This book was not what I was expecting. I love that Jennifer Weiner is spreading her wings with her most recent books. I thought I was picking up a light summer read. Instead, I found myself in a book that offered a little for everyone. It was nostalgic, had a light love story and a twisty mystery. The characters in this book are both likable and relatable. It had me guessing until the very end.
Props to Jennifer Weiner for tackling fat shaming and having a plus sized character that is a hero.
The only downside of this novel was the two timelines in the book never crossed again after the beginning. We started in 1994 and then skipped ahead (and never returning or really learning about Christina) leaving that part of the story a bit disjointed.

I really enjoyed this; it felt to me a like a modern update on Good in Bed, combined with Good Night, Nobody (one of my favorite books by Weiner, and I continue to cross my fingers that Kate and Janie will pop up again). A great, fun summer read and an interesting take on social media fame.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First, thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read Big Summer in exchange for an honest review.

As an avid fan of Jennifer Weiner I jumped at the chance to read Big Summer. After having read Mrs. Everything and falling for its multi-dimensional characters, I knew that there would be so much to like in Big Summer too, especially from a character perspective.

Let me start by saying I wasn’t disappointed, Big Summer was captivating and extremely well done. Drue Cavanaugh was a thoroughly likeable and empathetic character. The book begins with Drue being taken off guard when multiple years after being embarrassed and humiliated by a classmate she once thought was her friend – or at least someone she desperately wanted to be her friend – Daphne Berg comes back in her life and out of the blue asks, no begs, Drue to be her maid of honor in her society wedding.

Drue is blindsided by the request. Beautiful yet overweight, she has built a life for herself as a social media influencer and finally has the kind of life in which she is comfortable with who she is, and is happy and feels valued. Her parents are supportive ad so is her best friend and roommate, Darshi. Drue is a complicated character – smart and strong and yet still vulnerable under all the veneer she has built in today’s social media world. She is thrilled when Leela Thakoon, a fashion designer, wants her to be her plus size media influencer for her clothing line and looks great in the clothing. Leela is an interesting character who gets more interesting as the book proceeds and all is not as it seems. The book

Darshi, Drue’s roommate is also a friend since school and like Drue, a bit of an outcast. Brilliant and also taken advantage of by Daphne, she is a strong supporting character throughout the book.

When Drue meets Nick at the wedding it seems too good to be true – and it almost is. He is attentive and kind and genuinely seems to like Drue. It is impossible to say more about Nick without revealing spoilers except to say his character is not what he seems.

What I liked about the book: The book raises the issues of living your live in such a high profile way on the Internet and with your social profile seemingly more important than friendship, kindness and family, especially when it is your livelihood. The book also explores our capacity to forgive, even when we’ve had our heart broken – to try again. I enjoyed how the author keeps providing constant surprises for the reader and the characters. It always kept me going. I thought the characters were fabulous. Loved Drue. Her parents were wonderful. As a reader, I thought the author did an excellent job creating a very dislikable character in poor Daphne, even when you felt momentarily sorry for her. Darshi was a good sympathetic foil for Drue.

What I liked less: I didn’t expect the plot line to go in the direction it did. Without explaining and adding a spoiler, perhaps a less dramatic outcome would still have been as good? It certainly worked – but could have worked with a different outcome too.

Thank you again NetGalley and Simon & Schuster.

This was a great story. I love Jennifer Weiner and I wasn’t really expecting a mystery but it was a fun story and with great likable characters.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner ~ Reviewed March 23, 2020 4 Bright Stars!!

I am not a chick Lit fan but I am an author, Jennifer Weiner fan ~ this is novel #15 for me.
Story is told in Three Parts.
I pretty much went into this blind. I did a quick check on Goodreads for any advanced reviews and saw many 3 stars. I thought “Yikes No Way”! I didn’t go any further with the reviews as I did not want to read them.
As I mentioned, I am NOT a Chick Lit fan. My favorite genre is psychological thrillers and mystery/thrillers next. So when Part Two turned out to be a mystery, I actually yelled “YES!”

Part One
MC (Main Character) Daphne Berg has been bullied and fat shamed all her life.
In the sixth grade, Daphne is awarded an academic scholarship to the prestige Lathrup Academy. She immediately is befriended by rich, pretty, and very popular Dreu Cavanagh. Daphne’s friends ~ a “misfit” group ~ warns her that Dreu will turn on her, she is mean. Her sweetness is only an act.
Strange but Daphne and Dreu remain friends until college.
Yep Dreu shows her true colors and they have a serious falling out.

