You might see three stars and think to yourself, “Oh, this book must not be that good.” In this case, I would disagree and still recommend you read it! I completed this read via audiobook. The narrator was exceptional in making me sympathize with our main character, even when she was being a naive fool. I felt SO BAD for this girl. I think I was expecting a bit more of an emotional punch from the book’s ending, however. I think there will be a lot of readers who love this book, and some readers who thought it was just okay. It was fun to read a book set in Greece for a change! If you’re looking for more heart-shattering moments, please check out Muted by Tami Charles.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC. I was happy to read and give back my opinion.
Rachel is on a summer vacation with her friend, exploring the Greek islands. She is seventeen and yearning for more than her gloomy life in England. Fate or misfortune brings them to a small, less populated island. There she meets Alistair, a sophisticated man, who sees "her". What happens next is a look at how young girls are exploited and taken advantage of their insecurities . Shades of Jeffrey Epstein , how a sex offender uses his power and influence.

A timely cautionary tale that I think young women should pay special attention to. If you have someone like that in your life, I would consider gifting them this book. It's not necessarily a new story, it's a tale as old as time, but we are seeing it with new eyes in this era and hopefully our girls will learn from the things we weathered. If we can pass something down to the next generation in this way, that would be great.

Rachel's husband Tom is taking her on a romantic getaway to the Greek island she inhabited for the most formative summer of her life. She was only 17.

It has the opposite effect as he intended. Instead of bringing them closer, she's flooded with memories and regrets. She dreams of recapturing the simplicity of her youth.

We soon find out that summer is not as simple and innocent as she may remember. Not long after arriving, she meets Alistair, an older man who woos her and her friends with his nice parties and work opportunities. She thinks they have something special but he disappears after that summer, leaving their torrid summer affair behind him.

As she reconnects with others from that summer, they put the puzzle pieces together and what is laid bare isn't innocent, but rather very ugly and perverted.

Rachel never got over that summer. At a crossroads in her marriage where she should be moving forward, she still chases that fleeting sense of freedom and power that only comes with youth. We only get it once. This made me feel a little long in the tooth myself.

Love, loss, betrayal, consent, grooming. Even as an adult she doesn't know what happened to her but with new times come new views and what was once buried is coming to the surface.

This was a great story. Rachel is not the most likable main character, with her coldness to her husband and her constant vibe of disarray, but that's not the point. It's not that kind of story. I think the flaws were the point and it is supposed to be somewhat uncomfortable and disturbing. You're supposed to internally scream sometimes. It's a warning and a lesson.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the chance to listen and review. The audio narration was wonderful as well.

The Girls Of Summer is a beautifully written debut.

Rachel visits Greece the summer she’s turning 18 and decides to stay. She’s fallen in love with the beauty of the island, the freedom and of course a man. Alistair is everything she ever wanted. How can she leave?

Fast forward 16 years and she is still not over it. She has different memories than her friends from that time period and of how everything went down and ultimately turned out for her and those other girls that she formed bonds with that summer.

This is tender, somewhat dark story of what could have been. What should have been? Told in two timeline POVs both from Rachel, we slowly get
The full story here…and it’s a lot.

This is a slow burn which I tend to be more fond of than most and I really enjoyed this book. Don’t let the title fool you here, it’s a dark tale of discovery. The worst and best kind of discoveries are always those you discover about yourself.

Rachel wasn’t my favorite character and she’s def a flawed human. Somehow this did make me like her more towards the end.

I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next! I devoured this one in a day and won’t forget it anytime soon.

Such a relevant topic also. Well done!

Thrillers that happen in beautiful locations are 100 percent my cup of tea. The Girls of Summer is a brilliant coming-of-age book about Rachel and her time on the island. Although the situation may not (hopefully) be relatable to most people, Rachel is young and naive; and many people have been there. I loved this book. I found it suspenseful but also very emotional. Thanks for the advance review copy. Katie Bishop did an excellent job and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thanks for a copy of this ARC!

Rachel is utterly in love with Alistair in an all encompassing way and you feel and see that throughout the whole story. I think this story was incredibly well done even with sensitive portions. That being said, I did feel it was a bit slow at times.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy of this ARC!

