Jennifer Weiner is one of my favorite authors. I've been reading her books for years and each one of her books have a distinct quality that let's you know they are hers and are completely unputdownable.
The Summer Place is a family drama set just after Covid when everyone has spent far too much time together and everyone is just getting back out in the world. Sarah lives with her husband Eli, her step-daughter Ruby, and two sons. Ruby's boyfriend, Gabe, quarantied with the family and the two are now engaged. They're planning their wedding at Sarah's mother's house on Cape Cod where the whole family will be together again and every single one of them has a secret. The following story is told from each of the main character's perspectives where we get background info and really meet each one of them. We get to know their feelings and motivations and ultimately, the secret they are keeping from the rest of the family.
This was such a juicy read and perfect for my end of the summer vacation.
Thank you so much to Atria & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Jennifer Weiner's books are always a fun ride. Plenty of secrets, gossip, little twists and turns and the perfect beach reads! This one was a little long and had a a bit too many characters for my taste. It was still an enjoyable read but the amount of backstory to connect the characters dragged a little. I still love this author and while this one wasn't my favorite, it was still an entertaining and engaging read.
3.5 stars rounded up

I had a really hard time with this book. There were so many characters to keep straight plus there was a lot of back and forth in timelines. The pandemic stuff got annoying. I guess I'm just over it. Others may enjoy this story more than I did. I hate to rate a book so low but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Published 10 May 2022.

I love Jennifer Weiner and will read anything she writes just because it's her. I will say that this book was not at the top of my favorites list. The first 40% or so - took me so long to read. It was verbose and the lengthy chapters wore me out. However, once I got to about halfway mark, it did pick up and I was able to finish fairly quickly. The story was just sort of ridiculous - if Eli thought his daughter might be marrying her potential half brother - why on earth would you not speak up!? And Rosa avoided him and didn't say a word either. I just could not get over this behavior. Sam's storyline was fine but once he goes out on the cape - I was just incredulous at where this went.
Ronnie's story was my favorite part. I wish there were more of her. She was an interesting character.

I have enjoyed Jennifer Weiner's books since the beginning and she just continues to get better. I love the family dynamics in this book and how realistic the writing is. I felt transported to the Cape.

Every summer should be a Jennifer Weiner summer as far as I’m concerned. I loved this jam-packed story of Sarah Danhauser and her family with all of their entanglements. It was the perfect summer read in the moment. There’s a real sense of Cape Cod-ness (not that I’m an expert) and the post-pandemic shutdown feelings that we all sort of had to muddle through as we figure out what our lives look like now. I could read a whole series about this family, but if that never arrives, I’m happy for this summer with them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

While I liked Jennifer's book That Summer, this one fell short. There were so many details about the actual house that it seemed like filler. Add to that that Covid was such an important part of the story and I really don't want to spend so much time reading about Covid. The characters were pretty unlikable as well. This one wasn't for me

Jennifer Weiner continues to stun with her adult rom-coms. Her books transcend age groups. My mom loves her books and so do I for their humor, heart, and Jewish rep.

The Summer Palace is yet another great story by Jennifer Weiner. I fell in love with the family in this story and I am sure you will too! Highly recommended! #TheSummerPlace #NetGalley

I have been on a Jennifer Weiner binge this year. I have LOVED everything from her. I was super excited to receive the arc for this one. However, this one majorly missed the mark for me. This book was a disaster and unbelievable. The affairs and family drama that takes place is so convoluted and far fetched. I finished the store but was utterly disappointed.

Jennifer Weiner has long been on my list of auto-buy authors and her latest title is a staple of my beach bag every summer. But if I'm being honest, I was underwhelmed by her last few books so when I dove into 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘, I tried to manage my expectations.

I'm happy to report that this book is much more of what I've come to expect from Weiner - family drama, secrets coming to light and characters questioning who they are and who they want to be - than her last couple of novels even if still doesn't live up to her earlier work. (𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝙎𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙.) There's a little too much Covid, a few too many coincidences (the final one had me literally saying out loud "Please no!") and way too much infidelity. I'm not prudish about affairs in books but almost every character in this one cheats in order to figure out what they really want and it makes them hard to root for. Overall, I liked but not as much as I wish I had.

3.5 stars

to Atria Books and NetGalley for the copy to review.

I am typically a fan of Jennifer Weiner's from the very beginning days [Good in Bed]. I admit this one took me a little longer to get into than most of hers. It felt a little flat and there are so many characters to keep track of.

