I've been a fan of Jennifer Weiner's writing ever since I picked up Good in Bed in 2002. I always know that I'll get a high quality novel when I see her name on the cover. While last year's novel, Mrs. Everything, was a heavier story, Big Summer gets back to the (somewhat) lighter side. If you liked Good in Bed, Best Friends Forever, and/or Goodnight Nobody, you will definitely enjoy this novel!

I was drawn into this novel right away and it kept me engaged and entertained the entire time. There was even a mystery aspect to it, which added to the excitement. I didn't even see that part coming either. I liked the use of social media to carry the story along, in terms of how people present themselves online and what it means to be an influencer in this day and age. The descriptions of people, locations, food, and clothing (even though I am not up to date with fashion labels) enhanced the story even more. It speaks volumes about body shaming, as well. I was so angry reading the part with Daphne's Nana.

This was a great story about a complicated friendship and whether or not people can change from who they used to be. Some of it reminded me of Mean Girls. I enjoyed it thoroughly and had fun getting to know Daphne, Drue, and some of the secondary characters. It's the perfect summer read and a great escape from our current reality.

Movie casting suggestions:
Daphne: Jillian Bell
Drue: Rebecca Rittenhouse
Darshi: Vella Lovell
Nick: Steven Strait
Aditya: Himesh Patel
Leela: JuJu Chan

Thanks to Atria for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer Weiner is the perfect author for quarantine! Big Summer was just fun and light and a perfect escapist read during these crazy times, I can't wait to share it.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Brief Summary: Daphne Berg is a plus sized influencer. She’s broke things off with her best friend from childhood Drue Cavanaugh after a humiliating incident that went viral. On the surface Drue leads a picture-perfect life but she can’t keep friends. She tracks Daphne down because she needs her to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding which Daphne agrees too. The wedding is set up to be the perfect picturesque Instagram worthy wedding before foul play breaks out. As a key player and prime suspect, Daphne sets out to uncover the truth. I am a longtime fan of Jennifer Weiner and will always be excited to get her latest read into my hands.

Highlights: The first half of the novel is consistent with what I have come to expect from Weiner; focused on female friendships, complex relationships, drama, and psychosocial issues. In the second half, the plot twists into a thriller which is incredibly well done. I questioned almost everyone and was still surprised by the outcome. I was totally engrossed and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I learned a lot about being an Instagram influencer and found it fascinating. This novel does cover issues such as weight loss in a manner which could be triggering to someone with a history of ED. I have seen many people taken advantage by people they cared about; this is a great read for someone who has experienced being used firsthand.

Explanation of Rating: 5/5: Jennifer Weiner nailed it and gave us another memorable book. So different from Mrs. Everything but absolutely as good!

Though it addresses heavy topics; this is a great beach read, a great for book clubs, and a must read for Jennifer Weiner fans.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book! Having read only the synopsis and no reviews prior to starting Big Summer, I was expecting more of a fluffy beach read - but midway though it turns into a murder mystery which was a (good!) surprise. I have been a big fan of Jennifer Weiner's since way back when Good in Bed first came out - I love her characters and the realness and heart they have, the "don't judge a book by it's cover" thing they have going on. Daphne was no exception - she had her insecurities and struggles, yes, but didn't let them get the best of her. She was a joy to read.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Books and Jennifer Weiner for the invitation to read this early!

Big Summer is exactly the book I needed right now. Daphne is a typical Jennifer Weiner heroine, a smart, feisty, plus-sized social media influencer who finds herself suddenly back in the life of her former best friend/current frienemy and the story takes off from there in unexpected directions. Fun comfort reading that I looked forward to picking up each time. Pick this up while you’re quarantined at home as a really solid entertaining escape.

Anyone else love Jennifer Weiner? I have loved every book of hers and still have several to read on my list. I was thrilled when I got an advanced copy of her newest release, Big Summer. But truthfully, it took me until the 40% mark to actually get really into it.

This one was different for Weiner’s style. She kept going back and forth from the past to the present all within the same chapter and I had to stop several times and reread to figure out which part of life I was supposed to be reading. I will admit… I was getting frustrated because it felt like she was just taking bits and pieces from both parts of life and throwing them together. I couldn’t tell what the book was supposed to be about…fat shaming, lost friendships, new friendships, self esteem issues, romance, etc. But about midway through, things really fell into place when a mystery was thrown into the mix. Then it got really good! Women’s fiction turned mystery? What?

Daphne was so relatable in so many different ways. She was made fun of for many years for her overweight figure. The author did a great job of showing how bullying can affect a person years later in life. I liked how there was so much more to this story than what I thought it was originally going to be about.

