This was definitely an easy, summer read. I’m not sure that I’m the target audience but I think it would definitely appeal to millennial‘s. I’m Gen X and may be a little too old for this to be as appealing to me which may account for my lower than average rating. Thank you to #NetGalley for providing an advanced reader copy.

I have always been a huge fan of Jennifer Weiner, and she definitely did not let me down with this new release. The beach setting, the unputdownable prose, the relatable characters: all of these ingredients make for a typical Weiner novel. However, I really loved how she included commentary regarding how women feel they need to view themselves through society's messed-up lens. I thoroughly loved Big Summer!

I am not a Beach Read reader in general. As the odds of me getting to the beach this year seem slim, I’ve decided to jump into the genre.
I was sucked into Big Summer immediately. Girl unhappy with her body being patronized by rich perfect mean girls. We’ve all been there or seen it. Daphne is easy to cheer for. . Fun wedding romance. Bit of a murder mystery. Social media and how influencers work was a theme that I found fascinating. Kept me up late last night to get to the end so I mark that as a success. Thanks Net Galley for the arc.

I loved that Daphne was a plus sized Instagram influencer I loved how this book has some suspense and a little thrill to it all in all this was a face paste fun read for me couldn’t put it down.

Big Summer is an excellent novel by Jennifer Weiner. It is a perfect read for those looking for a story about the lives of rich people, influencers, family secrets and a good mystery.

I have always loved Jennifer’s books, and Big Summer did not disappoint. A strong main character struggles with acceptance, body image, and the best and worst of what the internet has to offer. Approached by a frenemy 6 years after a public fallout, Daphne is asked to be in Drue’s wedding on Cape Cod. What could possibly go wrong?

Great summer read. It really was perfect. I read it a week ago and I don't remember much about it, but walked away feeling good. Isn't that what we all need now?

This book had me hooked right from the beginning! I instantly related to Drue and her struggles with body issues, self-esteem and friendships. I loved all the twist and turns and did not expect the outcome! Thanks for the arc o this book! :)

The first half felt like a typical contemporary/chick lit with Weiner’s classic approachable writing style, then it had an identity crisis halfway through and morphed into the amateur sleuthing you’d find in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder or one of Lucy Foley’s books.

If I had to rate each half separately, they’d both get north of 4 stars, but I can’t ignore how disjointed they felt. While Daphne was relatable throughout and the mystery was entertaining with a twist at the end that was reminiscent of the feelings I had with The Guest List, that pivot in the middle was just too much. The prologue was breadcrumb-like but I wanted the tone to match as well.

I enjoyed this book about an overweight influencer coming to terms with who she is and friends from her past who made her feel less so. Daphne, mid-twenties, has a lovely life in New York, when an old friend shows up and asks for an unexpected favor. Despite her misgivings, Daphne gives in. Things go downhill from there, and Daphne finds herself caught up in an unexpected web that she must help untangle.

This book started off a bit slow for me, but picked up quickly and I couldn't stop reading! I was able to guess at some events, but others were completely unexpected and kept me guessing until the end.

It was a light, easy, perfect summer read! Definitely recommend, and I can't wait to enjoy some of her other titles.

First of all, I want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.
I really liked this book. For the first one-third of the book, I thought it was going to be about frenemies and a woman suffering with self-esteem issues, which I can understand and appreciate. The cover, too, made me think it was going to be a light and fluffy beach read, but then it took a turn, and I was intrigued. There were a few times in the book that I was a little baffled as to how/why something happened, and how they figured out what was going on, and the ending wrapped up very quickly. However, overall these were easy to overlook since I was highly entertained.

This took me forever to read, but it had nothing to do with the book! I enjoyed the author’s departure from her normal writing. I found myself saying out loud, “wait, what?!?”, quite a few times and that is definitely a good thing. I really respect what the author did with the genre change mid-way through the book. I really liked it, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it was my favorite book of hers. (For more on this, I'll make sure my thoughts are hidden so as not to ruin it for anyone.) This was a perfect summer read and I'm sure it will be many summer lists!

[My frustration with the book lied in the second half. The genre change to a mystery with the death of Drue was great and clever, but the execution was kind of eye brow raising. So now Daphne, her bff and the guy she just hooked up with are all best friends and super sleuths? Mmmm okay... And then they also are smarter than the "small time" police from Cape Cod to figure out the murder way before they do? Sure...So this is the reason for my demotion from 5 stars to 4.

The other thing that bothered me was that Drue was dating and loved someone in secret (that was okay), but who it ended up being was a little bit of a stretch for me. Yes, people can change and try to do better, but I wasn't 100% on board. Maybe I'm too cynical? Who knows, but I have a feeling I'm not alone on that point. (hide spoiler)]

The ended was very well excuted (despite my comments in the spoiler section) so I felt that is what elevated this from a 3 to a 4 star read.