Six years after Daphne is a successful Plus-size Instagram Influencer. She is paid by sponsors to model clothes, shoes etc. and post on Instagram. Dreu show up all changed after therapy and is getting married and wants Daphne to be her Maid of Honor. …. WHAT?

Part Two
Starts off was someone dead and soon talk of murder.
Aww Now Prologue makes sense. Interesting what has happened to Christina and her son Aidan.
Part Two also deals with discussions on how easy it is for nasty people to use social media to troll. They are Cyber Bullies.
I liked what Daphne’s dad said
When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
When you’re angry, everything looks like a target.
There are a lot of angry people in the world.
And these days they’re all on the internet.
I guess there are a lot of angry people as many folks are quick to find fault with everything and everybody.

Awww Daphne’s relationship with her parents is a breath of fresh air. Totally love the Dad & Daughter Sunday Find a New Restaurant Adventure.

Part Three
Daphne is out to solve the murder. There are twists and turns that I just loved.

Aww that Jennifer Weiner never lets me down!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for this early release granted in exchange for an honest professional review. Publishing Release Date scheduled for May 19, 2020

This was the perfect stress-relieving read that we all need right now! Daphne Berg is a plus-size influencer, living a successful single-girl life in NYC. When her high-school frenemy, Drue Cavanaugh, asks her to be a bridesmaid in her summer wedding, Daphne reluctantly agrees. Both women, as well as Drue's fiance, will benefit from the online exposure. Daphne meets a great guy at the wedding, but things take a turn for the weird when someone is murdered right before the wedding. Suddenly, Daphne is a suspect in the murder and must scramble to figure out what is going on. Read the book to find out how all the plots are tied together!

I really enjoyed this fun read, especially the in-depth look at the lives of the Instagram-famous. I always appreciate Weiner's body-positive/healthy behavior message to readers. Thank you so much to Atria and Netgalley for the librarian preview!

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Another great summer read from Jennifer Weiner! Loved how the story is broken up into three parts and ends up being a guessing game throughout, not what I expected, but loved! This book covers the impact of social media, weight issues, romance, enemies, school bullying, etc. So many hot topics intertwined!

Daphne and Drue, on and off friends for years reunite when Drue tracks plus size influencer Daphne down to ask her to be in her wedding. Daphne, who is not thrilled with reuniting with her friend wants nothing to do with Drue, eventually caves and agrees to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming socialite wedding. The book is not predictable and a great read! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Daphne is a plus-size influencer. A former classmate, Drue who is also a wealthy a socialite getting married, Daphne, her friend from high school is asked to be at the wedding. Sadly Drue is murdered

before her wedding. As Daphne and her friends search for Drue's killer secrets are revealed about Drue's life and the people in her life. Told from Daphne's point of view this was an interesting story and with engaging characters, and unique plot twists.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, but I absolutely loved it and I would have absolutely paid to read it. Jennifer Weiner does it again with this great read. Big Summer is a twisty tale with some love and mystery. When a friend from Daphne's past comes back into her life, Daphne's life gets turned upside down. Pain from the past is brought to the forefront while Daphne learns that sometimes people really can change or at least they can pretend to change. This is a good look into life is portrayed through social media, how looks can be deceiving and how even when someone seems to have it all they may actually be lonely and hurting.

NOTE: I received a free advanced readers copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'll admit, for the first section of the book, I was a little underwhelmed. I couldn't imagine reading so many pages about an overweight girl being used and abused (emotionally) by an old high school thin, rich, beautiful frenemy. It felt like an old worn-out cloche of a story. But a twist about 1/3 of the way in kicked this book into high gear and turned it into a page turner that I sat reading all afternoon until I finished. It was never quite as deep or as good as Mrs. Everything , Weiner's previous book, but it turned into some decent light reading and much more original and entertaining than I thought it would be.

