Sandwich meets The Wedding People in this irresistible comedy of manners as three generations of a family—a snail scientist, a soon-to-be divorcée, her teenage daughter, a hapless con man, and their feckless patriarch—descend on a ritzy Lake Michigan vacation island.

When the Pickford siblings arrive at The Grand Hotel—a nostalgic tourist paradise of horse-drawn carriages, muddled cocktails, and white sweaters on the tennis court—they have every intention of spending the long weekend making nice. Pete, the nation’s foremost expert on gastropods (mollusks), is keen to wade around the lake in search of a rare and exciting Carthusian snail. Viv, reeling from the secret revelation that her husband is gay, is determined to put on a brave face for her daughter. And Corey, a charming, handsome grifter, has lucked into five pounds of cocaine he plans to sell to the first dumb rich guy he can find.

But when Pete falls for the alluring mother of a local kid, when Viv’s daughter gets up to teenage trouble, and when Corey finds the wealthy guests less interested in party drugs than golf clubs and waffle cones, the long weekend of family bonding veers into disaster. Why did their father bring them to this cushy island resort in the first place? And why does Corey, the biggest screw-up of them all, seem to be the only one who knows the truth? As secrets spill, old flames are fanned, and an innocent snail is crushed beneath the unrelenting heel of a hiking boot. In a story that is as sneakily wise as it is absurdly funny, Ryan Effgen’s debut shows how sometimes the people who bring out your worst—your family—can also be the ones to bring you out of your shell.

I received an advance copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

This is quite the enjoyable debut, especially considering the publisher set the bar impossibly high by comparing it to both The Wedding People and Sandwich. Did I see the similarities? Eh, maybe a little. It takes place at a resort like The Wedding People and deals with family drama over a summer like Sandwich, but honestly, that’s about where the comparison ends. I’ve learned by now that these kinds of comparisons usually exist to sell books rather than accurately describe them, so I went in trying to ignore that noise and let Effgen’s work stand on its own. It did.

The story follows the Pickford family as they descend on a fancy Lake Michigan resort for a long weekend. Pete is a snail scientist hoping to track down a rare species while he’s there. His sister Viv just found out her husband is gay and is trying to hold it together for her teenage daughter Ash. Their brother Corey, the family screw-up, has somehow ended up with five pounds of cocaine and a plan to sell it to the richest guy he can find at the resort. Their father dragged everyone here for reasons nobody quite understands, and as the weekend unravels, it becomes clear Corey might be the only one who actually knows why.

I really loved this family. I’m always a sucker for a good family drama, and this one hits all the right notes. What stood out most was the multi-generational structure. We get the dad’s boomer perspective, the Gen X and millennial siblings navigating their own messes, and then Ash’s petulant Gen Z energy rounding things out. That mix gave the book just enough generational tension and baggage to keep everything moving without ever feeling overstuffed.

The characters all felt like they were dealing with real problems, even though the siblings each fall into pretty familiar roles. Peter is the nerdy older brother, Corey is the classic fuck up, and Viv is the uptight mom whose marriage is quietly falling apart. A bit cliché? Sure, but it felt real and every single character gets a real moment to shine over the course of the book. Watching all of their individual storylines converge by the end was fun and satisfying.

I did an immersive read on this one, listening and reading together, and Helen Laser’s narration was a perfect match for the material. She nailed every character distinctly, and nothing ever blurred together or felt one-note, which is a real skill when you’re juggling this many perspectives in one book.

If there’s one piece of advice I’d give anyone picking this up, it’s to go in with an open mind and skip trying to measure it against the two books the publisher name-dropped. Let it stand on its own merit, because it earns that. This is a funny, sharply observed family comedy with a ton of heart underneath the absurdity, and it’s worth reading without the weight of those comparisons hanging over it. If you love multi-generational family dramas with a comedic edge and characters who feel real even when they’re playing familiar types, this one delivers.