I always love these books by Weiner, and this one was not a disappointment! This one had a mystery wrapped up in it, as well as the usual drama and relationships we have come to be used too. Also notable in this book, was the setting. Part of the reason I love these books so much are where they are set. The beach surrounding and all of the details that are described make me feel like I am part of the festivities! This one has a delightful twist at the end as well! Well done.

Really enjoyed this one! Interesting characters and an engaging story -- it dealt with interesting issues in the context of an intriguing mystery.. Recommended.

Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books and Jennifer Weiner for free e-ARC in return of my honest review.

Daphne Berg, young woman, an influencer, baby-sitter and dog lover, was shocked to see her old school friend Drue Cavanaugh, seeking Daphne's assistance for Drue's wedding. There was a an ugly story between Daphne and Drue six years ago and since then Daphne was doing her bast to avoid Drue. However, Drue seems genuine in asking for a help and Daphne gave in.

With a little bit of drama, love story and mystery Big Summer is quite a page turner. The plot twists this way and that and it keeps the reader engaged and entertained. There are few inconsistencies in a plot, though in a bigger picture it all made sense.

Character-wise, I think Jennifer Weiner did a great job in building Daphne and Drue and their relationship. Both women are believable and come alive from pages. I also loved how the author gave both characters not only the regular life but also a big online presence. It was interesting to see how both of them grew online and how differently they both dealt with their image on the Internet.

‘Big Summer’ surprised me so much! I did not read the summary before starting, so just based off the cover, I thought this was going to be a romantic beach story. I was pleasantly surprised when events started to unfold and it became a whodunit!
Daphne was such a relatable character and the hardships she faced in school because of her so-called friend Drue really made you feel a connection to her. Drue’s shocking end made me audibly gasp - as I did not see it coming whatsoever. As Daphne, her romantic partner Nick, and her friend/roommate Darshi launched their own investigation in to who killed Drue, the story really began to gain momentum. We find out a lot more about Drue and a secret double life she led, and more about her father and the results of his serial cheating.
This was my first experience reading Jennifer Weiner and I will definitely seek out some more titles by her.! Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for a review!

Really enjoyable beach read. I thought that the first half of the book was a different direction than the second half of the book. I found the story very easy to read and I just couldn't put it down because I had to find out the mystery. I would definitely recommend this to readers that enjoy chick lit.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.
Chick lit its worst. I found the characters unlikable and the storyline somewhat YA.
Not mindless enough to be good beach reading and filled with people who are not nice.

Big Summer is the ultimate beach read by beloved author Jennifer Weiner. This is one of those big summer stories featuring a larger than life friendship, expectations, and living out loud. I appreciated the representation of a realistic, complicated, and messy friendship. This story also has a lot to say about family relationships and the ways you feel obligated to them. The unexpected twist will leave you desperate to keep reading. I already wish I was rereading this one under a beach umbrella somewhere.

This was such a great book! It was fun and endearing yet had many serious topics to touch apon. It was the perfect balance and 100% the perfect summer read. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for my arc in exchange for an honest review

This is the first Jennifer Weiner book I've enjoyed in a while. Was it groundbreaking? No. But it was a nice escape for a read with friends and made me feel like Weiner still had a lot of stories in her to tell (and now I can look forward to them again!)

Jennifer Weiner has been one of my favorite authors for years and this book did not disappoint. I loved almost everything about it from the protagonist to the mystery I wasn''t expecting. The only thing I would have liked to have seen is more character development of Daphne's friend and roomate, Darshi. I liked her and would have liked for her character to have been more developed. Otherwise, this was an incredibly enjoyable novel. A perfect beach read or a fantastic way to escape the cold winter months with an imaginary trip to Cape Cod with Daphne and Drue for the wedding everyone will never forget, including you! Great for fans of Jane Green, Sophie Kinsella, and Emily Giffin.

Even if things don't get better, you can always make them look good on the internet.

If you are on Instagram, Facebook and Utube, you know that there is big business in marketing and having the right look, right words and naturally being politically correct. I am not any of these things but this Women's fiction surprised me by being a thriller. You have your main character Daphne who is not the typical influencer. She is overweight but she is confident in who she is. Than there is the friend Drue who embarrassed her so called best friend Daphne and Daphne was turned into a internet sensation. You would have thought that was the end of their friendship but when Drue approaches Daphne and asks her to be her maid of honor, she becomes the "bigger" person and the summer wedding turns into the big Summer. A murder, a hook-up, and the influencer becomes the Investigator to clear her name.

