So I will probably give this book 3 stars. I thought it started out way too slow. If the details of her troubled relationships in high school were just plain boring. That aspect of the book was probably more suitable for a YA book. I really wasn’t interested in the details of how many time she had been wronged by Drue. However the book did pick up a bit once we finally got to the wedding and a mystery popped out of nowhere. I did feel most of these characters were very flat and one dimensional, Daphne lamenting about her weight incessantly.. The book left me really curious about just how overweight she really wise? That being said it was a fast easy read. Once again thank you for my advance copy.

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner Prologue started out to be an interesting story then it suddenly switched to a completely different scenario. Confusing at best, disjointed with too many issues. A good read for Ms Weiner's many fans, just not my cup of tea.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I was actually really surprised with Big Summer.

Jennifer Weiner explores some heavy issues in this one around social media, societal views on women, and women's body image.

Our main character Daphne Berg has been made fun of and judged by her body her entire life. Sadly, she was made fun of by her best friend Drue. Drue is quite the typical bombshell beauty but is extremely stuck up and just mean. Drue of course begs Daphne to be her bridesmaid because she is getting married.

There is a significant elements and layers to this novel.... I wasn't expecting at all a mystery within this women's fiction. But, Weiner totally pulls it off.

Weiner weaves a story about the reality of social media with friendships, romance, and mystery all in the perfect summer tale.

The only minor issue I had with this one was the main character Daphne is having insecurities about being overweight and feeling not good enough. It felt a little judge on labeling typical "skinny women" and "overweight women."

Overall, I would grab this one for your beach bag!

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars rounded up.

Pub date: 5/19/20
Published to GR: 2/28/20

This was a great suspenseful novel!

Daphne, the overweight girl who was always in awe that Drue, a beautiful and wealthy It girl, would want to be friends, was destroyed by a cruel act of Drue's. But once they're older and Drue is getting married, Daphne can't help but be pulled back into the glamour of Drue's life...until she shows up dead the night before her wedding. Daphne feels the pressure to find out who did this to the beautiful but heartless girl she wonders if she knew at all.

The book was really well-written, as any Jennifer Weiner book is! She does a beautiful job of creating three-dimensional characters that you feel for, even when you hate them. The story has you on edge and questioning every person involved as a potential killer and the final twist is one I didn't see coming. Great book!

I’m sorry but I just didn’t like Daphne at all! She seemed like such a whiner and I was not rooting for her. It was like a bad version of a reality show. No thanks.

Fresh off the success of her massive, multi-generational best-seller Mrs Everything, Jennifer Weiner brings us a thriller for this decade: a whodunit that combines the glitz and glamour of Gossip Girl with the mystery of an Agatha Christie-esque murder.

Daphne is an Instagram influencer who specializes in body positivity after rising to notoriety when a video of her goes viral. Fast-forward six years, and she's surprised when her best frienemy reappears out of nowhere. Drue Cavanaugh is an entitled heiress with not much going for her in the personality department, but she can guarantee that her wedding on a beach in Cape Cod will be a social media sensation.

I have to say I was a little disappointed. Where Mrs Everything is an ambitious journey through decades of women's liberation and feminist rights, Big Summer felt shallow and rushed. Weiner does a good job of portraying things from a body-positive point of view. Perhaps she fell into the trap of the world she was writing about; while fashion and food are riveting on social media, lists of outfits and exotic ingredients don't make for a very engrossing read.

Another issue I had was the characters, who seemed almost Sophie Kinsella-esque in their one-dimensionality. Not to mention the fact that they all have D names: Daphne, Darshi, Dora, Drue...

That said, I can bet that this book will be a best-seller too. Place your bets on how long it takes for Netflix to cast Danielle MacDonald and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Daphne and Darshi. Ultimately it was a light, fun read and it had some good insight into the power of social media.

Jennifer Weiner reigns as the Queen of Women’s fiction! I loved this book and from page one I was hooked! Without spoiling the plot for anyone, this has it all! Relationships and friendships are at the heart of this book, coupled with a mystery! Great job of transitions from past to present keeping the reader hooked the whole way! No one writes characters quite the way Weiner does and with every page turned I felt like I was part of the story, a friend to the main character Daphne! Thank you again for an advanced copy!

