Big Summer starts off with an interesting "chick lit" plot (I use that term with love). Female friendships can be messy and Weiner does a good job showing the power dynamics between friends and how much influence people and social media can have on our lives. Then the book does a major turn and becomes a mystery. Normally I would be all over the mystery plot, but it almost felt like two different books. Weiner is a great writer and fans of her work will likely enjoy the book. I highly recommend her book Mrs. Everything (review posted here!).

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria and Simon & Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy to read and review.

Totally expected a light and fluffy beach read but Big Summer was much more than that. It was part contemporary/women's fiction, part romance plus had some good plot twists in there too, which gave it a slight thriller-y vibe! It's hard to go into detail with this one without giving too much away but after a bit of a slow start I'm betting you'll really get into the story as the author created well-developed and relatable characters in addition to some interesting storylines. There's definitely lots happening in the book, and I do think things could have been simplified, but overall it's a great book that deals with family, friendship, forgiveness and figuring out what matters most. Oh, and I also loved the body positivity in this one. Enjoy!

The queen of summer reads, Weiner creates another great story. I don't want to discuss the plot too much, as going into the story blind seems like the best course of action. So many twists and turns, I just couldn't put it down and I needed to know what happened.

Review: Unpopular opinion! This book was entertaining at times however, it wasn’t my cup of tea. I try to be a positive person and the negative thoughts/ fat-shaming were too much for me. I thought it was going to be a summer romance read however, the genre switched part way through the book which left me feeling disjointed/disconnected. I’m going to end my review here with, this book just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this book! I loved that it was relevant and touched on body image, the power of social media and influencer status, and female friendships. This is one of those books where the less you know is better, but I highly recommend this book to my fellow readers - especially if you're a woman, use social media and have ever had any doubts about your physical appearance. So basically, most of you reading this ;)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I just couldn’t get into this book in the beginning. I read three books in between before I finally went back to it, determined to finish it. But, boy did it redeem itself.

It was about a woman named Daphne who reconnects with an old friend, Drue, from school who had used and bullied her and most others growing up. Drue comes back into Daphne’s life a new person, realizing she has no lasting friendships and apologetic for her past actions. She asks Daphne to be her maid of honor. I just felt like it was going to be predictable and Drue was using Daphne yet again for her wedding and there would be an eventual blowout. Frankly, I wasn’t in the mood for all that chit lit drama and ready to give up. I’m SO GLAD I KEPT READING! About halfway through, the book morphed into something completely different. This is why I can never DNF books. I have major FOMO about things changing right at the end.

This book is not about some relationship drama. It’s a suspenseful murder mystery with a major twist! I must stop discussing at this point to prevent spoilers.

The story had meaningful themes about body shaming, social media usage and female relationships and was super engaging. I wish it didn’t take me so long to get into it.
.

This was my first book by this author. What a wild ride! Drama, gossip, friendships, family, social media, and a little bit of mystery. I loved this book from start to finish and it was my of my favorite reads of 2020.
I absolutely adored Daphne. I loved her personality, history, and perspective of life.

Wow!! What a wild ride! Here I thought I'd signed up for a feel good story about a girl who stood up for herself, owned her issues, and became something amazing. What I got was a Marple mystery special of who done it, with what, and why?! I ate it up!! Weiner comes away with another win in my books. She really has am incredible skill for stringing a story together in a way that hooks you, pulls you in, and smothers you into submission. All aces for me!!

This is my first Jennifer Weiner book and it was hard to get into but I managed to get to the half way mark and had to DNF. This just couldn't hold my attention.

This book was the perfect combination of two of our favourite summer genres - a murder mystery and a summer romance all wrapped into one!

This is a great read for fans of Weiner’s previous works, and also for fans of contemporary mysteries.

I think this might be the first book I’ve read by the author so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Daphne is the central figure in this book and she is a successful plus size social media influencer. She has had body issues for years that were exacerbated by her ex friend Drue. The two women haven’t spoken in years so Daphne is surprised when Drue begs her to be a bridesmaid at her wedding. Daphne warily agrees and she heads to Cape Cod for the ceremony. She hopes this will be great for her social media posts and she is thrilled to renew her friendship with Drue. Here is where the book really picks up the pace and we start having multiple stories happening at once. I thought it was a bit too much going on in the plot but I still enjoyed the story. It was great to see the personal growth with Daphne and her family and best friend were great secondary characters. I won’t say much more and give away plot points but I found the book interesting overall and I will go and read from the author's backlist.