It was really a fast paced fun thriller. Daphne took many different roles but I liked her and how she bounced back. Her go to was looking for 5 things that were real and reacting from them rather than emotionally. The other characters helped define Daphne into the heroine that she was. Great read.

A special thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I didn't connect with these characters nor their relationships. I just didn't care. Self discovery and reconnecting friendships is a good premise but this novel didn't work for me
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner was honestly not what I expected at all. Part of the way through this veered more into a thriller of sorts, and I just wasn't ready for that (literal) twist. The story focuses on two estranged best friends. Drue is an emerging social media influencer, and her former friend Daphne has a big wedding planned. Given the status of who she's marrying, it's all over social media and celebrity magazines. Drue is shocked when Daphne asks her to be her maid of honor, but decides to say yes. From there, she's thrown into Daphne's wedding planning experience - and y'all, it's definitely some kind of experience. As she is back in Daphne's orbit, she has to revisit why they drifted apart in the first place. This again was just so unexpected. I don't want to say too much about where the story goes because that's a big part of what reading this really is. I'm always in for a Jennifer Weiner novel, however I'll definitely steer you to others I love more first if you ask me for a recommendation!

Daphne Berg could not be more surprised when she's asked to be maid of honor at the wedding of the year! Sure the bride, Drue Cavanaugh, used to be one of Daphne's best friends. But their relationship ended quite explosively and was posted to social media for all the world to see.

Since that time Daphne has gone on to become a decently recognized influencer promoting plus size fashion, exercise programs and equipment, and even dog treats (or, her dog Bingo has). And while the fight with Drue might have kicked it all off, Daphne hasn't really gotten over the hurt of the whole event.

But now Drue is back, claiming that she has no one else and that she's missed Daphne. Drue has always had a bit of a hold on Daphne, but Daphne believes that she's changed. Plus, the chance to spend a weekend in Cape Cod is the perfect excuse to show off her newest contracted wares...

Big Summer is quite the perfect summer read! And, thankfully, it dropped EARLY amidst all of the current mess, giving readers a chance to dive into an absolutely delightful read about friendship, forgiveness, and maybe even a little romance!

And while Big Summer is a breezy and light read, for the most part, it does have a twist I did not necessarily see coming. It wasn't a total surprise, but it was a surprise in that it wasn't exactly what I expected.

See the book begins with a fashion writer who's left New York City to live in the Cape with her young son. And by the end of the opening chapter, she's dead.

When we jumped from that into Daphne's story I actually thought I had a glitch or a misprint in my reading! But no, it's the same book. The opening chapter is a precursor to something that comes out later in the book.

Daphne is an influencer, which means she's gets free stuff (and a little money) to promote products on Instagram. It's a job for her, and one she takes quite seriously. But she's small potatoes compared to someone like Drue. And so it's certainly surprising to find out that Drue has burned all of her bridges and has literally no one she can ask to be in her wedding.

And it's a high profile wedding, to be sure. Drue is a member of a highly prominent family and the groom was a contestant on a reality show wherein he found love, and then promptly overthrew his new flame to return to his old one, Drue. So to say everyone will be watching this wedding, is kind of true.

But Daphne's hurt over the incident that broke her own friendship with Drue isn't gone and likely never well be. As the story progresses, though, not only do we learn how their friendship came to be and how it ended, but the nuances of the relationship throughout the years. And it becomes clear to both the reader and Daphne that Drue has her own issues!

Weiner is such a charming writer. Her characters are fully formed and so easy to love. Even most of the bad guys have layers to them that make it hard not to have the teeniest bit of sympathy for them. And while Daphne and Drue are the focus of the story, the attention Weiner pays to fleshing out even the smallest supporting character makes her stories that much more enjoyable.

And since I listened to this one on audio, I have to say that the characters were even more lively and fabulous thanks to narration by Danielle Macdonald (Dumplin' and Bird Box). Macdonald was the absolute perfect choice for Daphne and did a wonderful job with the narration as a whole! Her performance brought the characters to life for me in such a way that now, I think I might hear her voice in my head for all of Weiner's books!

