This was a fantastic, twisty web of feelings and relationships between half-sisters who had never met. It was interesting to see each girl unpack her very different experiences while growing up with the same man. I was hooked, watching each sister wrestle with their past and their future while trying to forge some kind of relationship from a very awkward situation. Enjoyed this very much.

I always enjoy Hannah's books and I loved that this one was a spin on the Parent Trap and had Jewish representation in it as well!

Vivian and Lucy are half sisters who have never met. While Lucy has known about Vivian, Vivian has often wondered if her father had a secret family. After he passes and Vivian goes to the family lake house in Maine to sell it, she discovers Lucy is already there and she questions everything she ever thought about her father.

While Vivian comes off a bit abrasive at first with Lucy, it was understandable as she was kept in the dark her entire life by her father's secret. I liked her growth throughout the story as she let her walls down around Lucy, stood up for herself with her boss and what she wanted the future of her career to look like, and had a long overdue conversation with her mother. I went back and forth on my feelings for Lucy. While I did feel bad for her having to live her life in secret when it came to her dad, she also could've stood up for herself more. While she did start to grow more towards the end of the book, she still did feel a bit immature throughout her storyline. There is some romance mixed in, but my favorite parts was the family drama between Vivian and Lucy.

This was not it for me. I loved the Maine small town vibe. However, I didn't get the parent trap vibes at all. There is cheating and it gave me the ick. Very immature FMC's. Ugh.

What a fun read! The book follows the meeting of two half-sisters, Lucy and Vivian, and unfolds their complicated family history, while also giving each character room to breathe and grow as individuals. A celebration of summers in Maine, sisterhood, love, and friendship, this book pairs nicely with a glass of wine and a sunset view.

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Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein
emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5

Thank you to Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of my favorite Netgalley books in awhile! The synopsis is slightly similar to The Parent Trap which is what drew me in. Two half sisters meet at their dad's lake house in Maine for the first time after he passes. One might have known about the other, but the other had no idea and only saw her father for one month every summer.

I love a good lake house/vacation home story and I found it really endearing. I liked the alternating perspectives and complicated emotions of all the family secrets unraveling and how one of the girl's mother was an author and Goodreads being mentioned. Great summery book.

** spoiler alert ** Beautiful cover and intriguing premise, but ultimately settled with 3 stars. I liked the character Lucy, but wasn't a fan of Vivian. It's impossible for me to root for a character who is participating in an affair with a married man. Then she's pissed off when his wife gets pregnant?!

The book picked up in the latter half and I was more engaged. Love that the setting was in Maine but I didn't get "Parent Trap" vibes as the description implies.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced copy. Maine Characters hits shelves on May 13, 2025.

3.75/5 Stars

I enjoyed this! It's a summer read, for sure, with all the vibes and a little bit heavier than your typical take-to-the-beach vibe. We follow two sisters, basically whom have only just met each other because their father passed, and now not only do they have to navigate his death, but everything that comes with it.

I liked parts of both sisters, while Vivian kind of bothered me at times. Lily, the "underprivileged, left in the dark" sister was easier to connect to, but Vivian was very crass at points where it made it more difficult for me to connect with her. But, if you're into family drama and like the vibe of Carley Fortune's novels--maybe mixed with a bit of Taylor Jenkins Reid--then this book might be for you!

They say you should never judge a book by its cover but honestly, look at that cover. How could you not want to pick it up? The story inside that cover is just as beautiful. Vivian and Lucy are half sisters who meet unexpectedly for the first time at their dad’s lake house after his death. Both are going through it in their personal lives. Add the death of their father and the discovery of a sister they didn’t know existed and life becomes overwhelming. The characters in this book are flawed, struggling emotionally and are relatable. Set in the summer, the time they would spend at the lake with their dad one on one, these ladies have to navigate healing from their losses and moving on to their futures. The story is emotional. It gets serious but there’s some humor to break the tension. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the advanced eARC.

this took me literal months to finally get around to reading but i enjoyed it way more than i thought i would. it started off slow, but it does pick up. i adored lucy and i loved vivian. the growth these two have #SisterHood for real.

The first thing that drew me in about this book was the gorgeous cover!! Then I read the blurb and knew I was going to love this read.

The story is built around two half sisters, who have never met until Vivian arrives at the lake to spread their fathers ashes and sell the cabin, and is shocked to find Lucy there, awaiting his return.

