10 Books to Read Like Sterling Point
Loving the slow-burn family secrets and lake-town charm of Prime Video’s Sterling Point? Here are 10 books, YA and adult, with the same inheritance drama, secret siblings, and small-town-meets-outsider vibes.
What I Love About Sterling Point
- The cast: amazing and talented newcomers
- The script: funny and also genuinely moving
- The setting: an island AND a small town feel
- The vibe: family secrets, surprise inheritance, found family
10 Books to Read Like Sterling Point
Does Sterling Point has you hooked on its cooler, teen-coded Virgin River energy (the slow pace, the city girl adjusting to small town life, the family secrets that unspool all summer long)? Maybe you’d like to try some books with that Sterling Point vibe.
Below are my ten hand picked titles, both YA and adult, built around surprise inheritances, secret siblings, and the kind of small-town, big-secret drama we all can’t get enough of!
Books Like Sterling Point: Quick Picks by Vibe
| If you want… | Read this |
|---|---|
| A moody island mystery with major found-family energy | The Cousins by Karen McManus |
| An eerie, gut-punch summer read you won’t forget | We Were Liars by E. Lockhart |
| A swoony townie-meets-rich-boy romance, total Y2K classic | What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick |
| A gorgeous novel in verse about sisters who never knew each other existed | Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo |
| Family drama with a Knives Out edge (adult pick) | These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean |
| A slow, literary grief read for when you want to sit with your feelings | June Baby by Shannon Garvey |
YA Books Like Sterling Point
What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Vibes: Emotional and romantic
Genre: YA contemporary
Setting: Stony Bay, Connecticut
Ratings:
- Island Vibes: 5/5
- Family Drama 4/5
- Romance 5/5
If you’re obsessed with Ramona, you’ll love this title, which follows an island townie navigating life and love with a rich boy on an island that resembles Nantucket. It’s a Y2K classic that still holds up today.
Read my review of What I Thought Was True FROM THE 2010s
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Vibes: Emotional, lyrical, and from the heart
Genre: YA novel in verse
Setting: NYC and the Dominican Republic
A novel in verse about two girls, one in the Dominican Republic and one in New York, who each learn their father has died in a plane crash. They share a father but didn’t know the other existed, and now they have to navigate this new relationship. A stunning read from an award-winning author.
Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
Vibes: Grief, self-discovery
Genre: YA contemporary
Setting: Tuscany
It’s Lina’s late mother’s dying wish that Lina head to Tuscany and get to know her father. When Lina is given a journal her mom kept while living in Italy, she unearths a secret.
The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen
Vibes: Change and self-discovery
Genre: YA contemporary
Setting: North Lake, in the Dessenverse
Ratings
- Small Town Vibes 5/5
- Family Drama 4/5
- Romance 3/5
Emma is sent to stay with her late mom’s family while her dad and new stepmom are on their honeymoon. She starts working at the motel on the lake owned by her mom’s family, and learns more about her mother, and herself, along the way.
The Cousins by Karen McManus
Vibes: Mysterious, spooky
Genre: YA mystery
Setting: Mildred Story’s island
RATINGS
- Island Vibes: 5/5
- Family Drama 5/5
- Romance 3/5
Three cousins are summoned to their grandmother’s New England island resort for the summer. It’s their first time meeting each other, and their very intimidating grandmother, since she disinherited their parents years ago for reasons no one really talks about. This leans more toward mystery, but it has the same island and found-family vibes as Sterling Point.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Vibes: Eerie, emotional, shocking
Genre: YA mystery
Setting: Beechwood Island
Ratings
- Island Vibes: 5/5
- Family Drama: 5/5
- Romance 4/5
If you haven’t read this book by now, it’s time. It shares a lot of Sterling Point’s DNA (a private island, family money, grief, secrets that unravel over one summer), but it’s a deeply unsettling book you won’t soon forget.
Adult Books Like Sterling Point
These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean
Vibes: Family drama, romance, a bit of a Knives Out/Succession vibe
Genre: Women’s fiction
Setting: Storm Island, a private island off Rhode Island
Ratings
- Island Vibes: 4/5
- Family Drama 5/5
- Romance 4/5
The Storm siblings gather after the shocking death of their larger-than-life father, who left his widow and grown children a final challenge: an inheritance game designed to humiliate, devastate, and unravel the Storm family in ways both petty and life-altering.
May House by Jillian Cantor
Vibes: Sister drama, revealing secrets
Genre: Women’s fiction
Setting: Coronado, California
Three sisters share an inherited summer house on the condition that they gather there every year. When one sister doesn’t show up for their annual reunion, the narrative follows all three and unpacks what they’ve each been keeping from one another. (Your note cut off here, want to add a closing line on why you loved it?)
Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand
Vibes: Glam girls’ weekend with sharp edges
Genre: Women’s fiction
Setting: Nantucket
After the sudden death of her husband, a top food influencer invites four close friends to her Nantucket home for the weekend. But someone is keeping a secret that will change everything. Also adapted as a Peacock series starring Jennifer Garner, glossy and addictive.
June Baby by Shannon Garvey
Vibes: Grief, loss, and longing
Genre: Literary fiction
Setting: Block Island
Ruth learns that Diana, her late mother’s best friend, is dying, and heads back to Block Island, where she’s confronted by Diana’s hostile sister and grieving son, who is also Ruth’s ex. This is the most literary and nuanced book on the list, with a slower, more reflective pace, so be sure you’re in the mood for that.