Big Summer was a real joy to read!

I loved this book. It was a fun book but also dealt with serious issues like body imagine. I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to my friends for sure!

This book was fun beachy read. I loved the mystery. I ended up listening to the audiobook and it was a delight.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I'll be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon

I hadn’t read anything by Jennifer Weiner in a long time and I don’t know why! Big Summer made me want to check out all of her books from the library. The story sucked me in right away and had just enough mystery and suspense without taking away from the chick lit feel of a poolside read. Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

It has been six years since Daphne Berg was humiliated by her best friend Drue Cavanaugh. Daphne had been a sophomore in college when her best friend since grade school had invited her to a night on the town. By the end of the night Daphne was down one best friend and the star of a video that had gone viral. But that night Daphne decided that she was going to take control of her life. She was going to end the endless dieting and embrace body positivity. After six years, Daphne has turned into quite the social influencer, but when Drue walks back into her life she is reduced back to the woman she was before that night. Drue needs Daphne's help. She is getting married and she does not have enough friends for the wedding party that her groom wants. Against her better judgment, Daphne agrees and finds herself swept back into the world of the rich and famous. But before the wedding is over Daphne finds herself in the middle of a situation that could change her life forever.

Big Summer was not quite what I was expecting. After all these years of reading Jennifer Weiner novels, I have come to look forward to the inclusive nature of her novels. Especially regarding body-positive characters. I really liked Daphne and I could even relate to her being a fat girl in a skinny world. I hated what her best friend put her through in that bar six years ago. Drue was a heartless bitch. Later in the book, I do believe that Drue had been trying to change and be a better person. And I think that Daphne was very generous to forgive her at all. Some pretty shocking events happen during the wedding weekend and I was surprised that the author took the story down that path. -CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS. The ending wasn't what I expected, but it didn't leave me shocked.

Bottom Line - Jennifer Weiner has been writing "Chick Lit" books for as long as I can remember, which is why I was a little surprised to find a mystery embedded in Big Summer. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was a good book, just not what I was expecting from a tried and true Chick Lit author.

Details:
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
On Instagram
Pages: 368
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: 5/5/2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Well that was completely unexpected. That twist...that part 2. This was not at all like the Jennifer Weiner I came to know and love back in the days of Little Earthquakes. But neither was Mrs. Everything (and I hated that book). I think it’s wonderful and brave for an author to adapt and grow and change over time. And while this wasn’t the witty Jennifer Weiner with hilarious heroines that I enjoy so much, this was a very good book. Just not at all what I expected—even from the description. I’m surprised, though not disappointed.
Daphne is a lovable version of an influencer, one who found Instagram fame after a video of her standing up for herself and her body goes viral. I follow this girl—the one that shows just enough of herself on Instagram to seem vulnerable but still holds her life and heart in the private moments off screen. So Daphne was very realistically written to me. She was a delightful character to follow...none of that hating to love going on. She wasn’t that hateful two-faced character, but still she was torn about her visual life vs. her real life.
Enter Drew. A perfectly depicted mean girl character as well. Because great characters are definitely Jennifer Weiner’s M.O. and in this way the book did not disappoint.
I actually really loved the direction the story was going, toward Drew’s wedding, and this mysterious man Daphne meets at the pre-wedding events.
Then BAM! The twist that slapped me in the face and made me literally say aloud, “Well, I didn’t see that coming.” Because whoa.
That’s when the book took it’s turn from usual Weiner motif. And not in a bad way, just surprising. I mean, I haven’t read every single one of her books, but most of them. So I guess I can’t say this was out of her wheelhouse. I mean, she has tiptoed into different genres, but this one jumped right out of chick lit and women’s fiction of Part One into the deep end of mystery/thriller in Part Two. And very suddenly.
She did it very well. In fact, I’d be happy to see her write other books in this similar vein. It was just unexpected.
Daphne is now forced to rediscover the friend that she thought she knew, the career that she thought she loved, and the world she thought she could expect.
Intriguing and definitely kept me coming back for more all the way to the last page. Well done, JW. Well done.