One of my favorite authors has come out with a book that could be classified as a murder mystery, I guess. But it is so much more than that. It’s about body shaming. It’s about one’s online versus IRL personas. It’s about bullying. It’s about classicism. It’s about neglect. All of this, rolled into one. It was an addictive, unstoppable read (I might have stretched reading time as long as I could for and skipped a few hours of precious sleep…) and it left me feeling both a little raw, emotionally, but also uplifted and hopeful. In the last couple of years, I have “broken up” with a few toxic friendships, and the pull that bully Drue has on Daphne was something quite familiar that kept me, miserable, in toxic friendships for many years. I really felt heard in Daphne, both when it came to her relationship with Drue, but also in her self-description as a “not-that-influential influencer”. I mean, I’m even less influential, so that description really made me laugh. I didn’t see the twist at the end; I’m going to have to reread the entire thing to see if the hints were there, because it did seem to both come out of the blue but make sense. Or maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to dig into this one, even through I really should be getting to the rest of my TBR pile… (published on http://www.saharsblog.com/review/book-review-round-june-2020/ and https://www.instagram.com/p/CCl12lCAHFu/

Thank you NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Canada and Jennifer Weiner.
I have always enjoyed Jennifer Weiner books and this one did not disappoint.
I loved Daphne character, her struggles, her insecurities, her family. I especially loved her relationship with her parents.
Drue character on the other hand is the typical rich entitled pretty girl. She was a character you loved to hate. Yet, she makes you realize money does not buy you love.
I loved this book, well written, great characters and storyline.
Recommend. 4 stars ⭐️

I've been a fan of Weiner for a long time and Big Summer turned out to be a thought provoking, fun exciting, suspenseful mystery. We follow Daphne who is an Instagram influencer who posts fashion and fitness for plus size women. Her old friend Drue, whom Daphne had a falling out with, gets in touch after years of no communicationasking her to be a bridesmaid. Part two leads to the mystery aspect as something suspicious happens at the wedding, and a whole lot of drama comes to face as they uncover what happened.

I received an ARC of this from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m usually a big fan of this author and her books, and while I loved this books message about body image, it was just ok for me.

I adored Daphne. I loved her history, her outlook on life, and I can completely identify with what she’s experienced in her life. Definitely been, definitely done that. The rest of the cast of characters were just meh for me. I had a hard time connecting to them.

Now for the mystery aspect of the book, that was ok too. It certainly kept me guessing until the end but I was also left wanting more. I’m not quite sure of what though.

Overall, I enjoyed it, I just didn’t love it like I usually do. That being said, it was a quick easy summer read.

Favourite book of the summer. What I loved about this book was that it wasn't marketed as a mystery book, so that twist was out of left field...and it worked!
The main character is what we need more in the literary world, especially to young readers. I absolutely loved this book!

I’ve enjoyed Jennifer Weiner’s novels in the past, but this one isn’t my typical genre. Her latest novel explores the influence of social media and friendship and deals with issues and views on women’s body image. The book serves up some twists and turns and I agree with other reviewers that is best to avoid spoiler reviews! Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy.

This one really was a delightful story about friendship, forgiveness and figuring out what matters most. Jennifer Weiner is such a fabulous writer, she has created a high drama page turner that will leave your racing through the pages!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

I'm sitting here trying to figure out how to write a review for this without including spoilers. Hmm. Here goes:

At its heart, this is a story about friendship, both healthy and unhealthy friendships and how we sometimes have a hard time knowing which is which. It's a story about trust, both on one's own judgement and in others. It's also about realizing that appearances are not always what they seem. That sounds rather deep and if you were to spend some time dissecting it, perhaps it would be. But the Cape Cod ultra-rich backdrop and Instagram influencer occupation prevent this from getting too heavy.

However, <spoiler>this story jumps the shark at the mid-point when it turns into a murder mystery. Yup, you read that right. So, while I applaud Weiner for trying something new, it wasn't the best mystery writing as some clues just magically appeared and were conveniently explained away. And, the abrupt switch had me wondering what the hell was going on. But, I decided to go with the flow and see where it ended up.</spoiler> On reflection, I still found myself enjoying it.

I think Weiner does her best when she writes women's fiction and I'll continue to read her novels for those types of stories. This still ended up working for me partly because I was committed to not taking it too seriously and because of that, I was able to excuse things more readily just to keep up the enjoyment.

Need to think about this one. I liked it but...

RATING: 2.5 STARS
2020; Atria/Simon & Schuster Canada

I loved my first novel (In Her Shoes) by Weiner. Then after reading a few more of her novels, and not finding that same magic, I decided to take a break from reading Weiner. The break lasted a decade until last year when her Mrs. Everything's gorgeous cover caught my eye. There it was, the magic again. I loved it and was in for the next book, enter Big Summer. I really liked the first bit of the novel, and then it started to get into "mean girls" territory. But I was still in, and committed. The humour was subtle, and it seemed realistic...boom, a murder. Now we are solving the murder. I was totally expecting a contemporary romance, and then half heartedly a mystery is thrown in and it really didn't fit. I decided to keep listening as I made it this far. Then there was another death from the past, that kind of reminded me of that murder in the Hamptons (I think). I just got lost after that, and then it's over. It started out strong, and then just starts to meander a bit, but it's a good book to read if you are half distracted. I did have an issue with the end of the novel...I can't say anything without giving spoilers...but I will say it's very stereotyped and forced. I am not sure where my future lies with Weiner...but I will definitely need to reread my two favourites at some point.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***