After reading Mr. Everything I was prepared to be disappointed. I have been a huge Weiner since Good in Bed & have enjoyed almost all of her books. This book, Big Summer, is a huge improvement over Mrs. Everything.
The story starts out very engaging and should attract newer readers as the main character is a social media influencer. I alternated between liking and disliking main character. Seemingly, her life has turned out much better than she expected. Great family, good friends, fairly successful navigating her adult life. The whining about her past can get a little excessive, especially since story highlights such a powerful moment, that marked huge changes in her life path. Overall though, I think she's someone everyone can relate to, overweight or not. Her issues of middle school friendships, economic class, and weight touch all of us in one way or another.
The best friend, was easy to despise, although there was a good mix of elements that made you understand how turned out the way she did. I think the story of the roommate could have used more development, I was certainly curious to hear more about her ties to the former best friend.
A few issues I had with the main character, at the funeral she declared she needed to walk & asked her love interest if he was up for it. He was described as extremely in shape, almost Adonis like, and she, an overweight person, asked if he was up to walking two miles (while she was in heels) - that seemed a little far fetched.
The story kept moving and although the end got a little confusing (I had to read through it twice), I did like the twist.
I am hopeful that there is a sequel somewhere down the line (like the follow up to Good In Bed). I would be curious to see what's in store for the main character, her roommate, her love interest, and her parents.

Looking for unpredictable yet light? This is your book. There were a couple of unexpected twists and turns. Overall, it is a sweet read with a feel-good ending. Highly recommend that you add this book to your stack of summer beach reading.

When the publisher contacted me and offered me the chance to read this pre publication novel by Jennifer Weiner, I jumped at it. You see, she is one of my favorite authors but I really didn’t care for her last book and had provided an honest review. ( I was definitely in the minority with my opinion). I did not read any reviews or synopsis of this book ahead of time so I had no idea what to expect. As first I thought it was just a cute story about learning to love yourself no matter the size but found a very interesting, entertaining and well developed story. It’s a perfect Book Club choice because there are so many facets to each character . It makes you question some of your own relationships ( male and female) and the reasons why we accept certain behaviors in our friends . It’s an eye opener as to how social media adds a whole new aspect to who we are and who can see us. I highly recommend this book as it feels like a light read but actually has many moments that I find myself thinking about later . #netgalley #simonandschuster #atriabooks

I went into this book blind because I’ve enjoyed all of this author’s work that I’ve read in the past. Not knowing what to expect, the “tragic event” took me by surprise. I felt like it took a long time to get to that point, and then the wrap up at the end was kind of rushed. I really wanted to like Daphne and all that she overcame to get her mind right, but I got really tired of constantly hearing about her weight. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but felt like it was drawn out and took a long time to get to the point.

I love this book!!! It takes me back to Weiner's first books (Good in Bed and In Her Shoes). The dynamic between best friends and the fallouts that happen with them, and the plight of "big girls" struggling to feel accepted for the amazing women they are instead of being ridiculed for how they look. I have been a fan of Jennifer Weiner's writing for a very long time, and this new book does not disappoint at all! Thank you for the opportunity to read this one early, NetGalley. xoxo

Oh yes! This was not just fun but a great page-turner. I'm one of Jennifer Weiner's fans from her first book, Good in Bed, which was such a wonderful story with great characters, sizzle and charm. "Big Summer" is very reminiscent of that: Daphne is a "plus size" influencer on Instagram who is invited to her former bff's wedding (ulterior motives on Drue's part? hmmm). There's love and revenge, of course, as most weddings have (hence the fun!) but this one also has a major mystery (hence the page turning!).

Highly recommend for fans of her work but also readers who are looking for a great escape read during these dark days.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Weiner and when I was given an opportunity to read an advanced copy of her newest novel I jumped at the opportunity. Weiner puts a bit of a different spin on this novel compared to her previous ones. It doesn't disappointed. I was completely engrossed and you will be too! This will make for a perfect Summer read.


Daphne Berg is our main character. She is a twenty something plus sized social media influncer. She is dragged back into the past when her ex-best friend Drue contacts her asking her to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Daphne is understandably hesitant but she has a big heart and gives in.

Daphne ends up finding herself swept back into the life of Drue and the wedding planning. Then the unthinkable happens and Daphne finds herself front and center.

The story is told in present time with flashbacks to give historical content to aid the story telling. Weiner deals with a variety of topics in this novel, bullying and body shaming are prevalent but health friendships and love also makes the rounds.

This was such a great take on the social media aspect. I loved Daphne and just wanted to jump right in and give her a great big hug. All the twists and turns in this book!!! This is my second Jennifer Weiner book, and though it can’t stand up to Mrs. Everything, I really enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend it friends. I love how she turned it into a mystery. Thanks so much to Atria Books for reaching out and asking me to read and give my honest review.

Not my favorite. I absolutely LOVE Mrs. Everything - it was one of my favorite books last year, but Big Summer was very disappointing. It was a downer, especially as a bigger woman, I felt that it was just sad. I didn't like hearing so much about how Daphne was mistreated for being bigger... it didn't feel authentic either. I would not recommend this.