That being said, each character has a very rich, intricate history. You have to understand the histories to understand the present. And oh, what a present it is. All of these stories are strongly intertwined, only the players do not yet know it. It's when the secrets start being revealed that things start to get more interesting. I felt like I was ready for an epic family tale that was the basis for one of those 1980s nighttime soaps like Dallas or Falcon Crest.

What's interesting is how the story is also the product of the pandemic, so it does echo the flat strange lives we've all been living.

I also enjoyed the house being its own character.

Resolutions and endings as secrets were revealed seemed a little rushed and too neatly tied up with a bow. But I absolutely sobbed at the ending, feeling what the author has been going through in her own life [from what I have read online]. I think the ending of the novel finally woke up a bit because she was able to pour her feelings into the characters. And I felt it.

So while it isn't my favorite, I didn't feel like I had wasted my time with it. It kept me contentedly occupied on a rainy spring day. I'll keep reading her work.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a requested review copy via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

DNF @ 15%. So pandemic heavy and I read women's fiction/chick lit to get away from the pandemic. Sorry, but this one is not for me.

An engrossing novel that explores the ties that bind, longing and loss, and the power that lies in the choices we make when unearthing what makes us who we really are. A beautifully written conclusion to Weiner’s Cape trilogy. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for my gifted ARC.

This book was so good! There were so many twists and turns in the plot that I wasn't expecting. I felt like I could have just kept reading and reading, I didn't want the story to end. The characters were memorable and the setting was great. Highly recommended!

A fun quick read. Perfect for summer when you’re wanting light reads. Didn’t really connect with the characters, but still enjoyed it.

There is a reason why Jennifer Weiner continues to be a successful author, and this book is a great example of it. She has woven the stories of two families together in a way that leaves the reader with a book they can't put down. It features Sarah Danhauser, whose stepdaughter Ruby is getting married, setting in motion plans to have the wedding at the family house on Cape Cod - a last blast before Sarah's mother, Veronica, puts it on the market. The journey to the wedding weekend includes family secrets which kept me reading to find out how they resolved. The book also acknowledges the pandemic from the perspective of someone who lives in New York City, and I found it to be true to life. Highly recommend this book.

I really enjoyed this book and it was the perfect summer read. I like the way her books are perfect women’s fiction but her recent ones also include a touch of suspense and mystery. Her reeds are comfort for me and I am a fan of life. I look forward to her next book. Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the copy.

Sarah Danhauser is shocked when her twenty-two year old step daughter announces her engagement to her pandemic boyfriend. Her stepdaughter, Ruby is set on having her wedding in three months and has planned to have her wedding at Sarah’s mother Veronica’s family beach house on Cape Cod. Veronica becomes thrilled with the idea and loves that the family is being brought together for one last time at the beach house since she is planning on selling it. Ruby’s wedding will bring up a lot of memories, regrets, and secrets between each individual of the family. This book is mostly told through the point of views of Sarah, Eli, Ruby, Sam, and Veronica.

My first ever Jennifer Weiner book was back in 2008 when I was 13 years old and the book was Certain Girls. My grandmother had a book fair at her work and was asking for recommendations on what to buy. She was recommended Certain Girls and she bought it for me. She did not know it was an adult book and that it probably was not appropriate for my 13 year old self. I never told her it was not appropriate for me and I ended up really loving that book and I still need to read the first book to it since Certain Girls was book 2, but you could read it as a stand-alone. It was not until I was out of college when I picked up another Jennifer Weiner book and I really still do enjoy her books. I tend to love the characters she writes since they feel so real and have all this baggage so they are not these perfect characters. She knows how to hook you as well. This book is told through many point of views and is told in past and present, so it can be a little confusing, but you will get the hang of it and become so engrossed. This is told more in the past flashbacks though, but ends up all connecting in the end. This book is beautiful, heart breaking, and juicy. I really did not want to put this book down because I needed to know what happened to each character in the past with what secrets they were hiding. Plus, I needed to know how their past choices and secrets would effect them in the end. This book concluded nicely and I just enjoyed every moment of it.

A captivating book full of family drama. In true Jennifer Weiner fashion this was a wonderful character driven book. It was hard to follow the storyline at first but as I got to know the characters and care about what happened to them the easier it was to follow the storyline. The story itself was told by each character and the house that brings them all together.
The only problem I had was believing the many coincidences that bring these characters together. But then I reminded myself that this is a story of fiction and I needed to just sit back and enjoy it. And once I was done reading, I missed this extremely dysfunctional family that fill the pages of this book.
Overall, this was a fun, entertaining, and scandalous book that I enjoyed. I am extremely grateful to Atria Books for the opportunity to read a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.