Perennials by Mandy Berman is the type of book that you can easily devour in one sitting. Berman does an excellent job of developing both the characters and the plot so that you quickly become enraptured with the story. This book takes place at a summer camp and features narratives of both the campers and the counselors at the camp. Not only that but the story also flashes ahead to when some of the campers have come full circle and are now counselors. I enjoyed this book so much and I find it hard to believe that this is the author's first novel. I look forward to reading her future endeavors. Read and enjoy!

PERENNIALS by Mandy Berman is a story about sisters, friendship and a summer camp named Camp Marigold. I would agree with the description that recommends this debut title for readers of Jennifer Close, and Curtis Sittenfeld since it is a coming of age story with a certain tension. It was difficult to feel any affection for these campers and certainly not for their parents, who were either snobbish or insecure and dysfunctional. The funny thing is that marigolds are annuals and only grow through one summer, unlike the girls who yearly return as campers and counselors; that is, until tragedy occurs.

Perennials is an evocative, nostalgic summer read about the uncharted land between childhood and adulthood, filtered through the backdrop of a rural New York summer camp. The fleeting eight weeks of camp are narrated by both the campers and the counselors, who return year after year – as they discover secrets, temptation, and their own developing bodies and minds.

Thirteen-year-old girls Rachel and Fiona become best friends at Camp Marigold, despite their vast socio-economic differences. Rachel lives in New York City with her single mother, although she occasionally sees her father – whose wife and legitimate children don’t know she exists. She is a street-smart city kid who lacks Fiona’s wealth and family, although she has something more powerful – her burgeoning adolescent sexuality, and a newfound ability to control the boys and men around her. Fiona lives a more sheltered suburban life with her parents and siblings, and yet she is insecure, naïve and envious of Rachel’s popularity.

Six years later, Rachel and Fiona return to Camp Marigold as counselors. The girls see camp life through new eyes, as they are forced to confront the past and embrace the adults they have become. The novel explores the intricacies of female friendship, as well as the complications of adolescent longing – both for each other, and for their own future. The campers are eager to grow up fast, at the expense of lost innocence.

The novel builds slowly to its tragic climax, although it is not climactic enough in my opinion – there is constantly elevating tension, yet no real release. The intensity of the summer camp situation is perhaps difficult to relate to if the reader hasn’t experienced it, although there are some very vividly described moments that Berman expertly captures. However, there are also too many shifts to different characters, which distances the reader from the forward movement of the plot.

The story advances unevenly, and the ending is sudden, without the expected sense of closure. I felt that I was missing the necessary connection between reader and character, because even seeing the girls at their most intimate moments still kept them at a distance from me. However, I did feel that Berman did an excellent job of describing the intensity of relationships in situations like this, when certain people who seem so vital to us in the short term, just suddenly disappear from our lives. Despite that, I think this may have worked better as a collection of short stories or series of summer camp vignettes instead of being forced to fit into the novel format.

I received this book from Random House and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In a way this was the perfect summer read with the summer camp setting, and the strong initial chapters about Fiona and Rachel's early years at Camp Marigold. The camp descriptions were vivid and easy to visualize, but the book lost with me with the scattered chapters and plot lines that felt like they just dropped off.

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I thought it would be a good book about going away to camp. Well, that is there a bit, but mostly it is people coming of age and lots of drama. It was Far more drama and back and forth in time with lots of characters. Maybe that is my own problem with how I have to read using text-to-speech and not so much reading the words. Maybe you won't have that problem at all but will enjoy a wonderful book full of family and going away to camp.

There was swimming and boating. And that's as close to the water that I am getting for now. I must find a pool to go swim in!

Please try this to see if it is for you.

I always enjoy a good coming of age novel, coupled with that camp experience, I thought this would be a huge hit for me. I liked it alright, but thought it would be more of a cohesive story, rather than pieces.

