There is something about young girlhood, where at the time you think you're so mature and an adult but in actuality, the people you surround yourself mold your decisions and opinions. This book captures the vulnerability of young girls fresh into adulthood, flashing back to the past and present day, when ghosts from the past re-emerge. Books like these, are tools I wish I had when I was younger, as a cautionary tale to manipulation & gaslighting. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

The Girls of Summer was a fast read but wasn't my favorite. I enjoyed the story line of Rachel and her love for a man she simply couldn't have. Everyone has that one that got away, or the "what if" relationship and that part of the book I was consumed with. You always think that relationship was perfect but it clouds the truth and you forget the reasons your not with that person. The writing was good but I couldn't connect with the main character and wasn't feeling the vacation vibes. It felt a little high school spring breakish.

Yet another debut that absolutely rocked me! The subject matter is tough, but is definitely something that needs to be read (check trigger warnings!). The story is told from our MC Rachel’s point of view, in dual timelines of past and present. You really feel for this character and want to just grab her and shake her because she is still in such denial 16 years later.

Originally when I started this I got ‘The Last Housewife’ vibes, but it’s less cult-like than that. I still think you would enjoy this one if you liked TLH though as the feelings I got while reading were similar (if that even makes sense).

Add this to your summer TBR’s because this is sure going to be one of the most talked about books this summer!

Thank you to NetGallery and St. Martin’s Press for this eARC!

The Girls of Summer is riveting. It take a very naive young woman and places her in adult situations and while one might argue that she should have had a clue about the adult situations and the danger, I think there are plenty of girls and young women out there who didn't have a clue--until it is too late. And that's kind of the point: girls are sexualized by society so that we don't realize we're in hot water until it's already boiling. That's kind of the point. While I had to wonder how common it is to travel to a Greek island and get caught up in a sex trafficking ring, I also think such things are insidious and slow and often no one knows until tragedy strikes. This story does a fantastic job of showing not just the tragedy, but the decades-long reverberations from abuse at a young age.

This is you 2023 summer beach read! Get it now and get ready for a roller coaster of emotions set in a beautiful sunny Greek island. You’ll binge this on a summer day.

This is probably more of a 2.5 stars for me. The storyline is good but nearly the whole thing is the inner monologue or memories of the main character. I found it difficult to attach and relate to the characters.

Seventeen-year-old Rachel is spending the summer in Greece. She and her friends are enjoying everything the island has to offer. She meets an older man who takes an interest in her. She accepts an invitation to a party at his employer's mansion, and her life is never the same. Rachel becomes infatuated with the attention she receives from Alistair. She believes they are in love and does whatever he asks. Alistair's boss throws parties and wants Rachel and her friends to be the entertainment. One young woman is not as enthralled with the lifestyle as Rachel. This means the end of the summer parties and an investigation. Rachel still sees Alistair as innocent in all that has happened and is devastated when he disappears. A trip back to the island years later with her husband who seemingly adores her leads Rachel to seek out Alistair who has never sought her out. Rachel begins seeing Alistair again, lying to her husband and her friends to be with him. When the now-adult Girls Of Summer want to seek justice for what happened that summer, Rachel still thinks Alistair is innocent.
This book is a lot. I was so conflicted by these events. I can see a seventeen-year-old being naive. It's a bit harder to see an older woman want to be with the person who used her. Was her worth still tied to that experience? Did she see love as doing whatever you're asked to do even if it's distasteful? It's sad to see what happened to these young girls. I'm glad they were able to band together and finally get some semblance of justice.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-arc of The Girls of Summer.

From just the title you might think this is a fun summer book...nope! But it is a great and polarizing read about a group of girls who travel to some islands on holiday expecting good clean fun. Protagonist Rachel is excited to be spending time away from parents before returning to school and even more excited when she meets the handsome Alistair who is older and 'wiser" and of course, drawn to her! Even more exotic are the parties she and the girls are invited to on the beach at the famed mansion of Henry, a wealthy magnate who loves to entertain and the alcohol is endless. Alternating in time between past and present, the novel shows us Rachel as a naive young girl, enchanted by the lavish lifestyle then and the "now" woman, married to Tom who lies about her past and is not as anxious as he is to have children. Worlds collide. And it's not pretty. But it's a testament to young women who believe what men tell them and a warning to not always trust those you don't know!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Rachel visits Greece as a teen and has a love affair with an older man that changes her life.

For the genre that it is, it was a little too descriptive and slow moving for me. That said i think that it tells an important story and shows how young women can be manipulated by older, powerful men. I hated some of the main characters but I liked Jules and how she really was there.

“The sea always reminds me of that summer. How the entire world had seemed within reach back then.”

The Girls of Summer comes out 5/31.

*Many thanks to St. Martin's Press, Katie Bishop and Netgalley for my gifted eARC. Publication date 6/20/23*

This book will definitely be the talk of next year! A slow burn that will have you flipping the pages so fast to see what happens next. This book is very dark and disturbing with many trigger warnings, so don't go into it thinking it's going to be a cute summer read because it is definitely the opposite!

Told in the "then" and "now"
THEN: Shy, naive, 18 year old Rachel falls for Alistair, a much older manipulating man while she is on a long vacation in Greece.
NOW: Rachel is in her late 30's married to Tom, but she has never stopped obsessing over Alistair and they way he abruptly left her in Greece and now she has the chance to reconnect with him.

4.5 stars for me and I will patiently be waiting for Katie Bishop's next book.

