I have mixed feelings about this book because I just really cannot relate to the main character, Rachel. As the book description states, Rachel is in love with Alistair and has been since she was 18 and spent an idyllic time on a Greek island with him and a bunch of other girl “friends”. She is now on her 30s, married to Tom, but still thinking so much about that summer and basically just feels like everything was perfect then and she should have ended up with Alistair.

We flashback from now to then and see Rachel as an 18 year old and a 33 year old and honestly she really isn’t different. The writing alludes to some nefarious things going on and eventually spells it out but Rachel is so naive with stars in her eyes about this much older man. As you read it, their relationship and everything going on around them is wildly inappropriate. However, she is so in love but it ends abruptly and she just really can’t get over him or get it together. For fifteen years!! Give me a break. She needed to grow up and open her eyes. Remember, she is married to someone else—a good guy that doesn’t deserve the way she treats him. That annoyed me so much. Her decisions as a teen and as an adult were really just dumb.

With that said the book is a decent fiction read although the ending was a tad drawn out and I don’t think the last chapter needed to be as long as it was.

3,5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rachel's life is overshadowed by the intense love she felt for Alistair during the summer she spent on a Greek island when she was 17.. Sixteen years later and married to Tom, the couple returns to the same island An encounter with one of the girls from the past leads Rachel to reevaluate her life, unearthing dark secrets in the process. The novel switches between Then (teenager) and Now. Rachel's eyes are opened to the truth, resulting in a multi-layered plot.

The book is at times disturbing, so check for TW. The beginning of this book is slow. I was close to DNFing, but decided to keep going.. I didn't find Rachel to be particularly likeable or easy to connect with. I loved the authors writing style and will certainly pick up any of her future works, but I can't say that I loved this one.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this arc.

This book started out slow to me. I did end up really enjoying the book and the secrets and the lives of these people. I would definitely recommend this book!

Wow. The Girls of Summer is Katie Bishop's writing debut, and it was written so beautifully.

A bit of a warning. This is not light summer romance novel. This novel has heavy topics about consent and manipulation, and some not so great men.

The novel begins with Rachel, 34 and on vacation in Greece with her husband. She lived on an island in Greece when she was 17, and her husband takes her to the bar she worked at when she was there. The owner of the bar is someone she hasn't seen in years, who knows her from her year on the island.

This visit ignites memories in Rachel that she has tried to keep at bay for years. Memories of her first love whom she met on the island. The man who abandoner her and still occupies a place in her heart.

A man who was 34 when her pursued her at 17. A man who told her she was special, and beautiful and the classic "you're not like the other girls".

The book alternates between the present and that fateful year on the island. There is a sense of something sinister happening as Alistair brings Rachel and her housemates into his world and introduces them to his boss.

In the present, Rachel tracks down Alistair. Does she want closure? Or does she want to fall in love again?

I'm very much looking forward to following Ms. Bishop's writing career as she is definitely one to watch. Thank you to St. Marten's Press and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

This is a great beach read. Although the beginning is a bit drawn out and slow, once the story picks up you are hooked. You can feel where the story is going with much dread, but you just have to know how it pans out!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop starts out as a salty, sweaty beach read as Rachel reminisces about her summer spent on a remote Greek island. While she is all grown up and happily married, a trip back to the island brings back a flood of memories and this is where the story takes a darker and more sinister turn. I wasn’t overly emotionally attached to any of the characters, but the atmospheric writing style really drew me in. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This is a good story by a good writer. This is the author’s debut novel. It mostly takes place in Greece when the main character, Rachel, was 17, and it easily goes back and forth to the present day. I loved the setting. I found the book to be a bit long and drawn out and I had trouble getting through some parts. 3.5 rounded to 4.

This book was extremely hard to like. The main character was horrible - she seemed ungrateful and whiny and super disrespectful to the marriage/relationship she had. She had zero redeeming qualities. Was she even over the age of 20? Because she didn't act like it. .
While the acts of abuse were sort of written around - the writing made it seem like this was really nothing, but it is, which made reading this very uncomfortable.. The divorce felt so removed, that it was almost an afterthought and reworked in just to drive the story forward. It made the story feel disjointed and really unorganized.

