When Rachel and Caroline are 17 they spend the summer traveling before they have to return home to start school. Their last stop is on a Greek island. Rachel falls in love with the island and Alistair, a much older man. Rachel decides to take a gap year and stay on the island while Caroline returns home. Rachel has never had much attention from men before and so the fact that Alistair is paying attention to her brings out feelings Rachel has never had before.

It's hard to say too much without giving away spoilers about the book. There are two timelines, Rachel from 15 years ago on the island and Rachel now. Rachel now is married and getting ready to start a family. However Rachel has problems dealing with her feelings from 15 years ago, although maybe she isn't dealing with the right feelings.

I wasn't crazy about the way the two timelines went back and forth. Sometimes in the current timeline things were exposed that hadn't actually happened yet in the earlier timeline. To me this gave away parts of the story earlier than I would have liked.

The Girls of Summer discusses some difficult subjects that not everyone will want to read. However, the author does a good job of describing Rachel at an earlier age and how she allowed this to happen.

Thank you to St Martin's Press & NetGalley for allowing me to review this book

“Everything I am is because Allistair loved me”…

Rachel has been in love with Allistair for fifteen years…even though he is twenty years older than her; even though she was a teenager when they met and she is now married to someone else. Rachel is obsessed with reliving the past on that beautiful Greek island. In her efforts to capture the feeling of those days, she connects with other girls also drawn to that life on the island. In these connections, Rachel begins to realize that Allistair may have controlled more than she knew. As suppressed secrets come to light, Rachel begins to see the past in a different light.

This book was very different than I imagined when I first started reading! Told in two perspectives (past and present), it becomes clear that Rachel has been suppressing trauma that she never came to terms with. That perfect “love affair” she keeps remembering played out very differently than she tells herself. Though dark and a bit disturbing, I thought the author did a great job handling a very difficult topic. The setting of Greece was also a beautiful backdrop and practically served as a character itself. Altogether, this was a thought-provoking read that made me realize how easily a young girl is susceptible to thoughts imposed upon her.

Thank you to Netgalley, Katie Bishop and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! This book is out now :)

I gave this a four out of five stars. I really like enjoyed this read if you can really say that about these topics. Tw: suicide and sexual assault. I think all the characters need therapy.

4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

This was a hard read, but in the best way. It was much heavier and serious than I thought it would be going in, but I enjoyed that complexity and it made it hard for me to put this book down. I loved the switching timelines, and I think my favorite thing about the book was how elegantly and carefully the author displayed the feelings of the main character, Rachel, throughout both timelines. As an adult, and through adult Rachel's timeline, it was easy for me to see what was going on; however, at the same time, in teenager Rachel's timeline it was easy for me to understand how things were able to occur the way they did. Rachel was incredibly flawed but in a way I would consider realistic and I think this was expertly portrayed. I know this is vague, but that's because I don't want to spoil any of the story by saying any more. I just think the author did an amazing job in the way she slowly unveiled the story, giving us little pieces at a time so that we could see the way things were building but we were unable to look away at the same time. I loved the ending as well and thought the book overall was really well paced.

In my opinion, this book had vibes very similar to My Dark Vanessa (by Kate Elizabeth Russell) and Luckiest Girl Alive (by Jessica Knoll). If you liked either of those, I'd recommend this for sure. However, this book (like the books above) have some pretty significant triggers, so if you have certain sensitivities I would recommend doing some research before reading this story. I'll absolutely read anything else Katie Bishop decides to write.

A digital copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. The opinions are my own and freely given.

This book is told from Rachel's POV, THEN AND NOW.

Then Rachel was a 17-year-old on trip with her best friend Caroline. She goes to in island in Greece, and when Caroline goes home, she stays. Now is 16-years later, and she still can't forget the time she spent on the island or the man she fell in love with.

However, Alistair was a 30-year-old who along with his boss, exploited these "island girls".

The description of the island is beautiful, but that is where my positives end. There was too much in this book that I couldn't stand behind. Rachel (now) willingly went seeking Alistair out and had an affair with him, while her husband was laid up with a broken leg. Rachel (then) was drinking, doing drugs and exploited at parties, along with all the other girls that worked at the bar. This book was not for me. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

A woman must come to terms with what really happened to her as a teenager when she went on an extended vacation in Greece. The story comes full circle and she must confront her past in the most disturbing way possible. The author does a deft job of handling a heavy topic and successfully illustrates how we don’t necessarily know that we are in an abusive or inappropriate relationship at the time it occurs.

Rachel’s memories of Greece are bitter sweet. She loved and lost Alistair on the Island. Even though she was a teen and he was 20 years older than her, she still can’t let the memories of what they had go, not even for the man she married… all she can do is reminisce…

It was an ordinary Greek summer, the summer before school starts back for her final year of school. Alistair made her feel seen and desired. Something she never had before… His hold is so strong that when he offers for her to stay on the island and not go back to England, she jumps at the chance. Having to keep their relationship a secret from his boss, Rachel gets pulled into situations she isn’t ready for. Situations where teens girls are filled full of alcohol at parties filled with older men and the suicide of someone she cared for.

Going back to Greece with her new husband opens up a can of worms she isn’t prepared for because what actually happened with Alistair on the island isn’t the reality of what really went down.

YIKES. This book is yikes. The title screams beach read… The cover of Greece screams beach read. When you assume these things and don’t read the synopsis…. You find yourself on one heck of a tailspin and you won’t want to come up for air.

This book covers some pretty hot topics and again, TW…..

Suicide, abortion, rape, grooming, drugs

I’m not a fan of trigger warnings but I felt this book might be a bit much for some people. Alistair is the epitome of a groomer and as someone who was groomed by an older man, he made me angry. This happens more than you think and this book shows you what can happen and frequently does. The plot was well done and the fact Rachel had no clue she had basically been trafficked goes to show how little we know about the subject and naive Rachel truly was.

I did think the character development was quite where I would have liked it to be. There wasn’t much depth, even with Rachel it still felt a little one dimensional but I felt the storyline compensated enough for that. It was a page turner and for anyone not put off by the triggers and love women’s fiction, you will definitely enjoy it.

4 stars. Definitely an entertaining read. Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for my gifted copy

This was a book that I tried to connect with but didn't, so I requested the audiobook to see if that helped and it didn't. The thrill is just too subtle and slow in the beginning.

Thanks for access to this arc!

This was a very well written story about the ramifications of grooming. I had several problems with the story overall, but I can’t deny that it wasn’t beautifully written.

It’s hard for me to decide how I felt about this. It was dark, but considering its supposed similarity to The Last Housewife, I was expecting it to be darker. Rachel, the MC, doesn’t have much character development between the two timelines. Did she never think to seek out therapy?

I was forewarned about what kind of story this was, so I could manage my expectations, but I still found that I was expecting more. All of the characters were one dimensional, and I personally didn’t care for any of them. There are many depictions on page that made me very uncomfortable, and I cannot get behind cheating.

But I really want to emphasize that it was very well written and I found myself not wanting to put it down. If the characters were fleshed out a bit more, I could’ve gotten behind this story better. Even if several things gave me the ick.

Rachel went travelling at 17 with a friend after high school and it was a summer that completely changed her life; this was when she met 30 year old Alister whom she fell in love with. At age 30 life didn't work out the way she wanted and even though she is married to Tom, her first love is the man who occupies her mind and her heart.

This story is told from past and present and is very well written. Looking forward to reading more work by Katie Bishop.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and author for my ARC!

This was one of the toughest books I've read in quite a while. Reading about the horrors of young women being used, tricked and trafficked through the eyes of Rachel was so well done and so terrifying. You just want to shake her and make her go home. But the striking thing is you can see how it happened to her without her even realizing it. The lies, the flattery, the manipulation. The way it damaged her life and she still didn’t fully accept what she had been through. The way her memories were manipulated and how her brain dealt with protecting her from the trauma happening.

This is marketed as a thriller and I do think it is, but it’s also just a stunning look into this horrible danger that women everywhere face and the disgusting abusers who take advantage.

I really tried to get into this book, but I just couldn’t. It dragged on so slowly. It was a lot of narrator thoughts that didn’t have much to contribute to the actual storyline. 50% in and I still couldn’t tell what it was actually about. The storyline was too loose, it lacked depth where I needed more.

Yet again I am here to tell you that a book marketed as a thriller is in fact NOT A THRILLER. I would say this is a literary mystery (but honestly it’s pretty light on the mystery). This book begins Rachel visiting the Greek island that she spent time with as a teenager. As the book progresses, the reader learns what actually happened on that island while Rachel was young.

Let me start with what I liked. Bishop’s writing is so atmospheric and beautiful. It made me want to be on a Greek island by the ocean sipping a beer in the cool breeze. It was very impressive for a debut.

Alright now for my issues 🫣: This is the ULTIMATE slow burn 😴 and I found that it lacked the suspense I was craving.

My main issue was that Rachel was gd insufferable. I understand her mindset as a young impressionable teenager. But her willful ignorance as an adult made me so angry. I just couldn’t understand how a grown woman she could be so naive. Also the way she treated her husband was absurd. She blew up her life and had no qualms about it. NOT to mention drinking and doing drugs while pregnant come on girl.

