The Second Home by Christina Clancy

The Quick Cut: Two sisters and an adopted brother find their lives get complicated as teens, only to find their lives intersecting again after their parents died. Drama ensues as the truth of the path comes to light.  

A Real Review: 

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.  

 Sibling relationships are complicated, even in the best situations. However, when you're a teenager and the emotions combined with the drama of that time period work together to cause rifts... things can turn ugly fast. This is the case for the sisters Ann and Poppy along with their adopted brother Michael, when life does not go according to plan in a Cape Cod summer. 

 Their parents spent every summer at their home in Cape Cod, with their children in tow. Traveling from Milwaukee Wisconsin to the Cape became a family tradition, one that left a lasting impression on newly adopted brother Michael. However, when a summer together turns sour and Ann is left with a terrible consequence, Michael goes missing and leaves his newly embraced family behind. Fifteen years later, after their parents die, these three find themselves together again in order to deal with the assets left behind. Will the truth of that summer come to light or will it continue to drive these siblings apart? 

 First off, a trigger warning: this book contains storylines that include rape and suicide. They are not easy to read, especially considering the toll these elements take on the family members broken apart. Truthfully, this book doesn't really fit the definition of young adult for me. The story is told in two parts: the first in the past when the family fell apart and the second fifteen years later when the parents have died. A majority of the book takes place when they are adults, having kids who are in their teens (or nearly) and dealing with the fallout of parents without an asset allocation readily available. These aren't YA themes, not in the slightest. These are very adult conversations. 

 On top of that, the book description here does not match the story given. The explanation for the book makes it sound like the story will revolve around the present, with an explanation of what happened in the past. However, as mentioned above, the story doesn't play out that way. Due to the way that the past plays out on the page, all the suspense is taken out of the story. The story point where the three siblings talk about what happened in the past doesn't occur until you are well into the last quarter of the book. 

 Ann holds onto a rage that felt over the top to me, even considering the trauma she goes through. Fifteen years later, the anger almost seems worse than it was originally. Poppy is heartbroken and copes by running away, something that absolutely fits the scenario they find themselves in. Michael fills the role of new sibling better than the two sisters do in theirs, considering he still carries a certain level of self-esteem issue that is common in adopted kids. In cases where it made more sense for these siblings to talk and confirm what was happening, they chose to assume that what was being said to them was true. 

 A not so young adult book whose story doesn't quite match the description given. 

 My rating: 2 out of 5