(I as provided this ARC by Netgalley and St. Martin's Press. This is my unbiased review).

Katie Bishop's freshmen novel The Girls of Summer is a novel that does not shy away from difficult topics. From coming of age, consent, emotional trauma, suicide, female friendship, and sex trafficking the Girls of Summer pursues them all with a candid and captivating tale.

Rachel has been in love with the same man since she was 17 years old. Shortly after setting foot on the Greek Islands she discovers not only a new group of friends but a love interest. A much older love interest. However, this doesn't seem to stop Rachel from pursuing a secret romance with Alistair. Despite the secrecy things seem perfect and they seem so in love.

However, there come warnings that Rachel refuses to see. From the pleading of one of the girls for them to leave the house of the wealthy older man that Alistair works for, to the stay away from that place warning of her friend Jules, all the signs are there. Sadly Rachel is lost in her delusion of young love.

The Girls of Summer jumps between chapters of 'Then' and 'Now' where we experience all Rachel experienced on the Greek Islands to her present life as she struggles in her marriage to her husband Tom. Honestly there was truly nothing wrong with Tom... but to Rachel he just wasn't Alistair.

As the story unfolds the dark truth that Rachel refuses to see unfurls for the readers. The bitter pill of all that a women can potentially be exposed to and victim of is all thrown into the mix. Despite this all I never got the reaction of 'oh here we go again another #MeToo' story. Sure... it is that but to me it is so much more.

I have seen the other reviews and while I understand the mindset of many that reviewed the Girls of Summer, many failed to see the true depth of the story and perhaps maybe forgot what it was to be a girl on the cusp of adulthood.

Yes Rachel was naive. Yes Rachel was delusional in her blinding love and devotion to Alistair. Still... can a reader really blame her? It is one thing to scoff at the 'weakness' and foolishness of a woman that fails to see red flags. For me The Girls of Summer served as a reminder of just how growing up can hurt. How the freshness of what we believe to be our 'true love' is lust or something far more cruel.

The Girls of Summer may have its #MeToo and its sex trafficking theme but it also is the truth exposed of what it is to grow up as a girl becoming a woman. Bishop portrays the bond, struggles, and nature of the friendship between girls and women so well. Not only that but the emotion, pain, and misguided feelings that all of us have experienced at some point or another. Trust me if you are thinking 'oh that's not me,' well you're lying to yourself.

There is always going to be an 'Alistair' in our life at some point or another. They may not be to such a level and nature of Alistair but there will be one... or for some of us... more.

To me Bishop's freshmen novel was a promising starting point and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next. Until next time, Happy Reading!

Rachel and her best friend Caroline are innocent 17-year-olds that decide to take a backpacking trip across Europe before starting college. They land on an unnamed Greek island and Rachel is pulled into the orbit of an older man Alistair who hires her to work in a bar and attend parties hosted by his employer Henry. The author does a great job of creating and describing the summer world of the island and all of the girls who work at the bar. The story jumps back and forth between the island of the past and present day London where Rachel is in her thirties and married to Tom. The story was a slow burn as it established what had happened on the island that drove Rachel into thinking of that period as a defining one in her life. It was a little hard to understand at first how it had arrested her development. It was understandable how the naive Rachel was pulled into the orbit of the manipulative Alistair but less obvious how in her mid thirties she was still obsessed with her love for him. The story was ultimately a rather dark tale with some subject matter that would be upsetting to some.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This book is deeply atmospheric and delightfully dark. It takes you on a captivating emotional journey as Rachel struggles to be honest with herself and heal.

3 Stars

To its credit, The Girls of Summer is a quick read. I found myself staying up late two nights in a row, eager to keep going. The problem is that my main motivation was to get to a big “wow” or “aha” or even simply a “yesss” moment that sadly never came. Katie Bishop writes some pretty scenes and sentences, but the story arc as a whole just didn’t work for me.

The Girls of Summer is billed as a psychological read (maybe even a thriller, although it is in no way thriller-y) that enters into the #MeToo discourse, so I was extra intrigued, as that’s my area of study in grad school (it’s literally my dissertation topic).

In this story, we meet Rachel, a thirty-something British girl who still longs for the totally screwy summer she spent in love with a man twice her age while she lived in Greece. Within a few chapters, any reader with a teaspoon of common sense will recognize that it’s a problematic dynamic that only gets worse as the story progresses, but nope, not our girl Rachel. So, in short, the entire story is about our narrator finally coming to terms with the fact that the man she thought was so great was in fact a total creep who used her for his own gain. Throw in some Jeffrey Epstein party vibes and yeah…you can see whether it’s going.

For me, personally, this novel offered nothing new. You want the creepy teen/adult abuse/grooming dynamic? Read My Dark Vanessa or The Last Housewife. Each one had its own issues, but they fleshed out the characters more substantially so at least I felt a bit of emotion as I followed their narratives. Here, I truly couldn’t bring myself to care with any of the (unsurprising) revelations, and I found myself frequently frustrated by the degree to which Rachel was either willfully ignorant or totally oblivious.

