Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Big Summer tackled a topic that is so relevant in today's society.....Social media and how everything is not what it seems and how easy it is to fake a perfect life when you hide behind a screen.
This was a fun enjoyable read with a plot twist I didn't see coming.
A perfect book to take to the beach!

I would highly recommend this "summer read" to all of my adult girlfriends. It's jam packed with lessons on self-love, forgiveness, letting go, moving on, second chances, first loves, and true friendship! Within this murder mystery there are so many reasons why I could not put this book down! There were unexpected characters and lots of unpredictable plot twists! Jennifer Weiner did such a good job at putting a modern-day twist on this book filled with instagram influencers and first world problems! She's brilliant! If you're looking for a great summer read then run, don't walk to get your hands on this book!

Thank you to Atria books for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review


I had never read a Jennifer Weiner book until last years Mrs. Everything. I loved it. Such wonderful storytelling about women and their differences and the expectations from society. I enjoyed it so much. Big Summer was COMPLETELY different. It was like it didn't know what kind of book it was trying to be; chick lit, romance, murder mystery. All of the tropes of those genres tried to blend together and while it was a compulsive read, at times it felt a bit like a mess.

Our main character Daphne is really the only redeeming part of the story. She is well rounded and dynamic with a very clear voice. The characters surrounding her were very flat and uninteresting. As I mentioned, the book is very readable. I was flipping pages so quickly and flew through to the end. However, a fast paced plot does not good writing make.

If you want a mindless beach read then this may be a great book for you. The pieces don't all fit, it's all a bit messy but overall enjoyable. I think my disappointment stems from the fact that the last book I read from this author was COMPLETELY different so I was expecting a bit more depth and polish.

Huh. This went a different way than I was expecting. Daphne Berg, a nanny/Etsy store owner/plus-size Instagram Influencer, finally feels like her life is on-track after years of self-doubt and self-criticism. When Drue, an old friend from high school comes back into her life and asks her to be a bridesmaid, Daphne is torn. Daphne was happy to be a sidekick to beautiful, rich Drue, until Drue turned her mean streak on Daphne, and they had a falling out. Has Drue really changed? Or should Daphne stay wary that her old friend will soon be back to her mean girl ways?

So, this starts off like it's a standard Jennifer Weiner, albeit a little overdone on the "I'm angsty about my weight" bit. And then it takes a hard left turn into a mystery, with surprises I admit I did not see coming. Unfortunately, I feel like it's too much beach read to be a good mystery, and the beach read part is not as good what I normally expect from Weiner. Points for trying something new, but I'd give this a solid C+/B-.

I always love Jennifer Weiners books and this was no different! Such a great read and one of my favorites of hers

Daphne Berg idolized Drue Cavanaugh when they went to school together. Drue seemed to have the perfect life--beautiful, rich, and adored by all. But eventually Daphne tired of Drue's mistreatment, with one incident finally pushing the two apart for good. So she's quite surprised when Drue appears back in her life, asking Daphne to be maid-of-honor in her upcoming wedding. Daphne is now an Instagram influencer, with a growing following in plus-size fashion. And, truly, she could never say no to Drue, especially when she visualizes the wedding as a prospect for more followers and the potential to meet a cute guy. So off to Cape Cod she goes--ignoring the warning of her best friend and roommate, who knows the pain Drue can cause. The night before the wedding, Daphne does meet a handsome and charming guy. And she overhears rumors that all might not be right in Drue's world. In the morning, she awakes to something terrible, causing her to dig deeper into those rumors and her own relationship with Drue.

"The trick of the Internet, I had learned, was not being unapologetically yourself or completely unfiltered; it was mastering the trick of appearing that way. It was spiking your posts with just the right amount of real... which meant, of course, that you were never being real at all."

Well this was an unexpected yet enjoyable read. It's far less serious than Weiner's previous book, the expansive and beautiful Mrs. Everything, but I think it's exactly the read we need for these times. I finished feeling happy and grateful for what I had in my life. Big Summer was a wonderful distraction from real life.

This is a fun story featuring our engaging plus-size heroine, Daphne, who is still struggling to find herself as an adult. Many of her scars and insecurities come from her so-called friendship with Drue, who was more of a user than a friend. After Drue hurt Daphne one time too many, she hasn't seen her in six years. But she's still powerless to say no to her, especially when she's begging for her to attend her high society wedding.