Absolutely LOVED this book.

No big surprise there, as Jennifer has a way with words and making them suck you in. This book did that and so much more. I found myself laughing in spots, tearing up in others, all while falling in love with the characters she so eloquently wrote.

Oh Jennifer Weiner.....you just keep getting better (if that is possible!)

Listen, I'm one of those readers who are all over the place with my genres. There are some times I want to read books that make you think and have you ponder life questions...and other times when I just want to be able to get lost in a book. This was a book I was able to get lost in.

Daphne and Drue were best friends in school. Well, best friends may be a stretch, but they were good friends. Drue was the girl everyone wanted to be but to be honest, she was not a nice girl. Daphne was the overweight girl who couldn't believe that Drue wanted to be friends with her. However, a huge falling out between the girls jumps starts Daphne's future and ended the friendship. Now, Daphne is a media influencer, she promotes a positive body image and although she is overweight, she still takes care of herself. The book begins with her landing a clothing deal!
Drue has forced herself back into her life. She basically appeared on day at the house where Daphne works as a nanny and guilts her into being her Maid of Honor in her wedding. Suddenly Daphne finds herself getting swept back up by Drue, until the unthinkable happens the night before Drue's wedding.

So let's start with Daphne. I LOVED her. She had just enough good qualities and bad qualities. Yes, she's overweight. Yes its something that bothers her (she mentions how it holds her back a few times) but no, she doesn't dwell on it. I especially loved how she spent a majority of the book trying to answer a follower who asked her what does it mean to be brave.
Now Drue. Drue, Drue Drue. Drue who did horrible things, like beg a guy to hit on Daphne because she felt sorry for her. She did so much to so many people, although we really only hear about a few. However, it is easy to hate Drue. She is beautiful, comes from money and is marrying the star of a reality TV show called "Single Ladies". She has the perfect life and no expense is spared for her wedding on the cape. It isn't until later that we learn there was so much more to Drue than meets the eye. We get to see some of her vulnerability before her wedding and I wish we were able to see more of it. There was so much more depth to her than what meets the eye. that you can't help but go from hating her to empathizing with her.
This had some humor to it, as do most of Jennifer's books, and it keeps you interested in the whole story. Her characters are real, relatable and likeable! I would summarize this book by saying its a little "Good in Bed" meets "Goodnight Nobody".
A solid four stars for me!
Thank you so much to Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Its another win for Jennifer Weiner!

Unexpected but enjoyable plot from this well known author! Loved the characters and character development - and the fact that some characters didn’t have or need developing. I especially enjoyed the dual setting of the Cape and NYC. So fun to recognize the different atmospheres and locations. I think the author did a terrific job making social media a realistic focus, and even commenting via subtext how social media impacts the creators as well as the consumers. Very well done.

Delicious! I enjoyed every moment of this book Jennifer Weiner has such a wonderful ability, writing a delightful book around the very serious issue of women and their body image.

Daphne Berg has spent her life being fat-shamed. Most cruelly, by her best friend Drue., but when Drue begs her to be her bridesmaid, she relents and thereby hangs this tale. There are so many elements in this story, all well done, all interesting. Weiner has blended everything from internet influencers, to romance, to mystery and created a book that will be a top summer read.

I think that book clubs and women’s studies seminars will find a great deal of material to mine. Reading about big issues in the lives of women can be handled with a deft touch and I think Weiner proves it by surrounding some very serious issues with a readable novel.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this book by one of my favorite authors.

I have been a huge fan of Jennifer Weiner all the way back to her very first book, so when I was offered an advanced copy of her new book (coming out in May), I couldn't resist being one of the first to read it, and it did not disappoint. Main character Daphne is a 20-something plus size social media influencer, who is contacted out of the blue by her high school best friend Dru who asks her to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, even though they haven't spoken since a big fight 6 years prior. So a big theme of the book is that how people present themselves in social media and even in real life isn't always what's going on beneath the surface. With other themes of friendship, family, love, forgiveness, and the battle for self-acceptance and against body shaming, this is a quintessential Jennifer Weiner book, though I have to say I was surprised by a twist partway through the book that turned it into a bit of a mystery. Still, a very enjoyable book for any Jennifer Weiner fan and I'm sure to those who have not previously read her books as well.