A great idea but too many characters leaves you with an empty feeling when you finish this book.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. I thought that I would really love this book from the summary. Unfortunately, I didn't. The two main characters Rachel and Fiona, become friends at summer camp when they are are younger and they both come from very different backgrounds. There are chapters not only in just the POV of Rachel and Fiona, but also their moms/dad, sister and other campers but these other chapters do not really add to the main storyline as far as I can tell. They have a strong friendship even though they only see each other at summer camp, and return as counselors after their freshman year of college. I did not like the ending at all and was kind of surprised in an unpleasant way, to be honest--the tragedy is at almost the end of the book and then there isnt enough time left to really complete the story or tell us how Rachel and Fiona were affected by it. It wasn't terrible but I think there were too many characters going on to keep track of and that detracted from the story too much.

This book evoked a sense of nostalgia for me, even though I never really went to Summer Camp. I know that doesn't make sense - maybe it was tone/ sense that the author was able to create.

I wanted to like the more more than I did. Overall it's well written despite the slower pace, however although I liked the front part of the book, the ending threw me off and not in a good way (ticked off/disappointed are words that come to mind).

The characters were okay in general but I wanted a bit more and wished for less of them at the same time (confusing statement, I know LOL).

I would probably read another book by this author.

I thought this read would be much more nostalgic and compelling than what it was. I went to summer camp as a kid and was looking for that coming of age kind of feel good story. I found the characters in this book to be somewhat underdeveloped. Fiona's self loathing was irritating rather than making me feel empathy towards her and the random mix of other characters didn't do a whole lot to further the story in my opinion. In terms of pacing, I found this to be pretty slow with a sort of going nowhere feeling. While the author was able to capture many aspects of summer friendships as a kid and often really described the whole summer camp concept very well, I just wanted more from all aspects of this book. As for the ending, I felt it was forced and I wasn't too invested in it by then.

I never had a real summer camp experience as a kid, after a week at a Girl Scout day camp, I had enough of bugs, dirt, and awkward swimming lessons. However, Rachel, Fiona and the girls of Camp Marigold relished their youthful camp days. Unfortunately all that changes as the girls age and face adulthood but that’s where the root of this story really takes hold as alternating narratives by Rachel, Fiona and other campers and counselors give us a fuller picture of the dynamics at Camp Marigold. Perennials by Mandy Berman is a summer treat that manages to perfectly counterbalance the froth and fun of childhood summer camp friendships while also exploring the complex dynamics of long standing female friendships.

Perennials by Mandy Berman (debut)
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: June 6, 2017
Length: 288 pages

Single Sentence Summary: Rachel and Fiona’s friendship sprouted at Camp Marigold, but when they return as counselors their friendship is tested in ways neither could have imagined.

Primary Characters: Fiona Larkin – Fiona’s family has a long history at Camp Marigold. It’s where her parents met, so spending summers there is a long standing family tradition. Rachel —— – Rachel doesn’t have as many advantages as Fiona. She’s the child of a single mother and a father who is in her life, but keeps her a secret.

From the Publisher: “At what point does childhood end and adulthood begin? Mandy Berman’s evocative debut novel captures, through the lens of summer camp both the thrill and pain of growing up… A seductive blast of nostalgia, a striking portrait of adolescent longing, and a tribute to both the complicated nature and the enduring power of female friendship…”

Review: Growing up I only went to camp a couple of times; it was never longer than a couple of weeks and the other kids were always new to me. So, I was really looking forward to experiencing summer camp in a whole new way with Mandy Berman’s debut, Perennials. On that front her book was a huge success. The setting of Camp Marigold was very well developed. I feel like I could step into that camp and everything would be familiar: the tent-cabins with nets strung over the bunks, the boy-girl dining hall, the horse barn and riding paths, and idyllic lake.

Berman’s main characters, Fiona and Rachel, I’m less certain about. The two, along with their friendship felt one-dimensional to me. Initially we’re told they’re the best of friends, though their backgrounds are very different. Six years later, their friendship is faltering with only the most superficial of explanations. Why over the last few years have they drifted apart? Can it really be that Fiona, a girl with everything going for her (she got a horse for her13th birthday), can be so undone by the “freshman 15?” Wouldn’t Rachel, more sophisticated and experienced, have been drifting from Fiona for years? Or, is it just this last summer? Much of their drama felt too young adult for me.

