This was a fantastic summer beach read! I love a 'rich people behaving badly' summer story and this fit the bill! You meet a cast of characters that each have their own shady secrets and cringe-worthy moments through one summer on Fire Island. Add in a dead body and lots of complicated history and I was hooked! I enjoyed the audio narration. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy.

If you enjoy scandals, gossip, and drama, then this is a perfect summer read for you. Bad Summer People is considered a thriller. However, there was very little thrill to this thriller. If it were not a netgalley book, I probably would have just DNF the book. I pushed through and sadly I was disappointed. The characters were all unlikeable and the plot was predictable and lacked depth.

I listened to the audiobook and found it hard to keep up with the many characters and their individual scandals. However, January LaVoy did an amazing job with narration as always. Overall I give this one 2 stars ⭐️⭐️.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the chance to review this book.

The only way I could've enjoyed this book more, was if I has been reading it while on vacation on Fire Island. Several couples meet up each year from June to September and spend time together at their vacation houses. Wives are cheating on their husbands, husbands are cheating on their wives, long-time friends are hooking up; the drama in this book alone was enough to keep my interest, but throw in a murder and I was hooked! Each character had their own secret and storyline and I never knew what was going to happen next.
I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a fun summer read! I will definitely be looking out for this authors next book.

Rich people behaving badly; I am here for every scandalous minute! This book felt like The Real Housewives of Fire Island and I enjoyed getting a glimpse inside the wealth, privilege, and bad choices. The audiobook book was the perfect summer listen! January LaVoy brought the characters to life while adding an extra dimension of mystery and intrigue. I could see this play out on Netflix and I would be hooked on each episode. Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for my audiobook.

If you like rich people behaving badly, then this is a fun book. I'm not a big fan of unlikable + unrelatable characters, so it just missed the mark for me. I think I kept listening because the narrator was excellent. The subtle voice differences she does for each character were amazing.

If you enjoyed the love triangles, unlikeable characters, and beachy setting of White Lotus, you'll love Bad Summer People. These people truly are the worst, but in the most entertaining way! January LaVoy really brought each character to life (and there are a lot of them) and I highly recommend listening if you can. Twisty & turny until the very end, this is the perfect beach read!

This book has all of the twist and turns of an exciting mystery! The plot kept me guessing, and I enjoyed the different point of views of the book a lot! I felt like I was experiencing the mystery right along side every single character.
Set over the course of the Summer makes this a very quick read, you feel like the book is passing you by as fast as Summer passes by. My favorite part was the ending, as I truly didn’t expect it! Was definitely a fun read that set the mood for the rest of my summer reading!

With summer almost here I knew I had to read Bad Summer People to kick off this time year!! Spring is almost over and I’m beyond ready for Summertime fun & books that make me forget I’m stuck at work during the days when I’d like nothing more than to be at the beach with a good book in my hands!!!

Bad Summer People checked all the boxes for me … Rich people behaving badly trope, check. Multiple POVs. check, Gossip & Drama, check! Also, this one can probably be best described as a domestic suspense drama rather than a thriller. It’s probably why I liked least. I wanted it to be more thriller. It was somewhat predictable.

I did absolutely loved the narrator of this audiobook. They were perfectly cast for this role! This kept me entertained from beginning to end and I can’t wait to see what the author writes next.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ALC. the opinions are of my own.

I listened to an advance audiobook version of the book thanks to Net galley.

I wanted to love this novel. But it did not live up to my expectations from the book description or prologue. The book begins with the discovery of a body, giving the sense that the book will be about who died, and who killed them. The problem is the book went on for about 2/3 of its pages before ever getting back to the prologue. And then while it picked up, it was too late. I was tired of the characters. Yes, they were "bad" summer people -- bad rich people sleeping with each other's spouses, and constantly reminding us of how rich and elite they all were.

But the book just fell flat for me..

Bad Summer People was a gripping and modern whodunit that kept me interested the entire time. Set in the fictional town of Salcombe on the nonfictional island of Fire Island NY, it gave the reader beachy nostalgic vibes. I loved the setting and the author did a great job at explaining the scene without including too much unnecessary information, which made it easy to visualize. There are a lot of POVs for this book, which I normally do not like but somehow in this book it was not as annoying as it usually is. I think this is because the author interweaves everyone so much that you actually want the thoughts of the characters she includes, and they all have so many scenes together that you can start to learn character names pretty easily.

The timeline could be confusing at times, like you didn’t know if you had gone back in time to a previous scene from another POV or what. I realize now that seeing the same scene from multiple POVs is important for the story because each one adds information that helps you understand what really happened. Probably the most shocking part of this book was that every single character in this book was terrible, they were all quite literally Bad Summer People. I thought the name was some kind of euphemism but no, it is truly just giving you a heads up that it will not be possible to root for any of these people at any point in the book. You may think someone is not that bad and then you get their POV and realize they are just as bad as everyone else.

I listened to the audiobook and the narration was impeccable, the narrator will be added to my list of favorites for sure. I appreciated the ending, it was a tie up but was not predictable at all which is difficult to do with this kind of book, it definitely kept me guessing. 4 Stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Emma Rosenblum for allowing me to listen to an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book for an honest review.

Who knew that tennis 🎾 could be so risqué? In Fire Island, one better monitor their behavior or they might serve up some jealousy. In turn, ending their game with the score of Love - Zero.

Every woman, married and single, has their eye on the new tennis pro but for very different reasons. Every couple suspects something is array in their relationship. Every friendship has tension although the cause is unidentified.

✅ Drama
✅ Infidelity
✅ Jealousy
✅ Trust Issues
✅ Backstabbing
✅ Motive for Murder

Who (if anyone) is actually capable of murder in this tight knit community?