If anything in the realm of MeToo is triggering for you, I’d steer clear of this one.

A slow burn with some hard subject matter but overall a great read. Young protagonist was written very emotionally and you could feel the angst through the pages. The older version of herself was more hardened and evoked the sense of the traumas that she had endured had indeed affected her story even if she didn't see it as such at the beginning. It's easy to fall but getting back up unscathed is more challenging than some realize.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

I was really drawn in by the starred review saying this book was similar to White Lotus had me intrigued. This is definitely a slow burn more than it is a thriller. With alternating timelines from the past to the present, you get to see the story lead up to the incidents against women on the island and some of the aftermath. Please make sure you check the trigger warnings before reading this one as there is some darker stuff covered. While the story is beautifully written, I really struggled to stay invested through out the whole book.


Thank you to Saint Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The book is a bit slow- moving for me, so I found it hard to sustain my interest. I kept on looking for the twist of a typical thriller, but this book is more of a women's novel, than a mystery/ thriller.

The Girls of Summer was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023. The hype for it was. there. I actually snagged a copy before I started seeing it show up all over my Bookstagram feed! Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me. I think some will describe it as a slow-burn, and it is. However, I never felt like it got exciting or had me on the edge of my seat.

I switched to the audiobook in the hopes of staying more invested, but even after I hit the 60% point, while things burn a little more, it really doesn't pick up enough for me. I will say the audiobook narrator was great and I feel grateful to @MacMillan.Audio for granting me access to the audiobook. An amazing narrator can't makeup for a meh plot though. So even at the end I was left wondering what genre I would shelve this book into, because I don't think it's a mystery nor a thriller. Perhaps general fiction?

I liked the plot and it definitely made me want to travel to an island minus the horrible things that happen to the women. That being said, this book was a reminder of staying vigilante, trusting your gut, and keeping an eye out for red flags

Thank you to @StMartinsPress and @NetGalley for granting me access to that title!

I wanted so badly to love this book and toward the end, part of me did. However, it was just too late.

This book isn't a thriller and it isn't really a mystery. There's a slow burn and a slow build to reveal some terrible things that happened to Rachel and the women on the island that one summer.

The novel alternates between the past and the present and I have to tell you, I'm not sure there's a protagonist I've ever disliked more than Rachel. We're not talking the "love to hate" kind of dislike either. Rachel was naive, selfish, and repeatedly made terrible decisions over and over again. Unfortunately, Rachel didn't seem to change much from her past and present self, which made her that much more intolerable.

Alistair was also bad news and from the jump I couldn't help but SCREAM RED FLAGS RED FLAGS!

The book picks up and gets more solacious around 60% in but at that point, I struggled to remain invested.

I listened to this novel on audio and the narrator was great. For the pacing, I was definitely glad I listened to this one as I think I would have had to put it down had I been reading it.

Overall, this was a unique and beautifully written book. I will absolutely check out more by Bishop but this one missed the mark slightly for me.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for the copy.

Intense and dark at at times. I found young Rachel more believable than adult Rachel though. Enjoyable read from a new author with great potential. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Sadly, I didn't care too much for this one. I wouldn't consider it a thriller as there was really no mystery or suspense in it. Rachel was an unlikable character in the fact that she treated her husband so badly, and she never seemed to mature past her teen years.

I did like the setting and description of the Greek island, and I thought the author did a good job of showing how easily young girls can be groomed by male predators.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the gifted e-arc of this book.

2.5* rounded

For a debut novel, the author did some great work! This story hit on some heavy topics but overall, I enjoyed the dark themes of power, consent, and betrayal.

My biggest critique with this one was the pacing of the book. The beginning was definitely pretty slow... and I was mostly a fan of the past timeline vs present. For my personal taste, I would categorize this book more as a suspense/mystery novel than a true thriller. At one point, I also felt like the author was losing us in terms of sympathy for Rachel?

All in all, a solid debut with suspense and dark themes!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my #gifted copy and the awesome PR Box!

(Ps- LOVE this cover!)

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have to be honest and say I did not enjoy this book. Maybe it was marketed wrong or maybe I didn't read the description correctly, but I was expecting a mystery/thriller with a plot twist. There was none of those. I think if I had gone in with a different perception of what the book was trying to present, it could have been better. I just felt like I was waiting for something crazy to happen and it didn't. I can acknowledge that this book deals with some heavy topics, but it should not be presented as a mystery. I had a hard time connecting or relating to Rachel, the female main character, so by the end of the book, I was ready for it to be over.

While I can see the potential in the author's writing, I have a hard time recommending this book to readers. I would love to give her next read another chance now knowing her writing style.

4.5 stars!

