That Summer by Jennifer Weiner 👍👍👍
If you think you're picking up a quick beachy read, think again! Weiner's latest novel will certainly take you to the coast, but this is not a lighthearted romp through the sand.
Daisy (a/k/a Diana) keeps getting emails intended for another Diana. Weird coincidence? Maybe not... follow along as Daisy and Diana's stories intersect in surprising ways.
Great for readers looking for a little drama and suspense!

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for the ARC.

I have read all of Jennifer Weiner's books, and I look forward to her new books - I devour them! I recommend her to patrons, friends, anyone looking for a new author to try, I have made new fans.

Wife/mother who "has everything" - Why is she lonely, incompetent, trapped??
She meets a new friend who brings her joy, happiness
friendship, and an awakening towards a new life.

I LOVE this book
I could not stop reading - read in 1 day (was not happy when I was interrupted.

Weiner's books have always been something I look forward to for a good beach type read, but this was not her best, which I found disappointing.
Diana experiences an end of summer party at the age of 15, something she has looked forward to, but instead it becomes a life altering bad memory. Now, many years into the future, she revisits this memory with the chance to do something about it. It can't be changed, but maybe payback will help. Yes, some innocents will likely be affected and hurt, but then, wasn't she an innocent who was hurt?
So far, it doesn't sound bad, but it appeared to rehash the Me Too movement through repeating the Supreme Court nomination fiasco of last year. My idea of a novel that I enjoy is one that entertains, that gets me away from the news and the real world. I really hate it when all that is thrown into the middle of a novel. Yes, it's a pet peeve of mine and that soured the book for me. I had found Diana's behavior after the summer odd and her family and others who should have helped her were surprisingly doing nothing real to help her, but overlooked it to some extent for the sake of the story. By the end of the book I was just disappointed that this situation could not have been better handled by an author who has the talent to do so.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion,.

This book was amazing! Deep and triggering to some but fantastic! The writing style was on point. I didn’t feel bored or like skipping pages at all. I loved the atmospheric setting and the lesson that sometimes the past comes back to haunt you. I don’t want to give too much away but I’m glad nobody was given a free pass. I would have liked a little more definitive resolution at the end but I don’t feel slighted by the way it wrapped up. Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!

Tough to classify, a great beach read. A mystery, a romance a coming-of-age story. A story about a marriage unraveling.

I did enjoy this book but not as much as I usually enjoy Jennifer Weiner'x novels. I felt it was too coincidental and far too long. It will have its readers and I will suggest it to many people.

This Book!!!! Jennifer Weiner does it again with this story of Daisy, Diana, Beatrice, Cape Cod, Provincetown and so much more all intertwined. I couldn't put THAT SUMMER down! One of her best yet, and her books just keep getting better and better. Ms. Weiner's characters are so beautifully developed, that they seem like friends to me. Reading this was incredibly emotional and it had all the ups and downs of a rollercoaster! I laughed, I cried, and wondered the entire time, "How is this going to end?". And end it did, perfectly. Thank you to Jennifer Weiner for the perfect book, and to Netgalley and Atria Books for the epub...Atria truly has the best authors and publishes the most wonderful of books! This is one of the best books I have read in years !

I love Jennifer Weiner's romantic comedies, but these more dramatic ones leave me lost, which is sad because I love her writing so much. This book because a slow read and I struggled through a lot of it. The characters, while showing depth, just did not seem connected to the reader enough. Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as much as I did Big Summer.

3.5 rounded up to 4

Daisy Shoemaker has the picture perfect life from the outside looking in. She lives in a beautiful home in the suburbs of Philadelphia, a part time job teaching people how to cook, and is able to volunteer in her spare time. She also has a difficult teenager, and a hard to read husband. She feels unfulfilled but can't quite figure out why. When she receives another mistake email from a woman who shares her name, she forwards it to the rightful owner and strikes up a conversation. What begins as a friendly back and forth turns into a real friendship. The women end up meeting regularly and Daisy finds herself slightly jealous of Diana's carefree, sophisticated life. What Daisy doesn't know is that their friendship did not happen purely by chance and Diana has a connection to her past that could cause catastrophic changes to Daisy's world as she knows it.

Jennifer Weiner is a go to author for me. I always enjoy her books and usually read them as soon as I can get my hands on them. This book started off a little slow for me, but once it picked up I couldn't put it down. Just because this book has the word "Summer" in its title does not mean it's a beach read. This book seems to be inspired by the Me Too Movement and definitely has some triggers for those who are sensitive to that. This book is told in alternating chapters that bounce between Diana and Daisy. I liked learning about Diana's past and I loved her relationship with Michael. I saw Daisy as slightly irritating and the way Hal spoke to her made me cringe. Overall I would recommend this book, but don't go into it thinking it'll be a breezy read like Big Summer. The subject material is heavy and parts of the story will make you want to throw your book (or Kindle) across the room.

