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The Island House

Available May 31, 2016

Thank you to NetGalley.com and to the publisher for the ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I think this book would have been better titled as “The Summer Children” instead of The Island House. The house really doesn’t play that big of a role in the story and perhaps it would have been better for a future book about a couple who tries to buy/renovate an older Nantucket home. As for the two main female characters, Robyn and Courtney, I found them to be too obsessed with getting married (OMG we’re almost 30!!) that they are willing to compromise the things that mean the absolute most to them just to be with a guy. Courtney may have the “big talk” about children with the man of her dreams – but what about the realistic talks as well? Questions like, where will we live and how will I contribute financially to the marriage since I won’t have a job. Robyn…how can you be almost 30 and not have a paying job? You couldn’t have turned a volunteering job into a paying gig? Your parent’s aren’t old and feeble yet – they don’t need you as a caretaker 24/7. They’ll manage. Get you own life. Get off the damn island.

What I loved: I was so looking forward to this book – Nancy Thayer screams start of the Summer Fluff books for me yet I didn’t love anything. While the part with the whales should have been beautiful and moving – I found it to be creepy about the big ‘ole eye just staring at you.

What I didn’t love: Most of the men in this book were portrayed as major jerks – and why not? They had women at every turn doing things for them like lawnmover parents so they never had to think for themselves. Perhaps Ms. Thayer was trying trying to build a loving family that was full of quirks (Dad has a God complex since he’s a surgeon! Henry’s manic! Quinn is a control freak!) but it comes across as a bunch of a-holes and the women who serve them.

What I learned: I’m getting sick of Nantucket.. Surely by now all of the characters in her books know each ther and they can all cross over?

Overall Grade: C-

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