I’m a huge fan of Emily Giffin so I was ecstatic for this book- and it did not disappoint! “The Summer Pact” had me hooked from the first page as we learn about four unlikely friends who meet in college. They face an unthinkable tragedy which solidifies their friendship further and leads to the promise of being there for each other when needed. The promise leads to an unexpected adventure that has the friend group on a path of self-discovery and healing. This book tackles heavy issues tactfully and highlights that you never know what someone is going through. Thank you Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC.

Four people meet in college and become unlikely friends. When a tragedy strikes, it binds them for life As time goes on they experience many different ups and downs but are always there for each other. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Emily Giffen delivers a quick read about friendship, loss, and living life to the fullest. Great book to pick up for a summer beach read.


Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC.

A great read in one or two days summer book. The book follows the aftermath of how friends support one another since the tragic death of a fourth friend just as they were graduating college. A trip prompted by the recent breakup of Hannah from her cheating fiancé brings the three friends face to face with their adult issues and hopes for the future. Actor Lainey self sabotages herself by drinking through her problems. Tyson has achieved greatness in the eyes of his family but hasn’t found happiness as a lawyer. The connection the three of them share as they come together once again makes this a classic Emily Giffin novel that will for sure become an instant hit.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group, NetGalley, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'll start by saying I have really enjoyed Emily Giffin's books over the years, from her original books to some more recent ones. But this one failed spectacularly for me, for a plethora of reasons. It's a well-written book, but beyond that, I struggled greatly. Why?

1. There are 3 POV's in the book, and there isn't enough distinction between the character's voices, to the point where I kept forgetting whose POV I was reading.
2. The characters are very immature for their age, constantly overstep boundaries, and don't exactly portray the picture she's trying to paint of an uplifting friendship. Moreover, Lainey was insufferable!
3. The epilogue contains a lot of information that should not have been dumped at the end.
4. The romantic plotlines come in late, like an afterthought, and do not feel genuine (both, in my opinion).
5. There were a lot of side conversations in the book, and therefore pages devoted to political-adjacent topics and conversations. Of course, this will naturally occur, especially with BIPOC characters, but it was more than required. The amount of political-esque content pulled me from the plot of the book and felt very disruptive to the plot.
6. Many of the antagonists feel one-dimensional.

I had high hopes for this one but was ultimately very disappointed. Hopefully her next one is better! Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel.

If there is an Emily Giffin book coming out, I am going to read it! When I saw that she was releasing a new book this summer, I could not wait to get my hands on it. Emily Giffin did an amazing job creating characters that people can relate to and truly highlighting how many people feel in their friendships. She showcases how you find your people in college and how you would drop everything for them if they needed you.

Hannah, Lainey and Tyson have been friends since college. After experiencing something that would keep them together forever, they decide to make a pact that if any of them ever hit rock bottom, they will be there for each other no questions asked. A few years down the line Hannah calls in the favor. Lainey, Tyson and Hannah reunite for an epic trip, which ends up being what each of them needs at that time. Throughout this trip, Hannah, Lainey, and Tyson realize just how much each of them needed this trip and how life changing it is going to be.

Targeted for women, I found this book to be over the top vis a vis their relationships. The book l follows four students, three women and one man through college and young adulthood. After one of the women inexplicably commits suicide right before their college graduation, they agree to support each other forever. When one of the women has a traumatic breakup, the other two drop everything to spend an extended time together. The incredulity of the characters actions is more fantasy than fiction.

If I could give Giffin infinity stars, I would!

I devoured this novel, as I do all of her books! To be honest though, the beginning made me audibly gasp. This storyline was a bit heavier than her usual plots, but honestly, that made me enjoy it even more. Real life and not 100% fairytale. A few other things she mentioned which made me smile were- a politicians arrest, a popular music artist, and a certain “high” family overseas. I love how she sprinkled these things she loves into this novel, but the story had nothing to do with any of these things.

Only spoiler I will give away is- you’re going to love this one!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Emily Griffin, and Random House Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This books is getting a 3.5 star from me

The writing of this book was so easy to follow and I feel like everything flowed nicely. I really enjoyed that we got the POV of the three characters to see how they all navigated through their shared experience in different ways.

Some things that were a little off was the quick relationship the formed towards the end, I would have liked to have seen the development sprinkled in over a longer period of time.

Something about the pacing with this storytelling didn’t do it for me. I was so excited to read it because I’ve been a fan of Emily Giffin for years but I was a little disappointed by this one :/ I think, perhaps because the POV bounced between three people, I never felt like I got to know enough about each of them. I didn’t really feel like our main characters were interesting enough, or developed enough.

