Nancy Star

After a tragic accident on Martha’s Vineyard, keeping secrets becomes a way of life for the Tangle family. With memories locked away, the sisters take divergent paths. Callie disappears, Mimi keeps so busy she has no time to think, and Ginger develops a lifelong aversion to risk that threatens the relationships she holds most dear.

When a whispered comment overheard by her rebellious teenage daughter forces Ginger to reveal a long-held family secret, the Tangles’ carefully constructed web show more of lies begins to unravel. Upon the death of Glory, the family’s colorful matriarch, and the return of long-estranged Callie, Ginger resolves to return to Martha’s Vineyard and piece together what really happened on that calamitous day when a shadow fell over four sun-kissed siblings playing at the shore. Along with Ginger’s newfound understanding come the keys to reconciliation: with her mother, with her sisters, and with her daughter. show less

I am going to start my review by stating that I do not think I am the target audience for this novel – there are too many dysfunctional people in the story for me. That being said, I enjoyed the first half of the novel and was curious where the story was headed. The unhappy Tangle family takes a trip to Martha’s Vineyard one summer where a horrific accident occurs (I actually had to look up whether this could actually happen and it can sadly). The various family members react show more differently, but each in a way that negatively impacts his or her life. About halfway through the novel, various family secrets begin to come to light- some believable and others that were not so realistic. I found it a little hard to swallow that the mother Glory would disappear for periods of time and that neither of her daughters, Mimi or Ginger, would notice when they both regularly visited her and that the secret Glory kept could really be hidden for such a long period of time.

I would not want to spend a single day with any of these characters which definitely impacted my view of the novel. While I felt sorry for each of them, I also really wanted to tell them all to resolve their issues and face the consequences of figuring out what went wrong and why. Sisters One, Two, Three makes the point that choices made by parents can impact children for the rest of their lives; a useful reminder for me as I parent my children. Thanks to Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. show less

This exceedingly creepy book focuses on what at first seems to be an ideal marriage. We have a set of relative newlyweds moving into a brand new Victorian type home, & the she is about 6 months pregnant with twins. He is a high powered corporate lawyer, she is, appropriately enough, an artist for a publishing firm that does a lot of horror publication. She is not exactly the social type, & that gets her on the bad side of what she terms The Weird Sisters, 3 of the main neighbors' wives on show more the block. She also has memory blocks from her childhood, centering around her brother Buddy, who was kidnapped at the age of 13. When she moves into this house, the memories begin to come back in flashes, & then all sorts of nasty things happen in the neighborhood as well. It's a fast paced read, compelling, but not so hard that you can't take a break when your brain overloads. show less

Loved this book. I was hooked from the start. The cover of the book was what initially caught my eye and the story definitely did not disappoint.

The Tangle Family lives with many secrets. Ginger's seventeen year old daughter didn't even know her mother had three siblings. Growing up, Ginger and her siblings were not allowed to talk about someone once they died, even if the person was their brother. It was almost as if that person never existed. Ginger would know someone was gone because a show more kitchen chair would mysteriously disappear from the table. Besides not mentioning that person, photos would also be removed from the house.

Glory was definitely a one of the kind character and would never win the Mother of the Year Award. It's easy to understand Ginger's aversion to risks and dangers, especially after that summer on Martha's Vineyard. The disappearance of Callie was very strange and of course Glory's explanation never made sense. Callie was another topic Ginger and her sister, Mimi, were not allowed to discuss with their mother. Near the end the reader finally finds out what happened on that unfortunate day at the beach. I don't know why Glory decided to keep what happened to Callie a secret, especially from her own daughters.

Julia, Ginger's daughter, was simply ridiculous. She was one of my least favorite characters next to Glory. The way she treated her mother and the whole street performer obsession was crazy. Yes, her mother was a little neurotic, but considering the family she came from she was rather normal.

Overall, I loved the book and definitely recommend it. I enjoyed reading about the Tangle Family, even with all their secrets and dysfunction. I look forward to reading more books by Nancy Star. I liked her writing style and just didn't want to put this book down.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author, Nancy Star, for a free electronic ARC of this novel. show less