Had Berman spent more time developing Fiona and Rachel the story’s devastating climax would have been much more powerful. Instead, entire chapters were spent on minor characters that had almost nothing to do with the heart of Perennials. Some chapters felt like little more than fillers. This created a story that drifted from its plot far too often, making it difficult to sustain interest.

While I was not a fan of Perennials, I know others thoroughly enjoyed it. For a different point of view I’d suggest heading to The Misstery and checking out Annie’s wonderful review. It’s always fun to see how opinions about a book can vary so greatly. Grade: C

Note: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! It offers kind of a nostalgic view of summer camp while still managing to be a novel for adults. I'm often hesitant to read books that include numerous narrators, but this one manages to cover a variety of POVs while still giving them unique voices and interesting backgrounds. Even characters who initially seemed minor held my interest. In a sense, nothing happens in this book (until the major event at the end), and it feels more character-driven than plot-focused. Still, I was eager to see how everything shaped up for these people and enjoyed watching the story unfold slowly.

Pleasant and lightly dramatic, Mandy Berman's debut novel focuses on a set of characters linked by their connection to sleepaway camp. Berman writes with a sensitive, observant eye, but the focus of the book is a bit too broad (and the plot a little too lose) to make this a fully satisfying read.

A good coming-of-age story where campers learn choices have consequences. Good read.

A novel about summer camp may sound amateurish or YA but Perennials is anything but. In Mandy Berman's terrific debut novel you are introduced to a wide variety of characters that have a little bit of each one of us in them. We meet Rachel, Fiona, Denise, Helen, Sheera, Mo, Nelly and we remember our own camp friends or nostalgia. For someone who never went to camp we understand a little more about Camp Dynamics and how we grow. While I was never a huge fan of camp reading this story helped me understand all of the things at play for campers and the counselor. For the campers we find a group who is discovering themselves, they are discovering sexuality, their bodies are changing and some are not in that change. The unknown is exciting and thrilling to these new teens or about to be teens. With the older counselors they too are discovering adulthood and what it means to be an adult. Making good choices or learning from mistakes. Mandy has a terrific way of making each scene not only believable but also human. She has taken a great deal of time to get to know her characters and make them real. A must read!

A story of long time friends and the bonds that tie them together and tear them apart. Two girls from different worlds become close friends at summer camp and return together years later as counselors. Their last summer at camp will be full of ups and downs both expected and not. The events of the summer will test their friendship and the way they see themselves in the world. A well woven narrative with well developed characters who face life lessons they never imagined they would have to face during a summer at camp.

A slow moving book that suddenly and surprisingly fits in a lot of heavier subject matter toward the end. I would have liked it more if we had just been dealing with less characters. Even reading the book in one sitting, I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. I feel like eliminating at least two or three of the characters would have been easy. I wish we'd focused more on one camper that really interested me, but she ended up leaving.

The first couple of chapters focus on when two of our characters, Rachel and Fiona, are thirteen. They're best camp friends. Mostly seeing each other over the summer, they pick up right where they left off. Some differences between the two girls are obvious, but they really come to a head six years later when they're now nineteen and camp counselors. They've grown into very different people. Rachel is rebellious, spontaneous, and street smart. Fiona is more cautious, reserved and lacks self confidence. They now seem quite mismatched, but the bond they formed while they were only children still exists.

We also get perspectives from younger campers, other counselors, adults who work there, and even parents of some of the characters. There's a lot of detail about how they see each other and how relationships evolve over time. It's a quick read that leads to a very dramatic conclusion.

I received a copy of this book from Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group, thank you! My opinion is honest and unbiased.

I loved this book! It made me want to be at summer camp.
The only thing that was a little confusing was the change in narration. It sometimes took a bit before you knew who was talking in each chapter. Other than that, this is a perfect summer book. No huge events, just life at camp. And then...

Hugely recommended!