into the book, largely due to the fact it was written in the third person, present tense. Like many other readers, I find that this writing style can be incredibly distracting. In a book like this one, with various storylines outlining complicated relationships, it seemed like a particularly poor choice. Still, the other elements of the book were strong enough to warrant a high rating.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced reader copy of this book, provided in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Ah. I tried so hard to love this and I’m sorry to be writing this. It just was not for me.

I felt like so much happened; but at the same time not really anything at all? All the spots where I anticipated a bigger plot twist fell flat. But maybe that’s kinda the point? If something like this was to happen in real life, everything wouldn’t be ironed out and tied up with a bow - if someone dies, a lot is left unsaid and incomplete. All this to say, I do wish that some of the bigger scenes were longer. It felt like there was so much description in the slower scenes and the bigger scenes were lacking, where those were the ones I wanted more of.

The writing style was also a bit strange to me, I didn’t get why the chapters were broken down into POV of a specific sister but was all in 3rd person. It felt unnecessary and odd. If it was in first person, I’d get it completely.

Some people may love this found sisters storyline! It just wasn’t my speed.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved this book!! It was written so well and I really enjoyed the authors narrative voice. It was super engaging and I loved being part of the characters world. Definitely couldn’t put it down!!

Maine Characters tells the story of two half-sisters who met at the family cabin in a Maine lake after their father's death, one knowing of the other's existence, one whose suspicions become confirmed. The characters are flawed and lovable, the story a twist on the enemies to friends/lovers trope, the result an endearing book with plenty of twists and surprises along the way to a hopefully happy ending. Much thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the opportunity to read this fun eArc in exchange for my honest opinion. 3.75/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book started of slow, but by the end I was really enjoyed it. I liked Lucy right from the start, but Vivian took a while for me to understand her. The way the two of them got to know each other seemed realistic. This would be a great beach read, especially if you were so,lucky as to be in Maine!

2.5 stars - couldn’t get into the characters or story. Just wasn’t for me, unfortunately.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for sending over this advanced readers copy

*Maine Characters* made me want to pack up and move to a lakeside home in Maine! This heartfelt story follows Vivian and Lucy—two sisters who never knew each other existed until their father’s passing.

Vivian had long suspected she might have a secret sibling, but it wasn’t until she arrived at her father’s summer house on the lake that she finally met Lucy. For Lucy, the discovery was life-changing—but her excitement turned to heartbreak when she learned that Vivian planned to sell the beloved family retreat.

Hannah Orenstein beautifully develops the complex relationship between these two women, capturing their emotional journeys and personal growth. I loved how deeply I could connect with both characters, understanding their struggles and perspectives. This novel is a touching exploration of family, identity, and the meaning of home.

I loved this book, the characters, the setting, the relationships. If us a wonderful book about how preconceptions about people, are what we see in them. What you are expecting in a person is what you see, and this book does an amazing job of letting the characters show themselves. It is a wonderful book about family and forgiveness, and friendships that are built when people actually listen!!!

I will have to come back to this book. The cover and title really pulled me in.

At the moment however, the third person narrative and jumping between the two characters in an extremely long chapter just isn’t for me at the moment.

First thing that grabbed my attention about this one was obviously the cover! The colors! The loons! And THEN I find out the cover was inspired from Hannah's own Maine lake house? I need a trophy of this one just to stare at it all the time
Second thing that grabbed my attention was the sister storyline. Vivian and Lucy could not be more different, and considering one wasn't *exactly* sure that the other existed and one has "cyber stalked" the other for years, their clash was just as bad as you'd expect it to be. But there's this underlying current, even when Vivien and Lucy are at their worst with each other, that's keeping the sister's from truly falling apart. It's that smallest foundation that we see get built upon over the summer, balancing the complex family dynamic with grief and loss and uncertainty.
The sisters aren't likeable at all times and I think that's what made them even more relatable. They're not perfect, they've both made mistakes, they're both struggling, and yet they're handed this opportunity to turn loss into something better and stronger together. (Vivian's mom however.... ahem...)

This is going to be a fantastic summer read and I'm jealous of everyone who will be reading it lakeside.

Thank you, Dutton Books and NetGalley for the ARC! All thoughts are my own.