Normally you’d think “Oh they’ll grieve together and share stories, comfort one another and spread the ashes together and it’ll be beautiful and they’ll grow close and a bond like sisters should have.” Right? WRONG!!!

Instead they’re forced to spend the summer together, fighting through their suspicions and animosity towards one another and untangle the messy web of their parents past.

At first I couldn’t stand Lucy lol she just annoyed me so much and I felt she used her upbringing to get pity way too much but I liked her growth. Vivian wasn’t perfect either but she wanted to do the right thing and I loved that about her.

Overall I had a really great time reading this book and I can’t wait to see what else Hannah had up her sleeve. Also, does anyone wanna go on a summer road trip to Maine?👀😂

Thank you so much to @hannahorens , @netgalley , and Penguin Group Dutton for the arc in exchange for my honest review!🥰

Maine Characters comes out MAY 13th!!!🩷

I was pulled in by The parent Trap comparison. While that trope was present, the constant back and forth POVs within chapters was difficult for me to follow.

Fun premise!

Maine Characters opens with Vivian arriving at the family lake house, weeks after her fathers death. Upon arrival, the door opens and a young woman walks out- Lucy, the half sister that Vivian never knew she had. The book follows the summer the two women have, getting to know each other while Vivian prepares to sell the house.
I found Lucy’s character to be just absolutely insufferable. So much whiny, constant poor me, etc. it just got old. I think her character made me not like the book as much. The story itself was fine, average really. The book was an easy, quick read and overall enjoyable but definitely 3 stars.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for access to this ARC.

i wanted to love this one so much, but it was just a like for me. It is a solid summer read, I think, but I struggle when I can't connect with the main characters or when I don't like them. That was the case here.

I think a lot of us who requested this book were drawn in by the cover, and the desriptions of the setting match the beautiful art. A lake house is a great setting for a summer read and it does capture the nostalgia of a summer home. It feels inviting. The writing is also as descriptive as the cover art. It is full of details that will help the reader to feel and taste and listen to all that Maine in the summer has to offer. I was also a big fan of the plot as described - sisters in a messy reunion after the death of their father, parent trap style.

However, there are some things that didn't work for me, and it was too big to ignore. The sisters. I never felt connected to them. I never felt a connection between them, either, and was disappointed, in the end, to not feel their relationship grow and change.

I think many readers will enjoy this summer read, I had just hoped for more.

3.5 Maine Characters was my first Hannah Orenstein book. I was pulled in by the beautiful cover and the premise.

I think this would be a great beach or cabin read. I was sucked into this book from the start. However, I really didn't like either of the FMC. They spent so much time arguing about the same things throughout the whole book. I enjoyed the sub plots throughout the book with both Viv and Lucy finding new love and Lucy's mom recounting her romance with Hank.

Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton | Dutton for an ARC of Maine Characters for an honest review.

Thank you Dutton Books for my copy! All thoughts are my own.

I’ve been a fan of Hannah Orenstein for a while and loved her last release. I couldn’t be happier to see this title pop up. I love the cover and setting so much. It’s a solid, enjoyable summer read for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Annabel Monaghan!

Synopsis:

“Every summer, Vivian Levy and Lucy Webster spend a month with their father at his lake house — separately. Raised in New York City, Vivian is an ambitious sommelier with a secret that could derail her future. Lucy grew up in a tiny Maine town, where she now teaches high school English while watching her marriage unravel. They’ve never met. While Lucy envied her half-sister from afar, their father kept Vivian in the dark.When Vivian arrives at the lake to spread his ashes and sell his cabin, she's shocked to find Lucy there, awaiting his return. In an ideal world, they’d help each other through their grief. Instead, forced to spend the summer together, they fight through a storm of suspicion and hostility to untangle the messy truth about their parents’ pasts. While Lucy is desperate to hold onto the house, Vivian is scrambling after a betrayal. After thirty years apart, is it too late for them to be a family?For fans of Carley Fortune and Elin Hilderbrand, this sister story set on a lush lake brims with the undeniable heart, depth, charm, and humor that have endeared Hannah Orenstein to legions of readers.” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Setting—I love a lake house setting. The moment I saw the cover I added it to my TBR. I really thought Orenstein captured the feeling and nostalgia of a Summer home.

