Book Review- The Summer We Read Gatsby

I finished reading The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek last night.

Summary from the back cover:

Half sisters Cassie and Peck could not be more different.  Cassie is a newly divorced journalist with her feet firmly planted on the ground; Peck is a vintage-obsessed actress with her head in the clouds.  In fact, the only thing they seem to have in common is their inheritance of Fool's House, a run-down cottage left to them by their beloved Aunt Lydia.  But Cassie and Peck can't afford the house, and they can't agree on anything, much less what to do with the place.  Plus, they've inherited an artist in residence and self-proclaimed genius named Biggsy, who seems to bring suspiciously bad luck wherever he goes.  As these two likeable sisters try to understand their aunt's puzzling instructions to "seek a thing of utmost value" from within the house, they're both distracted by romantic entanglements with men from their pasts.  The Summer We Read Gatsby, set in the end-of-an-era summer of 2008, is filled with fabulous parties, eccentric characters, and insider society details that showcase Ganek's pitch-perfect sense of syle and wit.

Ugh...this book just so did not do it for me. I couldn't get into any part of it--not the characters, the setting or the plot. 

I really didn't care about any of the characters.  The sisters were too eccentric and I really didn't like Peck.  I couldn't see why Cassie felt so strongly for her when most of the times she was mean and even degrading.  The only character who I even sort of like was Finn, who seemed like genuine sweetheart.

The plot was just okay, although I felt that there were some things that just didn't fit.  I mean, who would really think that letting the Biggsy character stay on, especially with all the suspicious things he did and said?  I just didn't care about anything that happened and I didn't find any parts funny at all.

I expected this story to have a light, gossipy, summery feeling.  But for me, it didn't.  It wasn't heavy, exactly, but it was just there.  I don't know, I just didn't enjoy it.

I gave this book a rating of 2.5/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
A to Z Challenge: G
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 76
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 55

*FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Engelman & Co for an honest review.