Always great summer reads, great way to pull up into some family drama or friend drama that isn't going to bleed from the page

I appreciate random house publishing and netgalley for this arc

I think I enjoyed how the story started building the characters and their relationships. But overall I don’t feel like we got the character development we needed. The ending seemed rushed. And it was way too political for me.

I think it just wasn’t quite my taste but overall a nice book

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin was one I was highly looking forward to reading and recommending.
As much as I wanted this one to be amazing, Instead I found quite a bit of the book to feel clichéd and overly dramatic. Maybe the word I'd use to sum it up would be forced. Bummer for me that it did't work.

Big hug to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for an Advanced Reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I wanted to love it so much. The premise was so promising with themes of love, grief friendship and set against a backdrop of travel? Perfect. However, ] I think the pacing damaged my ability to accept some of the choices/motives of characters and I struggled to find things believable. I did love the multiple POVs but even so, in an effort to be a "light" "quick" read: it was way too quick and far too rushed. 2.5 stars

This is a wonderful read about friendship. This is a really good read about lasting friendships of four people forged in college. Each personality is so different from the other but they found a way to come together for lasting friendships. This book has it all. Heartbreak, heartwarming, romance, trials, wrongs righted, allegiances, triumph. Highly recommend. I was given an advanced reader copy of this book by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tyson, Lainey, Hannah and Summer become best friends in college. When Summer dies by suicide at the end of their senior year the remaining three develop a pact to be there for each other at their lowest points. Fast forward a few years and Hannah’s world comes crashing down when she finds her fiancé cheating on her. She reaches out to Lainey and Tyson, each struggling with their own concerns, and soon the three are reunited and decide to travel with each selecting a location to visit. Throughout their travels they confront and explore family drama, careers, addictions, love and sexuality.

Thank you Net Galley and Random House Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review. I have really enjoyed Giffin’s past books but The Summer Pact was not for me. It tells the story of a group of friends (Hannah, Tyson, Lainey) that make a pact after suffering a horrible tragedy — they will always be there for one another when needed. Fast forward to some years later when Hannah suffers a life-changing heartbreak. The group of friends decide to do some world traveling to help her heal and attempt to find themselves in the process.

I couldn’t connect with the characters in this book nor did I really understand the friendships. The tragedy happened very early in the book and I think it would have served Giffin well to focus more on the friendship and character development pre-tragedy. The romances toward the end of the book seemed forced and out of left-field.

The positives were the setting in Capri—Giffin’s description made me want to hop on a plane to visit. Also, the writing flowed pretty smoothly.

"I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

An engaging story of four very different people who meet in the first crazy days of their freshman year of college and immediately form a bond. When a tragic incident at the end of their college years causes heartbreak and upheaval, they vow to never let their bond dissolve. Now, years later, they are set to meet up again. But people change and grow. Will this group of steadfast friends still be able to help one another in their times of need? A great contemporary story of friendship and the changing nature of relationships.

There was a lot to like about this book. Emily Giffin has such an engaging writing style; it's rather straightforward but completely pulls you in to the narrative and lives of the characters. I enjoyed the premise of this book and since I love to travel, loved reading about the different places that our 3 main characters went. I'm not sure there needed to be 3 perspectives, however - they weren't really differentiated from each other well and none of the characters had a unique voice. Because of this, I had to keep checking the chapter title to see who was narrating, which was a bit annoying.

I was on track to give this book 4 or even 5 stars because I was enjoying it so much until the last 20% or so. I thought Lainey and Tyson hooking up or trying to get together gave a weird vibe. It came seemingly out of no where and I really didn't understand it or feel like they connected romantically. Additionally, Lainey was honestly such a shitty person that it was hard to find her redeemable in the end. She was continuously making bad choices and being mean to people and it just brought the enjoyable vibe of the book down. I also thought the scene(s) with her in the hospital was a little ridiculous. I didn't think it was far-fetched for that to happen, but it was resolved FAR too quickly for it to have any effect on the book/characters.

I also thought the epilogue was a little cheesy. It felt like the LGBTQ+ storyline was just thrown in there willy-nilly without intention which was awkward. I would have loved to see that developed more. The ending in Paris with surprises and engagements just didn't fit the narrative, especially after the most recent thing we'd seen was Lainey in the hospital almost dead from alcohol poisoning? The end was just not cohesive.

After absolutely loving MEANT TO BE (it's one of my favorite romances), I was really disappointed in how THE SUMMER PACT ended. I'm still glad I read it, but I am still thinking about how disappointed I am in it days after finishing. Thank you for the ARC and the opportunity to provide my honest throughts.