What I loved:
💕 The setting…a posh tennis resort.
💕 The same friend and families come back to Fire Island year after year.
💕 The drama amongst friends and lack of trust between couples keeps you guessing about motive and intentions the entire time.
💕 The ending didn’t play out exactly as I was anticipating.
💕 Great debut with a unique plot.

This is the Real Housewives of Fire Island. Salcombe, to be more specific., A town where the wealthy come to play for the summer, There are no virtuous people among them. They all cheat and lie in one form or another. But would someone kill to keep their secrets? Would someone let another person take the fall?
With so many character (suspects) in the story, there is not a lot of in depth development here. With the audio book, it was a challenge to remember who was married to and sleeping with whom.

While entertaining in a car crash kind of way, it was neither terribly original nor surprising. Being a debut novel, I still have hope that Emma Rosenblum has more to give in her next offering, I will be there to find out.

My thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the advanced listening copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun easy read that kept me interested and engaged but didn’t demand too much thinking. It made me want to go on a beach vacation and kind of gave me vibes reminiscent of The Affair, a show I really enjoyed and now want to catch up on!

None of them are good people, but is one of them actually a murderer?

Jen and Lauren rule the town of Salcombe in Fire Island. They get everything they was. They’ve vacations on the island with their husbands since childhood despite lifelong grudges and secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel, is looking for a good time whether it be with a married man or someone else.

Things are going as planned until a body is found on the side of the boardwalk. Who’s the murderer among them? Will all their secrets be revealed?

It’s been a while since I’ve read any books where I really dislike most of the characters. It can either be a disaster, or a delight – and this one was the later. The characters were whiny, rich people, and their affluence showed. There wasn’t a whole lot that happens in most of this book besides trying to figure out who is sleeping with who, but it was entertaining. The real twist comes towards the end of the book, and even then, it was rather lackluster. I think that this one should have been labeled more of a contemporary fiction, instead of a thriller. I did enjoy this story; it just wasn’t what I expected.

The narrator on this one was perfect. She absolutely nailed the whiny entitlement that the characters portrayed.

If you are looking for an interesting drama, then check this one out today!

Thank you so much to @macmillianaudio MacMillian Audio, and Netgalley, @netgalley, for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

With summer approaching, Bad Summer People has come out at just the right time for a super fun beach read. It centers on 2 wealthy white couples who vacation every year on Fire Island and all the gossip and drama that unfolds over a summer.

I really enjoyed this book. It has a quick pace with multiple POV and short chapters. I liked getting to see the same event from different character’s POV. Typically I don’t enjoy books where I find very few likable characters but somehow that aspect made this book a little more fun. It reminded me of a less serious Pineapple Street or Big Little Lies.

I think it could have been better with less characters to keep track of or more distinctions between some of the side characters but overall this book is a delight.

Perfect for fans of rich people behaving badly.

Thansk netgalley for the advanced reader copy.

I finished this one last night. This books genre is listed as a mystery thriller, however this is more of a domestic drama, with a little bit of suspense near the end. The narrator was fantastic! This book 📕 is filled with characters that are not particularly good people, as I figured from the title. It took me a while to get into this one, it’s a very, very slow burn mystery, with a lot of characters. It’s more about the lies, infidelity and dram. I did enjoy listening 🎧 to this book, but had I not gone into this expecting a thriller, I think I would have enjoyed it more. I’ll be checking more out from this author, I’m curious to see what she does next.

Who doesn’t love a book about Summer and getting away for vacation! This book was cute with the perfect amount of small town suspense and scandal. I love how it started with the finding of an unidentified body but we don’t discover who it is or better yet who did it until the end of the book. The characters were well developed and the narrator did an excellent job.

3.5/5⭐️
Pub day: Today!

This is a great summer mystery option that will transport you to a small beach town where you’ll find a heap load of drama and a bit of infidelity among the uber wealthy. Even though I liked very few of the characters this was quite an entertaining read. With the combination of unexpected events, a super competitive tennis tournament, and a mysteries death, this is one that I can see a lot of people enjoying!

At 9 hrs and 23 mins this isn’t a terrible long audiobook, and for those of you with scribd I saw it’s on there today. I actually flew through it in one days time so that should tell you just how absorbing it was!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the #alc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great title. Captivating cover. January LaVoy did an awesome job narrating.
I wouldn't call this a thriller. Think more dramatic, maybe suspense, like Big Little Lies - summer town, rich people, gossip and deception. Little revelations each chapter that lead to the main big "event".
A great quick beach read that is intriguing, but forgettable. There are too many characters and they are too similar and their situations were almost identical, in my opinion. There were times I got lost with what was happening between who.
Overall, I would definitely recommend if anyone is looking for an entertaining read.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc.

I feel like this is going to be THE book of summer!

Thank you to @booksparks for my gifted copy as part of the #src2023 campaign🤍 all thoughts are my own.

Synopsis:
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. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he's the tennis pro-or someone else's husband. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other. Until a body is discovered, face down off the side of the boardwalk.

Thoughts:
This book was such a fun read. It was full of drama and had plenty of infidelity, murder, backstabbing, gossiping and scandals. It is marketed as a mystery/thriller but I would say it is more of dramatic suspense if you want to get specific.

Likes:
All of it. The story was intriguing, it was full of chaos and summer vibes. It was all the drama I hope to never have in my life 😅

Dislikes:
One thing that might deter you from reading it is the multiple POVs as there is a lot of main characters but I personally found it easy to follow once I got through the introductory stuff.

Overall I am recommending this to everyone. This is a strong debut and I cannot wait to see what the author has in store next! If this is on your TBR or you’ve read it, let me know what you think in the comments 😍☀️🌊⛱️