"You are susceptible to Drue Cavanaugh. She's your Kryptonite."

I found Daphne to be sweet albeit in need of a backbone at times. Her journey to self-actualization is certainly engaging. Big Summer takes a huge turn about halfway through, giving me a big surprise, but I loved it, honestly. I'm glad I hadn't read about the twist--a lot of reviews give it away, but I won't. Let's just say that Drue and her minions can be quite twisted at times, and there's a lot to unravel and unwrap here in terms of motivations and backstory. Big Summer starts with a little snippet set in the early 1990s, setting us up for the story ahead. We also learn about Daphne and Drue's past and all about their friendship.

This is such a sweet, sometimes silly (oh how I love Daphne's parents), and real read. Goodness, the pieces about Daphne's weight can be so heartbreaking. There's a section where she remembers her grandmother caring for her for a summer and basically giving her her weight insecurities, as she put Daphne on her first diet, making her aware of being heavier. Oh man. Weiner is an excellent writer, and she brings Daphne to life here, making her such a true person, whom we want to root for, hug, and love.

And she gives us a book about family, love, and reminds us to be grateful for what we have. The grass isn't always greener on the other side, per se. Always important, but even so more right now. I loved this one, with its escapist nature and twisty yet heartfelt storyline. 4+ stars.

This book, yall. Wow!⁣
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It started off a little slow for my liking. The chapters were long and it just seemed to drag on. But then, BAM! It picked up fast and I couldn’t put it down. There was a tiny bit of romance but so many other things happening. I want to tell you all about it but I don’t want to spoil it. Just know that I loved Daphne. She was a girl on a mission. There were characters that you hated, characters that you grew to love, and characters that just shocked you. ⁣
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I highly recommend this one. If you haven’t done your @bookofthemonth order for May, grab this one! If you have, no worries. This one comes out on Tuesday (May 5th)!⁣
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Thank you @netgalley, @atriabooks, and @jenniferweinerwrites for an ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review! ⁣

Weiner writes good popular fiction. This book isn't stellar--it's a mix of romance, mystery, beach read, coming of age and doesn't fully succeed at any of the genres. But it's an engaging read, if you ignore some of the credibility stretching facts--that suddenly a love interest appears, that a long lost frenemie would reach out, etc. Weiner struggles with body image issues and so do her protagonists. In this case, the resolutions were all a bit to easy, and not quite believable.
Better quality popular fiction, but not her best.

When mean girl, Drue, shows up years later begging a Daphne to be in her wedding, Drue seems to have changed. Has she, or is this a setup? When things go wrong, everyone is a suspect. Big Summer, by Jennifer Weiner, was a bit difficult to get into because of the switching back and forth in the story. Once I got to know the characters and who went with what part, it was a quick and interesting read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was fantastic! Really enjoyed it and will definitely handsell this titles soon as my store opens back up!

This is the first book I’ve read of Jennifer’s in quite some time, and this book reminded me how much I enjoy her writing and I need to go back and read her other books.
The only thing that turned me off about the book was how cruel Drue was - although that was the personality this character was portraying. I typically don’t like reading about characters who are cruel to others.
But overall, I really enjoyed this story and the message of how far someone will go for a person they care about.

Weiner again pens an enjoyable read, this time placed in the world of social media influencers. She realistically sets the story in NYC and Cape Cod, providing great sensory descriptions of both locations. I also admired how she captured the complex love-hate pull found in female relationships. From the first pages (or rather, paragraphs), I was invested in the relatable protagonist, Daphne.

This was a fun novel, and the plot twist which happened was quite unexpected. The last half of the book did test the limits of my belief, but it was still intriguing enough to go along for the ride. What really kept me turning the pages was the richly drawn and intricate web of friends at the heart of the story: Daphne, Darshi, and Drue.

Overall, a fun beach read with fanciful plotting that heart-wrenchingly recreates the intricacies of female friendship.

