This book was simply not for me. I simply did not like it. Honestly, it is me, not the book.

If you are a fan of Jennifer Weiner, you probably stopped reading this half ass review.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Atria for this advanced readers copy. This book released in May 2020.

I went into this book a little nervous because sometimes a breezy 'fun and witty' book does not live up to the hype. However, this book lives up to it! The characters are believable, the discussion of influencers and wanna be's are culturally relevant, and even though the first half of the book could be a little too over the top for me, the second half of the book grabbed my attention and I refused to put it down until I was finished! This is the Jennifer Weiner book we have all been waiting for and I am happy to be a part of the first wave of readers for this book. Thank You to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to have a digital copy of this book in exchange for my review. I really enjoyed it and look forward to more books by this author!

I loved Weiner's "Good in Bed" and I was happy with "Big Summer." This book explores female friendship, social media representation of self, and acceptance. The book took, what I thought, was an unexpected twist about halfway through. I confess I'd make a terrible detective and I couldn't see what was coming - and that was fine! The protagonist is an easy-to-love character and Weiner knows how to write a good sex scene (thank you, Jennifer!). A great summer read!

This book will surely be in beach bags everywhere this summer. A frothy romp that many of us need during this time of pandemic and uncertainty. Escapism at its best! . Daphne Berg takes us through the life of a social media influencer, and the social event of the season, her former friend Drue's wedding on Cape Cod. MIdway through the novel there is a shocking development that I certainly did not see coming. At its core this a book about friendship. And to put down the phone and enjoy it in real life, not on social media.

🏝 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫🏝
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Thank you to @netgalley for the advanced reader copy!
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“𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.”
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Synopsis 📖⠀
Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne is shocked when Drue appears back in her life unexpectedly. Daphne and Drue hadn’t kept in touch at all, so Daphne is shocked when Drue asks if she will be the maid-of-honor at her society wedding of the summer. Little did either of them know, it would be a disastrous wedding.
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Review✨
This book was just ok for me. I’m a fan of Jennifer Weiner but she’s done better. It was good but hard to keep my attention. The storyline was pretty predictable and easily forgettable. The wedding started off great and then something major happens and the rest of the book is spent figuring out what went wrong at the wedding. There were a few major plot twists, but they weren’t that substantial. I did enjoy the complexity of Daphne and Drue’s friendship-we all had a friend who treated us poorly at one point in our lives. I did enjoy the storyline about Daphne being a plus-size influencer, but the nods to her weight were tiring.
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If you’re looking for an easy summer read this is it. If you’re looking for more than that, you won’t find it here. It almost reminded me of mindless made-for-TV movie.
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This is an interesting book that I'm glad I didn't read anything about before I decided to read it. It's got lots of familiar Jennifer Weiner standards in it... overweight heroine recognizes her value, lots of fun descriptions of food and family, and awesome descriptions of settings. However I will say that I was kind of jarred by the abrupt change midway through the book. I'm still processing that change. Ultimately I enjoyed the book, and it will make a terrific book for a beach bag this summer.

I was really looking forward to this book and have enjoyed so many of Jennifer Weiner's books.

This book had so much going and just fell short for me.

4.5 stars I am a huge fan of Jennifer Weiner and was excited to review this seemingly light beach read. About halfway in, she throws us for a huge loop thus changing the direction of the book. I love how she tells her story and expands on each major and minor character. I feel like I knew the secondary characters almost as well as the major characters. This became a page turner that shifted my mindset from the "cute beach read" the cover suggests. Weiner is a thoughtful writer who kept me absorbed in the book until the bitter (and sweet) end. Thanks, NetGalley for a copy to review. :)

This is the typical Jennifer Weiner fiction we know and love, but with an added murder mystery element! A plus-sized fashion influencer is skeptical when her estranged high school bestie reconnects. Before she knows it, she has agreed to be a bridesmaid in the friend’s wedding, but the friend’s history of not treating people well comes back to haunt her in a big way. A super enjoyable beach read!

This was a good page-turner that took some unexpected twists. The story follows Daphne, a social media plus size influencer who lives in New York City and has lost touch with childhood friend Drue, who could be both kind and cruel. Drue reaches out to Daphne and asks her to be part of her Cape Cod wedding, prompting Daphne to wonder if Drue has changed. The wedding triggers a series of events that reunites Daphne with others from Drue's past, all of whom have complicated relationships with her. This is a tricky book to summarize, as it covers friendship, self-image, a little romance, and mystery. I loved the characters, especially Daphne and Drue. Their friendship, and their individual flaws and positive attributes, were really well done. There is also some thoughtful commentary on social media influencers and what it takes to keep up appearances. Despite the cover and title, the content of "Big Summer" makes it heavier than a typical beach read, though it is still absorbing and entertaining.

I thought this was just going to be some fun chick lit. But it's also a murder mystery. What?!?!?

