This one is great for a light read, full of scandal, intrigue and delightfully despicable characters.

A group of summer-friends and acquaintances arrive in Salcombe (a Long Island beach community and summer enclave for wealthy Manhattanites) as they do every year, looking forward to drinks at the yacht club, surfside picnics, and the eagerly anticipated annual tennis competition. But this year is a little different. There is a stunningly handsome new tennis pro to coach the lonely wives on their game; and unseen (at least to everyone who envies them) fissures in the marriages of two of the most envied couples on the island.

The novel opens with the discovery of a body—though we don't yet know whose—and works its way through key moments in the summer, leaving us to guess not only at who might have died, but also at who might have done the killing. As the story unfolds, we realize that not only are there plenty of potential victims, there are a lot of potential suspects as well. This was really good satire, exposing the truism that you never really know what people are like underneath it all. Especially when said people appear to have perfect lives.

The comparison of this book and its themes to the White Lotus TV series is accurate, because amidst all the other drama, there is a very incisive critique of the wealthy and privileged, co-existing with the hungry strivers of the world, oblivious to how they might appear, just as they are largely oblivious to their own core emptiness. But in this author's defense, she doesn't equate wealth with immorality and poverty with virtue; she recognizes that though privilege may corrupt some people, the pursuit of privilege and wealth can be equally corrupting.

This was a great listening experience, and the narrator was tonally perfect for this story, though at times I really, really wanted to have the ebook just so I could read what came next at my own pace. Recommended for a fun, summer read.

If you like books featuring…
Rich people behaving badly
Large summer houses
Murder on the boardwalk

Great for fans of…
Big little lies by Liane Moriarty and streaming on HBO
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Marvel Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime)

I really wanted to love this one but it didn’t work for me. The good news is it’s narrated by one of my favs, January Lavoy, and she definitely kept me listening even though I didn’t connect to the story.

My expectation was that this was a summer thriller, but this isn’t a thriller or even a domestic suspense. It’s more of an over the top drama - it felt like the book version of Real Housewives of Fire Island. There is a murder, but it’s barely a focus, it’s mentioned in the prologue and then ignored until the very end.

There are so many characters and POVs that it made it hard to keep track. Several of the POVs felt unnecessary and didn’t add to the story, and because we see the same event from various POVs it also became repetitive.

If you like OTT drama like you see on reality TV and don’t mind unlikeable characters behaving badly, you might enjoy this one more than I did. Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ALC.

Wow! These characters are delishously catty and enjoyably snide.

A domestic thriller that makes you feel like you are sitting down with a best friend and getting ALL the best gossip.

This book takes a look chapter by chapter at the lives of the elite families who sumner on Fire Island. Finance bros, lawyers, business owners, and their wives, all competing and scrambling to keep up appearances.

I loved this thriller. The characters were all pretty horrible people, but that was part of the fun of reading about their missteps and unfortunate circumstances.

Oh ya. And there is a murder to solve. Soneone on the island did it... But who will go down for the crime (or crimes) committed?

“What a cute book with a cute beachy cover. ☀️🏖️🌊 I bet they’re going to have some lighthearted drama & everything is going to just work out.” Little did I know just what was to come.

Shout out to NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Disclaimer: I listened to the audiobook and didn’t see anyone’s name spelled unless it was in the book description. I did my best to guess spelling.

My Synopsis
Salcombe, Fire Island is a summer playground for the eclectic elite of Manhattan. A beach town with high sidewalks and even higher stakes in the summer tennis tournament.

The book opens with a young boy discovering a dead body, and hops straight back in time to the beginning of the summer. Just like every year, Rachel Woolf, Jen & Sam Weinstein, and Lauren & Jason Parker are in the middle of all of the town events. Rachel invites several couples, and the new tennis instructor, Robert Hayworth, over for drinks. What kicks off is a summer full of intrigue, infidelity, and LOTS of gossip.

Thoughts
I think Rosenblum may be my new favorite character-builder. The perspective shifted around through so many people, and Rosenblum did an EXCELLENT job at capturing the thought processes of all of them. Some of these characters were gossipy, or irritating, or self-righteous, while others read like the diary sections of Verity (a little sociopathic).

I don’t know what it says about me that I more viscerally disliked the casual sexism and classism dripping from some characters than the literal murder. Rosenblum made everyone a villain here.

There were SO many characters, I had to take notes with connecting lines for friends, tennis partners, enemies, spouses, and lovers. In the first couple of chapters, you get dumped right in the middle of a whole cast of people you need to know and remember. They all have really generic first names (Lisa, Brian, Emily, Paul, Jen, Sam, Jason, Lauren, Rachel… It goes on & on).

