This was such a sweet read and definitely the first of many I will be reading by this author.. I found all the characters relatable in their own way.

DNF at 35%

This is a case of my seeing Jessica’s name and not reading the synopsis before requesting. If I would have done that, I would have known it wasn’t for me.

What I liked: that the girls were named after Shakespeare characters, that there was a bookstore in the family, that there was a lot of diversity and representation.

What I didn’t like: 4 POVs that all sounded the same to me, that the current topics and pop culture references felt really forced.

This book reads like a YA Taylor Jenkins Reid novel. The complicated family relationships, each sister dealing with their own issues, all coming together to support one another, this felt like a warm hug. I would recommend to a high school audience.

A charming story about four sisters the summer before everything in their life in a small coastal town changes. The four sisters are very distinct and have their own character arc throughout the story. The writing is evocative, and the world-building and character development scratched my cozy itch.

I had tried to give The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls a chance, but unfortunately the POVS in this book weren’t for me. I’m sure other YA contemporary fans will enjoy it!

ery sweet book however some sisters stories outshone the others so much more it made them look just bad. There is two obvious good stories in this and two fillers, I would have prefered if they maybe did a spinoff series with the other two less interesting sisters rather than just trying to shove them into the book.

I tried reading this book but sadly I didn't make it very far while reading this book. I think that the different point of views made it a bit difficult to understand . I usually love this author's books and I hoped that this one would work out for me.

I really wanted to like this book, but try as I might, I could never get fully invested in the story. I felt like I dragged my feet the entire way through this novel.

I added The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls to my TBR about 2 years ago and then promptly forgot all about it. But then I decided to scroll my TBR list for a challenge I gave myself in 2020 and I came across it again and back on the radar it went. And in the end it was really good. I know 3.5 stars doesn’t look like a rave review, but it really was a good story. The only reason I didn’t rate it higher is I think because it was 4 POVs and not a focus on 1 or 2, some of the stories felt a little rushed. Don;t get me wrong, I was mostly satisfied, but I think each girl would have benefitted from having their own book, their own stories apart from their sisters. For example I didn’t love Des. She was the only Garrett girl I was not a fan of and I think that is because I didn’t really get to know her. She was a girl I got a to learn about every 4th chapter. If she had her own book I think I would have understood and liked her more. But that aside, The Last Summer of the Garret Girls was a quick read and at its core about growing up and moving on. I think this deserves a spot on your TBR.

Great characterization and well-fleshed out setting. One of her best, will certainly recommend this one to students.

Loved this book - I had actually never read Little Women(gasp) so I did not go into this book with any expectations to live up to the retelling. I had seen the movie so, I knew some of the basics... I really enjoyed the updated storyline and inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters. I enjoyed this book so much, it had me downloading Little Women as soon as I was finished.

This was a good YA novel! It’s not a genre I usually visit, but I really enjoyed this story. Characters were well developed and the contemporary narrative seems like it would be relatable for youn* peopl3 today. I’d love to see a sequel!

5/5 STARS

YOU GUYS. I honestly don't have the words for how good this book was? It's so difficult to balance multiple characters, giving them each unique personalities, inciting incidents, conflicts, desires, and even harder to do so in a way where readers will be able to keep them separate, remember who is who. I think of LITTLE WOMEN when I think of a book that did it well, and that book's pace is so much slower than this one, and the timeline so much more spread out. The fact this book accomplished that so well, and was so delightful at the same time, is just...

Honestly? Just read it yourself, because I can't praise it highly enough. Each of the sisters is going through a summer of transition, and it's at times painful, but it's also beautiful, hopeful, and lovely to see their bonds in action.

I would recommend this book for lovers of The Gilmore Girls and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It's a great read for those looking for coming-of-age lit mixed with a bit of sass. Spotswood did a good job of alternating POVs, which can sometimes through things off for the reader. I loved getting glimpses into each sister's personality.

