🌅 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 🌅

Thank you #partner @stmartinspress for the gifted copy!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿
𝗕𝘆 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽
𝗣𝘂𝗯: 𝟲/𝟲/𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯

📖 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁: When Rachel was 17, she went to Greece with a friend on a summer holiday. There she meets the enigmatic Alistair, a man twenty years her senior, and has a summer love affair that shapes her future.

Fifteen years later, Rachel is married to a charming man named Tom. From the outside, they're picture perfect! But Rachel has never been able to love Tom the way she loves Alistair. Because while she hasn't seen him since that long ago summer, she's carried on this deep obsession for nearly half her life.

Unable to let go of the events of that summer, Rachel reconnects with her past and is forced to examine her interpretation of the things that happened in Greece. Is Alastair really her one true love? Or is she a victim whose life was tragically altered by a sick man?

💭 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: This ambitious debut novel is very heavy, and very original! It's a thought-provoking, genre-bending, character-driven novel with layers upon layers that are slowly peeled back throughout the story. We have a single perspective here, with a dual-timeline in past and present.

The author does an excellent job taking such a sensitive topic - the exploitation of a naive teenager - and exploring the long-term impact it has on her life. It is described as a "post me-too" novel, and I think that's fitting.

⚠️ Please check TWs

𝑶𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘!

*Review posted to my Instagram today 6/5

I went into this one not sure what to expect, but anticipated a bit more of a scenic mystery in the beautiful Greek islands. What it ended up being was more of a dark, cultish, atmospheric mystery. It was a good story overall, but didn’t quite WOW me at all.

What I do enjoy in a mystery are secrets from the past and feeling the story unfold piece by piece. Rachel was clearly hiding something that was begging to be brought to light and I was quite curious what it would be, and how it could be so bad that she never looked back.

There was quite a bit of setup to really get to the point and for me to recognize where the story was going. The back and forth between timelines to introduce the characters and storyline was a bit slow in the beginning. Once it got to the point it was interesting, but not until the very end did it really hold my attention. Even then I felt like I was waiting for more to happen and found it a bit predictable.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for my gifted copy. Full review on my IG on pub day.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katie Bishop for an ARC of this book!**

Although the title of this book might get you humming Don Henley's The Boys of Summer and itching for a poolside cocktail...the contents of this slow burn and heavily atmospheric #MeToo inspired tale reminded me more of the bland and grey monotony of winter than the bright excitement of summer.

What if your perfect summer vacation never had to end?

Rachel heads to Greece with her friend Caroline at age 17...and is swept away by the romantic scenery and idyllic feel of the beautiful island they inhabit. On top of that, the teens get invited to some glamorous and exciting parties and the requisite drinks and drugs are par for the course. One night while at the bar, a striking older man walks up next to Rachel and the two lock eyes and exchange a few words...and within minutes, Rachel feels in her bones that she has found true love.

But Alistair is 20 years her senior...and works for a wealthy and powerful boss, Henry Taylor. Rachel vows to stay on the island and finds a way...but things in her relationship continue to become more intense and dramatic and she also has to keep things between her and Alistair secret. As Rachel continues to engage in risky behavior, several other girls are also swept up in their own late nights and keeping their own secrets...and one fateful and tragic night ends up binding them forever.

Many years later, Rachel is married to kind and sensible Tom and on a trip back to the same island...and the combination of their strained marriage and her feelings for the man she can't let go have Rachel reeling. But when a group of her old gal pals runs into her and deliver some news about Alistair, everything she thought she knew about the 'soulmate' that got away is about to change. Is now the time to pursue love and cut her husband loose? Or will Rachel have the courage and the strength to trust her old friends and acknowledge that her teenage infatuation was simply puppy love...with a man who WASN'T the Romeo she has longed to love for so long?

This is one of those books that is almost instantly misleading: the cover implies a zippy, sun-soaked thriller set in a beautiful locale...and only one of those three things is true. At first, I had a lot of hope for this read: Bishop's writing is certainly atmospheric, and the contrast between Rachel's silent misery with Tom in her current situation based against the glamorized look back at her whirlwind romance of sorts with Alistair was rife with potential for drama, and DEEP drama.

