Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and Netgalley for the e-arc of this book. I enjoyed getting the story line of the five different woman as well as our main character Hollis' daughter. I do wish there was more of a chapter break between character perspectives, because it was hard to tell when each one was switching within the same character. I thought the ending was a bit rushed and wrapped up in a bow, but overall I enjoyed the read. 3.5 ⭐ rounded to 4.

A new Elin Hilderbrand truly marks the beginning of summer for me. If you are already a fan, you will love this. If you are new to her, The Five-Star Weekend is a great place to start. Full of friendship, family, drama, food, love, and of course, Nantucket, this was a perfect summer beach read.

<i>ARC Provided by NetGalley<i>

If you love Elin you are in for a treat! Filled with all the personality she usually bring to each book and that summer breeze. Read this right after Hotel Nantucket, if you haven’t read it already!

The best summer vibes! I love Elin Hilderbrand’s enique writing style and how povs flow in and out of chapters. I definitely had to power through this monster of a book, but I’m so glad I did!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. Oh how I love Elin Hiderbrand! This book is all about friendship, grief and forgiveness set in Elin's favorite location, Nantucket. I loved each and every character in the book and how all of their life experiences intertwined within the Five Star Weekend. Who else is ready to call up their old besties and take a trip? I know I am!

Loved it! This was my first Elin Hildebrand title (I know, I know!) but it will not be my last. Fast paced, engaging story about grief, friendship, and reconciliation. I loved it and it felt like a beach reach but with so much more depth and meaning than expected.

Hollis Shaw, a famous food blogger, is devastated when her husband dies unexpectedly shortly before Christmas. Months later, she decides to invite four friends from her life to join her for a fabulous weekend in Nantucket. The friends are from high school, college, early parenthood, and later in life and each of one of them carries their own baggage and secrets. This was a blast, just like any Elin Hilderbrand book. I'm so sad it's one of her last but this is definitely one to savor.

Another smash hit for Elin Hilderbrand. If you already love her, you’ll love this book. If you’re/ your patron is unfamiliar, this is a great book to get them hooked.

The release of a new Elin Hilderbrand novel is a sure sign that summer is upon us. Her books are perfect summer reading, and The Five-Star Weekend is no exception. Set on Nantucket, this novel follows the recently widowed Hollis Shaw, a well-known food blogger, as she brings together four women from different stages of her life for a perfectly curated weekend of food, wine, shopping, and togetherness. These women have very little in common and all are dealing with conflicts in their own lives; will the weekend bring them together or end in disaster?

I'll be honest, I didn't think this was Hilderbrand's best effort. I prefer her earlier books; her more recent works feel like an extended tourist advertisement for Nantucket, and her characters often feel disconnected from reality. I found myself most drawn to Tatum's character, a blue-collar year-round Nantucket resident. She seemed most down-to-earth and therefore was the most relatable. I had a hard time sympathizing with Dru-Ann's viral social media crisis or Brooke's struggles to remain plugged into wealthy local mommy society, and I definitely couldn't connect to Gigi, who harbors a secret that will destroy Hollis if/when it gets out.

I don't want to say much else for fear of spoilers. If you love Elin Hilderbrand, you'll love this book. However, if you're like me and you long for a return to her earliest works, then you probably will find yourself disappointed by this novel. Hilderbrand plans to retire in 2024 and to be honest, after reading her past few works, I'm sad to say I'm not sure I'll miss her.

Elin Hilderbrand has created the quintessential beach read! This story focuses on the character of Hollis Shaw who is a fifty something mother and wife who happens to also be the creator of the popular food blog, Hungry with Hollis. When her husband dies, Hollis feels devastated by the loss as well as conflicted since they had been arguing before his accident. Now, her life feels in shambles and her relationship with her daughter is falling apart. In need of some support, Hollis invites friends to a Five-Star Weekend which is a girls' trip for her best friends, one friend from each phase of her life. The story that enfolds is both surprisingly fun as well as poignant. As a woman in her 50's, I loved the idea of being able to gather old friends and rediscover friendships as well as a first love. The story of each of the five women at the weekend is equally absorbing and amusing. Written with Elin's usual wit and humor, this is definitely a Five-Star read!

A fun story of a weekend, where Hollis, our main character, invites for friends from different stages of her life to her home for the weekend. Everything is carefully curated. Hollis went to lifestyle block so all the food is beautiful and homemade. As one would imagine, all these friendships are not perfect. As the women work to resolve the past, one woman has a very large secret. As readers we are in on the secrets, but waiting for Hollis to figure it out.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Five-Star Weekend is the five-star read of the summer!
Shaking my head. Idk how Elin Hilderbrand comes up with these ideas and characters. Her 29th book is my top pick!
I was lucky enough receive an ARC copy. When I read the synopsis I thought: Bobbi HS bff, Lori college, Sharon raising kids, and Devin for midlife. What fun!
Hilderbrand does not disappoint. More than a beach read. This book is fun, light, and quick read for any time.
Hollis Shaw of “Hungry with Hollis” food blog is newly widowed. After seven months of grieving she throws her own “Five-Star Weekend” and invites four friends from four stages of her life. This book is filled with friendships, love, and secrets that is ‘remarkable, best in class, of a rarified quality and a stand out.’
Each character has their personal story and issue that brings them to life. Realistic. It was enjoyable to read their roles play out.
Highly recommend for a feel good book that has humor, drama, friendship, and taking a deep sigh…just makes ya smile.
Thank you Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for ARC read!!!
Read from 5/27-30/23

Another delightful book from Elin Hilderbrand. The Five Star Weekend was highly enjoyable from start to finish and I hated to see it end! This is one of my favorite books of hers.