Rachel loved her time on the Greek islands but it has also scared her in her adult life. Through a series of flashbacks we learn about her summer working on an island and her love affair with a man 20 years her senior. Interspersed is her current life and what happens when that man returns. This novel is well written and very moving. As the layers are peeled back you are not surprised to learn what was really happening. The author does a fantastic job of sharing Rachel's thoughts as a teen and you can easily imagine how she got mixed up in a terrible situation. If you love a Greek getaway, a metoo story, or just a thrilling novel told via flashbacks, The Girls Of Summer is for you!
#STmartinspress

THE GIRLS OF SUMMER was a well written but difficult read that centres around Rachel and her experience on a Greek island when she was a teenager. Thinking that she had found the love of her life, it later turns out to be full of manipulation, lies, and abuse.

I was completely sucked into the story from the first page (such a heart wrenching scene) and thought Bishop did a great job of handling such difficult subject matter, while not shying away from the fact that stories and situations like this exist. A very emotional read and I recommend looking up the trigger warnings before reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my arc. THE GIRLS OF SUMMER will be published in June 2023.

Painfully slow (to me), it never compelled me to keep reading and I struggled my way through it over a couple of months. The writing isn’t bad but it just never grabbed me. I wasn’t the right reader for this one.

Wow, what a beautiful book! I didn't know much about this title, before receiving the ARC but I was pleasantly surprised! Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher, for the chance to read this story in exchange for an honest review.

"The Girls of Summer," is not what I would call an enjoyable read, but a heavy, important read. It needs some trigger warnings for sexual assault, suicide and abortion. This story is about a young girl Rachel, who at 17 goes to a Greek island where she falls in love with an older man named, Alistair. 16 years later, while married to another man, she looks back at her summer romance fondly, and decides to go back to visit the island. There she runs into a friend she hasn't seen since that summer. As she reconnects with this friend, she realizes she actually experienced something sinister. (Think Jeffrey Epstein.) This book is very uncomfortable at times, but does an amazing job of allowing the reader to understand the victim, and relate to her. I really felt for Rachel and rooted for her the entire time, even when she made horrible decisions.

Out in 2023, I would add this to your pre-order list now. It is a wonderful debut!

While I can’t say I *enjoyed* reading this book, I will say that it is a wonderfully written, albeit heartbreaking read. It is dark and twisted and not for everyone. Katie Bishop did a great job depicting horrible actions in a realistic way. I would definitely recommend reading it but please check trigger warnings first!

I will start by saying that this book was not at all what I expected. It was tough to read at times due to the manipulation and sexual abuse that the main character, Rachel endured.

Dark secrets begin to surface about Rachel's first trip to the island when she was 17.

What I liked:
The writing style: I was instantly pulled into the story and the island setting. I could feel Rachel's apprehension and I loved the dual timelines.

This is a very gripping story that delves into uncomfortable but important themes of manipulation and sexual abuse by older men on younger women and girls.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this early read.

DNF - i found myself not being able to get into this book too much right now unfortunately. it was still good but i didn’t want to finish it. i’ll probably grab a copy when it comes out cause maybe it’s just more of a summer read for me

I finished reading The Girls of Summer Last Night, and quite honestly, I am at a loss for words.

Love....

Its supposed to be this cant eat, cant sleep, reach for the moon, kind of feeling.

That is exactly what Rachel was experiencing, however, Alistair was not, he did not love Rachel, he NEEDED her and not in the ways that you think. Alistair quite honestly made me sick. The amount of manipulation and stress he put Rachel and the other girls through was cringeworthy.

We look at men in power and we idolize them...
"They must be really smart !!!"
"Look at all they have accomplished!!!"
"The full package!!"

Not every successful man (or woman) made it there in an honest way and these guys definitely did not.

There were so many times within this book that I wanted to shake ALL of these girls, Rachel for leaving her friend when she needed her most, Agnus, for knowing what was going on and letting it continue and Priya, Helena and Kaira for staying when they knew what was going on was not right.

Granted, these girls were young, naive, and living their best life in what they thought was paradise. However, they let this cloud their judgment and put them in harms way more than once.

Thank God for Jules. She was the star of the book. Not only was she supportive but she shows us all what being a good friend is and what we strive to be for one another.

This book is written from Rachels POV, told between dual time lines of now and then. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it had me thinking the entire time. Now, the subject is rough but its a reality. Books that hit home the way this one did gives you a deeper kind of appreciation as it opens your eyes to the fact that unfortunately, these situations exist.

Katie Bishop did a great job playing on my emotions and I am excited to see what she comes out with next.

This book was so good. I enjoyed it and enjoyed reading it. It wasn’t what I expected but it was good.

A summer themed book in autumn? Well, what if I told you the topics covered here were dark enough you wouldn't even notice? Major CW here for grooming, trafficking and more.This one had me reading waaaaay past my bedtime. What was the last book to do that to you?
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The Girls of Summer is a very well written novel which time hops between a life-changing summer in the past and current day for our main character Rachel.
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Right off the bat I felt a strong pull to Rachel. There were some really relatable moments for me, from being the overlooked friend to wishing to relive moments from long ago. Though I never experienced anything remotely near what she encountered I could absolutely see how her past shaped her future and the struggle between acknowledging what she felt and what it truly was. To quote it, "That place has been my whole life. Everything I thought I knew about myself was constructed in those few months I spent within touching distance of the sea. Everything I am is because Alistair loved me."
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I've heard this is a good one for fans of My Dark Vanessa as well. Unfortunately it's not publishing till June 2023, so for now just make sure it's on your tbr list so you don't miss it!