4/5

This debut novel by Kate Bishop was beautifully told. Influenced by the #MeToo movement, a story about how easily it is to fall into sex trafficking and not even realize you’re a victim.

Told in 2 tense, before and now, Rachel found herself back in the Greek island she spent a summer in 16 years ago. Flooding with memories, she runs into an old friend now barely an acquaintance, Helena.

An interesting tale albeit bit predictable.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katie Bishop for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am giving this one 3 stars. I wanted to like it, but to me it dragged. I couldn't get into it. I couldn't connect with the main characters. I did enjoy the writing, and will read the authors other books.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this book. I'm around the same age as Rachel, and I also spent some impactful time abroad when I was younger - thankfully not at all similar to hers, but I can relate to the nostalgia!

I found myself drawn in by the first third, and again towards the ending, but the middle lagged for me. Without sharing spoilers, I felt it strained credulity that Rachel didn't pick up on *any* of the very many elements of the horror of that summer, especially in retrospect. (And especially considering that her best friend was there too - less involved, but involved enough to know something was wrong! It just...never came up...in the 10+ years since...especially since it's very clearly still impacting her?) I'm guessing this was sheer psychological self-protection, but I feel like as readers, we were asked to accept this unquestioningly - and regardless of her initial naiveté, I didn't quite buy it.

That said, I was compelled by the tensions in Rachel's adult life - and by the dynamic between her and Alistair in spite of myself. (It reminded me a bit of the dynamic between Lucy and Stephen in Carola Lovering's Tell Me Lies.) And there were certainly moments that gave me chills - what you want in a thriller! Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a decent read for me, though I thought the story dragged a bit and didn’t really provide any major twists. It centers on Rachel, who in her mid 30s is trying to reclaim what she remembers as a perfect summer in Greece as a teenager. When she reconnects with the girls she hung out with that summer, she is forced to rethink the memories from that summer, especially her love affair with the much older Alistair.

I struggled a little bit with Rachel’s character. It should have been very obvious what was really going on that summer even to someone her age, not to mention when she reflected on it as an adult. I also thought she treated her husband horribly and never really explained why she made some of the decisions she made. I didn’t think that she really grew throughout the novel and got the impression that even when she did the right thing at the end, she didn’t really believe it.

I liked the way the story alternated between past and present, though I didn’t think there were many surprising reveals. Either way it kept me reading as the author weaved together the story from the 2 timelines.

Overall, it was a well written novel but just an ok read for me- not enough surprises and I was impatient with Rachel’s naïveté and overall character. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Rachel was a teenager, she spent a magical summer on a beautiful Greek island, where she made lots of friends and fell in love with Alistair, an older man working for a wealthy businessman. Years later, Rachel has a devoted husband and fulfilling job, but her sun-drenched memories from that time continue to define her and even consume her. A chance encounter with an old friend forces Rachel to defend her past and her relationship with Alistair, but at what cost? Was the magic of that summer just an illusion?

I wouldn’t typically seek out this topic to read about, but I am glad that I did. I appreciated Rachel’s story even though I didn’t really like her character. The book was a little slow, with some suspenseful and very disturbing parts, and I felt it dragged a little toward the end, but I think Bishop provided necessary closure for Rachel’s experiences. 3.5 stars.

Wow!! It’s hard to believe that Katie Bishop is a debut author. The Girls of Summer was a gripping, suspenseful and a very important read. This book is well written and deals with some very real issues. Honestly, I could not stand Alistair and the fact that he preyed on young, innocent teenage/adult girls whose brains are not mature enough to realize what Alistair was really doing. Unfortunately, there are so many Alistairs in our world. I think that The Girls of Summer could be eye opening to parents of young girls. I know that it was for me. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Thank you to St. Martins Press, Netgalley and Katie Bishop for the opportunity to read and review The Girls of Summer. I look forward to reading more Katie Bishop books in the future.

Very well-written but I am going to go with 3 stars because I just didnt like the main character Rachel. I don't mind a "messy" protagonist but I couldn't find any way to connect with this character. She was so stuck in the past, never seeming to want to get help to move on. And in the end, I don't think she really believed anything wrong was ever truly done to her. She just finally gave in to what the others were telling her.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Sadly I can't leave a review because I couldn't finish the book. I though girls trip right up my alley, but I didn't like the girls or the flashbacks. and the story just could't grab my attention. Given this 2 stars.

I wanted so badly to enjoy this thriller / coming of age story, but I found all of the characters (except Jules!) to be so utterly unlikeable that I wanted to jump into the pages and tell them all to wake up & get ahold of themselves!

Caroline and Rachel spend a summer traveling the Greek islands together. When Rachel meets the mysterious Alistair, she finds herself falling in love and staying on the island, much to Caroline’s dismay. Rachel gets a job at a bar and moves in with a few other girls, spending her nights partying and doing anything to make Alistair happy. But where does she draw the line? And how do her decisions that summer affect her life now?

Flipping between past & present helped keep me interested in this novel, and the ultimate need to find out what happened to Rachel and her island friends end. Additionally, this book should consider coming with a few warnings, however, I don’t know how to share said warnings without spoiling plot points.