But when I realized that 17 year old Rachel and present day Rachel had basically the same level of maturity and common sense...I came to realize that personal growth wasn't going to be the cornerstone of this story...and for that matter, really wasn't present AT ALL.

Rachel's dewy eyed ignorance makes sense when she's seventeen (to an extent)...but as a grown woman, it's a bit far fetched that she would be SO oblivious to EVERYTHING that transpired that fateful summer. Not to mention her treatment of her poor husband Tom, who basically gets strung along for no apparent reason (still not even sure why she married him in the first place). There isn't really a lot to like about Rachel, and because she doesn't learn a thing even when the truth is being shouted in her face, it's hard to feel sorry for her.

There's also the fact that this prose is on the weighty side: not necessarily bad, but don't expect to blast through this one in a couple of hours. It works in the sense of atmosphere for the first 50% of the book or so, but once the plot jumped the shark, the writing quality also dipped and didn't recover. You also have to wait until about 70% or so for the 'thriller' part of the plot to transpire, so if you don't have the patience, I would quit while you're ahead.

And for the record, Rachel honestly might have done better if, in the end, she'd listened to the lyrics from Henley's song herself:

"I thought I knew what love was, what did I know?
Those days are gone forever
I should just let them go"

...I couldn't have said it better myself.

3.5 stars

Super dark. I actually haven’t read My Dark Vanessa but seeing it be compared to this one a lot. It’s a tale as old as time - young, impressionable barely-18 year old is enamored with a man twice her age and can’t see past her infatuation to realize she’s being totally taken advantage of.

The beachy setting in Greece might have you thinking it’s a light summer read but this one will leave you feeling heavy when you finish it. I really enjoyed it though!!

In The Girls of Summer, Rachel’s entire life has been centered around what happened during a formative teenage summer that she spent on a tiny island in Greece. Her love for Alistair has never left, despite being married to another man. The secrets that were kept that summer have marked the lives of all the girls that Rachel knew, and not in good ways. When Rachel reconnects with one of the girls from that summer, it triggers everything she lost and Rachel goes down a path she can’t come back from.

The story itself was interesting but I just feel like it took a long time to develop. I didn’t find any of the characters especially likeable and so I felt it was easy to put this story down and do or read other things.

Another story that really got me sucked in the whole way through! A great read with character that are so full of depth. Definitely a must read, especially with the way Katie Bishop wrote this novel.

The Girls of Summer was one of my anticipated reads for the month of June, and it did not disappoint.

I was looking forward to spending a few hundred pages on a literary vacation to a sunny Greek island, but this book was so much more than just a girls’ trip for some summer fun. Alternating between Now and Then, the reader gets a chance to not only see what transpired on the island while Rachel was seventeen, but also what her life had become in her thirties, including her memories of that youthful time on the island.

This book hooked me immediately. The back and forth of the chapters between the past and present really propelled this book forward. I could visualize this group of girls working and partying on this beautiful Greek Island, soaking up the sun and living it up. It sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Oh, but this novel delivered an intense, relevant reading experience.

Rachel has always had mostly fond memories of her time in Greece. She met a group of friends, came into her own, and fell in love with an older man. Alastair seemed to be the love of her life, but when we see Rachel years later, married to Tom and trying for a child, and still thinking of Alastair, you can’t help but wonder what had happened to their relationship.

It was interesting to see how memories from our youth can be romanticized and embellished. How we may not want to see the events the way others may have interpreted them. We don’t want to feel duped by how we felt or feel victimized over something that had meant so much to us at the time.

Whenever I read a novel, I always want to like the characters in the book. It doesn’t always happen, and in certain books, I just don’t expect to. So, did I like Rachel? Yes, I did. Did she make bad decisions? Absolutely! I couldn’t help but feel for the young girl who was blinded by her attraction to a man who showed her attention. Years later, she was forced to listen to her friends’ versions of what they remembered from that summer, and she had to come to terms with the fact that everything may not have been exactly as she remembered.

