This was my first Emily Griffin book and while I would give her another shot, this was a miss for me.

The first tragedy happens so early on in the book, I was hoping to have more time getting to know the 4 characters and their dynamics. The rest of the book is told in alternating POVs and I found to differentiate between them.

It also hits on a lot of heavy themes in a short amount of time, it seems like less might have been more in this case.

I did enjoy the descriptions of Capri, and it made me wish I was traveling too!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A beautiful story of grief and friendship.

I enjoyed the journey of the book but at times felt like a lot of the events in the “present” day were very surface level. While we get some good development of Hannah and Lainey, there’s not much why once their plot peaks. Tyson we barely get much background on him besides his unhappiness at work. I just wanted a little more.

Most of it is very predictable, especially Hannah’s story. It was still great to see her finally push aside her mom’s manipulation.

One thing I didn’t like was the change in POV repeating exactly what just happened. It makes me lose interest immediately because it’s basically reading the same event twice.

Overall, a good book to read.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book but it was not as good as I hoped. It is a quick, easy read at least. For me, the plot didn’t really have any depth. Everything just kept turning out okay without any diving in or working out on the page. Also, the two relationships at the end came out of no where. It was so odd. Lainey is so unbearable and it’s not because of her drinking. She is an immature, volatile person who treats others poorly and with zero self awareness. Hannah is a doormat. Tyson is likeable but again that relationship at the end, out of no where and makes absolutely no sense given the entire rest of the book. It all just felt choppy and disconnected and confusing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the ARC.

Such a beautiful story about friendship, love and grief. I loved following along with Lainey, Tyson and Hannah while they deal with losing their best friend and then navigate life in the aftermath of Summer while tackling new issues. Some story lines went dead (I would have loved to learned more about Summer and what happened) and things seemed oddly rushed (Hannah & Olivia), overall this was very enjoyable & such a fun summer read but with depth

SUMMER PACT is about strong friendships, love, loss, and new self discoveries. I became emotionally invested at the beginning of the story. Having a daughter that starts her first year of college this fall, I couldn't help but think of her and all the new friendships she's going to make. Overall, I highly recommend grabbing a copy. it's a great choice for the beach or even a road trip.

This review will be shared to @coffee.break.book.reviews closer to pub date.

This book was a pleasure to read and a delight to review. The story is beautifully crafted and any excuse to read was used by the reader to get back to reading it. This story is all about friendships and the length taken to uphold them. They promise they will always be there for one another. Their friendships begin in college and ten years after graduation they get to prove their commitment to each other. I highly recommend this book and know you will enjoy their trips down memory lane. This is beach reading at its best. I loved all the characters and the author never disappoints.

I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books for allowing me to read a copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! I wish there would’ve been a little bit more time developing the character relationships at the beginning so that the readers could feel their pain a little bit more, but overall it was a very good book.

I did not care for this book at all. I think it lacked depth for such a serious topic. I didn't find the characters believable

2.75/5

I wanted to love this book but it really didn't do it for me. With three POVs, I often forgot who was speaking and felt the characters didn't have distinct voices. I also felt the plot was progressing slowly and then so much happened in the last 10 minutes of the book.

I did enjoy it and read it quickly, but definitely can't say it was one of my summer favorites.

I look forward to Giffin's books every other year and she never disappoints. Although The Summer Pact is not a new favorite, I definitely enjoyed the friendship story between Hannah, Lainie, and Tyson centered around the tragic death of their college friend Summer. I enjoyed the diversity and the setting of Italy really got my wanderlust going!

The Summer Pact is about four friends who meet and become close in college. In their senior year one of them commits suicide. I tell you that up front since this may be a trigger for some people. This suicide has a profound affect on the other three friends. So much so that they create a pact to always drop everything to be there for one another. A decade later the three are affected by the suicide. They come together to help each other as they are trying to find their way in life. This is a definite trip of self discovery and hope for the future. This is not you typical summer read. It deals with some heavy topics and how to move on. I enjoyed the book and found it to be touching. Young people have it tough. Trying to find your way in the world after college and try to live up to other's expectations.
Even though this book deals with tough topics it still gives me hope for the future. We maybe put too much pressure on people trying to recover from a tragedy to move on. Sometimes moving on is to take a breath and try to come to terms with what happened. I would recommend reading this book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #EmilyGiffin, and #Ballantine for a copy of this book.
#TheSummerPact

I did not enjoy this. The friendship between the four/three characters was not believable. I think more time should have been spent in the beginning to build that dynamic. The parents of the friends didn't even believe the characters were friends so why should we? I respect the author using a BIPOC character but I don't think the author is knowledgable enough to do this with accuracy. Tyson was essentially there to lecture the girls/the reader but didn't provide much in the form of a narrative, which isn't fair to the character. He was used as a token. I don't want to keep listening things that weren't believable so I'll leave it here. None of this was believable.