OMGolly do I love Daphne! I suspect more of us than will admit it will identify with her struggles with body perception and self appreciation. Daphne, luckily, has a supportive mom and dad (love love love her dad) and a real friend in Darshi. She's channeled a horrible night out with her frenemy Drue into a successful influencer career (she also watches two terrific - well, Ian is a treat-kids). So much so that a designer reaches out and makes clothes just for her, which comes in really handy when Drue, who she hasn't had contact with in years, turns up and asks her to be in her wedding. There are more sides to Drue than even Daphne knows. And what a wedding weekend it is! I so wished I could have seen that party on the beach. This terrific read is both a mystery and a story of story of how women treat one another. There's a murder, a love affair, and lots of secrets which come slowly spooling out. No spoilers! I didn't guess the solution so many props to Weiner. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This was the perfect quarantine read- or any time read. The characters are smart, relatable, funny, and complex. There's great storytelling and it made me smile. Highly recommend.

As a long time fan of Jennifer Weiner, this book did not disappoint. A murder mystery, "complicated" friendships and a little hot sexy time makes this the perfect beach read (or quarantine escape). Ms. Weiner has an uncanny way of creating believable female characters that are layered and interesting, but at the same time feel like someone you'd love to hang out with. I highly recommend this latest novel.
***I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.***

Daphne wanted to be Drue's best friend for the majority of her school years. Daphne soaked up any attention Drue gave her only to be burned time and time again. After being setting up and overhearing a "date" without her knowledge and and hearing her worst fears that she wouldn't be good enough for another guy is the straw that ends their friendship. She has moved on from that humiliating night and has become a social influencer for plus size woman. Daphne is shocked when Drue drops back into her wife with news of her upcoming wedding and hopes that Daphne will become one of her bridesmaids.

This book started out slowly for me. It begins by telling back stories of some of the characters without you realizing that it will be important until later on. However, there are many topics that are discussed within this book that I appreciated seeing.: friendship, self-esteem, body shaming, social media, forgiveness. My best advice is to stick with the book. It does pick up and when it does that is when it becomes great.

This was not one of my favorites of Jennifer Wiener's. I felt like that the story was rushed and parts of it were not cohesive, I usually love Wiener, but this was not one of her best (in my opinion).

This book concentrates on two estranged friends, influencers in a modern world who reunite due to an upcoming wedding. I was fascinated by the Instagram world of these savvy influencers. I knew what the word meant but had no idea of the ins and outs of the lifestyle. Daphne and Drue come from very different upbringings and their friendship is unique and convenient. I was thrown for a loop with the surprising murder mystery midway. It was a welcomed addition as it ratcheted up the suspense. I blew through this book and wondered if the reunion of the girls was a master plan for something more sinister. The skillful Weiner wraps up efficiently and has written an irresistible story of friendship and forgiveness.

*will post in additional online venues at publication

I could not put this book down once I got to the murder mystery part. I truly was not expecting this from Jennifer Weiner. I love her for including plus sized characters and how real our experiences are. A wonderful, summer, page turner for sure! I have been talking this up to all my friends.

Last year’s MRS. EVERYTHING was a #bookstagrammademedoit (that I ended up absolutely loving), so when I saw Jennifer Weiner had a new book out this year, I needed zero convincing to pick it up! I really enjoyed this and think Weiner has officially become an auto-read author for me.

Daphne is such a wonderful, strong, relatable protagonist. I loved the first half of the novel that focused on the tentative rekindling of her friendship with Drue, who seems like your typical privileged “mean girl” type but ends up coming across as way more complex and interesting than that in the end. It’s a situation that felt very real to me (I certainly have those high school friends who would evoke similar feelings to Daphne’s if I were to suddenly reconnect with them), and I thought Weiner let the story unfold perfectly.

Things take a pretty dramatic turn in the second half, which I ultimately just didn’t love as much, but it’s still a super fun read that I would easily recommend to anyone who has enjoyed Weiner’s previous novels.

I think I may be in the minority here and we shall see when it officially releases on May 5th but this book was meh for me.

There was SO much happening: fat shaming, social media, privledge, friendships, family, a mystery, and romance. It was just all too much and all over the place. As a result I wasn’t invested in the romance or mystery aspect and it kinda fell flat.

I think people who are looking for a fun soapy beach read will like this but I needed a little more depth.