Daphne is a body confident social media influencer. Drue is a rich mean girl. Years ago, Drue did something to Daphne that turned her entire life upside down. It actually launched her onto her current path and made her "Instagram famous." Now Drue wants Daphne to be in her wedding to a reality TV star. I would have said no, but I'm not a character in a novel.

This book has all sorts of things going on. Friendship, love, family dynamics, confidence, bravery, back stabbing, revenge, murder, and the quest to be true to yourself despite what other people think.

This book is so much fun (+ murder mystery). I definitely recommend it.

Jennifer Weiner never disappoints and in Big Summer she takes a look at the complexity of female friendships from youth to adulthood. Daphne has made a name for herself as an up n coming plus size influencer but when her old best friend shows up, she starts to feel insecure all over again.

What Ms. Weiner does well is make all of her characters relatable even Dru.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner is a great and entertaining novel that deals with friendship, love, loss, betrayal, wealth, family,crime, adulterous affairs, body image, true love, Instagram, fame, influencers, and ethnicity. The main characters attend middle and high school together and then have an argument that causes them to not see each other for many years. One of the characters named Drue Cavanaugh is a rich young woman who uses people when needed. She does miserable things to many and experiences very little remorse. Another character, Daphne, is an overweight woman who has issues with self esteem and body shaming. She had become an Instagram influencer by promoting large women fashion , exercise and other topics relevant to women in general, but especially large women. Yes all the topics are woven into a rich and entertaining novel, There is a video of Daphne that goes viral. In it she is screaming at a twenty something man who has been very hurtful to her at a nightclub . Someone posts this video and this is how she starts her “career”as an Instagram influencer. She takes lemons and makes lemonade. There is also a wedding of an old friend who has hurt Daphne in the past. Drue begs Daphne to be in her wedding even though Daphne has not seen Drue in six years! I would love to keep writing about the plot of this novel but I do not want to create any spoilers. I read this entire book in 1 1/2 days! It was so enjoyable. I would like to thank Simon and Schuster and netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner is going to be really big this summer. Ha. See what I did there? Sorry...I’m feeling cheesy and a little bit silly today. Plus, I’ve been into the wine. Weiner’s latest really surprised me. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all and I found it so different from her previous novels. The first half was very Jennifer-esque, but then things switched gears. Weiner went the mystery route, and it threw me for a loop! My jaw dropped and I liked it. However, the ending felt a little rushed, to be honest. There was a lot going on in the last half of the novel, and I wasn’t super impressed with how things were tied up. Other than that, Big Summer was an enjoyable read. Not my favorite from the author, but I’m certain it will be a huge hit this summer. 3.5/5 stars for Big Summer!

Big Summer is my favorite Jennifer Weiner book yet! For me this book really stood out, mostly because the main character, Daphne, was so down to earth and relatable. She’s the type of girl who has learned to love the skin she’s in, though the journey wasn’t always easy. Her struggles followed her into adulthood, and when a former friend asks her to serve as Maid of Honor, she finds herself at a moral crossroads. What begins as an extravagant wedding weekend, quickly ends in disaster and tragedy. I was instantly drawn in to the impressive writing and unique story line. It’s hard to go into specifics without giving away spoilers, so I’ll just say it is a fantastic summer read with the perfect blend of female empowerment, mystery, and a touch of romance!

A book that examines both social media and friendships- this book is ultimately a pretty decent summer read. I will admit to enjoying the first part of it more than the latter parts, but things aren’t generally perfect. This is a satisfying read.

This was so good! I really don't want to give too much away with putting book details in the review, but if you want a really good fiction read that's set in the summertime (and even more so if you're already a fan of Jennifer Weiner's books), then definitely pick this one up!!

This book is very different from Jennifer Weiner’s other books. Definitely was not expecting the twist halfway through. The first half was stronger than the second, the finale chapters were a little predictable. All in all, this was a fun beach read.

Perfect Big Read for the Corona Virus Quarantine Spring 2020

Jennifer Weiner’s 16th novel comes just in time for the Covid-19 shut-down--read it while you are WFH and before it gets made (once Hollywood is back to it) into a movie starring a plus-size actress, loads of fashion, and great shots of NYC and the Cape.

Wendy Ward
http://wendyrward.tumblr.com/

I know for a fact I am in the minority here when I say I wasn’t crazy about this one. In the beginning there were so many flashbacks and different timelines, each story branching off to another story. There was a huge twist about halfway through, which made the story more interesting. But it was as if the story was wearing too many hats, touching on multiple genres all at once: mystery, romance, contemporary fiction. While it brought up important topics such as women empowerment, strong female friendships and body positivity, I had trouble simply grasping the general concept of the story and I wasn’t invested in any one character. Also the whole social media/influencer aspect, I have very limited knowledge on. Sadly this one wasn’t for me. ⁣
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.