It is rare that I say this about an Emily book, but I could not read it. Way to many triggers for me

What a great book to read in the summer! Truly heart warming and the best of the “feel good” genre. Best friends helping and healing one another just brings joy to your soul.

I am a fan of Emily Giffin so I was excited to read her newest novel. This was a story of a friendship pact starting in college between four freshman, three gals and one guy. A tragic incident happens and they lose one member. The other three have undying loyalty to one another. At the heart of this story is grief, love, understanding and acceptance. It’s an enjoyable summer read as the characters mature and find themselves and what truly matters to their individual lives. It feels a little predictable on spots but still held my interest. #TheSummerPact #EmilyGiffin #NetGalley
Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for an advanced eGalley.

This book was so cute. I loved the story of Tyson, Hannah, Lainey, and Summer’s friendship. I loved how they were always there for each other, and I loved following them along on their journeys to find happiness. This book made me laugh, made me sad, and the ending was so sweet. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a book about friendship and finding happiness.

i listened to this on audio and tbh felt underwhelmed — it was a highly anticipated 2024 release for me but it was just okay and feels forgettable in a month or two.

something was missing and just felt off, but i can’t quite put my finger on it and that’s what’s bugging me!! to be fair, i am playing the comparison game though bc i loooooved MEANT TO BE and also enjoyed THE LIES THAT BIND / her older work.

i think what bugged me most is that i kept waiting for more—the plot to get deeper, a twist to come at the end, something to surprise me?? IDK!!! it was hard to get an emotional connection to any of the characters the way the author went about it (keeping spoiler free). the big event happens right away in the first 15 pages so then you’re left with nearly 350 pages post-big plot and i think executionally, she could have built on the friendship and time in college before diving right in.

i know it’s a litfic but it just felt like nothing happened (yet she crammed in so many tidbits and topics? like the eras tour and Travis Kelce? even as a Swiftie…i’m like, what?!?? 😂) and the characters seemed so immature for their ages. i also felt a little icky after the end… a major trigger warning was missed and it felt very random to the story.

i did the audiobook and while i enjoyed the 3 POVs, the narrators were just okay. not my faves ever and i wonder if i would have felt different by reading the physical copy, just a tip!

really interested to see what readers think when this comes out! thanks to PRH Audio for the gifted ALC and early copy

Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors, so I will always pick up her new releases! This book covers some heavy topics, including but not limited to suicide and social injustices- so it is not the light "summer read" you might have been expecting when reading the title or looking at the cover. As they say, do not judge a book by its cover. Thankfully she provides a disclaimer at the start of the book for those who may be more sensitive to the topics covered. I personally really enjoy toggled POVs, so the three characters differing point of views, along with the described scenery, really pulled me in!
I enjoyed reading this book and although I did find myself looking forward to moments I could pick it up and keep reading, I had a few personal disappointments. The biggest issue I had was the fact that some of the heavier topics felt forced into conversation, to the point where the flow of conversation or the characters thoughts became choppy and diverted from the train of thought. If you follow Emily Giffin on social media you would know her passion and involvement for social justice topics, which is why I felt a little more relaxed in my judgement of the amount present in this book. Her social media has very heavily mentioned the passing of Stanford soccer player, Katie Meyer, so when I began reading this book I immediately noticed the similarities between her and the main character of this novel. I found that the racial injustice thoughts of one of the main characters was choppy and almost forced into the pages. I also unfortunately felt like the love connections were not as natural as some of her other novels and an LGBTQ+ romance was stuck in as another added social topic.
Each of these topics being extremely important social issues gave me an added a layer of respect for Emily Giffin for covering them, but I almost felt that each character covered too much and would have benefitted from either decreased repeated mentions or future book characters covering some of the topics.
I still really enjoyed reading the book and have recommended it to many friends, I love anything set on a romantic coast in Europe- I gladly imagined myself there while reading this book in the sweltering heatwave we had in Chicago.
Thank you to Emily Giffin and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced edition of The Summer Pact.

This was a bittersweet story about lasting friendship and the value of being there for each other when needed. Even though there are trigger warnings at the beginning, I guess I wasn’t prepared for the suicide that occurs in the first chapter. That and the immediate aftermath were hard to read.

Ten years later, the remaining friends each find themselves at a personal crossroads and come together for an “Under the Tuscan Sun” style adventure to rediscover themselves. Some of the situations and side characters were a bit hard to believe, but I liked the development of the three main characters and their story arcs. Also, I am currently booking my tickets to Italy…

This was an enjoyable and quick read. Not the best Emily Griffin I’ve read, but still good enough to bring along to the beach.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing – Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A sweet story of last and true friendships.
Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the early release ARC.