Thank you to NetGalley and Katie Bishop for an ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

Rachel and her friend Caroline are able to go to Greece without parents their senior year of high school. The pair end up on a party island where drinking and partying are the norm. Rachel falls for a man named Alistair even though he is 20 years older than her. 16 years later Rachel still dreams of her first love despite being married to Tom. We travel with Rachel back and forth in time as she remembers the summer she found herself in love for the first time.

I DNF'd around 50%. I tried this as an audiobook as well thinking it would grab my interest a little more as I am an audio-visual person. Unfortunately it did not. Just to give as a trigger warning there is rape. Which I do not like in books as a means of character progression. I felt it was unnecessary. I gave up then and there. If you don't mind triggers feel free to check this book out. It just was not for me personally.

🌅Did not wow me😐

3-3.5🌟stars
I just found this novel too long; it expended too many pages to get to what actually happened to British teen Rachel Evans and the other girls who were on the island and fell under the patronage of a manipulative wealthy man and his factotum.

I could see the good bones of the plot and it had timely social relevance, but I felt it was weighed down by the vague and slow way the story meandered its way to the point. And too often the story diverted to scenes that I did not think advanced the main plot, like Rachel's visit to her mother's; rambles around London; visits with the in-laws, and a day trip to the beach with Jules.

Also, for me, the main character was not someone I could sympathize with, either in her teen "then" party days on the island or in her "now" unraveling London life.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I probably should have read the Booklist review that lists My Dark Vanessa as a readalike of this book before starting, because I was expecting a light summer romance, with a grown woman looking back fondly on her summer in Greece. While I was not expecting the deeply disturbing story that I found within the pages of Katie Bishop's debut novel. That said, I liked it a lot...if you can actually say that about a story that makes you really uncomfortable.

The descriptions of the island are breathtaking, making me want to hop on a plane and explore a Greek island immediately. I really like the format of the novel, too, with chapters alternating between the present day and 'Then' when Rachel is 17-going-on-18 and basking in her summer partying and falling in love with Alistair, a man around twice her age.

What made me uncomfortable was the sense of impending doom that the story of that summer imparted. I didn't like what I saw developing, and the author did a great job of building the suspense surrounding Rachel's memory of events. Rachel herself is an unlikable character, her naivete as a teen, and her dishonesty with her husband in the present really grated on me as I read. I was also disgusted with the obvious grooming that was taking place, and with the girls' seeming inability to see what was happening.

The Girls of Summer was a compelling read, I found myself reading compulsively to finish even as I wanted to throw it across the room in disgust at times.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC of The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop. The opinions in this review are my own.

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @netgalley & @stmartinspress for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
“Joining a post #MeToo discourse, The Girls of Summer grapples with themes of power, sex and consent, as it explores the complicated nature of memory and trauma – and what it takes to reframe, and reclaim, your own story.”
Written in dual timelines of “then” and “now”, The Girls of Summer is narrated, and it felt very narrative by Rachel (great name), who spent a summer on a remote Greek island at age 17 and is now living in London at 34, with her husband, but that summer is still haunting.
At first, it reminded me of Mamma Mia – a group of friends travel to a Greek island and one of them decides to stay. However, it quickly became clear that it’s not the same at all, that it’s a much darker story about the girls on the island who were taken advantage of.
Unfortunately, Rachel couldn’t get past what she saw as a real romance with an older man, or see her time on the island for what it actually was. I found this a bit frustrating and repetitive. Knowing who she was at the start of the novel, it was surprising that Rachel ended up in this situation, but I guess that’s kind of the point of the book – that it could happen to anyone.
Rachel’s whole life was consumed by this summer, and although this does become more understandable the more you read, it takes a while for the full story to start coming out and it took me a while to get into it. I also read reviews about a twist coming closer to the end, but to be honest, it wasn’t as big or surprising as I had hoped.
I this this is an important topic and I think Katie Bishop does a good job in her debut novel of digging into this world and how this experience can affect someone many years later.
I don’t want to give anything away but if you’re going to read this one and are worried about certain topics, be sure to look up the trigger warnings first.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's press and the author for a electronic ARC of The Girls of Summer.
Anticipated release date: June 6, 2023

This book was definitely not what I expected from the description. The book starts off with two friends traveling before starting their college studies. When Rachel and her friend first get to an island of Greece it seems like it could be a typical summer for the two. That quickly changes.

The book is told in two points of time, Then and Now. The MC Rachel is not very likeable in either of the story lines, but especially in the now. She is so hurtful to her loved ones.