I wasn’t blown away with this read like I had hoped to be. I felt the writing style of this story was much different from Weiner’s previous works, but nonetheless, I still really liked it. Definitely worth your time to read, just don’t give up on it due to the slow start at the beginning.

I love this author and can’t wait to see what she brings us next. Thank you to Atria Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Prepare yourself for a thrilling adventure, a cozy mystery that will have you reading way past your bedtime. You will laugh, cry, cheer, boo, and gasp from shock. You will find a new shero who will steal your heart. You will revisit those frenemies from your past who you both loved and hated. You will discover that the bonds of true friendship are unbreakable. Thank you, Ms. Weiner, for an amazing book!

This was an amazing story! It had a little bit of everything in it—romance, Frenemies, murder, and Cape Cod.
I really wanted to read this book because the main character dabbles as an Instagram influencer, which is what I feel like I do I’m my spare time. I love the way Jennifer Weiner develops her characters and just creates these fully flushed lives that I can immediately relate to. This story was a fast read, but so many things are packed into it.

Daphne is trying to live a positive life of self-love as an overweight woman when her high school friend, Drue, (who has also publicly embarrassed her and made her feel very ashamed of who she was) suddenly reappears and asks her to be her bridesmaid. After some convincing Daphne agrees, only to end up as a murder suspect when some shows up dead on the day of the wedding.
The story has a lot of fun surprises and Daphne learns a lot about the friend she thought she knew and about herself and joys of her own life. It was a wonderful story and I highly recommend it!

Wow, I was absolutely blown away by this book. Not sure I should be surprised, because I pretty much love everything Jennifer Weiner writes. She appears to be back to her quintessential style of writing, fun but with an important message.

This is the story of Daphne, an up and coming influencer on instagram. Like all of Weiner characters she is full figured and has recently stopped trying to become something she is not and embracing her body. She lands a her first big contract with an upcoming designer and she has also been asked by her former best friend Drue to be her maid of honor in her up and coming wedding.

This is story is not always linear. Daphne, will share with you her sordid past with Drue, and their circle of friends. You will learn Daphne does not fit at all, money, looks and just about anything else. However, she cannot seem to turn anyway any affection that Drue provides, even if the ulterior motives are not quite sincere.

This book changes directions very quickly about a third of the way in. And as always not everything is as it appears in this story. This book is quite a roller-coaster ride of emotions, and Weiner does a wonderful job making you feel for Daphne, and this surrounding cast.

I honestly did not want this book to end, but it had an extremely satisfying ending. Have fun with this and savor what you can. This will be the perfect summer read for a lot of you.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have read a few of Jennifer Weiner's book and always enjoyed them. I will have to say that I really enjoyed this one because I was completely surprised by the twist that it took! The first part started off good and then began to drag a bit for me. I wanted something to happen. But when it happened, I was totally caught off guard. I found the main character likeable and been a big fan of New York City I loved that it was set there! Her use of description of the Cape where I have never been really brought the location to life. So without giving anything away, I was pleasantly surprised at how I could now put this down and couldn't wait to see what happened! Will be a great summer read for people!

This book. At first blush, it doesn’t quite seem like a fun summery read. But this is definitely a good beach book with a little romance and a little mystery. I really loved reading about Daphne. I enjoyed learning about her challenges - especially her body confidence - and how she worked to turn it into a positive.

Daphne’s relationship with Drue was awful. I hated to see how Drue treated Daphne and now it took so long for Daphne to break free.

This book give you a lot to think about regarding social media - how people look in a snapshot versus how they really are.

Definitely recommend this book. Jennifer Weiner writes a great story.

I did not know much about the plot of this book before reading and it did not disappoint! The first half of this book is an exploration of Daphne’s life struggling with self-acceptance and an exploration of her toxic relationship with her childhood friend Drue. The second half of the book is a face-paced mystery. I did not see that turn coming! I was very invested in how the plot would play out and the ending was surprising but plausible. One character’s backstory mirrors a past news story from Cape Cod. It was an interesting local connection for me as a Boston reader. This was a different kind of story from Jennifer Weiner and it was a very fun read!

Thank you to Jennifer Weiner, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC of Big Summer! Jennifer Weiner is a favorite author of mine and I was excited to read her latest book.

Big Summer starts out as a topical women's fiction, featuring Daphne, a plus-sized influencer. Daphne struggles with her self image as a young woman, but grows into a more confident adult who isn't afraid to speak her mind. I loved Daphne as a main character, and her flashbacks to her childhood really punctuated the storyline. Drue is Daphne's mean-girl high school bestie, and after not speaking for many years, Drue reaches out to Daphne to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Although she has reservations, Daphne agrees and takes the opportunity to be a part of of high-profile event in Cape Cod, thinking it may help her influencer campaigns. Things take a turn the night before the wedding, and a mystery ensues to determine who committed a murder.

