Perfect Beach Read 🏖 Thank you, Atria Books, for gifting me a copy of The Summer Place {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Trope: Chick-Lit
Format: 📖🎧
Pub Date: 5.10.2022
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

"For forty years, the house had stood, silvery cedar and gleaming glass, on the edge of the dune, overlooking the waters of Cap Code Bay."

I love Jennifer Weiner's books as she has this way of writing that allows the reader to get to know her characters in such an in-depth way that you begin to question whether you know them better than your own family. The Summer Place is just that type of reading. I genuinely feel that I may know that flawed cast of characters better than my own family.

It took a while for me to get into the frame of mind that each chapter would focus extensively on one character and then the next. Some chapters took me 30-40 minutes to read because they were long and packed full of information. But, by the end, I was flying through and in awe of all the connections revealed between family members and long-buried secrets that had been dug up. It was a fascinating look into one family, their flaws, love, and forgiveness. And somehow, I needed more from the ending? I don't know; maybe I just wasn't to say goodbye to the characters.

There were two characters that I think I enjoyed the most, and that is the house (read the book, and you'll see what I mean) and Annette. I loved Annette's addition to the story and her brutal honesty. Our world is so forgiving of the men who walk away, but it is cruel to the women who do or the women who choose not to have their own families.

📖 Long chapters
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 In-depth character descriptions ( 8 )
😩 Quick ending
📝 Felt like a book of short stories

I recommend you read The Summer Place if you're a fan of Liane Moriarity books.

I've vacillated between liking this book and being overwhelmed by this book. Through the first few chapters, I really appreciated the commentary on the everyday life during COVID quarantine. Everyone adapting to being around the same people day in and day out, creating new routines, and dealing with the overall stress of the onset of a global pandemic. Weiner's commentary was both comical and therapeutic. I also enjoyed the character development. There seemed to be no "hero" in this story which accurately reflects real life - no one person is perfect in action or thought. However, the story contained almost too many plot lines. Who fathered this person? What is someone's sexual identity? Will she or won't she cheat on her husband? Again, very reflective of real life since a family's dynamics are often multi-faceted. I just wanted it to be a bit more streamlined for the purpose of enjoying the story. Also, I wish that the beach house ("The Summer Place") had more of a starring role. I felt like it didn't appear until about halfway through, and was overshadowed by the many storylines. Overall, I can see The Summer Place as a decent beach read, but wasn't my favorite of this year.

The best part of this book is the character building. The book jumps points of view and you feel like you really get to know the family members - kind of a peek behind the curtain. I liked the story but man, this felt LONG. You get a lot of background and then speed through the end. I could have done without some of the world building in the middle. Fun story but by the end I was tired of reading this.

The Summer Place is filled with family drama. I look forward to Jennifer Weiner’s new release every year. It’s the perfect book to kick off the summer reading season.

While I wasn't a huge fan of most of these characters, the plot lines were just WOW. Just when I thought the author couldn't add in any more twists and turns, here she comes with another one! I think my biggest issue with the book was that there isn't a lot of "present day" storyline. A lot of it is backstory or repeats of the same events from different people's POVs leading it to have a tendency to feel a little bit redundant. Overall, if you love Jennifer Weiner's other books, then give this one a read! The plot line will leave you guessing and hooked the whole way through.

Well THAT was unexpected! Leave it to Jennifer Weiner to keep me on my toes!

Life, Love, Relationships, Family Dysfunction and Scandal (and lots of it).

When Covid hits, Ruby rushes into an engagement with her boyfriend Gabe. The fact that her stepmother Sarah disapproves, somehow makes it more attractive.

Twins Sam and Sarah have always been close, but middle age has forced them apart. Meanwhile, Sarah is unhappy in her marriage to Eli and Sam suffers from general discontentment.

Grandmother Ronnie, was once a celebrated author. Something happened a while back that stopped her from publishing. Only she knows why.

Secrets are at the heart of this novel by Jennifer Weiner. The question I asked while reading this was why each family member felt they had to keep them, and why, if they loved each other so much, they felt it so necessary? There is dysfunction and there is scandal, but there is also love.

A drama filled novel that truly made my eyes pop at times! Though this wasn’t my favorite of Jennifer Weiner’s novels, I will say that it sure kept me fully engaged.