"The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls" by Jessica Spotswood is a delightful modern-day, inclusive retelling of "Little Women." The resemblance to the March sisters, however, is only obvious at a surface level as the Garrett girls neither share names nor personalities with the former. At turns funny, smart, sad, and heartwarming, this book is a must-read not only for fans of "Little Women," but also for anyone looking for a book that will make you feel something and remind you of what it was like to be young (even if you still are!). 5/5 stars.

This was a DNF FOR me. The pacing was kind of slow and the constant changes of the pic of the sisters wasn't really distracting at times. I feel that they should have focus on 2-3 sisters instead of all them.

I loved this book! The town is very, very cute, much like Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. If you are a fan of romance, I would highly recommend.

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is pretty much exactly what it looks like from the cover- a cute, summery coming of age novel in the vein of sisterhood of the traveling pants or a Sarah Dessen novel. Split across 4 narratives for the 4 Garret sisters, each protagonist is dealing with some major life changes as they navigate the last summer that they're all together before one of them leaves home for college. Though a bit predictable and not especially memorable among the many, many YA novels with similar concepts, I did appreciate the feminist narrative voice that Jessica Spotswood brought to the story.

What I Enjoyed:

-The girls are named after Shakespeare characters

-There is a lot of representation and diversity, including sexuality, gender roles, cultural diversity, etc.

-The cutest cat cafe ever is featured (and I loved Bea's ideas for renovating it and building up its social media presence)

-The four narrative voices were distinct

-There was a good blend of romance and non-romance focused plots (and Vi and her love interest were just the cutest)

-So much feminism without it feeling heavy handed or like "THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT FEMINISM." It just featured four girls who grew up in a very forward thinking family and who bring those ideals into their every day life.

-Features a strong and prominent grandparent!

What I Was Less Than Impressed With:

-Predictability: There were a LOT of plots where the outcome was pretty predictable, especially with Bea and Kat.

-Lack of Communication: A lot of the drama can also be attributed to a character not telling another character something (usually because they were procrastinating on a confrontation) that made things drag along at times.

-Des: I think at times I grew realistically frustrated with all of the characters, but Des really irked me as a reader. While I felt sorry for her being the "Cinderella" of the family, she had this combination of being a victim and self-righteous at the same time, and her blind loyalty to a newcomer to town over her own family was pretty frustrating.

Overall: The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is definitely cute and summery, with the added bonus of a lot of diversity, feminism, and representation being included. However, I felt like I didn't really connect with any of the characters and the story lines didn't feel very original. While this one wasn't my favorite read of the summer, I am definitely curious to continue to try novels by Jessica Spotswood as I love the feminism and diversity she incorporated in this one!

Last Summer of the Garret Girls follows four sisters from the ages of preteen to college age.

We have Des the oldest, Bea a recent high school graduate, Vi who is in early high school, and Kat who is also in high school.

This truly was a perfect summer read for me. It was light and funny but also dealt with a lot of real life things as well.

Des being the oldest has given up going to college so that she can help out there grandma with raising the other girls, as well as now running the families bookshop. While she loves doing it, she also feels a little bit like it's just expected of her now and like she is missing soo much of life, that her best friend is getting to experience.

Bea is in a way stuck. She's planned out her whole life with her longtime boyfriend, but now she's not sure if that's what she wants.

Vi has a huge crush on a girl, but the girl has a boyfriend and is also from a family that doesn't appear to support the LGBT community. Vi is also a huge reader and was one of my favorite characters.

While Kat might be the youngest, she's also the one that they all watch the closest because she is recovering from an eating disorder. She is also now set on making her ex-boyfriend want her back.



Overall I really enjoyed this story. The sibling bond between all the girls, and the real-life things they were going through felt real. We get to see things from each girls perspective in a new chapter making it incredibly easy to follow along with. They all go through different things, but they are also still really connected. This book also showed how easy it can be too forget to tell your family things, or not want to burden them with certain things which aren't really talked about a lot, but is something that really should be talked about because it happens to everyone at some point in their life.

A great contemporary summer read perfect for fans of Jenny Han or Stepphanie Perkins. It is easy and fun to read and perfect for a summer holiday.