Big Jennifer Weiner fan here! I fell so quickly into this book - it's relatable and fun, with a sweet side of mystery! I love a good story about the complexities of female friendships, and Big Summer definitely hit the nail on the head.

Weiner does it again - Delivering another page turning, can’t put it down, stay up reading waaaaay best bedtime book.

A fun and flirty book that hits on heavy topics, the newest from Jennifer Weiner was a fast read. As always, the author gives luscious descriptions of the settings and it’s wonderfully written. The main character Daphne is intensely likable and completely relatable. I am confused about the plot, as it starts out in a different tone then switches completely for the rest of the book. While it did tie in together by the end, it was a confusing mood switch that left me feeling adrift. The book was fine but the plot was discombobulated as there is a lot going on! Is this about fat shaming? Friendships? Romance? Murder mystery? The dark side of social media? Just too much going on in the plot for me to enjoy the full ride and left me feeling ready for it to be over. Thank you to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

This book felt like coming home to a hug, in book form. It reminded me soooo much of Good in Bed and In Her Shoes, the first of Jennifer's books I loved and reread many times. Daphne feels like another Cannie or Rose, who could be your best friend. She struggles with weight, bullies, friendships, and relationships. But in this book, she also deals with online drama (influencers), and scandals (was it murder or suicide?). She finds her way and imparts great wisdom. I guarantee that this is another of my favorite books to reread!

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner is a fabulous story that is both a light, breezy women’s fictional novel and a deeper, poignant general fictional novel that delves into some of the fundamentals of who we are as a person and why we become what we are today.

I have read Ms. Weiner’s previous book, Mrs. Everything, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was certainly excited to be able to dive into Big Summer. This book was a surprising read in the fact that at first I thought it would be a lighter, “beachy” type of read, but I soon found that it is truly so much more.

Daphne, a style blogger and media source that has a nice following on instagram for her “plus size” advice on fashion and lifestyle suggestions and Drue, a more well-to -do society gal that is deemed more “successful” would both seem to be polar opposites in regards to being previous best friends. Both women have complex pasts and it seems surprising to Daphne that out of the blue she is being called upon by Drue to be a part of her wedding after what has transpired many years ago.

Here is where I found that this wonderful book wandered into much deeper territory. In learning about the complicated relationship between Daphne and Drue, their respective histories and pasts, there were many themes that were repeatedly brought to the surface. I found that both women presented with their own set of insecurities, worries, hopes, dreams, and failures. Both were flawed, and in being so, made them relatable, interesting, and real.

This book brings home the thought that everyone is going through their own trials. Everyone is trying to deal with their own problems, hang-ups, regrets, and issues. Some are better at putting on fronts then others, but no matter how much money one has, where they live, or how they grew up, those unifying subjects in addition to wanting to be accepted, loved, and remembered is universal. The mark of a person is how they address these issues, persevere, and treat others. These are hard lessons to tread through.

I enjoyed this multi-layer novel and the journey that Ms. Weiner presented, and I found myself engaged from the beginning, through a few twists and surprises, to the most satisfying end.

If you have enjoyed any of Ms. Weiner’s previous books, you will definitely enjoy this book as well.

Excellent. 5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

I loved this book! A perfect summer read! I truly enjoyed the main and supporting characters, the plot, the setting(s) and the writing.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48425063

I always like Weiner’s Books and especially enjoyed this one. I liked how the characters weren’t totally good or totally bad but were much like real people. Of course, Daphne had my empathy from the beginning as I am also a “big” girl. Drue was like so many “mean” girls, but she had some redeeming qualities. The plot kept me guessing and I went back and forth in my decision. This was an excellent book!

This book was about the complexities of female friendships written in a way that only Jennifer Weiner could. I do not want to give away any plot details but the author lays the groundwork for the relationship between Daphne and Drue that goes back many years. Do people really change? That’s one of the aspects that is present throughout the story. At the end of the first section, the book turns into a murder mystery. We are then privy to many secrets and new characters and so the plot thickens. Good story! #BigSummer #JenniferWeiner #NetGalley