Great Read. Thanks for sending it my way! Another lovely book from Nancy Thayer! It keeps your interest the whole way through! 4 STARS

Can't believe this was a debut! I thoroughly enjoyed how each character was fleshed out and that both timelines kept my interest equally. That's not an easy thing to achieve.

“The Girls of Summer” is a debut novel by Katie Bishop. Let me start by saying that this book is not a light summer beach read - it’s dark, like “My Sweet Vanessa” dark - and about as uncomfortable a subject to read. Other reviewers have summarized the story better than I can (each time I try I end up giving away twists), but suffice to say that Rachel meets Alistair, a much older man, falls in love with him and for the next 16 years is obsessed about her memories of her first love.

This story is told in two timelines - then and now. It was interesting seeing how the past unfolded for Rachel - how quickly she became besotted with not only Alistair, but also that summer lifestyle. This book really reminded me of the Epstein/Maxwell scandal and, as this book was influenced by the #metoo movement, I can understand the parallels. While I had some sympathy for Rachel as she worked through her emotions and memories, I also kept thinking “girl, get thee to a therapist!” Thank goodness for Jules being her friend, putting up with her, helping her in so many ways, and being there when Rachel needed someone.

This is a very difficult book for me to rate because the topic is so dark that I cannot say that I “enjoyed” it - especially when I cannot say that I really liked many of the characters. At times the pacing was a bit slow, though it served its purpose as some of those slow paced moments later set things up later in the book. However, unlike “My Dark Vanessa” I don’t feel like I need to re-read this one as I had some issues with Rachel’s actions and reactions (her treatment of Tom, the rekindling of her past relationship, and some of her decisions overall). This book is uncomfortable and a heavy topic, but I applaud Ms. Bishop for tackling it in a very caring manner.

I hope nothing i did at 17 has such an effect all these years later. I loved the Greek setting and the dual timeline but I didn't feel like it was a very fresh or new story.

Love a book about a girls trip gone wrong. I wouldn’t say this was my favorite girls trip book but I thought it was interesting enough and would recommend it.

What I liked about it:
The cover obviously!
I liked the development of the characters life and the memory aspect, the back and forth.
Finding and keeps past friends.
How what happened in the past kinda builds who you are and shapes the future.
The ending came to a satisfactory conclusion..

What I didn't like:
For me the build up took too long and then when we got to conflict it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. And the book kinda made me sad.
That was really the only disappointment and that's more of a me thing as I usually read run/scared/murder than the memory/sad/murder type books.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press

What a fantastic debut novel! Katie Bishop 100% hit the nail on the head conveying teenage youth and naïveté that awkward phase between youth and adulthood when you just want to be an adult and experience all the opportunities and life that’s waiting for you in adulthood.

Reading this in winter really painted the perfect picture of the Greek Isles in the summer and had me longing to be laying on a beach chair looking at the ocean.

Some heavy plot themes in this book that were covered perfectly and sensitively.

The dual timelines layered this story perfectly and compared the exact right scenes in the ‘then and now’. The pacing was a little slow in some spots but overall this was a great read

The Girls of Summer is Katie Bishop's first novel, although it doesn't read like one! A dual timeline story, it follows Rachel at two times in her life, when she was 17 and traveled to Greece, living a wild life and falling in love with Alistair, a much older man, and when she's in her 30s and married to Tom, a solid, stalwart if somewhat boring husband.

When she discovers on a vacation to Greece with Tom that Alistair in living in London, she meets him and begins an affair that brings up a issues from their shared past, including sex trafficking. This book could be triggering.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Girls of Summer has me conflicted. One on hand I loved that it was a debut and getting some early buzz but on the flip side, there are things that I struggle with as a reader. Like how did Katie go back to Alistair? I love books about first love but my heart hurt for Tom, especially with 0 contact after so many years. But I caution this part because that's a "me" thing as a reader. I think that's what tainted my connection to the main character.

I did think the writing was good and loved the flashbooks. I also love anything to do with England and wanted to imagine myself in Greece (bucket list place to travel).

So 3 stars but I will 100% pick up another book by the author as i did think i enjoyed the writing but the characters and their decisions made me frustrated enough that I wasn't enjoying it as much as I wanted.


Warnings for triggers: rape, suicide and sex trafficking

They say you never forget your first love and Rachel has moved on but never forgotten Alistair.

Told in two timelines, the past crashes spectacularly into the present, revealing all manner of secrets.

Great book, I couldn't put it down!

This is a debut novel by Katie Bishop and it grabbed me from the very first page. Rachel went backpacking with friends to Greece where she found her first love with Alistair. She was only 17 at the time and Alistair was much older. Fast forward 16 years, she is now married to Tom and they go on a vacation to the same spot in Greece yet Katie never told Tom much about that time in her life. I had a hard time with Katie going back and getting involved with Alistair while being married to Tom, after no contact after 16 years. Really? Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published June 2023. Looking forward to many more books by this author.

TRIGGERS - RAPE, SEX TRAFFICING, SUICIDE