🗣️There’s gossip about all of them, too. Salacious stuff like who is cheating, but also Lisa is on recreational drugs, and Brian’s hedge fund imploded.

All together, the vibe is that you’re in the middle of a gossipy town, and as a reader, you live for all of the nuanced intrigue and life-altering DRAMA. If you’re into that, this is definitely the book for you. If you aren’t into a murder mystery, never fear, that is a VERY small part of this story.

Bad Summer People will hit the shelves May 22. The narrator was strong, but you may want the print book because the cover is SO cute. :)

First off this is less of a mystery/thriller and more of a human condition-thriller. Fans of White Lotus & Big Little Lies type shows.

These are all horrible people but someone is dead (we learn that right away) but we don't find out who until about 80% and by then you are invested in these awful people it's like a car crash you have to keep going to find out which of these people are the worst. But I guess these awful people are written so well with a storyline that kept me interested and invested. I did have to make a list of characters in the beginning.

January LaVoy as always is a master class in narration there are so many characters I had to keep a list but she had a voice for everyone! Another fabulous narration from January!

I did like this one even though there is no one to root for! This was a really good first novel and I look forward to what this author writes next.

4 stars

Bad Summer People is a drama with a dash of thriller set in Fire Island in the community of Salcombe. It was less thriller/mystery than I thought going into the story, but it was still present. The audiobook is narrated by January LaVoy who does an excellent job at keeping the reader engaged in the story. She accurately portrayed the rich people drama that occurs throughout the story. The story opens with the murder and the discovering of the body before going into the main portion that eventually connects the drama to the murder.

There are a lot of characters to track in this story, including the four main couples. There is Jen and Sam Weinstein, Lauren and Jason Parker, tennis instructor Robert, and friend of Jen/Sam, Rachel Woolf. While there are a great number of main characters to track, the number greatly increases for the side characters. It was difficult to track every character as they were all involved in a lot of drama. There were infidelities, gossip, along with every other type of drama, so with a lot of characters involved, it was difficult to keep everything straight.

There is some mystery/thriller, but I would not label it as its main genre. Instead, it read more as a drama with all the scandalous happenings in the town. The thriller part does get a little lost among the drama, so I think I would have enjoyed it more if I expected this set up. As I thought it would mainly be a thriller, I came into it with different expectations. I still enjoyed it, but it just did not meet my initial expectations. I think if there were fewer characters and/or some additional thriller moments, then it would have read a little smoother. Since it begins with a thrilling moment before moving into the drama for awhile and then finally returning to the thriller, I think it would have felt more balanced with more thriller. Overall, this was a fun debut novel.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed are completely my own.**

Thank you for the advanced copy of Bad Summer People. It was a quick and easy read. The book is set on Fire Island, where we follow the lives of multiple couples and their secrets and scandals.

I went into this book loving the beginning - I was very intrigued by the characters and the death. I wanted to know more very quickly. However, about halfway through, I found myself pausing throughout the book to differentiate which character they were discussing. Some of the scandals were similar, so I found myself getting a bit lost.

I enjoyed this audiobook immensely. Many of the characters were unlikable but I found myself thinking about their antics, even when not listening to the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book begins with a murder and then we get a good look at those who have come to the island for the summer. Fire Island has a few people who rule the island, Jen and Lauren to name two. Their husbands Sam and Jason have been coming since their teens. Affairs are numerous and the gossip mongers are quick to spread rumors. There is great resentment on the part of those who live on the island year around and those with too much money who show up to flaunt it in the summer. Tennis is the main source of entertainment, and the handsome tennis pro is not without women who want more than lessons. Lots of secrets revealed as the characters are featured.

If You love Elin Hilderbrand books with a touch of trashiness, this book is for you! Bad Summer People is my first book by Emma Rosenblum, and it is the perfect beach read while sipping on a cocktail.

This book takes place on Fire Island, with a group of adult married friends that have traveled to their beach town of Salcombe every year. There is always gossip, secrets, drunken nights, and even affairs. But the tight knit group of Jason, Lauren, Sam, Jen and Rachel are ready for another summer to remember, that is until a dead body was found in their cute little beach town...

Beach reads are my favorite, so I was excited to pick this up as the weather was getting warmer. For some reason, I had a challenging time keeping track of each character, and who was married to who. I also feel like this is the year of “tennis theme” to be in books and I just can't relate to anything tennis-which made parts of this book hard to get through. By the description I was expecting more of a thriller nuance throughout the book, but it came up short. I also found it was slightly repetitive and the ending fell short for me. It was an easy read and very entertaining so overall I gave it 3 out of 5 stars!