The review I posted online is surface level at best.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy

Release Date: June 2023
Genre: Drama

Summary: After Rachel and her husband revisit the island where she and friends spent time when she was 17, she’s consumed by the man who stole her heart and got away. It’s 16 years later and Allister has once again made Rachel rethink everything, including her marriage to Tom. But as the truth becomes clearer to all, Rachel still refuses to opens her mind to what really happened.

My Thoughts: I’m extremely conflicted about this book. I loved the overall story, the concept, the message and all it was intended to do. I loved the dual timelines alternating between Then and Now and the writing was descriptive and beautiful. However the execution of the events and main character, Rachel, is what I struggled with. A character does not have to be likeable by any means for them to allow for a five star read, not at all. But Rachel’s character was just way over the top naive for me. I understand she was just turning 18 that summer and I would have believed she was in denial then, but as she got older, she continued to live in a fantasy world. A more convincing approach would have been for her to have recognized what had happened and work toward finding out the truth rather than hide from it and ignore all the red flags. Rachel also didn’t change much towards the end. I got the feeling that she would easily fall back into the same web of deceit and that showed weakened and not growth.

Having said all this, I still could not put this down and read it quickly, fuming and yelling at times. It made me feel a lot of hatred and other emotions. I’ve said before if a book can move me like that, it’s one to remember; I will remember this one! Therefore I’ve landed on 4 stars but I do not recommend this to the faint of heart as there some sensitive topics: triggers of rape, sexual exploitation, and drug abuse, to name some.

3.5 Stars

The Girls of Summer sounds like a lighthearted novel about teenage girls in the months of summer vacation… and that it is not. Bishop takes the reader on a dark journey through Rachel’s past, with past and present narratives combining to create a sense of confusion and mystery surrounding what and who draws Rachel to this Greek island. There are portions of the book where the pacing is slower than others, but the story keeps you interested, nonetheless. Trigger warnings should be adhered, there are dark and difficult topics discussed throughout. This is a compelling debut novel, I can’t wait to see what else Bishop publishes!

Thank you Netgalley for this great debut ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.75 – 5 STARS

Wow! What a riveting and timely story! I couldn’t put “The Girls of Summer” down!! Perception is such an elusive and interesting thing… how shared experiences are construed in such a uniquely personal way, sometimes differing vastly from what is essentially true.

Alternating between past and present, there are so many threads to pull at in this dark and cautionary story, all of which I found quite fascinating. But fundamentally, “The Girls of Summer” strives to push societal boundaries by shining a spotlight on how the rich and powerful can so easily exploit young women by preying on their innocence, insecurities and overwhelming desire for love and acceptance.

Truthfully, though, it was the sequences from the past that truly drew me in, as “present-day” Rachel was not half the sympathetic character that her younger self was. In fact, I found her to be a bit off-putting. That aside, this was one of the best books I have read in a very long time! I give “The Girls of Summer” a resounding two thumbs up!!

I received an advanced copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

Rachel has been in love with Alistair for fifteen years. Even though she’s now married to someone else. Even though she was a teenager when they met. Even though he is twenty years older than her. She still cannot forget about the summer they shared or what happened at the end of it. Now memories are flooding back but those memories are not exactly the perfect ones she has been holding onto.

I usually love a very fun past and present books, but this one seemed a little out of place and drawn out. Rachel is the most naïve character that I’ve read in a long time, I didn’t understand her personality, and I don’t understand how she could ignore everything that was going on around her for so long. It was hard to read Rachel's perspective sometimes. It really felt like what was she doing sometimes, was so obvious what was going on.

Another #metoo reckoning, this one is fresh and a bit different-nuanced and told through the filter of memory, leaves you guessing and a bit uncertain

It was okay. Different from what I normally read. I would probably pick up another book by this author just to see if I really do like the author’s books or not.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Seventeen-year-old Rachel Evans, vacationing on a Greek island, meets and falls in love with an enigmatic older man. Consumed by her relationship with Alistair, her life becomes one of late-night parties, too much alcohol, and promiscuity.

Sixteen years later, Rachel remains consumed by her love for Alistair even though she is now married. But her marriage is far from stable and Rachel is keeping secrets from her husband, Tom.

