I sort of figured out the twist in this one at the beginning of the book, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. I liked most of the characters, but just wanted to slap one of them. I think we're meant to sympathize with her, but I just couldn't. I didn't want to put this one down, and just had to know what happened!

How much can one night stay with you? As four women take different paths in their 20s, they now approach 30 years of age and reunite over a weekend at the beach house they frequented in high school. What can happen?

Touching on caretaking, sense of duty, others' preconceptions, success, and letting go, East Coast Girls takes you on a journey through how each woman experienced a traumatic evening, and how they move forward.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book exploring the many faces of female friendships. The issues that each woman is dealing with ran a little deeper than I expected from the "beach read"-type book I was expecting. The fast pacing and flashback storytelling made for a quick and interesting read.

East Coast Girls is a story about woman’s relationships and their issues from the past to present. Truthfully, all 4 woman seemed very immature and shallow.
I have to say, I had a hard time finishing the book. I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters and the idea of losing touch with each other for 12 years yet be best friends? Not connecting with each other for 12 years?
Overall, I did not dislike the book. I just had a hard time connecting to the characters and their story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this book for my honest review.

I deeply enjoyed this character-driven novel about friendship and the long-term effects of trauma.

One of my favorite things is how different each of the girls is, and how each time the POV shifts you can feel that difference in the writing.

I am always excited to find platonic love in stories and this book was so full of love it practically flowed from the pages.

East Coast Girls was well written and infinitely quotable, and I recommend it to older YA fans (the 20+ crowd), anyone looking to get into the New Adult genre, and fans of Women's Lit.

Nice story and the cover of the book is beautiful! Overall, I enjoyed this book. I thought that the pacing of the novel was a little slow and kind of wanted to skip forward sometimes. Maybe it's just me though. I'm still glad that I read it and would recommend to others that are looking for a beach read.

DNF @65%

I have been pushing myself through this book in the hopes that it will somehow turn around. The pacing is very slow and the characters are very mundane and hard to relate to. I have just arrived at the point in the story where the "mystery" of what happened to Henry and the group of friends is revealed. I am very surprised that it is so unbelievably unrealistic. I have to give up on this one, unfortunately.

Is it just me or is this the year of outstanding books?? I mean SO many AMAZING books have been published this year, definitely helping make 2020 a bit more bearable.

I was instantly blown away by Kerry Kletter's writing. It is so beautiful and lyrical and totally transported me into the lives of the four main characters. Maya's bubbly personality is infectious, Blue's ambition is admirable, and Hannah... what an honest and raw portrayal of mental health and how past events can have such an impact on who we are today. Later on, we finally meet Renee and while there are things to work out, you can still feel the palpable pull of connection these girls once had.

I found the pacing to be well done, which is something that has become quite important to me. If a book is moving too slow with not enough happening or being revealed, then I tend to get bored. But, Ms. Kletter does a wonderful job of pulling you in and giving you the perfect amount of information throughout the novel, eventually making everything clear.

Finally, I adored the love story between Hannah and Henry. I won't give anything away but I seriously was enthralled by them and Hannah's devotion to her high school sweetheart. The ending will have you in tears and finding yourself grateful for everything and everyone in your life. Cherish those around you. That's what I got from this book, a timeless reminder to forgive and to love.

OᐯᗴᖇᐯIᗴᗯ: Hannah, Maya, Blue, and Renee spent summers at Blue’s Nana’s summer house and made the happiest of memories. They vow to return once a year no matter where their lives take them. However a tragic event not long after graduation changes everything. Twelve years later, the girls reunite for a trip to the summer house and to deal with the secrets they’ve all been living with since that fateful night.

ᗰY TᕼOᑌᘜᕼTᔕ: Told in alternating perspectives and timelines, the novel had a lot to unpack. The girls carried emotional baggage with them from the devastating event and, as readers, we learned about the event a tiny bit at a time. Overall, the girls are all pretty unlikeable, but once the entire event from the past is revealed, it makes all of the issues with the girls make sense.

ᖇᗩTIᑎᘜ: ★★★1/2

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is one of those instances in which I need to explain that 3 stars doesn’t mean I didn’t like a book. In fact, it means I thought it was a beautifully written book, but not one in which I was connected with personally.

It is very well written though, with beautiful language. Piecing together the story of what happened “that night”, you travel with the girls to discover how to heal after so many years. However, I felt like the story didn’t go far enough. It almost ended far too early, with a few stories I would have liked to see with a little more journey. On top of that, the actual reveal of what happened was built up to something a little less intense than I expected. Not that I wanted something worse to happen to the girls, but the trauma of a decade really only affected 1 or 2 profoundly enough for them to be acting out in the way they do.

That being said, I do have to say that the characters did have some very realistic feelings. I could see this speaking to people in a very real way. But for me, I felt like I needed more to really resonate with me.


You can see my video review here:
https://youtu.be/j5LNxCuZsHM

What a story! This is a beach read with depth, feelings emotions...raw and heartfelt. But, many smiles and fun times that only old friends can share. Old friends that carry memories and baggage. I have an 18 year old daughter with a tight group of friends. I love these girls and can see little pieces of Maya, Blue, Hannah and Renee in all of them.

Four girls bond over their issues at home...they make a family. Maya ... annoying, class clown, the friend who could talk anyone into anything, won’t back down. Blue ... tough, scared, not good enough. Hannah ... true blue, loyal, loving, cautious. Renee ... the runner, in so many ways, best friend with Blue, till something destroys it. This book explores the complexities of friendship as a teenager and as an adult, holding grudges and releasing hurts, when to love and when to let go. Family can take on many different looks, but all the same feels.