“None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder?
Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want.”

This book is the twisty summer, beach read we need! I am a sucker for different perspectives being narrated and this did not disappoint! Right from the get go I was hooked. It was a fast paced and thrilling read! It had me on my seat up to the end!

🏝️ Bad Summer People - Emma Rosenblum

3.5 ⭐️ - This is a fun, scandalous, rich people drama that’s perfect for the summer. A bunch of rich couples living on Fire Island for the summer arguing about things that don’t matter, cheating, lying, and playing tennis. Sounds fun, right?

Lauren Parker and Jen Weinstein rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have been going since childhood. With plenty of gossip, scandal, and tennis playing, what more could they want out of their summer vacations? Until, a body is discovered off the side of the boardwalk. Secrets are revealed, lies are exposed and everyone on the island is a suspect.

This book was fun and intriguing. I was interested in every character (get scrap paper, there’s a lot of them) and how their stories intertwined and eventually unfolded. I listened to the audio, which was fabulous - I’m a big January LaVoy fan, definitely recommend. If you’re looking for a domestic suspense story, a rich person drama, or a fast paced beach read, this one’s for you!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listener audio copy! This one is out on 5/23!

The book opens when a body is found one morning right before Labor Day in the picturesque beach community on Fire Island. Then the book jumps back to the beginning of the summer and the story is told from multiple points of view about the inner lives of rich people and their fancy beach houses. Of course, nothing is as it seems and the reader is trying to figure who died and why.

This is a great beach read and the title is an apt one. No one is nice. However, as awful as they are the author flips every character and shows us their humanity. This would be a good book club selection. There are lots of layers to dissect.

If you are missing afternoons watching soap operas then pick up Bad Summer People...it is a juicy story of betrayal, cheating, murder, lies, you name it and you will likely find it in this book.

I am not saying that is a bad thing, it was very entertaining. You kept those pages turning to see what would happen next.

The story takes place on a small island off of New York, where the rich go to summer, it is small, and everyone knows everyone, some know others a bit more than they should, there is also a good-looking tennis instructor...of course.

This book will be great to throw in your beach bag and lay on the beach reading. I promise you will forget what is troubling you because you will be so caught up in the character's problems.

This was a fun read with a strong opening chapter! Full of scandal and intrigue! Thank you for the ARC! I would give it 3.5 stars

A group of affluent individuals summer on fire island. The drama is plentiful for these beach goers, and when one of their own winds up dead, it becomes evident the murder isn’t the only secret being concealed.

This was a fun book, and the audio was excellent. I enjoyed the multiple POV and while there are a lot of characters, I felt I was able to get to know them pretty well due to the multiple POV. I liked how they all were “bad” in their own ways, and all very much unlikeable. This added to the story for me, as I believe the book was written to not “root” for anyone, but to dislike them all. This would be a great listen or read by the pool this summer!

Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum is a captivating debut novel that explores the dark side of an exclusive beach community on Fire Island. With whip-smart prose and sharp satire, the book follows the lives of Jen, Lauren, Sam, and Jason, and Rachel, who is looking for love.

Jen and Lauren are the popular queens of Salcombe, manipulating everyone to get what they want. Sam and Jason, their husbands, have a deep-seated grudge against each other, and secrets that they have kept hidden for years. The arrival of Rachel adds some much-needed excitement to the summer, but everything changes when a body is discovered off the boardwalk.

The plot is full of twists and turns, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat as they try to figure out who among the characters is capable of murder. Rosenblum has created a cast of complex, flawed characters that are all hiding something, and the tension between them builds to a thrilling climax.

Overall, Bad Summer People is a thrilling and stylish novel that offers a glimpse into the lives of the wealthy and privileged, with a twisty plot.

This was only a fine book in my opinion. It was very slow paced and there were so many characters that it was sometimes hard to figure who was who. All the characters were unlikeable as well so that made it a tougher read for me. I usually need someone to root for even if it is the "villain."

What a wickedly fun book! This is my first Emma Rosenblum book and it was exactly what I was hoping for: fast-paced, dark humor, and filled with unsavory but fascinating characters. It's not a thriller in the traditional sense but it's more of a dark soap opera with twists and turns that keep you guessing who the murdered victim is in the end. I love reading about uber wealthy selfish people who do terrible things and this definitely didn't disappoint. My only minor quibble is there is a lot of tennis. I'm a fan of tennis but I found it dragged on a bit during the big doubles tournament. The narrator is great and I highly recommend the audiobook version to readers. She makes the story really come to life.