This is a hard book for me to rate/review. I needed to sit with it for a few minutes. I also changed some of how I felt after reading the author’s acknowledgments at the end of the book. I usually love Jennifer Weiner’s books so I wasn’t prepared to struggle with this one. I thought it would be a light-hearted summer read. I didn’t like all of the cheating and lack of communication. It was just all encompassing for every character in the book. It was too much for me. But I respect the story the author wanted to tell and the characters that she created. It was like a Shakespearean comedy where everything starts out looking like it’s going to be a smooth ride, but then chaos erupts through the course of the play and you have to ride it out to see how everything comes together at the end. In that respect, the author succeeded at what she set out to accomplish.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance reader’s copy. The opinions expressed here are my own.

🏊🏼‍♀️Review - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5🏊🏼‍♀️

The Summer Place contains secrets, family drama, and takes you on a wild roller coaster ride of events. It primarily revolves around 3 generations of a family including Ronnie, the grandmother, Sarah and Sam, her twin kids, and Ruby, Sarah’s stepdaughter.

The story also follows multiple characters from multiple different point of views, but all the stories intertwine somehow. It is also based during the quarantine stages of COVID, but was handled in a very realistic and relatable way.

Everyone is getting together at the family’s Cape Cod home for Ruby’s wedding but each member of the family seems to be hiding some secret and it’s only a matter of time before they’re revealed. What is everyone hiding and how are they all connected? Will Ruby still end up getting married once they’re revealed?

I did find the story a little slow at the beginning, but it picked up toward the second part of the story. Like I said before, it does follow multiple view points (I think at least 7), which made it hard to keep up with at times. The farther into the story and the more I got to know the characters, it was easier to keep up with. While taking place during the quarantine phase of COVID, I found myself laughing at the different annoyances of everyone being confined to the same home, which made the story more relatable.

I did enjoy the story, but it was not what I expected. There were a lot of twists and turns and I found my jaw literally dropped a few times. This is a contemporary fiction novel and would recommend to all that enjoy that genre.

The Summer Place is set to be released on May 10, 2022.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Written during COVID, Jennifer Weiner wanted her new novel The Summer Place to be “a fun, lighthearted book,” a family drama “somewhere between a Noel Coward farce and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” When I read this in the Acknowledgments, I had a totally different reaction to the novel. It is so over-the-top with its twisted relationships and mispairings of lovers! When a character realizes his true sexual orientation thru sexy fan fiction, I burst into laughing for several minutes. Chapters alternated characters, revealing their bad choices, their inability to control their sexual responses to the wrong people.

Not my kind of novel at all, I was thinking. I had read Weiner’s last three novels and each had some issue that was explored through the characters. While reading, I puzzled over what the ‘point’ of this novel was. There was a whole lotta sex going on. A whole lotta secrets that were alienating people from those they most loved. There was a not quite believable resolution. Why did I read this novel?

Then I read the Acknowledgment statement.

Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream takes place before a marriage. By accident, lovers are realigned with very wrong pairings. And looking at The Summer Place this way, as a comedy about human frailty and the power of sexual attraction, how we all err and all need to seek forgiveness and forgive, is a gamechanger.

The pandemic impacted the romance between college students Ruby and Gabe. Gabe is drop-dead gorgeous, and bi, called an ‘angel’ by all who see him. Ruby has lusted after him for years and was thrilled when they finally hooked up. She intends to keep him, sure she will never have another chance like this. When Covid strikes, her parents want her living at home and not in the dorm. Ruby is unwilling to give up Gabe and asks if he can come with her. Her parents allow it.

Ruby’s dad Eli raised her after his first wife left, unhappy with the suburban mom lifestyle she never wanted. Years later, Ruby’s music teacher Sarah and Eli married.

When Ruby proposes to Gabe, her mother is afraid this pandemic romance won’t last, but knows to oppose it will only propel headstrong Ruby into eloping. Her dad’s reaction is quite different: he retreats into himself, distracted and shut down. His behavior harms his marriage, leaving his wife unhappy and open to romancing.

Secrets abound.

Ruby’s grandmother was a novelist who left publishing. She has her secrets, health related and past romance related that casts a shadow on the paternity of her twin children. Ruby’s uncle lost his beloved wife and now is secretly exploring his sexuality. Sarah lost her first love and gave up a career as a concert pianist. Then, there’s Gabe’s single mom who long ago solved an unwanted pregnancy through seduction and lies.

You think you know someone, then you’re locked in a house together for over a year, and it turns out, you never knew him at all. from The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner

The Summer Place is the Cape Code family cottage, which oddly has a voice in several chapters, a device that didn’t work for me. The house has seen a lot over the years, knows all the history and heartbreak. The grandmother had hoped it would be filled with children and grandchildren, but instead it has been empty every year but for a few days. She intends to sell it. The house is fighting for it’s legacy and future.

Weiner’s books are promoted as perfect ‘beach reads,’ and many will find this book fits the bill. Just don’t take it too seriously. It wasn’t meant to be highbrow. It’s a book to entertain.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Eh, this one was not for me. Too many characters with too many unbelievable storylines all in one family. And not only that, but too much graphic info on some characters and not enough info about other, more interesting characters. This book felt all over the place to me. Also, who wants to read about Covid when we all lived it? No thanks.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and atria books for the preview of The Summer Place. I’ve loved Jennifer Weiner’s previous books, and The Summer Place was a good add to her collection. The story follows a diverse blended family, coming together for the daughter/stepdaughter Ruby‘s impending wedding. Each person in the story has a secret, and as the book progresses, theses secrets reveal themselves and complicate the wedding. While the first half of the book is purely descriptive and character development, once the secrets start coming to light, this book picks up and keeps you hooked. I wouldn’t call it overly suspenseful nor would I call it very surprising, it is a beautifully written story and I really enjoyed reading it.