Thank you so much to Dana Trocker at Atria Books for her generosity in sending me this print copy to review!

Review Date: 05/23/2020
Publication Date: 05/05/2020

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Daphne Berg is a successful plus-size influencer who encourages her followers to love themselves. She has had to work on that herself, especially after an incident with her high school best friend that sent her spiraling years ago. When said toxic friend Drue enters back into Daphne’s life six years later, Daphne is shocked. She’s downright floored when Drue asks Daphne to be her maid-of-honor at her upcoming society wedding, but decides to give Drue another chance. Just how much can people change from their teenage days? Daphne is about to find out.

I’m going to be vague in my impressions of this book because it is truly genre-bending. I went into this book knowing nothing about it, so I was SHOCKED at where the plot went. I really enjoyed Big Summer! I would say it was a five star read up until the end, which I didn’t find to be as satisfying as I hoped. The ending didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the book, though! Highly recommend if you’re looking for a quick read... I couldn’t put it down! Thank you @atriabooks and @netgalley for my advanced readers copy. Big Summer is out now!

Wow! I have always been a Jennifer Weiner fan, and this one did not disappoint! This book centers around Daphne, a plus size Instagram influencer and her complicated relationship with her old high school best friend, Drue. Daphne lost touch with Drue years before, until she came to Daphne, asking her to be the maid of honor at her wedding. The twists and turns the plot took from the Cape Cod wedding onward was literary genius. I could not predict the end. Several times my jaw dropped while reading. Do yourself and favor and pick this one up! You won’t be disappointed.

FEMALE STRONG! Jennifer Weiner has masterfully woven together a beach read and a murder mystery and created the perfect summer read. Daphne has always struggled with her body image, and it didn’t help that even her BFF Drew made cutting remarks about her weight. But Daphne is older and wiser now and has extricated Drew from her life after she publicly humiliated her. She is also now a popular plus size Instagram influencer with tons of followers and opportunities. When Drew reaches out and asks Daphne to be her maid of honor Daphne doesn’t know what to do. Hopeful that this is an olive branch Daphne decides to attend the wedding and repair her friendship with Drew. A gorgeous weekend in Cape Cod at the social event of the year and then... BAM everything goes sideways! A lush beach read, a juicy murder mystery, a brilliant book.

Daphne was just a fabulous character! Her struggle with her weight was so authentic. I loved her inner dialogue and even though at times it may have seemed as though she excessively focused on her weight I think unfortunately that is so true of many women. We do get a lot of the backstory between Daphne and Drew, I really loved watching Daphne’s character evolve as a person. She has such a dazzling and dynamic personality and it was nice to see her begin to embrace that. There were a lot of great secondary characters in this book especially Daphne‘s BFF/roommate and her love interest. This was such a fun story that did a really good job touching on a lot of heavy subject matter. Another exceptional summer read from Miss Weiner. The perfect addition to any beach bag!

This book in emojis 🏖 📱 👰🏼 💵 🔍

*** Big thank you to Atria for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

I'm usually a big Jennifer Weiner fan, but this one really didn't feel like any of her other books. Comparatively with Mrs. Everything, which was just unbelievably good, I felt like this one fell short. I wasn't ale to finish the book. I found myself confused by disjointed character lines, not really relating with anyone, and also felt like this girl was just really digging down so low to be paid to be in a former friend's wedding. I DNF'd at ~30%.

I have to admit that for the first half of this book I was actually becoming bored with it. It seemed like just another chick lit book and one I really had no interest in reading. But I never give up on a book so I kept reading. And I'm glad I did. The second half of the book made up for the (to me) lackluster first half. There was murder and secret kids and plots and plenty of suspects to go along with the inevitable romance. And I have to confess, the unveiling of the killer was a total shock to me (I love it when that happens in a mystery!)

A great beach read for the summer. Or living room read for most of us in quarantine!

I have long been a fan of Jennifer Weiner. All the way back to Good in Bed and In Her Shoes, I've always wanted to snatch up her newest offerings as soon as they became available. And Big Summer did not disappoint. Fast-paced, easy flowing, and hard to put down. I didn't love the whole "murder" aspect and could have done without the "whodunit", but I'd still rate it highly as a fantastic beach read for this summer.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I always love Jennifer Weiner's takes on body image and women's friendships, so this book did not disappoint. She always manages to sneak in serious issues into what appears to be a fun, fluffy story. I really enjoyed being in the brain of the main character, who was brave and likable despite being a social media influencer (people I generally have a negative opinion of). I was expecting a fun read, which I got, but it was packed with a lot more (including a mystery) than I didn't expect.

I thought this book was ok but it did not really engage me. I have read several of weiner's books but did not feel that this one was a great book.