Oooof, this one packed a big punch. It touches upon so many different aspects that I love, like found family, coming of age, dual timeline, and power & corruption.

We follow Rachel in the present day, as well as 16 years previously when she lived on a small island in Greece for a summer. Her and a few other girls also on the island temporarily end up wrapped up in something really sketchy and end up WAY over their heads.

I’d recommend going into this one as blind as possible, but please check the trigger warnings!

I couldn’t finish this one. The older man’s relationship with a teen girl was just too creepy. The book set itself up to a mystery as to why she was still drawn to this man but I only got about 20% into it. I felt sad for the husband.

If you like your hot weather with a twist of suspense, this is one to check out.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for my eARC for review!
The Girls of Summer is the story of Rachel, told in alternating chapters of present-day, and when she was a young adult travelling in the Greek Islands.
Rachel does the typical summer vacation travel essentials - parties, beaches, making new friends. But when she opts to stay for a gap year and work in a local bar, a more sinister situation emerges.
A romance with the older Alastair turns into an obsession that resurfaces in her current day life in London, despite her marriage to Tom. And uncovers seedy secrets from that fateful vacation, and a girl that didn't make it home.
Author Katie Bishop's debut is an atmospheric novel with an unnerving undercurrent that hooked me right away. I can't wait for future books from her.
Recommended!
Released on June 6.

Rachel went to Greece for a fun summer trip before starting college, but ends up staying as she falls in love with the island and one of its residents. I wanted to like the story, but couldn’t find a character that was easily likable. It’s definitely touchy for rape victims and has an underage sex theme throughout as well. I think this one would be better if the character was older, would make it seem a lot less creepy. The underage point was distracting throughout the story.

Rachel and Alistair’s love affair on a remote, Greek island has consumed her since she was seventeen. But as Rachel becomes increasingly obsessed with reliving the events of long ago, dark and deeply suppressed secrets about her first love affair begin to rise to the surface.

This is a dark and twisty beach read for all the mystery thriller lovers out there. The writing is intoxicating and draws you in right away. The writing style is really lovely and atmospheric transporting you to Greece as Rachel revisits her past. It’s told in alternating timelines, past and present. I enjoyed the “past” chapters more. Overall, I’m not sure this was the best approach, I would be interested to see how two parts, with each timeline told consecutively would have looked like instead. It felt a bit disjointed to me at times.

Overall, really impressed with this one. Please note subject matter is disturbing with J Epstein vibes so approach with caution if assault/grooming/trafficking is a trigger for you.

Rachel spends a summer on a Greek island making new friends and living life before heading to university in the fall. The thing is the she decides to stay longer, based solely on falling for a man. The man is not always forthcoming with her but because of her age Rachel is easily swayed. As the story moves to modern day, she realizes that there was more than meets the eye happening on that island. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy. There are plenty of triggers in this book, so tread carefully.

"The Girls of Summer" by Katie Bishop takes readers on a nostalgic and heartwarming journey through friendship, self-discovery, and the magic of summertime. With its relatable characters and a compelling narrative, this book captures the essence of youthful adventures and the bonds that withstand the test of time.

One of the book's greatest strengths lies in its ability to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia. Bishop's vivid descriptions of lazy summer days, carefree escapades, and the simple joys of childhood transport readers back to their own cherished memories. The author's attention to detail creates an immersive experience that effortlessly captures the essence of the season, making it easy to get lost in the story.

The characters in "The Girls of Summer" are endearing and relatable, each with their own unique personalities and personal struggles. Bishop skillfully develops their individual journeys of growth and resilience, allowing readers to become emotionally invested in their lives. The friendship between the girls is beautifully portrayed, filled with genuine camaraderie, laughter, and the bonds that only summer adventures can forge.

The narrative unfolds at a steady pace, effortlessly blending past and present. Bishop's storytelling draws readers in, as secrets from the past are slowly revealed, keeping the intrigue alive throughout. The alternating perspectives provide depth and insight into each character's motivations, allowing readers to connect with their joys, fears, and dreams.

The author's writing style is engaging and evocative, capturing the spirit of summer with eloquent prose. The dialogue feels authentic, capturing the essence of youthful conversations and adding depth to the characters' interactions. Bishop's ability to convey emotions and create atmospheric scenes adds richness to the overall reading experience.

While "The Girls of Summer" is a heartfelt and enjoyable read, it does have a few minor flaws. At times, the pacing feels uneven, with certain sections moving slower than others. Additionally, some readers may find certain plot twists predictable or familiar within the coming-of-age genre.

In conclusion, "The Girls of Summer" is a poignant and nostalgic tale that celebrates the power of friendship and the transformative nature of summer. Katie Bishop's ability to capture the essence of youthful joy and the bittersweetness of growing up makes this book a captivating read. Despite a few minor flaws, it is recommended for readers seeking a heartfelt story that transports them to the carefree days of summer and reminds them of the enduring power of friendship.