The Visceral Writing—The writing is incredibly descriptive, which allows the reader to feel, taste, and hear the sights and sounds of Maine.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

Disconnect to Characters—While the setting and descriptions were extremely descriptive, I didn’t feel a strong connection to the characters. I didn’t feel their relationship blossom and change throughout, though the story told me that happened.

Character Authenticity: 3/5 Spice Rating: 0/5 Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Content Warnings:

Infidelity, grief, death of a parent

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the Advanced Reader Copy of Maine Characters.

This book was enjoyable. The story is centered around 2 half sisters who meet after the death of their shared father. The story continues with the ups and downs of their relationship in a tiny summer town in Maine.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dutton, and Hannah Orenstein for the advanced copy of Maine Characters in exchange for an honest review.

Maine Characters follows two women, Vivian and Lucy, who have spent one month out of every year with their father at his lake house in Maine. Separately. After their father passes, Vivian visits the lake house to spread her father's ashes and ready the house for sale. When she arrives, she is shocked to discover Lucy, her half-sister, who is six months older than her. Can the women raised in completely different environments come together as a family amid this betrayal?

I enjoyed Maine Characters, however, I think it is important to highlight that this book is not a romance novel. There are explorations of romantic relationships, but the primary focus of this book is Lucy and Vivian and their fractured relationship. I appreciated the character growth we saw with both women and how they slowly became each other's family. There just wasn't a huge emotional punch for me, and the ending tied everything up really quickly.

Maine Characters releases 13 May 2025.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on April 27th, 2025. Links provided.

In Maine Characters, two women—Vivian, a driven wine expert from Manhattan, and Lucy, a small-town teacher in Maine—find their lives colliding for the first time under tragic circumstances. Following the death of their father, the two half-sisters meet unexpectedly at the family’s lakeside cabin, a place where each spent summers with him—though never at the same time and without knowing of the other's existence. As they face the task of dealing with his estate, including the future of the lake house, they are forced into an uneasy cohabitation. Over the course of a summer, their guarded mistrust and clashing personalities give way to confrontations, buried secrets, and the chance at reconciliation. The story examines the fallout of parental choices, the tension of sibling rivalry, and whether it's ever too late to form a connection with family.

Well, I guess I didn't listen when they said "Don't judge a book by its cover." I always thought that meant don't assume a book is going to be bad if you don't like the cover but apparently, it also implies that you shouldn't expect a book to be amazing just because it has a gorgeous cover. I really wanted to like this book—truly. The premise was solid, and I was hoping for emotional depth, maybe some heartfelt discovery between two long-lost sisters. Instead, I found myself slogging through pages of melodrama and immature bickering that never quite felt believable for two grown adults. It wasn’t just that Lucy was constantly sulking or that Vivian seemed tone-deaf to everything around her; it was that their interactions felt stuck in a loop—same fight, different day. I did not find a single likable character throughout this entire book.
The romantic subplots didn’t help either. There was too much cheating, too many tangled relationships, and not enough grounding to make me care about who was dating—or betraying—whom. By the time the sisters started showing any sign of personal growth, I had already checked out emotionally. If this hadn’t been an ARC I committed to finishing, I probably would have set it down well before the ending.
As someone who really loves Maine, the setting was lovely in theory, and the cover is obviously stunning—it’s the one thing that gave me hope before I opened to chapter one. But despite the potential, the storytelling left me cold. It felt like a missed opportunity wrapped in a beautiful package. Would I frame the cover art? Yes. Would I recommend the story? Sadly not. This one wasn’t for me. If you want a fun summer read that takes place in Maine, I recommend picking up a different book than this one.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of Maine Characters in return for my honest review.

Thank you Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC opportunity.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I felt it had a slow start but did pick up. The premise is different than most books I’ve read and I enjoyed seeing the sisters relationship grow. If you’re looking for the perfect Summer read set in Maine, I’m not sure this would fit the bill.

Favorite Supporting Character: not sure. There were enough that make several appearances, but I’m not sure there was enough for me to choose a favorite.
3/5

Maine Characters reminded me of a mix between the Parent Trap and Beach Read. I’m definitely a romance reader and I knew going into this that it wasn’t a rom com. I appreciated that this book really focused on the women involved, namely the sisters. The fresh start for both Lucy and Vivian in Portland felt really genuine and I’m glad the author didn’t stick them with Patrick or Oscar in the end. I’d give this 3.5 stars, rounding to 4!