An absolute triumph !! That Summer travels decades and families from cape cod and back and weaves in #metoo . This may be one of Weiner’s best , a must read for sure. This book was graciously provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I am a fan of Jennifer Weiner's novels and "That Summer" will be added to the list of great books. The story is told by 2 different women, Daisy and Diana. Diana had something happen to her as a teenager that set the course for her life. She ends up meeting Daisy because of this years later. This novel is touching, sad & redeeming all at the same time. I would recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys secrets that no longer remain secrets and friendships that can overcome pain.

I adore all of Jennifer Weiner's books but this one just took my breath away! You know when you settle in to one of her novels (well, maybe immerse yourself is a better term) that it will be both plot and character-driven and be relevant and delicious. And this is one of her best! Diana and Daisy meet under unusual circumstances but form a fast friendship. But as the circumstances of their lives unfold, we see that they are connected by secrets of the past and one summer that cannot be forgotten. Weiner's writing is powerful and soul-searching; it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will demand that you look at our society and see its flaws. But it will also show you that young women today can be anything they choose if they are strong enough to persevere and maybe even seek redemption. This novel will resonate with me for a long time!

I am so glad I was given an advance copy of this book. I loved the story and felt drawn back in time!

Jennifer Weiner never disappoints! That Summer explores the lasting effects of rape on the victim and on the perpetrators. She handles all points of view with understanding and sensitivity, and creates a narrative both involving and propulsive. Her feelings on the Bret Kavanaugh debacle would have been better cut out of the final draft, but otherwise a wonderful novel about retribution and redemption. Recommended.

What happens when you don’t realize your past is haunting you? 🌊 ⁣
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It’s been a tough week for me and when Atria invited me to preview Jennifer Weiner’s upcoming release, THAT SUMMER, it sounded like the perfect escapist read. ⁣
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I haven’t read all of Weiner’s catalog, but I loved BIG SUMMER last year and this book takes place in the same universe. Weiner’s strength has always been specifically drawn female protagonists, and she’s doing some of her best work here. I enjoyed it over all, but the ending felt rushed and some of the male antagonists felt like caricatures (but maybe that was the point?). ⁣
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Thank you NetGalley and Atria for providing an eARC in exchange for this review!⁣
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CW: sexual assault, suicide.

<i>That Summer</i> is a weird book to try to classify. A lot of the description and characters seem like normal Weiner character--smart, sensitive women trying to figure out what makes them happy. There are some beautiful descriptions of Cape Cod and great descriptions of food...but all these things that normally make for a charming Weiner book also seem really jarring and out of place in a book centered on a woman healing and then trying to get revenge on a group of men who hurt her as a teenager. For that reason, the book never feels even. Part of it reads like the crime centered novels that are really popular now, and the other feels like a normal Weiner book. This makes it really hard to find your footing as a reader in the book, and what until causes the book to fizzle out at the end.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC of the book.

That Summer by Jennifer Weiner is a tale of two Diana’s and how their lives changed in a blink of an eye. It’s a heartwarming yet very suspenseful tale that will have you on the edge of your seat wondering....what happened That Summer?

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC for an honest review. #Netgalley #ThatSummer #May2021

That Summer is one of Jennifer Weiner's best.. When Daisy, a dissatisfied housewife, meets Diana, a sophisticated consultant, she delights in their burgeoning friendship. But as the friendship deepens, Daisy suspects that her new friend may not be who or what she claims and that their meeting wasn't likely by chance. Twists and turns keep the story moving from beginning to a most satisfying ending.

I absolutely devoured this fresh heartwarming story from Jennifer Weiner complete with a surprising twist and engaging characters.This was a slow start, but worth it to keep going. I had a really hard time getting into it at first. Daisy was kind of uninteresting and the beginning is primarily focused on her. I'm so glad I kept at it until we meet Diana (in present day) because it got sooooo much better after that. The novel travels back and forth in time and while there's nothing explicitly telling you that there's a time jump for the most part, it's usually easy to pick up. But there are a few, mostly with Beatrice, that don't make a lot of sense. I was delighted to learn that 'That Summer' is not a beach read at all and instead focused more on the narratives of the Me Too Movement and the Kavanaugh hearings, Weiner brilliantly confronts the "boys will be boys" and "they were all drinking" excuses of sexual assault in privileged prep school environments, with the fall out of the passing of years, the subsequent accomplishments of perpetrators, their feelings of regret, shame, and denial, as well the enormous and unforgettable impact felt by the victims at the time of the assault, the and the impact on families of the perpetrators when accusations come to light decades later. As I mentioned, slow start, but once it takes off it is fantastic!

Let me say first that this book is a heavy read. It kept me engaged and enthralled the entire time but covered incredibly difficult topics that may be very sensitive for some readers. Jennifer Weiner tells an intricate story spanning decades exploring themes of friendship, trauma, recovering from pain, the choices we make, gender norms and expectations of women and men, the meaning of family, forgiveness and accountability for past actions. There's a lot to unpack in this novel and for the most part, I think she did a really excellent job of portraying how different experiences and emotions shaped her characters' lives. Told from multiple perspectives and beautifully written, this was a profound, powerful and poignant read.

Thank you so much to Atria and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.