Thank you to Ariele Friedman at Atria Books for the arc via NetGalley.

A buddy read with Kaceey!

Review posted to Goodreads and Twitter.

I was excited to read this one and I got about 200 pages in but then one of the relationships became very uncomfortable to read about, and I did not finish the book because it totally turned me off. Its too bad that all the books have to hit little check boxes now for this ultra woke publishing of late. I really think that this could have been a good beach read, but I don't want to read about a relationship that goes against my beliefs. The book was also riddled with infidelity and I'm not a fan of reading about it either. Where are the morals??

The Summer Place is the sprawling, epic story of a family and the challenges the individual members are facing. They survived the COVID-19 quarantine, but can they make it through the preparations for and Ruby's upcoming July 4th wedding at the family home on Cape Cod?

Weiner says she wrote The Summer Place during late 2020 and early 2021 because she wanted to tell a story set right after the pandemic about "a family whose members had come through the pandemic year, . . . " that would be a cross between "a Noël Coward farce and A Midsummer Night's Dream, where the pairings are driven by otherworldly interference." She also wanted to examine the myriad ways in which the quarantine "exposed the fault lines in relationships and the buried foundations of money and privilege and sacrifice that hold up our lives, whether or not we acknowledge that they're there."

Weiner could not foresee that her mother would be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 2021 and succumb to the disease a mere nine weeks later. Suddenly, the story also became about loss, as well as the relationships between mothers and daughters, "and how the torch gets passed from one mother to the next." And The Summer Place became a love letter to her beloved mother's spirit.

Weiner focuses each chapter in The Summer Place on one of her characters, revealing their history and background, life experiences, and the choices that brought them to their present circumstances. Ruby met Gabriel Andrews in college and he is the first boy she has ever loved. "Ruby For Sure," as her father, Eli, calls her, makes up her mind and gets what she wants. And what she thought she wanted was to marry Gabe, who makes her feel safe and loved. During the pandemic, she and Gabe lived with Eli and her stepmother, Sarah, along with her two younger half-brothers, in the family's four-story brownstone in Brooklyn. Now they have settled into their own apartment. When she announced their engagement at Shabbat dinner, she expected someone to try to talk her out of it. Surprisingly, no one did, and Ruby is becoming increasingly convinced that she has made a bad decision. Perhaps for the first time.

Eli Danhauser, a periodontist, was a single father for seven years after his wife, Annette, left him and Ruby. She made it clear that she never wanted to marry, have children, and settle down. In fact, when she discovered she was pregnant, she didn't even plan to tell Eli. But he found the pregnancy test and convinced her they should marry so he could provide insurance for her and the baby. He also promised that if Annette was truly unhappy, she could walk away without repercussions. Annette was very clear about her lack of maternal instinct. Eli was equally clear, except he only wanted to defer having a family, while Annette never wanted one at all. And when Ruby was just a year old, Annette did, in fact, leave.

At just twenty-five years of age, Sarah wasn't really equipped to become a stepmother. And it wasn't easy. But she loved Eli, and her parents, Lee and Veronica, adored Ruby and loved spending time with and doting on her. Sarah wisely gave Ruby space to grow fond of her and eventually that's what happened. Sarah and Eli's marriage has been happy, especially with the addition of their two sons to whom Ruby has been a devoted big sister. As a young woman Sarah made the difficult decision not to pursue a career as a concert pianist. Instead, she earned a liberal arts degree and has enjoyed a successful career developing music curricula. But she has always harbored doubts as to whether she chose correctly.

Veronica, aka Ronnie, always wanted to be a writer and eventually accepted that her novels were commercial works. She acquired an agent, fielded offers from several publishers, and her first book was not only published. It was also adapted into a film. Her second novel was also published, but Ronnie was living dual lives. She loved her husband, Lee, an attorney, but when she went to New York City for meetings and events, she was a different woman. She was Veronica, a successful writer who even dressed differently than Ronnie. And she had an affair about which Lee never found out. She was never sure if Lee fathered Sarah and Sam, but he didn't suspect that he might not be. Ronnie never stopped writing, but she did not publish any more books. Now widowed, she lives full-time at the Cape, maintaining her secrets, including the unpublished novels tucked away in her closet. But she may have to confront the truth, depending on the results yielded by the DNA testing kits her sister has purchased as birthday presents for Sarah and Sam.