This book gives off strong Epstein island vibes. Some of it was very hard to read. I kept thinking open your eyes Rachel! She thought she was in "love" though and that theme carried throughout the entire book.

The book is well written and I read it pretty quick. There was definitely enough twists through the whole book.

The Girls of Summer is not a light read, but I did really enjoy it. The dual timeline kept the pace moving for me, and I found that I appreciated both the past and present narration equally. My heart broke for Rachel and the other girls in the story, and I really appreciated the growth I saw in Rachel by the end of the book. The ending was very satisfying to me, though it was hard to get there due to the heavy subject matter of the story.

This was an absorbing cautionary tale set against a glittering summer on a Greek island.
The opening drew me in, loved how it all unfolded with perfect pacing, and tension scattered through expertly; always just enough to keep you turning the page. This book deals with a lot of incredibly dark issues but I thought they were handled so well; nothing was forced or written in without a specific reason. Rachel’s narrative is complex and the way it is split between the present day and that teenage summer is perfect for her to reassess the people and events from her past. Highly recommend.

This book is difficult. The writing is good, the story is slow. The story is dual timeline, the past where our MC believes she is in love with a much older man. And the present where our MC thinks she is still stuck on this man and her realization that he is a predator. As the reader, we know this guy is terrible as soon as we meet him. We don't go on the same journey as the main character, so I was just left not feeling quite right reading this.

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop #thirtyfourthbookof2023 #arc

CW: alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual assault, adultery, abortion

From NetGalley: Joining a post #MeToo discourse, The Girls of Summer grapples with themes of power, sex, and consent, as it explores the complicated nature of memory and trauma––and what it takes to reframe, and reclaim, your own story.


This book does not fit into my reader wheelhouse, and I knew that going in. It seemed to me that it would have lots of descriptions and thought processing, and it does. The description of this book as plot driven is misleading. It was simply uninteresting to me, and weirdly enough, the general plot line was familiar to me, as though I’ve read something similar years ago. The book is tense and hazy and not the sort of thing I want to read. I’m sure there is an audience for this book, but it’s not what I wanted to read at this moment.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advance copy. (Pub date 6/6/23)

I know what The Girls of Summer was trying to be. I don’t think it worked for me. So many things were overly written and they added nothing to the plot. The younger version of Rachel was just naive while the older version was just unlikable. Literally in the first present day chapter she complains about her husband being too compliant and making her go somewhere she doesn’t want to go. Then she leaves him to find a gross old guy who was never in any way someone anyone should be looking for. These books written as if love, romance, and even lust, have to be these all consuming things that make you act stupid are really kind of part of the problem this book tries to address.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

The story revolves around Rachel and flips between past and present. Ranging from her teens years on holiday with her best friend Caroline to present day, the story unravels drug and alcohol use, assault, mention of abortion, cheating, falling for a much older man, grooming…the list goes on. It also reveals the death of one of the summer friends and what may have led to it.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn’t hate it completely, but the cheating, grooming, and assault were too much for me. I say grooming because that is what I feel Alistair did with Rachel.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

*3.5 stars rounded up. A tale of young, naive girls on the cusp of adulthood who get groomed and manipulated by older men into doing things they wouldn't normally do. The setting is a Greek island where girls come to vacation before the new school year begins again. Seventeen-year-old Rachel Evans arrives with her friend Caroline and is thrilled to be singled out by a handsome older man named Alistair at a local bar that night. Usually she is the wallflower so she's basking in the new found glory of this attention. Alistair invites Rachel and her friends to a party the next night at the home of his wealthy employer, Henry Taylor. 'Those parties are a big deal. I can't believe you got an invite already!' enthuses one of the other girls. Once Rachel falls in love, it's so easy to be drawn into a web of evilness.

The story is told in Rachel's first person narrative in two timelines: Then and Now (16 years later). In the present, Rachel is living in London, married and working at one of the museums. But still she clings to memories of her first love, her island romance, and what might have been. What will it take for her to finally see and accept the truth of what really was going on that summer?

One can't help but picture Jeffery Epstein's little island and what went on there as one reads this novel. I kept wanting to shake some sense into Rachel, even as an adult. 'There are none so blind as those who will not see.'

I received an arc of this debut novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks! My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

I don't think I really knew what I was getting into with this one. I'm STILL thinking about it.

Rachel spends the summer before her 6th term in Greece - working and boarding for free with other young women. However, when Rachel befriends some girls from the village, she hears murmurs that living at Henry Taylor's house, and working for Henry Taylor, may not be everything it is lauded to be. Blurry nights, lost memories, secret trysts...it's all normal for a 17 year old, right?