Beautiful cover, just gorgeous. Very emotional read. I didn’t expect it to hit me in the feels so much. In a good way though. I was drawn in from the beginning. Good characters, heartwarming and just cute. Loved every minute of it.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. The cover is what drew me to this book, but this book was just okay. The characters weren't overly interesting and the storyline was just okay.

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up!

This book had so much potential and I’m so sad that it fell flat for me. I was immediately interested after reading the synopsis and beautiful cover, but the overall story didn’t match. There were a lot of love triangles and storylines, and I felt like a lot of the time the characters just complained and the timeline of things felt rushed. The most interesting part of the book was the last 20%.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I don't think this is a bad book, but I also don't think it's the book for me.

The premise of the book is fascinating (and the cover is gorgeous too)! Orenstein is a great writer, and she does a fabulous job describing the town - I feel at home there. Also, I can really tell how much thought and planning went into the characters and their backstories.
While I always love a flawed character, I found it kind of hard to like either of our main characters. They're both supposed to be thirty, but I thought they were acting rather childish. It was hard to support Vivian's relationship even though I can also see how she was manipulated. Lucy I wanted to like deeply, but I wish she had more self confidence and belief in herself. She also flipped emotions so quickly, especially with Vivian.
Finally, there were so many threads going on that I couldn't quite keep up. Lucy and her almost-ex-husband, losing her job, her father, her mother, Harrison...it became rather too much. It felt like everything that possibly could have been thrown at her was, and thus it felt inauthentic. I found Vivian's sommelier history/knowledge fascinating, but she's a girl who takes her life for granted and holds onto a grudge easily. I both resent and respect her ability to put herself first.
I thought this would be about exploring the grief of losing a parent while discovering a sisterhood between two unlikely characters. Instead, it felt like every life problem was thrown at the two of them, and they couldn't even discover their own relationship because everything was happening to them separately. It felt more focused on drama rather than a reflection on sisterhood and grief.
With all that being said, I don't think this is a bad book. There is much to learn and take from it, and I know several friends who enjoyed the book themselves! However, I would have appreciated something more focused on the sisters and depth to their characters compared to them having separate storylines in the same location.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

ARC Review:

I requested an ARC of this book because of the cover. Thank you for not putting faceless characters on this cover, genuinely one of the most gorgeous book covers ever and encapsulated the book perfectly.

The synopsis also intrigued me—the parent trap in book form.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It’s very different from the books I normally read, but I really appreciated that. This book really captured what it’s like to be a sister, and I loved that the main(e) characters fought like sister even though this was their first summer together. I didn’t expect for this book to be as long as it was when I first started reading it but by the end I was glad it was. Nothing was rushed and both characters’ stories were fleshed out fully, which I really enjoyed.

This will be a great summer read!

3 ☆
The cover of this book is gorgeous!

This book felt like summer. I really appreciated how flawed the characters were. I can see how Vivian/Celeste might come across as unlikable at times, but honestly, that just makes them feel more realistic—who hasn’t been an unlikable character at some point in life? Oddly enough, Celeste ended up being my favorite. That said, I didn’t really connect with the characters. Vivian, for example, is supposed to be this sophisticated New Yorker and sommelier, but I couldn’t quite picture her for some reason.

One thing I did love? The descriptions of food and wine. They made me crave a good Maine lobster and a crisp Sancerre while overlooking a lake after a sun-soaked day.

Thank you @netgalley and @duttonbooks for my e-arc.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️My review: Vivian and Lucy were raised very differently. They shared a father but Vivian didn't know she had a half sister, and Lucy lived in quiet jealously of her half sister who got to live with Dad. Two people living their lives based on choices their father made 30 years ago are thrown together. Will they meet in the middle, will they have anything in common?
Vivian is not very likable in the beginning and she seemingly has a longer way to go to find her true self. Lucy has the benefit of the higher moral ground, but I also wanted to see her branch out. As both women realize they were victims of parental choices I started to hope for their relationship. The book is told alternating from both of their viewpoints and this definitely helped me see that they were both trying, they both had feelings of regret, hope, and concern. They worked to make better choices for themselves than the ones their father made for them. Plus, Caleb seemed like such a fun friend for both women. Small town doesn't have to mean closed off...and finding family sometimes happens when you don't expect it. Good read, slow to start but worth the time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Publishing for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my review.