Until he was thirty-four years old and met Julie, a single mother, Sam's relationships with women never lasted more than six months. He was the "dumpee" so many times that he began breaking up with his girlfriends before they could dump him. But he and Julie were happy because Julie was needy, and she made him feel capable and strong. Her son Connor's biological father was perpetually absent which gave Sam a chance to form a strong bond with the boy, fortunately. Because when tragedy struck, Connor needed the stability and love that Sam provided him. Over the years, some of his girlfriends and Sarah observed that Sam didn't appear to really know who he was, having been been something of a chameleon his entire life. "I feel like there's this piece of you that maybe you're not entirely sure about yet," Sarah told him. Sam decides it's time to finally figure out what is missing from his life.

The COVID-19 pandemic takes a toll on each of Weiner's characters, but none more so than Sarah. Suddenly she and Eli are both working at home, and the boys are attending school via Zoom. They urge Ruby to come home for the sake of her safety, and permit her to bring Gabe with her. Eli becomes withdrawn, uncommunicative, and Sarah grows convinced that he must be having an affair, although she can't imagine when he would have time to get involved with another woman when he is always at home, traipsing through the house in his noisy flip-flops and getting on Sarah's nerves. As the pandemic draws to a close and the world begins opening up, the boys return to school and Sarah returns to work, too. But she rents a studio and escapes there to find solace and practice the piano, as she ponders why her once-happy marriage seems to have fallen apart and Eli refuses to even discuss what's wrong. Things become even more complicated when she runs into Owen, her first-ever love who broke up with her via email when he left for college and refused to ever speak to her again. He's now a handsome FBI agent who wants to explain what actually transpired two decades ago.

All of Weiner's characters are fully developed, with lush backstories that inform and provide context to their present circumstances and conundrums. Each character is empathetic, relatable, and flawed in some fundamental fashion. Although she loves her children dearly, Sarah questions the life-defining choice she made years ago. Was giving up her potential career as a professional musician the right move? Can the problems in her marriage be repaired, particularly given that she has no understanding of what or who has managed to drive a wedge between her and Eli? Gabe's presence dredges up a brief time in Eli's life when he exhibited poor judgment and engaged in behavior about which he has remained deeply ashamed. He can't bring himself to discuss it with Sarah, instead growing increasingly neurotic and permitting himself to become estranged from the woman he loves. He suspects there is a terrifying link between his conduct and Gabe that could derail Ruby's plans for a happy married life. But he is thwarted in his efforts to obtain confirmation before traveling to Cape Cod for the wedding. Ronnie receives disturbing and unexpected news from her physician during her annual check-up. She knows she has to share the information with the family, but is set on doing so after the wedding so as not to ruin Ruby's special day. Sam is surprised by the dawning realization of what the "missing piece" of himself might be, and begins exploring his feelings, making a new friend in the process. But he resolves to sneak away for a bit and put his theory to the test when he and Connor are in Cape Cod for Ruby's wedding. Ensconced in Ronnie's guesthouse, her wedding dress in its clear plastic garment bag, hanging on the back of the bathroom door, Ruby makes a momentous decision and shortly thereafter encounters her mother, Annette, arriving for the ceremony.

Weiner deftly orchestrates the revelation of her character's secrets and the fallout from them. Not every secret, once brought to light, is destructive, and some end up having no impact at all or actually bring about healing. Other truths remain hidden, and Weiner leaves it to her readers to decide if that outcome is wise or could constitute a smoldering mistake with the potential to have draconian consequences at some future time. There are confrontations that bring resolution and misunderstandings that are ironed out, much to the relief of those affected. At least one development is shocking, wildly improbable, and so outrageous that it is almost exquisitely perfect.

The story moves at a brisk pace and the dialogue is crisp, often witty, and believable. The characters' internal struggles are compelling and emotionally resonant. But Weiner injects humorous aspects to the story that keep it from becoming maudlin or cloying, and she astutely prevents the characters from taking themselves too seriously, the one exception being Eli. But his earnestness and struggle to forgive himself are core aspects of his personality.

