Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein is a heartfelt summer read set against the picturesque backdrop of a Maine lake house. The story follows two half-sisters, Vivian and Lucy, who are brought together after their father's unexpected death. While the setting and emotional depth are enjoyable to read, the pacing and character development could be better.

Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy of Maine Characters. I really enjoyed spending my time with all of these characters, exploring their relationships with each other and how they each dealt with loss and grief in different ways. I loved the ending, it wrapped it all together so beautifully. The atmosphere of this book brought me back to my own childhood spending long summer days at my family’s cottage on the water, it was very nostalgic and felt like coming home, in a way. Definitely would recommend!

What I liked: Sisterhood, Found Family, and a Summer Vacation at a lakefront house in Maine.

What I disliked: Considering the sisters are 30 years old when discovered (each with independent lives and careers), the plot has too much repetitive melodrama and bickering.

This novel is an absolute gem, equal parts moving, raw, and beautifully written. At its heart, it's a story about family: the ones we're born into, the ones we lose, and the ones we never knew we needed.

Vivian and Lucy are half-sisters who've lived completely separate lives. Vivian, a polished sommelier from New York, arrives at her late father's lake house expecting a quiet goodbye and a quick sale. Instead, she walks into a storm, one that includes Lucy, a small-town teacher with a crumbling marriage and a fierce attachment to the house. The twist? They've never even met.

What follows is a summer of clashing personalities, long-buried secrets, and slowly unspooling grief. The tension between them is palpable, but so is the undercurrent of longing, for understanding, for connection, for truth. As they piece together the fragmented story of their parents' choices, the book digs deep into themes of resentment, loss, and forgiveness.

The setting—the quiet lake, the creaking cabin, the ghosts of summers past—adds a nostalgic weight to every page. And while the emotional punches land hard, there's also humor, warmth, and the glimmer of hope that even the most complicated families can find a way forward.

This is a powerful, character-driven story about what happens when everything you thought you knew is turned on its head. If you love layered family dramas with heart and bite, you’ll devour this one.

Thanks to @duttonbooks for the gifted e-ARC and to @prhaudio for the ALC!

Two women meet at their lake house and discover they are sisters. Their dad has taken each of them to the lake separately every summer. Now he’s gone leaving them to uncover all his long buried secrets.

Both women are struggling with their relationships and careers. Both want different answers from their father. As they spend the summer together, they call a truce and try to learn to get along. This one is real and harsh at times. With stark prose. Nothing is romanticized. At times, both characters were unlikable. But it kept drawing me back in.

The book deals with grief and loss in its various forms and with knowing what you want in life and pursuing it. It illustrates the difference that privilege can make and shows the complicated relationships we have with our parents.

The audio for this one was excellent. The narrator gave the Maine residents distinct accents, so it was easy to tell the characters apart.

I really enjoyed this one!

Maine Characters is an emotional, character-driven novel about sisterhood, grief, and unexpected connection. I loved the dual POVs and the vivid Maine setting, it felt like the perfect summer read with real depth. Hannah Orenstein captures complicated family dynamics with honesty and warmth.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

When you see that this book gives adult parent trap vibes, just know that’s fully accurate. The perfect book for head into summer with. Love the story

I’ve been reading largely romance books for quite some time so when this book came up on Netgalley for advance reader copy I got sucked in by the cover and the romance tagline. The plot seemed a bit unorthodox but not knowing Hannah’s previous works I expected somewhat of a quirky found family situation especially with the “Parent Trap” reference in the summary. It was in no way what I expected but I am not upset in the least. Hannah managed to weave together a genuine story of all the different varieties of love, grief, and growth. The two sisters showcase a very different approach to life, love, and their shared parent and as the reader I found I could easily empathize with both of them as though there were no “sides” to be taken.

There’s a certain level of humility when depicting grief while twisted up in anger.
Vivian’s relationship with her father is wrapped up in a slow deterioration over time while Lucy holds him on such a pedestal. Even with dual POV, at the start of the story Vivian holds her feelings so close to the vest that it is still difficult to tell how she truly feels. There’s a line at one point that speaks to her “flashes of real grief” which I found especially poignant while she was still keeping her feelings walled inside. In contrast Lucy is a bleeding heart on her sleeve. Her pain is central and visible and serves to highlight the gorge between the half siblings even more. But even with these differences the two sisters have more in common than they realize and the harmony they are able to reach feels hard won.

There were a few points where I felt the storyline was dragging somewhat but the pacing overall fit in with the scenery so it was a minor complaint.

Special shout out to:
Vivian’s mom’s personal growth!! Beautifully and realistically done. Bringing attention to someone’s attitude is not a permanent fix. You have to have a willingness to change their outlook on the part of the individual and a willingness to forgive on Vivian’s part.

Additional notes on what makes this story unique:
There’s an artistry to how Hannah described certain scenes, almost like a written painting. The boat scenes I think especially. Her poetic descriptions aren’t just for the reader to be able to visualize the scenes but to feel them. It makes a lot of sense that she drew from a lake she visited throughout her life as well, somewhat of a love letter to summer nostalgia.

Thank you Penguin Group Dutton for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Oh, this book had all the juicy family drama.
Two women each spend one month on their own independently with their dad at a lakeside cabin in the woods and have every year since they can remember. It isn't until the dad dies that they meet. And realize they're sisters. And uncover all of the family secrets while fighting over the ownership of the house. And that's the light version. Lots of unraveling to do...

I wanted to love this book because it was marketed as an adult version of The Parent Trap. However, it wasn't even remotely enjoyable. I liked the setting of Maine and the Jewish representation, but that was probably about it. As Bugs Bunny would say, "That's all, folks." The characters were insufferable. I also hated the prolonged cheating narrative that was present for more than one person. The romance was barely there, and I felt the toxicity leap off the page. I couldn't find myself rooting for anyone, and honestly, I'm not really sure how I powered through to finish this one! I wish the pretty cover matched the text because this was one of the worst books I've read in a while. Thank you to Dutton Books for the ARC to read and review!