I was so excited to read this book, but unfortunately this one just did not do it for me. I really liked each character individually, but there were too many characters, and it just felt like every single person had some huge big secret. it was like 6 family drama novels all packed into one. I felt it there were many chapters that weren't needed that just made the book longer in length than it needed to be. I also didn't love the house as a narrator. I have read books where I adore the inanimate object as a narrator, but it didn't work here for me. I have loved Weiners other books, so I am disappointed to say this one just wasn't for me.

The Summer Place was a DNF for me. I'm very disappointed because normally I really enjoy Jennifer Weiner books.

I felt like none of the characters were likeable and everything seemed to drag. Finally at 57% I stopped reading.

Please don't let my thoughts dissuade you from reading this novel. Fans of the author, family sagas, and/or dramas would probably enjoy this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing an ARC at my request. I'm sorry that I didn't care for this book.

Jennifer Weiner does it again with this captivating story of the intricacies of relationships with a hint of pandemic that is relatable to our reality over the last two years without overwhelming the storyline.

As Ruby and Gabe prepare for their wedding on the Cape after starting their romance in quarantine, the families discover that their histories tie them together in unexpected ways. Weiner craft-fully ties each character’s past into the storyline in a way that will remind you that everyone has more going on in their personal lives than meets the eye. Prepare to fall in love with and relate to each character as they navigate life after the pandemic.

This is a well crafted, entertaining beach read involving multiple characters within a family, all of whom have big secrets. However, it bothered me that all of those secrets involved infidelity, and in many cases, paternity issues. I will admit that I was invested in the various plot lines, and was eager to see how they would be resolved. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a delight albeit feeling a bit of a departure from the author’s typical fare. The ending felt a bit too hastily tied up and the character fleshing out seemed lacking but overall an enjoyable read.

I have enjoyed all of Jennifer Weiner's "summer" books. This book had many characters all with their own surprises. Just when you thought the plot had twisted for the last time, another twist was waiting.

I've read other books by Weiner, and this wasn't one of my favorites. The writing is great, and the detailing is spot-on. However, I didn't find any of the characters likeable, for various reasons. There were some interesting twists and some predictability, and it was a quick read. So if you don't mind feeling fully invested in the characters, this could make a good beach read.

I am so happy to have been able to get an advanced copy of The Summer Place. I am a huge Jennifer Weiner fan and this is the perfect ending to this series. 5 stars I will absolutely staff pick and recommend this book at work!

This was the first book I read by Jennifer Weiner and it surely won’t be the last. This book is written in multiple POV format, with a cast of characters all coming to terms with their own secrets in a shared family history. I connected with many of these characters and found myself cheering for them and hoping they found peace. While some of the plot details seemed very unbelievable, I enjoyed how the author wove the details together and felt compelled to keep reading and eager to see how everything would resolve. This would be a great beach read!

I enjoyed this book with its insights into how the pandemic and quarantine have changed relationships. Looking forward to more books by Weiner, thanks for the review copy.

A beach read from Jennifer Weiner? Yes, Please. The Summer Place is a kinda conclusion and homage to the summer and a house, in particular, located on the Cape. In this, the final entry, the house, too, gets a say in things which is really fun.
What's not fun is what appears to be a family genetically disposed to infidelity. If that is a no-go for you, skip this one. If not, then perhaps the multiple sets of coincidences that are paramount to the plot might be off-putting. As this is Jennifer Weiner, I hung in there as I know I am going to chuckle, if not laugh, and most likely cry at some point. She didn't disappoint me in this area.
I was able to most identify with Ronnie (aka Veronica) the matriarch of the family. Specifically, her lifelong desire amongst other things, was to have her grandchildren come up to her Cape home for the summers and be kids with great memories spent living a life in the sun and water with their grandparents.
There are plenty of characters to identify with regardless of where the reader finds themselves in life currently. And as always, these characters are flawed and human. But in the end, I give this one a 3.5 star review as the numbers of improbabilities were difficult to believe.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for access to an early copy. All opinions are mine.

The Summer Place is the perfect beach read. It is in the Summer series, but you don't need to read them in order to understand this book. I loved all the different characters, even the house itself, revealing their different secrets. It was a book I couldn't put down, and easy to read.

These "Summer" books are very enjoyable and entertaining. They have little Easter eggs with previous characters turning up in the later stories, so that's fun. They are all centered around the Cape, which provides an excellent setting.

In this one, all of the characters are a hot mess. They all have a secret that they intend to reveal after the wedding. But they are all in agony of these little secrets and it sort of spirals out of control. Plus some secrets will not wait, no matter what you are hoping for.

It's just fun. I definitely recommend it. This one may not be as deep in some ways as some of the previous books, but it is also possibly more enjoyable purely from an entertainment perspective.

I love Jennifer Weiner! This book was so good. All the characters were so developed and I was so invested in each of them. The pandemic elements were so relatable, but not too in your face. This book was unputdownable. This is going to be the go to beach read of the summer for sure!

I have always been a fan of Jennifer Weiner, but I think that this book takes her writing to a whole new level! Wow! This book is told from the point of view of so many characters (including a house) whose lives get tangled up in so many ways. Yet, I never had to reread a passage, confused about who was speaking or what was occurring. The characters were simply that well-developed. A must read for your summer vacation!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.