The Girls of Summer was a fast-paced, timely, relevant read that kept me glued to the pages. It made me feel a gamut of emotions, and I found myself still thinking about it days after I finished it.

*5 Stars

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.

I received an ARC of The Girls of Summer in exchange for an honest review.

A harrowing story about sex and labor trafficking. Although this story was not my favorite, I really appreciated the way the author showed how easy it can be to be trafficked. We often think of the movie “taken”, whereas trafficking can be much more simple and a much more gradual entry until the victims find they can’t escape. It is educational and an important story to read and share.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's PRess, and Katie Bishop for the advanced copy of The Girls of Summer in exchange for my honest review.

I have unfortunately decided to DNF this one approximately 20% in. I'm really not connecting with our female MC and the storyline isn't pulling me in.

I will not be rating or reviewing this book on any retail site aside from NetGalley as I don't believe it's fair to do when I have not finished the book!

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop is a captivating and emotional novel that will leave readers spellbound. With its lyrical prose and realistic descriptions of the island, the book is reminiscent of HBO's hit series, "The White Lotus." Fans of psychological suspense will be drawn to the plot-driven tension, making it a perfect read-alike for "My Dark Vanessa."

Bishop's writing style is both engaging and professional, making it easy for readers to immerse themselves in the story. The novel's characters are well-developed, and their emotions are palpable, making it a truly immersive experience.

Overall, The Girls of Summer is a must-read for anyone who loves a good psychological thriller. With its captivating plot, well-developed characters, and beautiful writing, it is sure to leave a lasting impression on readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this debut book by Katie Bishop and wonderfully narrated by Annabel Scholey - 4 stars!

Rachel is 17 years old and on holiday on an island in Greece. There she meets Alistair, an older man with whom she quickly becomes obsessed. She abandons her plans to return home to university and stays working at the bar with a group of friends, who spend their days and nights drinking and going to parties. In present day, Rachel is married to Tom and they take a holiday on the same island, where a chance meeting with one of the girls from her past reignites her obsession with Alistair and makes her rethink her past recollections of that time.

This was a wonderful debut that explored really tough topics. I liked the "then" and "now" versions of the story so that we can see what happened and how it affected Rachel in her present life. This should definitely be a cautionary tale to young women, who can be so vulnerable and find it hard to say no. Rachel was not a real likable character - her behavior when she was young is understandable, but her experience seemed to keep her in that perpetual state of bad decisions. Anxious to read more from this author!

Synopsis:

Rachel has been in love with Alistair, 20 years her senior, for fifteen years, even though she’s now married to someone else. Their story begins on a remote, Greek island when she was only 17, but as she becomes increasingly obsessed with reliving those drunken, wild nights, dark and deeply suppressed secrets about her first love affair begin to rise to the surface, as well as the truth about her time working for an enigmatic and wealthy man, who controlled so much more than she could have ever realized.

Review:

I had trouble putting this book down. It is set in the split time line that I LOVE for suspense. We travel between 17 y/o Rachel and currently, early 30's Rachel. Every so often, we'd get a little tidbit that would make it clearer what was happening and I couldn't wait to find the next one as I continued to read. I thought Bishop did a great job demonstrating the power of grooming when girls are young and impressionable - otherwise I find it sometimes hard to understand how people can get caught up in unsavory situations. I want to say more but I won't so that you enjoy it as much as I did!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

The story is told in two different timelines through Rachel's POV. The past where she is 17/18 and is feeling what independence feels like for the first time being away from home, school and everything else. She meets an older man who she falls in love with and she thinks hung the moon. The current timeline she is in her early 30s, married, but wishing she could go back to that one summer. The summer where she thought life was basically perfect. But sometimes we see the past better than it was.

