Emily Giffin has been my favorite author for so many years. I loved this book. She does not disappoint!! Will recommend! 5 stars!

Four strangers meet as freshman in college and form a bond that will last a lifetime. What they don't know is that one of their lives will be cut short and change the trajectory of their futures and the remaining threes relationship with each other. Good character development and story line.

Such a fun book! I didn’t love it as much as her last book but that don’t take away from how great this books is! I loved the friendships in this book and how this book made me feel. I love when the author can create a realistic world and story…and that’s exactly what this books gives you!

Four very different young adults meet in college and from that moment they are bonded. Readying for graduation, their quad is forever changed when one of them takes her life. This happens early on and is the basis of the rest of the storyline, so not giving away much here. They’re all changed forever and yet, still inseparable as they go their own way. They made a pact to always be there for each other no matter what, but especially in anyones time of need. We join them over the next years while their trying to find their way in the world. I found the characters got stuck post graduation and none of them matured much. I did find their experiences quite emotional and yet in some ways flat. Love this author, this was good, but not my favorite.

I’m not sure why this has so many bad reviews , I thought it was a good easy read. Although I didn’t like Tyson’s character.
Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

One their very first day at UVA, Hannah, Lainey, Summer and Tyson become friends, and despite being incredibly different, the four remain best friends all 4 years. When Summer dies by suicide just days before graduation, the other 3 friends make a pact to truly be there for each other, and show up no questions asked when one of them feels they’ve hit rock bottom. Ten years later, Hannah has hit her rock bottom and her friends come to be with her. Together, they go on an adventure, each navigating their own personal crossroads, their grief, and secrets they’ve been keeping from their friends.

This was an incredibly emotional story from the beginning. I loved that it was written from alternating points of view, it was even more powerful to see how each friend was processing their emotions and to see what they were thinking. I really enjoyed this beautiful and emotional story of friendship and finding your way in life. There are some really difficult topics addressed in this book so please check for any content warnings before reading this.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Having read other books by this author and only looking at the cover, I thought this book was about the summer, but The Summer Pact is really about a girl named Summer who commits suicide. Even though the title is misleading, it was my mistake for not reading the blurb and I was still willing to give this book a chance. The beginning of the book is good, but then the book rushes through at times. The characters never fully realize why Summer killed herself or resolved the issues with Lainey's dad or other sister. This book was a nice light read, but felt like something was missing to elevate it to my favorite book this summer.

Initially, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to read a book about suicide. This book is about so much more, though. It's about the bonds of college and tragedy, about found family, and about finding yourself. I've been a fan of Giffin since Something Borrowed, but this may be her best work yet.

This book was a quick and easy read, but it wasn’t one of the best ones I’ve read this summer. The whole premise of the book is that three friends made a pact to always be there for each other in their time of need after their friend Summer killed herself their final year of college. I thought that was going to have more relevance on the plot of the book, seeing as the book was named after it. But no, we never get any answers or explanations as to what caused Summer to do that. I know that is accurate to real-life, but it just seems strange to have that be the premise of the book and then not explore it whatsoever.

The plot seemed rushed and the pacing all over the place, especially near the end. The friends were supposed to each pick a destination. Half the story took place in one location, one got about two chapters, and the last location only got a couple of pages. The conflicts seemed forced for the sake of drama, and the characters in this story were all completely insufferable in their own ways. They read like young college students, rather than the early-thirties that they were supposed to be. The dialogue was cringy at times, especially Lainey and Tyson. I wished we had gotten to see more interactions between the friends that weren’t them being pissed at each other.

For the positives, I thought that the book started off pretty strong and hooked me enough to get me through the rougher parts. I also know that many people had issues with the romances and how they seemed to come out of nowhere, but I didn’t really mind them, even if they did seem kind of random. When the friends weren’t being awful to and lecturing each other, I liked their different dynamics. Overall, this was a quick read that I had a fun enough time reading. 3/5 stars.

I wish I loved this. It started off so strong for me and I was enthralled by the subject matter. But soon it got kind of annoying and ramble-y. It felt like she tried putting so many hot topics in there that it didn’t make sense for the story.

I've enjoyed Giffin's books before but this one was fairly bland. The characters felt flat and their relationship felt forced. Not sure I'll be grabbing this one off the shelf to recommend to my patrons. Still, and entertaining summer read.

It's interesting to read the polarized reactions to this book.

I enjoyed reading a summer book with a focus on friendship with a smattering of romance (rather than the usual romance forward story.) This is a tight group of friends from college that vowed to be there for each other in their adult lives after losing Summer to suicide just before graduation. Now in their early 30s, Tyson and Lainey make good on that promise to support Hannah when she is blindsided by her cheating fiancee.

I liked that all three friends had a POV. I liked the grown up traveling pants of it all. Through a pretty rotten circumstance they got to spend extended time together and love and support each other as they figured out the next chapters of their lives.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am required by law to disclose this.

I am long time Giffin fan and I feel this book reminded me of her earlier books, this is a good thing!
My favorite books from her collection are "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" and I felt this book is a good companion to those titles. If you have enjoyed this author's previous books, definitely add this new book to her shelf. If you are new to her books, I highly recommend this for women's fiction fans with a touch of romance. Four stars for this great "Summer" read.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I enjoyed the writing, this was not it for me. I didn’t find myself rooting for or connecting with any of the characters. The romance felt forced and weird like it was an afterthought. I wish they would have been more developed and dimensional. I did not enjoy the many political references to current issues. It made it feel like the book was “breaking the fourth wall” and took me out of the story completely. I wish we could have had more time with the 4 at the beginning, would have love to see their relationships form and see those characters developed more.

This is a riveting book that shows you the true meaning of friendships. A truly comforting read. As a woman in her twenties, frontal lobe still developing, I found a lot of the themes in this book to be relatable. You can see the author understands that’ era of our lives as well.

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

The Summer Pact was an easy yet touching read. Emily Giffin finds a way to explore hard truths and heart breaking situations with some fun kick your feet moments. I even shed a few tears along the way.

I really enjoyed the 3 main characters of this book and liked that we got all 3 of their POV’s along their adventure to self discovery admits crisis and grief.

Although I enjoyed this read, the ending felt a bit rushed and forced. With that being said, this is a great read for anyone looking for a fun HEA. It was a quick read and easy to follow.


Thank you NetGalley and RandomHouse for allowing me to ARC review this title.

Giffin has been a long time favorite. I believe that many will want to pick up this book, based on the title alone, but the storylines will provide readers of various genres a wonderful read

I love Emily Griffin's books, but I was not a fan of this one. The story line was a little to unbelievable for me. Ten years after three friends make a pact to drop everything if one of them hits rock bottom, Hannah calls on her friends Lainey and Tyson. Lainey and Tyson are both going through very pivotal moments in their lives and careers and decide to drop EVERYTHING to fly to Hannah's side. I just couldn't get understand how that was realistic. This book was not for me. Thank you, Netgalley

Ugh. Love Emily's book's most of the time. Appreciate her craft!
The Summer Pact was mostly a miss. It was a bit over the place. Some of the story lines seem added in just for padding. Definitely a head scratcher at times.
One other disappointment that is happening more and more often and it's not just Ms. Giffin but many other best-selling authors... gratuitous current political content and liberal culture trends.
Please remember that half of America is not Liberal. Or label books with "Liberal Talking Points" so readers that want to read non political fiction will be able to save their money.