Honestly, I felt like this book has been done before also. Maybe it’s because I read BEFORE WE WERE INNOCENT recently but the dual timelines, the #MeToo plot, and the Greek island setting felt a bit tired.

Many TW in this one so DM me if you have questions.

Rachel’s life is changed forever after she spends a summer on a Greek island. What was initially supposed to be a short holiday with her best friend turns into an extended stay after she falls in love with an older man. Now an adult, she is struggling in her marriage as her feelings for Alistair never fully went away. When her past resurfaces, she begins to come to the understanding that maybe her love affair wasn’t as romantic as she thought.

I was initially drawn to this book because it was branded as a thriller. This is not a thriller. This is a story surrounding allegations of sexual abuse and inappropriate relationships, so please be aware before picking it up. I have seen some people comparing it to My Dark Vanessa. The writing in My Dark Vanessa is far more superb. The writing in this book at times felt plain to me, for such an emotional topic. It has a very slow pace, which makes it difficult to get into. The setting of the story was very well written and easy to picture. Rachel was very hard to like.

This is an unsettling book. The main character is very niave and does not understand what is really going on or that she is being exploited and manipulated. Very sad

This book is told in alternating parts between past and present, with the past being when Rachel and her friends were spending the summer on a Greek island, and they get mixed up with a much older rich man who gives them jobs at his bar and a place to stay, and then they are paid to "attend" parties with a bunch of older men, where they are drugged and given a lot of booze, and then the men take advantage of them. In the present day, Rachel, still in love with Alistair and unable to see that what he did to her was wrong on so many levels, is willing to destroy her marriage, rather than deal with her demons. I did not enjoy this book at all. The book was too slow paced and tedious, the subject matter gave me that "ick: feeling and made me feel like I was reading about Epstein and friends. I can not recommend this one.

#readpairsharereview
QOTP: Where do you dream of traveling?
AOTP: Ireland, Australia, Greece . . .

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, & Macmillan audio for the eARC and ALC copies and the chance to provide my candid review.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (0-5)
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥 (0-5)

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 I highly recommend the audiobook. The narrator did a fantastic job. I’m such a sucker for an English accent. Her voice and expression are so lovely and enjoyable.
🤩 Summer in the title and Santorini, Greece—that cover! Those two things are what got my attention.
🤩 I went in a bit blind having read the blurb so long ago. I wish I would have paid better attention to the last section of the blurb. It’s a serious book—check trigger warnings.
🤩 Coming-of-age, psychological thriller type book.
🤩 Then and now chapters written in such a way that you need to keep going and want all the answers and details.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 A TBR full of romcoms because this reader can only handle so much of all the other genres.

Trigger Warnings:
🔬 human trafficking
🔬 on-page rape
🔬 off-page death of friend

I love a good character driven drama and this one has some mystery too. Much of the book takes place on a Greek island and at first it seems like this could be a light summery beach read. It turns out there are a lot of sinister happenings on this little island. Even though we realize early on where the plot is going the buildup to the main character catching on is a slow burn. I loved the atmospheric and descriptive writing. You could really envision the island and the settings there. The story is done with dual timelines which worked well. This a debut author and I’m interested in reading what she writes next.

Another summer mystery, this one following a group of gap year girls on the beaches of a remote, Greek party-island, and the awful men who inhabit it!
Broken into “Then” and “Now,” Bishop follows Rachel at 17 and 39, flipping back and forth between a teen girl hopelessly consumed in an inappropriate island romance, and a middle-aged married woman, delirious with dissatisfaction.
I found “Now” Rachel, and her sweet, crumbling marriage, to be the more interesting part of the book, but she’s never able to escape her 17-year old mindset. An outcome of trauma? Of course! Does it make for an engaging character study? Less so.
Rachel’s group of island friends is constantly shifting, the constant flux of summer jobs and gap year plans shifting the ground under her feet. It also means that we don’t get a good grip on most of the supporting cast – girls are relegated to tropes and single personality traits. Rachel (in her youth) isn’t a particularly fleshed-out character either, though that may have been intentional. A 37-year old guy shouldn’t look at a 17 year old and see a fully-developed, well-rounded person. He should see a teen, who is still finding herself, and doesn’t need him to come within 50ft of her.

Read If:
- You followed every development in the Jeffrey Epstein trial
- Your parents never forgave you for the stress you put them under as a teen
- You love “this paradise is actually Hell in disguise” narratives

Wow! What a journey! This book was filled with hope, dreams, secrets and lies. So many emotions on this ride. Such beautifully rich characters and expertly woven relationships. Katie Bishop does a great job of capturing the young heart.
Thank you NetGalley, Katie Bishop and St. Martin’s Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book