Ten years later, Rachel confronts memories of her summer there when she re-establishes contact with some of her friends from the island. As more stories are told, Rachel must confront the truth of both her memory and her trauma.

*I couldn't stop making connections between Epstein and his cronies with Henry Taylor. The author's note did not address this connection, so this is merely my own connection. The author did address the #metoo movement, and how many, MANY women realized that nonconsensual incidences (and manipulation) are not what men may play them off as: they're sexual assault.

I loved this book. I can't stop thinking about it. I can't recommend it enough. However, there are some serious content warnings: sexual assault and grooming.

The author’s note explains what this is about perfectly….”The girls of Summer explores the gray area of consent.” The author did exactly that.

It missed the mark a little for me because it was incredibly wordy and was a bit slow. The characters were a bit flat and I wasn’t a fan of any of them.

However, the story served its purpose in showing how the MC, Rachel, was so pliable at her young age and mistaking what she was doing for having power when she was really being used and manipulated by an older man.

It’s def got some Epstein vibes, if ya know what I mean. It’s like a fictionalized book about him and his private island residence. I could totally see this happening in real life…oh wait it did…well to be accurate it DOES still happen, which is terrifying. So many young people are exploited while they are thinking they are in control.

This one could be very triggering for some so please check trigger warnings. It’s a #metoo book.

Overall it was a decent read, the premise is memorable, the story not so much. It’s sort of like the Epstein documentary just more dramatized (not that it needed to be because it was already so awful).

Def worth checking out especially if you like a slow burn.

This was a slow, atmospheric, mysterious read that I unfortunately stopped reading at about 40% in. I tried to like this book but between the very unlikeable main character and the huge age difference I couldn’t get past I decided to not finish reading.

Wow! I read this book in one sitting! The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop is a great dark summer read.

The dual timeline follows Rachel now and summer seventeen years ago in Greece. After going to Greece on holiday she decides to extend her trip and work in a bar with the friends she’s made on the island.

There are a lot of trigger warnings for this book, akin to Tell Me Lies meets Jeffrey Epstein.

The Girls of Summer is addictive from the first page. If you’re looking for a darker summer read with summer vibes don’t miss this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

"I was never good at being loved."

The timeline jumps back and forth between then and now.  "Then" is Rachel as a teenager backpacking through parts of Euopre with her friends when she comes across a lesser known island in Greece and meets the mysterious and alluring Alistair. "Now" Rachel is married and living in London, reflecting on her time in Greece. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to like Rachel.  She seems obsessed with youth to an alarming extent.  In fact, most of her comments and thoughts hinge off of that. She also never seems happy about anything.  She lies to her husband but says she loves him and often has very unflattering thoughts about him when he's caring and attentive to her.  But, the story is a slow, suspenseful burn, and as it unfolds, you find out exactly why she's that way.  This story gets very dark at times.  As a teenager, she was unsure of herself and, therefore, an easy mark to be manipulated and abused.  Her self-worth was tied to a person who only used her.  She never seemed to be able to get past that.  The person was older than her, which also explains her obsession with age and the fact she doesn't think she has any value. There was a twist at the end that I did see coming, but overall, this was enjoyable, and I didn't want to put it down. If you're looking for a light read, this isn't it. This was dark and had quite a few triggering situations. Definitely pick it up if you don't shy away from darker stories.
 
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Girls of Summer is very reminiscent of a few other books released around the same period this year. Told through a dual timeline, both focused on the main character Rachel. In present day, Rachel is married to Tom, and they are visiting Greece. In the past Rachel is seventeen years old and off on a girls trip to Greece with her best friend Caroline. The girls stayed in hostels and reveled in the party scene. Rachel falls hard for Alistair, who is twenty yers her senior. In the present day, while on her vacation in Greece, Rachel meets a woman from her past, that makes her confront what really happened when she was a teenager. Reminiscent of Before We Were Innocent and My Last Innocent Year, The Girls of Summer is a well told story that touches on some uncomfortable topics. Overall it was well done and I look forward to see what Bishop comes out with next.

This is a deeply poignant story told in the past and present. It is reflective of a group of young girls who are preyed on. Rachel is conflicted by an event that happened to her as a teenager. Now she is dealing with how it has affected her life and trying to figure out the truth. The story pulls at the heartstrings as the life she has carefully constructed begins to fall apart. It is easy to read and entertaining.

Well written. Definitely gave me Jeffery Epstein vibes. A Me Too book written for anyone. I throughly enjoyed this read and the way it was written.