I definitely wasn't expecting the second half of this book - I was surprised by the turn of events! The book started out as a standard Jennifer Weiner book (which I loved!), then became a whodunnit type of novel. I will say I enjoyed the first half of the book more, as I loved learning about Daphne's past. However, the mystery angle kept me interested and wanting to know what really happened the night before the wedding. This was an enjoyable book that I would recommend to any Jennifer Weiner fan!

Daphne Berg is a young woman trying to make it in NYC. She juggles a nanny gig while building her Instagram name and plus-size community. Snapping glam pics of her fashionable outfits while having real life experiences, Daphne is quickly impressing sponsors while displaying their products. Unexpectedly Daphne’s onetime high school best friend and current nemesis Drue Cavanaugh reappears. It’s been six years since that awful night in a popular Manhattan bar destroyed what was already a decidedly unbalanced relationship. The wealthy, beautiful, perfect Drue is getting married and would like Daphne, her oldest and truest friend, to be a bridesmaid. As unlikely as this all sounds Daphne decides the possibility of rekindling their friendship and meeting a cute guy at the wedding is too good to pass. The extravaganza is to take place on Cape Cod and what is meant to be the wedding of the year becomes the disaster of the century. Always a fan of Jennifer Weiner, her romcoms never fail to entertain. Cute to the point of silly, the amusing characters and mocking of our collective online vanity kept me laughing out loud. Great for the beach this summer, that is of course if they decide to let us in.

I have always been a big fan of Ms. Weiner, and I have read all of her novels. The main person in the story is Daphne, who is an Instagram influencer. The story is very timely, dealing with social media hype, fat shaming, adultery, bullying. And unexpectedly there is a death...a murder? The book’s characters are all so relatable, like old family friends. Recommended.

I wasn't quite sure what I was reading when I picked up Big Summer. I read the beginning and put it down for awhile before picking it up and reading the rest pretty quickly. I imagined it was going to be chick lit-which it was-but I wasn't prepared for the "thriller" part. Sure it was more interesting in the second half, but the reality was extremely far fetched.

It is more of a beach read then one I would ever recommend a student to read.

I was really excited to get to read this book, but it just didn't live up to the hype for me.

The first third of the book was all about Daphne, a plus-size "influencer" who was bullied regularly by her "best friend" Drue in school, culminating in a huge public fight that was posted on the internet for the world to see. Now that best friend is back and wants Daphne to be in her wedding since she has no one else to ask. Finally, something happens, and Drue is found killed the night before her wedding, and the suspects are limitless.

The first part of this book was so over the top with an emphasis on her weight and her obsession with herself via her social media platforms that I just wanted to shake Daphne and roll my eyes at the same time. There has to be more to life than your weight and everyone else's opinion of you. At least she met Nick so there was a bit of romance, but even the big reveal with him later on wasn't all that big and exciting and didn't go far enough.

And after the murder, I thought it was going to finally get good and exciting, but most of it was predictable and the whodunnit kind of came out of nowhere and didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I did like the way Daphne's relationship with her parents was portrayed, which was a plus, especially juxtaposed against Drue's relationship with her parents.

I think this might have been more fun as a light beach read, but the constant focus on Daphne's weight and how much focus she put on her body was a turn off.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.

I loved this book so much I devoured it in 24 hours. The prologue was a bit confusing and boring. It seemed to have nothing to do with the story as outlined in the synopsis. Of course all is revealed later. I loved the main character and could relate to her body struggles. The author did a good job trying to apply misdirection and make you question every person's motives you met. I found myself constantly asking what is their true agenda. I did not see the twist. A great beach read.

4.5⭐ I love Jennifer Weiner books. Her main characters are so relatable. Like Daphne, I've struggled with weight, body acceptance, and that voice inside your head that tells you you're not enough. I admire Daphne and her strength. When I picked up this book, I had no idea it was a murder mystery! I also had know idea who the murderer was until it was revealed. This was a fun book to review! Thank you to netgalley and Atria Books/Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Now that was fun. I had no idea that I was about to become involved in a frothy, funny, murder mystery investigated by a bunch of very quirky characters. Nasty doings in the first part – “You’re ugly. You’re fat. No one likes you. No one ever will.” Hard words to shake off. Somehow, Daphne, the protagonist accepts and embraces her body and herself and slaps downs her detractors. Well, almost but I was always rooting for her – weren’t you? And that is inspired writing. Murderous doings in the second part and whoever thought murder could be slightly hilarious?!

The big takeaway for me, through Daphne’s musing, is realizing that s easy to be envied when you have love all around you, a job you like, a loyal dog, a true friend and enough confidence to accept all of it – as I said inspired writing.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy.