Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC of The Summer Pact. I am a longtime fan of Emily Giffin and was so excited to read her latest book. On the positive side, this book drew me in immediately with the characters, Hannah from Atlanta, Summer from Chicago, Lainey from San Diego and Tyson the only male from DC. These four people meet in college and become friends. This book follows them after college through the twists, turns and disappointments of life. "Adulting" is hard and life is often messy but your true friends will see you through. The only thing I did not like about the book was the vacation they take when life brings some difficulties and disappointments. Perhaps showing my age, I found myself identifying with the parents in the book rather than the main characters. Despite all of these difficulties and disappointments in life, we have to keep going. Most people are not able to opt out for a three-week vacation to exotic locations.

However, I still enjoyed the characters and the story was engaging. This is the perfect book to put in your beach bag.

Hannah, Lainey, Tyson, and Summer met during their first year at UVA and navigated four years of college together. Then just before graduation, the group loses Summer, so the remaining three make a pact to be there for each other no matter what in the future. Fast forward 10 years and something prompts our group to drop everything for one of their own and go on a trip together.

<i>The Summer Pact</i> starts by going into how the friendships we forge in adolescence and young adulthood, particularly during college, are so impactful. And as someone whose closest friends are all from college, I felt a connection to what the narrative was saying. And then it's revealed that the main characters met and became friends at UVA and I went to UVA so it felt like this book was meant for me!

Unfortunately, the rest of the book didn't live up to my hopes. Mostly due to the characters. Hannah, Lainey, and Tyson were deeply unrelatable to me, and I really did not like Lainey. Each character oversteps by miles in each other's personal lives and seem to operate under the impression that their actions don't have consequences outside of their immediate bubble. They pushed each other in all the wrong ways.

Then there's the idea that in order to support your friends through crisis, you should abandon your own life - like quit your job to go visit your friend without any notice. These characters are a year older than me and while my friends and I would move heaven and earth to support each other, we also understand that we're all adults with lives and responsibilities. Hannah, Lainey, and Tyson have this toxic, co-dependent nature that was really off-putting for me.

While I love the idea of a group of friends traveling together to find themselves, I don't think this particular group of friends should even be friends.

four best friends are going through college when tragedy strikes among one of them. they make a pact to always be there for each other and drop everything if any of them hit rock bottom. the pact was named in honor of their late friend, summer. we then see the three remaining friends tyson, lainey, and hannah go on an adventure and discover themselves.

i enjoyed this book and gave it a solid three stars. some of the perspectives kept changing in the middle of a chapter, but i’ll leave that to it being an uncorrected copy.

i did take issue with the author’s portrayal of tyson, a black man. it took me out of the book several times because i found it to be incongruent with other characterizations and realities of black men. i understand that black men are not a monolith - but i found that some of tyson’s actions were strange. for example, he mentions the word “miscegenation” in speaking about interracial dating with his father. i understand the character is college educated and a lawyer, but it didn’t feel like that would be a word that he typically used. i also did not enjoy his comments about what it means to be a black man in america, knowing that this is coming from a white woman author.

apart from my annoyances about tyson, i thought it was a cute and quick read. it did feel slightly rushed at the end after the climax, though. this could be a nice beach read if the premise entices you enough.

i received an advanced readers copy of this novel, courtesy of netgalley and random house publishing group. all opinions expressed are my own.

I'm such a fan of Giffin's work and enjoyed this one! While it was less of a romance and more of a story about found friendship, I still found myself curious about the storyline. Not my favorite of hers but still recommend!

I have enjoyed many of Giffin’s books, but this one just didn’t work for me. I don’t think this is her strongest work. The premise sounds interesting and I love found family dynamics. The themes of grief, friendship, relationships, and love are prevalent, but not explored deeply enough to have a profound impact on me.

The pacing was quite slow. Many times I wondered where this book was going and it was a struggle to get through. I also had quite a hard time identifying the characters’ voices—they all seemed the same to me. I could tell that Giffin was trying to make everyone have a personality and feel like a layered character, but they all fell flat. Hannah’s arc was the most interesting, but her story got overshadowed, so it lost a lot of steam.

The writing felt like I was reading Giffin’s social commentary. Many of her points are important and I agree with them, but this read like it was her own voice, not the three characters in the story. The writing felt stiff, forced, and inorganic. I keep coming back to how all of the characters read the same to the point to where I couldn’t remember whose chapter I was on. Hannah, Lainey, and Tyson all shared one personality that is basically just that of the author.

Overall, it’s a 2.5/5 (rounded to 3) for me. I didn’t enjoy this story, even though the framework for a really moving tale was there. Too much detail on the locations and food that the characters experienced, character voices are defined enough and felt flat, and just overall not a compelling plot. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This felt like a very quintessentially Emily Giffin book. Definitely pay attention to the warnings at the start, it has heavy parts but delves beautifully into relationships and the impact of loss during formative years. I loved how friendship was a recurring theme and really was the glue that held the story and the character’s lives together. It had some funny moments and many many relatable ones! I loved the Italian portion of the book - transported me back! Any book set in Italy is a win for me! Now I need to get to Capri. Def recommend this book if you’re looking for something more profound than a surface-level rom com. But still summery vibes.

Wow! What an amazing story of friends, family and heartbreak. Heather, Lainey, Summer and Tyson are best friends from college. Their lives implode when Summer takes her life. Secrets they kept and feelings they hid. This is an amazing story that I would highly recommend. Tears, cheers for the group. I received an advanced reader copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion. Don't wait to read this touching story.

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

This book follows a group of college friends (Tyson, Hannah, and Lainey) that are navigating a shared trauma over the course of a decade.

It’s marked as general adult fiction but in my opinion, reads more/is written more like YA. It’s told from the vantage point of each MC and feels like there is a lot of jumping around happening. There are a lot of pop culture references but it often feels like they’re being thrown in just to be thrown in (I’m not sure Noah Kahan would ever “set the mood” for me). It made the book feel very two-dimensional at times.

That being said, there were parts of the book that I enjoyed. The pact this group of friends make to always be there for one another (albeit a bit unrealistic as a working adult) does make me very nostalgic for my friend group from when I was a teenager. The banter between MCs, at times, really shows how close the characters were/are and it does add a layer of depth I think this book would otherwise be missing.

I think if you like books with found family, you’ll probably really enjoy this one.

There was something about this book that just hit my soul and I devoured it in one sitting. The writing was so easy to follow, the heavier themes were talked about so well, and it just felt like I was really able to connect with these characters. We get three POVs and I think that was the perfect way to tell this story. We are able to learn about everyone's story and it helps to connect with all of them. I loved the traveling in this story, the found family, and the sad story that kept them all connected.

This book releases on July 9th and I think this is a perfect summer story to add to your TBR. Please keep in mind that there is a trigger warning for suicide.

I do think that as much as I adored this story there were some parts of the story that were longer than necessary which made future storylines feel rushed. We didn't get to develop a lot of the romance that was later brought in and I would've loved to get more from that plotline.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I really wanted to enjoy this book. A journey of friendship is usually my favorite. I just had trouble connecting to Lainey. I did love their loyalty to one another, but just not my favorite.

I devoured Emily Giffin's new novel, The Summer Pact. Much to my surprise, it was so much more than a beach read. It's the story of 3 college friends who face a tragedy together and then stay close after after graduation. Tyson, Lainey and Hannah continue to show up for each other over the years and when Hannah experiences a life altering event, Tyson and Lainey show up once again. A story of heartbreak, a little adventure, and most of all friendship. Check this one out!

It has been a while since I have really enjoyed an Emily griffin book . I am really hoping this one makes up for the last ones
I just reviewed The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin. #TheSummerPact #NetGalley
Thank you Net Galley I will update my review once read

Can I say I love the title of this book? The meaning behind it is beautful. I loved all 3 of the main characters in this book. I will say though about 60% in I was getting just a little bored with the story. With that being said I did like this book overall.

3.25 ⭐️

Four friends met in their freshman year of college and formed a tight-knit friendship, until a tragedy happens in their senior year. So before Hannah, Lainey and Tyson part ways after graduation, they formed a pact to always come together in each other's time of need, naming it The Summer Pact. Fast forward, 10 years later, as Hannah's life is being turned upside down, Lainey and Tyson rushed to her side; together, they decided it's the perfect time to forget all their troubles and travel the world together.

The Summer Pact was an easy and fun read that touches on life lessons in finding oneself and the power of friendship.

Overall, the story flows very easily even though it has multiple POVs. However, I felt that some areas were a bit unrealistic and the ending felt super rushed. I would have liked a bit more romance and more character developments at the end, rather than rushing what felt like a laundry list of the characters' life events in the epilogue.

I enjoyed it, but didn't love it as much as I thought I would, it started out so strong! I'd still recommend it if you love a story about loyal friendships!

3.75
I really enjoyed this book! It was a really easy-to-read, intriguing, super engaging literary fiction novel about 3 friends who were bonded by a tragic event in college. One of them goes through something difficult, so they band together to help her feel better--while facing their own issues.

I loved how much we learned about Hannah and Lainey as they worked through their personal struggles with their friends. Their characters felt pretty fleshed out and they were distinct enough that I could tell the difference between without looking at the names above the chapters. But, I had a hard time with Tyson--I kept mixing him and Hannah's POVs up and I have no reason why. Also, I thought Tyson would work through his struggles too, like about his identity and relationships.

Overall this was a fun, light summer-y read that dealt with some more complex topics but didn't feel too emotional/sad while doing so. It was very fun to read as summer starts and really makes me want to travel!

I'm normally a big fan of all things Emily Giffin but almost put this one down. Wish I there had been more time establishing the initial stages friendship between all 4 main characters before it transitioned to the road trips.

As usual, Giffin delivers an elevated beach read, with some deeper themes and solid writing to separate it from some of the more mindless drivel in the space. It's neither a textbook romance nor an entirely breezy story of friendship, but it checks enough boxes that those looking for either will be satisfied. For me, this wasn't as successful as some of her previous books, which I've loved. In <i>Meant To Be</i>, I felt transported to a different era and very invested in the relationship between the leads. Whereas here, while there were moments where I experienced a bit of wanderlust as the characters explored Capri, I wasn't as engaged with the characters. Tyson felt very underdeveloped and I never got a strong sense that he even cared about his relationship with the girls. I also felt like the LGBTQ storyline felt forced, although I will say Olivia was the only character I really liked.

I really liked the premise of this book. It was original and took on a heavy topic right from the very beginning. That said, I felt like the author tried to address too many big topics within this book. TW: There was heavy discussion and storylines involving suicide, race, LGBTQ+ discovery, adultery and secret families, alcoholism, and sexual assault. It was way too much for a relatively short book and left too many loose ends for my liking. There are some people who will enjoy this book but it wasn’t the right fit for me. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Emily Giffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Emily Giffin is one of my favorite authors so I was super excited to receive an eARC of her new book, The Summer Pact.

After tragedy strikes, three college friends make a pact to come together when one of them is in need. A decade later, Hannah’s world falls apart and the friends find themselves on a trip together.

The Summer Pact was a great story of friendship and how friends literally become your family. I loved the alternating POV. It moved the story along quickly and helped you to understand each character's personality.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Summer Pact. It drew me in straight from the prologue and held my attention the entire book. I rate it 4 stars and would definitely recommend it.

The writing was great, and the heavy topics weaved into the story were done well. The heaviness didn't make you feel heavy, but it definitely was not joked about. I enjoyed ready this and read it pretty quickly!

**Spoiler**
My only dislike is the Hannah/Olivia felt a little forced.