What is the truth about that summer on the island? And why does it continue to haunt Rachel?

=========

Divided into two sections . . . Then and Now . . . this is Rachel’s story to tell. It’s a formidable story and the telling of this tale is truly difficult reading. It’s gripping and captivating; it’s ominous and dark.

Rachel’s idyllic memories are at odds with the true story, but now, sixteen years later, she still finds herself drawn to Alistair. Early on, readers will recognize the truth of what is happening on the island; the undercurrent of foreboding keeps the reader’s uneasiness at the forefront of the “Then” story while the “Now” story is more frustrating.

Well-developed characters and a strong sense of place work together to anchor this narrative. Readers are likely to find that Rachel, the central character in the telling of this horrific tale, is largely unlikeable. It is almost incomprehensible that any seventeen-year-old young woman could possibly be as naïve as she is throughout the telling of the “Then” story, but her obsession with Alistair and her lies to her husband in the “Now” story are likely to leave readers feeling divided between frustration at her choices and sympathy for her difficulties in working through the past trauma.

Highly recommended, with the caveat that readers should be aware that the story is unsettling and burdensome.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#TheGirlsofSummer #NetGalley

Rachel spends an exciting teenage summer on a Greek Island at the young age of 17. At the time, she viewed the summer as an adventure with a once in a life time romance; however, as the book jumps between the "then" and the "now" Rachel begins to reframe her view of that time. Was it as romantic and adventurous as she thought or was something more sinister occurring?

The author writes two timelines in an intricate manner that will keep you guessing and wanting more until the very end. She writes in a way that will have you feeling the pain of Rachel's self-discovery right along with her until you are cheering her on at the very end.

In Girls of Summer Katie Bishop takes you on a dark and traumatic journey. Then: Rachel is 17 and travelling through Europe with a girlfriend. They end up on a beautiful Greek island and get jobs in a bar and live with a bunch of other travellers. They all work for a mysterious rich man who travels often and is rarely around. Another employee of his, Alister is their main contact. Rachel falls for him instantly and becomes obsessed with her first relationship.

Now it's 18 years later and after reconnecting with her past Rachel begins to understand that what she thought was romance was really something much darker. She now has to process this sudden change in perception and what exactly it all means for her.

Girls of Summer is captivating, as it slowly gets darker as the story progresses. I did find it dragged a bit in the second half of the book but overall was very well done. 3.5 stars rounded up.

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

Every time she thinks back to that summer, she revels in all her special moments with Alistair, he was her first love, her only true love. Or so she thinks. As she returns to that Greek island with her husband Tom she begins to slip back into old thoughts, and starts to obsess over the man who owns her heart. Then she runs into an old friend from her time there years ago, and it becomes clear to her that maybe she isn't as happy with her life as she thought she was...

The Girls of Summer is an captivating and well written suspense novel that is bound to rattle you in all the best of ways. It's story line is a little on the darker side and some readers should read with caution as it deals with some tough subject matter. I quickly found myself enamored by the main character Rachel, as the story unfolds you will see that the man she has spent half of her life loving isn't quite the man she thought he was, and that their story book romance wasn't so sweet either. This young woman was used and mistreated and it's taken an emotional toll on her, one she didn't realize was happening... it was impossible not to feel for her.

As I was reading this one I had trouble believing it was a debut novel, as it was so well written and believable. Bravo to the author, definitely one of the best new reads I have settled down with this year!! Highly recommend!

I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.

Wow. This had me hooked from the beginning all the way through to the end! This was so good! I was absorbed into this story!
I just reviewed The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Thank you to Net Galley for this free copy of Girls of Summer in exchange for a honest review. This is a very powerful book told in the past ,when Rachel the main character was 17 and instead of returning to England decides to stay in Greece after her vacation is over and in the present when Rachel is in a comfortable marriage to Tom but still longing for the love of her life , Alastairsn older man who she hasn’t seen in 16 years after a terrible tragedy happened in Greece. When Rachel is confronted with the blatant facts that she was part of a harem for an older man and not just partying with wealthy friends, Rachel has to decide how she will proceed and what she will have to sacrifice when she confronts her painful past.. Definitely reminiscent of Jeffrey Epstein.