This book was a debut....what?? I'll be honest, the first little bit of the book I was struggling with it. I wanted to shake the girls, especially Rachel, then I had to remind myself that they are young. At 18 years old you think you have everything figured out and when a cute boy comes along you become blind to everything else. It honestly made me think about a few things I did at 18 that I wish I never did. And I thought about one summer I think of more than I should, and questioned myself if it was really as prefect as I thought it was? Thankfully, it was nowhere like the summer they had. Once I got hooked in the book, I was hooked. I needed to know how the story ended. I don't want to give anything away but it made me think of a famous case that happened not too long ago here in the states. If you read the book you'll know who/what I'm talking about.

I listened to the book as I read. The narrator did a fantastic job!

All in all I thought this was a great debut. I am looking forward to what the author comes up with next. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillian Audio and St. Martin's Press for the copies of this book in exchange for my review!

Rachel and Caroline are on summer adventure before their second year in sixth form, and Rachel's funds are running low when they arrive on a remote greek island. They were only supposed to stay a week or two, but at the end, Caroline leaves alone because Rachel has fallen hard for the much older man that appears to manage one of the local bars. Told in dual timelines of that summer long ago and current times, Rachel grapples with unrequited teen love with a much older man and how it affects her life as an adult, leading down a very dark path of what can happen to naive young girls when faced with very adult situations.

This was...this was an excellent book grappling with very timely and heavy topics, about how older men groom teen girls, and how dangerous that can be when that leads to sex trafficking, teen pregnancy, and drugs. It was well told, and a book a lot of people really should read.
But also, it's being billed as an atmospheric thriller, and it's really not that at all. There's no edge of your seat twists and turns you expect in a modern thriller. You can see what's ahead around that curve easily, and that's not a bad thing in the type of book this really is, but if you're expecting a thriller, you'll be disappointed (as I was for about the first half of the book, waiting for the mystery and suspense to start).

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Katie Bishop and St Martin’s Press for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Slow paced. Not loving or feeling any attachment to the characters. It felt like nothing happened for so long that I felt like when something did happen, I didn’t really care.

I’ll be honest and say that the beautiful cover of this book drew me in, and I requested it without reading the synopsis. This book was not at all what I was expecting, but I thought it was written very well and touched on tough topics in a sensitive way.

I don’t want to say much about this book because I really do think it’s best going in blind. It is categorized as a thriller, but I’m not sure that’s the best genre to describe this book. It’s more contemporary fiction with a coming-of-age story. There is a bit of a mystery aspect to it, but I don’t think that’s the main focus.

I love dual timelines and books set in Greece (probably because that’s my dream vacation destination) so I was pleasantly surprised that’s where the past sections of the book were set. The present is set in London 15 years later. I preferred the past sections, although at times they were hard to read. Although this book won’t be for everyone, I enjoyed Bishop’s writing style and was impressed that this was a debut.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

As the synopsis indicates this book is dark. That said, I found it very compelling and thought the dual timeline was well-used as a strategy to show how the main character was abused and assaulted and the emotional fortitude and resilience required for her to finally come to terms with it in the present. I enjoyed the book and could not put it down once I started. Would recommend if you like a dark psychological book.

📚: The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
⭐️: 2.5/5 (rounding up on #Goodreads)

Rachel & Caroline head off to a summertime Greek island hopping adventure before the school year. At 17, they’re on the cusp of young adulthood, envisioning themselves older than they are, and making new friends - some of whom are questionably older (with even more questionable motives). 15 years later, Rachel finds herself married, filled with secrets, and still thinking about that summer that ended traumatically and irrevocably changed her.

A slow burn of a book, the first half of this read dragged on without a solidified plot so much so that I nearly DNF’ed. As the story picks up, so does the pace, and the darkness of the #MeToo driven plot. This is a heavy read with a time-jumping final chapter that honestly could have used just a drop of the first half’s drawn out nature.

Thank you to @stmartinspress via @netgalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Girls of Summer is out this week on June 6th.

Thanks to the publishers for an advanced copy of The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop
This was darker than I expected and I didn't like the dual time frame.

I'm not sure if Rachel is meant to be such an unlikable character but the themes of memory and trauma years later and what it takes to reclaim your story were strong. It did make me think, but overall this book wasn't for me..