The Five-Star Weekend is another five start Elin Hilderbrand book for me! I love how she write her characters and this book is no exception.

Another great summer read from the queen! Something kept me from absolutely loving it (and giving it 5 stars) but it was still super enjoyable!

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Get ready for a FIVE STAR READ!
Hollis Shaw is in mourning. She is a fairly famous food blogger grieving the death of her husband. She hears of an idea where you bring together the best friends you had in different stages of your life (the stars) and celebrate together. Perhaps this is just what she needs. She returns to her beloved Nantucket island and invites the stars. One, her high school friend, has never left. Hollis invites her grieving daughter to film the weekend and even invites an unknown -a woman she has befriended via her blog. What could go wrong?

I will read anything Elin Hilderbrand writes - that is just the way it is. I love the way she sets a scene - like we are part of the audience that she refers to on the island (Nantucket, of course) and how she frames the locals who have the inside knowledge and the history. I loved how many of the earlier stories are woven into this great book, I loved the food and events themselves. To be honest, I could have done without the daughter's behavior. That seemed a bit too much to swallow - maybe a teenager would act as angrily, but I would hope a college age young woman would not punish her mother the way this child did! Others will love the clothing descriptions and the insider's view of the top notch restaurants. I was just super-happy to be along for the ride.

If you love a great beach read, if you miss your Nantucket-fix, if you are of a certain age and are thinking of your five stars would be...this is a book for you! #TheFiverStarWeekend #ELinHilderbrand #LittleBrown&Company

I tried to wait until June to read this, but I just couldn’t do it. Something about this one was just really special to me. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but I truly feel like I just went and stayed with these ladies on Squam Rd and had all of Hollis’s fantastic food. The way Elin describes the rooms, setting, scenery, food, etc is unmatched by any other author in my opinion. I also really enjoyed that each character had their strengths and weaknesses and gave me a reason to root for them- except maybe Aubrey & Charlie. I loved this concept of bringing friends from different times of your life together for a weekend sleepover at the beach with amazing food. This is one of my favorites now, for sure. I really can’t think of a better way to kick off Memorial Day weekend and the beginning of summer break than to get lost in any of Elin Hilderbrand’s books. Five glowing stars for The Five Star Weekend!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It would not be summer without a Hildebrand novel. At first i thought the "weekend" was a crazy idea, but the characters all had interesting and very different backstories which drew me in. The message of love, forgiveness and understanding is universal.

Elin HIlderbrand is a name I continually see walking through bookstores but somehow I’ve never read a book from her until now. Big mistake! This is General (Women’s) Fiction at its best. This 29th novel by the author stars Hollis Shaw, a famous food blogger who appears to have the perfect life. At least until her husband Matthew, a cardiac surgeon, dies in a car accident right before Christmas. Many months later she stumbles on the idea of a Five Star Weekend. She decides to invite her best friends from different phases of her life to weekend at her luxury house on Nantucket. She includes her childhood best friend, college roommate, current neighbor who knows her while raising kids and the last spot goes to a stranger who has interacted with her on her food blog. The last is someone she turns to for anonymous comfort after Matthews death. Lastly she invites her daughter Caroline, a film student to document the weekend.

Of course there is more to it than just who comes. Each person has something personal they are dealing with. A marriage is on the rocks, a career may be over, a person may have cancer and one of them may have have had an affair with Matthew. I enjoyed all of the characters and a few snagged on my heart as they shared their stories or dealt with past feelings. I love Caroline interviewing the friends and learning things about her mother that she never knew. Hollis is more the catalyst as is the gathering. Most of the issues don’t really involve her for resolution. But everyone leaves feeling better about their lives than before they came.

This is a book about friendship, love and forgiveness. And of course it is set in beautiful Nantucket and filled with lots and lots of yummy food. I wasn’t even finished with the book before I was already telling my spouse we need to re-visit Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. They are the settings for so many of my summer reads, romances and mysteries. It’s been over a decade since we were last there. I also made a mental list of who my friends would be for my Five-Star Weekend. It would interesting, as is this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review. (4.5 Stars)

The Five Star Weekend
Elin Hilderbrand
06/13/2023

Hollis Shaw lives down a lane in the town of Squam on the island of Nantucket. After her mother died when she was young, she and her father lived in a small house. Once she married Dr. Matthew Madden, the duo arranged to build a much larger and modern home not far from the original cabin. They spent summers there enjoying Nantucket life. She developed a food blog via Instagram called Hungry with Hollis. Along with that she continued writing restaurant critiques for Boston Magazine. She and her daughter Caroline would spend the summer in the house while Mathew would live in their home in Boston from Sunday through Thursday then take the ferry to Nantucket for a long weekend. This is the best of the best until one snow storm hits while he is driving to the airport to leave for Germany to speak at a conference. The roads are impassable, slick and despite his care to drive responsibly Matthew is killed in an accident.
After months of sorrow Hollis makes a plan to celebrate her life up until his passing. She decides to invite a special friend for each chapter of her life. That said, she spends much time and money planning the event.
The Five Star Weekend will be published on June 13, 2023 by Little, Brown and Company. With much enthusiasm I read Hilderbrand’s latest novel via NetGalley. After reading the Prologue and into the first chapter I realized that her novel would be a different take on the Nantucket. With that I re-read the Prologue and began again to completely understand the life she gives to Hollis and Dr. Matthew Madden. I wanted to think about their decision to live separately during the week while both committing to their own professions.
Elin Hilderbrand's newest publication will be top reading for her fans as well as those who want to select one of the best books of 2023. She is such a fantastic writer. Her storylines are always well written and extraordinary. She has definitely gone all out for this one. Find a copy and by all means enjoy.