Loved this book ... the writing, the story, the characters, the emotions. I haven’t read this author before, but she is on my radar now! Thanks to Ms. Kletter, Harlequin and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

DNF @ 12%

It was evident very early on that the purple in this prose was too much for me to handle. I skimmed for another 10-15% to see if any of the other POVs changed my feelings, but I could not get into it.

Thank you to NetGalley, MIRA Books, & HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

This took a turn that I was absolutely not expecting and it changed a fluffier book to a deep one.

Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not going to go into details of what happened that terrible night referenced in the summary, because that will just spoil the whole thing for you. Four friends come back together for a vacation at their favorite place hoping to rekindle their once-deep friendships, and they find something totally unexpected.

I found the beginning of this to be a bit slow, and it took a few pages for things to move along at a good pace. At some point I became invested in learning what happened that fateful night years ago. And Henry ... I wanted so much to know more about Henry after the small glimpses seen of him that night. I loved the sensitivity the author used to handle this important part of the story, even though it made my heart hurt.

Each of the four friends are nicely crafted to evoke a different response. Maya mostly annoyed me and I found it tough to relate to Renee's part of the story, mostly because I thought the story focused more around Hannah and Blue. They had some real scars from that night that needed healing and were the central characters in the drama. I think Hannah got her healing, not so sure about Blue. Blue's situation just made me sad. I'm willing to guess that many readers can relate to one or more of these characters in some way.

I did like how this story made me think about how a few wrong words and missteps was all it took for their lives to spin out of control, and how you cannot go back, you can only go forward. So in that respect, this is a book that might make you think about friendships, longevity, judgement and forgiveness. Some heavy topics and I did like this aspect of East Coast Girls very much.

An ARC was provided. This is my honest review.

First off, I was definitely intrigued by this one by that gorgeous cover!!

East Coast Girls is a compelling, raw, and beautiful book about female friendships. Kerry Kletter does a wonderful job of portraying the complexities of female friendships and the power of moving on.

Kerry is one hell of a writer and found myself going back to re-read paragraphs that were just absolutely complex but beautiful. This was my first read by Kerry Kletter but certainly not be my last!

I was a bit sad when the story was over.... you know that's a sign that it's a great read!!

Overall, 4 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 5/26/20
Published to GR: 5/26/20

An absolute winner of a book. Kerry Kletter is a new to me author but this won't be the only book I read of hers. Heart in your throat suspenful but also emotional at the same time. You will race through the pages devouring this gem of a book. Happy reading!

Hannah, Maya, Blue and Renee have planned a reunion weekend at Blue’s family beach home on Montauk, Long Island. The women have not all been together since a tragedy twelve years earlier destroyed their past easygoing relationship. Things do not go well.

We don’t learn what happened years ago until the last chapters. Nor do we know what these women were like then. We only see them now, damaged and angry, but still anchored by memories of the friendship they lost. Hannah has spent the last twelve years of her life visiting Henry, her brain damaged boyfriend, in a nursing home. Maya has flitted from job to job, restless and irresponsible. Blue, successful and wealthy, has isolated herself and concentrated on her career. She is still bitterly angry at Renee for something that happened in the past. Maya planned this weekend and invited Renee to surprise Blue hoping they would reconcile. Instead the weekend becomes a contest to see who will leave first.

East Coast Girls moves to a disturbing, terrifying conclusion that explains why these women react as they do. You won’t be able to forget it! 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin and Kerry Kletter for this ARC.

Trauma and hope

I found this book quite moving. Four friends who were everything to each other experienced a traumatic event that left them and their friendship changed. Each now carries scars inside which are revealed to us as the friends try for a last ditch reunion before their summer home is to be sold, years after the event. I could identify with each of the characters and you will too. Since the full event is not revealed until the end of the book, you may also find yourself a bit exasperated with the characters!

Thank you to the publisher for lending me an e-arc via Netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

What happened to Hannah, Renee, Blue, and Maya that night twelve years ago? They were 18, everything seemed perfect, and then it wasn't. You won't find out til close to the end of this well written novel of female friendship so no spoilers from me. Now, this summer, these four are back in Montauk and they are finally dealing with their trauma. Each of them has their issues-phobia, anxiety, denial are chief among them- but that's what makes this so realistic. I liked that Letter built four distinct women, each of whom was entirely relatable. She's an excellent storyteller, making this a page turner for me. This is a little more intense than I expected it to be but that's why I recommend it. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is the perfect beach or garden book, although I admit I read it on a rainy chilly day and it was great for that too.

At first, East Coast Girls seemed like a promising beach read about friendships and women, with a bit of suspense thriller thrown in. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. Each character that had a POV in the book was so overwritten that they became cliched stereotypes: the neurotic frazzled one, the blunt and carefree one, the tough tomboy. I found it hard to be sympathetic towards any of them.

The "suspense thriller" aspect of the story didn't work for me, either. A good thriller drops little reveals along the way, or you work out clues along with the main character(s). In East Coast Girls, there was just one huge secret that everyone alluded to throughout the story, which wasn't revealed until the very end. Because of this weak kind of storytelling and unlikable, unbelievable characters, I didn't find much to like in East Coast Girls. It's a shame, because it had potential.