The Summer Place depicts family members who are devoted to each other but don't always listen to or find it easy to love one another. The pandemic was a trying period of time for Weiner's characters, just as it was, in varying degrees, for every single one of her readers. It caused Weiner's characters to do what so many people around the world did: reevaluate. Being quarantined for months with close family members highlighted habits and idiosyncrasies that might easily be overlooked under normal circumstances. Weiner compassionately examines how one family not only survived, but managed to emerge from those dark days with a greater appreciation for each other, reconciled to their pasts, and committed to the future. Together. And she does so in entertaining and big-hearted fashion, making The Summer Place a book everyone who enjoys family dramas should read at the beach or by the pool this summer.

This is my second novel that takes place during the pandemic - the first one I read I think I enjoyed reading about it after living it, but now my second novel recapping the pandemic feels a little tiresome for me- I likely would not have felt this way had I not read another one right before.

This novel had a lot going on - and a lot of characters -, this was not a bad thing, however, it is a little harder to focus on a “beach read” when this is the case. I did overall enjoy the book and would recommend it for Jennifer Weiner fans. This was my 3rd novel by this author. I enjoyed this book much better than the last one I read, Mrs. Everything.

The Danhauser family - both related and extended family are filled with secrets, regrets, love and forgiveness. Their unique ability to leverage the beautiful setting on Cape Cod to both cleanse and renew their perspective is what makes them so wonderful.

I'd just finished a much heavier novel and this one was the perfect palette cleanse and prep for summer reading!

DNF. I can’t get past the unbelievable coincidences, and with the could-be incestuous relationship, I’m out.

I dnf’d this book at 20%. These are my thoughts based on what I managed to complete.

I was excited when I heard this book was coming, as I’ve been a big fan of the author’s last 3 or 4 books. However, my first red flag should have been when the synopsis mentioned the story takes place during the pandemic. That’s just a little too much reality in my fiction. But I decided to give it a try anyway. Unfortunately, I could not get past the pandemic setting. There were also too many POVs for me to follow. Every time I stopped reading it took me days, sometimes weeks, to pick it back up again because I just wasn’t invested in the story. Having said all that, depending on how the audiobook is done, I may try again when that is released.

I love Jennifer Weiner's books, and this one did not disappoint! The Summer Place is a study in the complexity of being human, especially being a human woman, and the reader will go back and forth between hating and loving the characters. There are a few twists and turns along the way, which will keep the pages turning, and readers guessing.

Absolutely implausible, but extremely addictive. All of these characters are miserable and make terrible decisions but I wanted to keep reading.

This wasn't my favorite of Weiner's, but it was an okay book to start off my summer reading with. It flowed along fine and was a fun read, but it wasn't AMAZING and the ending was kind of meh. Just an okay read.

Jennifer Weiner writes the books I want to take with me on every vacation, the perfect beach or travel read. I love the complicated, but real, family dynamics and the love that shines through. I think I'll also recommend this as a book club read.

4/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think that The Summer Place is the funniest book I read by Jennifer Weiner and amongst her best.
There's plenty going, there's a lot of crazyness and humour.
I loved this story that made me laugh and kept me hooked.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Jennifer Weiner's The Summer Place is set in Cape Cod and follows as extensive family and all their secrets, changes, and plot lines. Because of the number of storylines you're never bored and the story takes place following Covid so you witness the impact of Covid without having to live through all the messy parts. For me I could have done with a few less trials and a bit more character exploration but it does keep you turning the pages. It's a good beach read and I appreciate NetGalley and the author providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review..

The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner was a highly anticipated read for me. I read and enjoyed Mrs. Everything and That Summer.

This book was a miss. It is filled with run on sentences of extraneous details. I found myself skimming through all the excess and several of the chapters at the beginning of the book were entirely too long. With multiple points of view there were times when I had to reread the same scene multiple times even though nothing much was added.

The plot is filled with highly improbable coincidences and tension based on lack of communication.

The premise of the story was interesting but I think it could have been both paired down and a bit more focused.

This was such a great read. I have only read a few of Jennifer Weiner's books so far but really enjoyed them. I can't wait to read more.

I had both the audio and ebook for this and I really liked being able to switch between the two. Flew through it in no time.

An excellent domestic family drama that held my interest from start to finish!