Don’t be fooled by the gorgeous, summery cover—this is a much heavier read than expected. While it’s been marketed as a “Parent Trap for adults,” the story dives deep into themes of family, sisterhood, and infidelity. I went in anticipating a lighter tone, so my expectations were a bit off.

That said, I love messy, complicated family dynamics, and this book definitely delivered on that front. I was pulled into the plot and found myself invested, though there were moments where the story felt like it lost a bit of momentum. I also would’ve loved a stronger sense of place—I was hoping for more vivid atmosphere and detail from the Maine setting.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I loved this book more than I even expected to! Once I saw this was an adult version of The Parent Trap - I was immediately sold. This book made me feel like I need to pick up more women’s fiction because I was fully invested in this story from start to finish. Hannah’s writing is beautiful and I will definitely be reading more of her books. Lucy and Vivian were so different, yet both were relatable characters. The more of Vivian’s story that we heard, the more I connected with her character. Lucy was immediately likable for me. Reading about their sister relationship bloom was so emotional and definitely the best part of the story. But I also really enjoyed their individual stories. I was rooting for them both to find happiness, whether that be with a guy or even alone. I was living for the family secrets and relationship drama. And the small town lake vibes were spot on. I could perfectly envision the town and views. Highly suggest this one!

Thank you to Penguin Random House, Net Galley, and Hannah Orenstein for letting me read the ARC of this book. The cover pulled me into this story and the beautiful atmosphere. She did a wonderful job of setting up costal setting. The writing in this book was well done, it was easy to follow and easy to read. I felt the pacing of the book was slow, and felt there was not a huge climax. It was a heartwarming book but I felt detached from the characters and the overall story. I wish there was more focus on their relationships growing instead of focusing on the dad’s drama repeatedly. I wanted more from the romance, but maybe that wasn’t the point of the book. It was a cute read for a nice lake day.

This would make for a great summer read focused on family relationships rather than romance. It’s billed as “Parent Trap” for adults, which is partially true. The main characters are two sisters who had never met before finding each other following their father’s death. We follow the development of their relationship and their bringing together of their mothers. So it’s more a story of finding sisterhood, uncovering family secrets, and finding one’s place in the world. The writing is rich and descriptive, and I felt like I was there at the lake! Overall I really liked this book, and the author’s note at the end made me like it even more to learn of her personal connection to the story.

👯‍♀️ Maine Characters - Hannah Orenstein

3.75 ⭐️ - This was cute! I loved the Parent Trap (unknown sister) vibe and the setting! I haven’t seen many reviews for this one but I think it’s perfect to add to your upcoming summer reads!

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨ // The gorgeous cover is quite deceiving for a “summer read” — this is in fact a serious drama about family, sisterhood and infidelity. I think because it was marketed as a “parent trap for adults” I went in with different expectations— I also wanted more of that atmosphere of Maine brought to life. I love messy and dynamic stories about families and I was engrossed in this plot but at moments it fell a little flat.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!!

This is a first time author for me, but I will definitely be picking up more of her books bc her writing style was SO good. The way she crafted this town, family, and drama was so well done and captivating.
Throughout this story, I was frustrated, I wanted to scream at the characters, I wanted to shake them until they realized how selfish/rude/annoying they were… that is what made this book so great.

This is not a romance, but does has some romance throughout…. But this is a story of a father who dies and leaves behind secrets and leaves his daughters to uncover them in the midst of their grief. This wasn’t light hearted, but as someone who is triggered by dead dads (hi hello), I didn’t catch myself breaking down because of how the author was able to weave in heavy and light together.

Such a fan of this!

In this Parent Trap retelling we see Vivian head up to her late father’s cabin Maine to get it ready to sell following his passing. I wanted to like Vivian and Lucy way more than I did but I found them to be too annoying and childish. I understand they were both working through some tough things (Vivian with her boyfriend being married, Lucy in the process of getting a divorce, both of them grieving their father) but they were both 30 years old. Grow up. It makes sense for them to not get along and spend most of the book arguing but I feel I would have enjoyed the story more if they had gotten along a little bit better. I found myself liking some of the side characters way more and found them far more interesting.

This was my first Hannah Orenstein read and unfortunately I wasn’t a huge fan of her writing. The cover is super beautiful and I love the premise & the story. Orenstein’s writing style is just different from what I typically read. I do think it is something I could get used to though so I am willing to give more of her work a chance. There were quite a few flashback scenes but it was hard to tell sometimes whether it was present tense or past tense as the book is written in a 3rd person POV.


Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an arc of this book

I really need to get to Maine soon! This book made me long for a long weekend at the lake. I appreciated how the focus of this was more on family than romance as I needed to change up my reading after many rom coms and thrillers. There was strong character growth for both Vivian and Lucy. While there were some plot points I didn’t entirely love (don’t get me started on Hank’s will) overall this was a well written story with a beautiful setting.

The cover for this book is what initially caught my attention. It's beautiful. Also, learning about a potential Parent Trap theme had me curious as well. I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't. The Parent Trap theme doesn't work when it involves a a bunch of 30 year old people. I kept forgetting that I wasn't reading about teenagers. I found every character to be unlikable which made my reading experience lacking. Everyone in this book is annoying and immature until the last page. The character growth left much to be desired. I found myself bored and waiting for something to happen. I also found the timeline confusing as well and wished it was flushed out better. Overall, I wasn't impressed with this one but I do want to visit Maine even more now. Thank you to Netgalley for the arc.