Rachel and her friends are having the summer of their lives: they're teenagers, they're living in Greece, and they're bartending and partying the summer away. Rachel also meets Alistair and falls desperately in love with him, but everything falls apart when one of the girls ends up dead.

In a #MeToo-movement storyline, Katie Bishop delves into the dark secrets and obsessiveness, blurred lines, power and manipulation that can happen between teenage girls and older men. I wouldn't really call this book a thriller, but more contemporary fiction with a bit of a dark and mysterious element. I enjoyed this read, but would suggest avoiding if you have any triggers relating to #MeToo,

16 year old Rachel is a teenager when she and her friend go back packing to a Greek Island. In her travels she meets handsome and older Alastair. Alastair is charismatic and entrances her and she finds herself developing feelings for him that will end up shaping her and changing her through the rest of her life.

We then find ourselves about 18 or so years later and Rachel is married to Tom, although she's never stopped thinking about Alastair and when she finds an opportunity which she is able to get in touch with him she makes a decision in which to do so.

This book is told in a dual time frame manner, both from the perspective of Rachel's teenage years and during the current time frame. You will find that this book will take you back to a time where you will find yourself remembering yourself as a teenager. The mistakes you made, your lack of confidence and ability to make good decisions, how naive you were an awkward you felt in situations. The author did an excellent job and bringing you back to that point in your life so that you were there with the lead character feeling the way she had felt during that time in her life. I found myself in her place and feeling sorry for her and empathizing for what she was going through.

Katie Bishop, the author, did a great job with character development and creating a plot that was not only character driven but driven by the location and the past and the presents. I've been to Greece many times, I'm half creek, and she's done an excellent job with the description of what a Greek island feels like, it makes me miss being there.

An excellent debut novel. Well done.

"The Girls of Summer" by Katie Bishop is a captivating and lyrical novel that takes readers on a journey to a remote Greek island. The story follows Rachel, a woman who has been in love with Alistair for fifteen years, even though she is now married to someone else. The novel delves into the complexities of love, memory, trauma, and the power dynamics of relationships.

The novel is set against the backdrop of a sun-trapped Greek island, where Rachel had a summer love affair with Alistair when she was only seventeen. The story explores how that summer consumed her and how it has affected her life since. As Rachel becomes increasingly obsessed with reliving the events of that summer, she reconnects with the other girls who were similarly drawn to life on the island.

As Rachel delves deeper into her memories, dark and deeply suppressed secrets about her first love affair begin to rise to the surface. The novel also explores the truth about Rachel's time working for an enigmatic and wealthy man, who controlled more than she could have ever realized.

"The Girls of Summer" is a post-#MeToo novel that grapples with themes of power, sex, and consent. It explores the complicated nature of memory and trauma, and what it takes to reframe and reclaim one's own story.

Overall, "The Girls of Summer" is a beautifully written and emotionally charged novel. Bishop's writing is lyrical and evocative, transporting readers to the sun-drenched Greek island and immersing them in Rachel's story.

One of the strengths of the novel is its exploration of power dynamics in relationships, particularly the dynamics of age differences and the effects of trauma. The novel is thought-provoking and challenging, and Bishop handles these sensitive topics with sensitivity and nuance.

The characters are well-drawn, and their relationships are complex and realistic. Rachel is a compelling protagonist, and her journey of self-discovery is both heartbreaking and inspiring.

The only drawback to "The Girls of Summer" is that it may not be for everyone. The novel is introspective and character-driven, and readers who prefer fast-paced plots and action may find it slow-going.

"The Girls of Summer" is a moving and thought-provoking novel that will stay with readers long after they finish reading it. It is a must-read for anyone who enjoys character-driven fiction that delves into complex themes and relationships.

I was really excited to receive this NetGalley copy for review, after hearing so much talk and hype about this book. About 1/3 of the way through I felt this book was missing something. I kept waiting for a twist or turn and sadly that didn’t happen. It felt a bit rushed and predictable to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! Expected publication is June 6th.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop. The journey that we go on with our main character Rachel spans many years of her life, and I was so rooting for her progress and transformation. We meet her younger self as a 17 year old who is traveling in Greece with her friend, and through chapters that alternate timelines, we also know present day Rachel who is in her early thirties. Present day Rachel is still attempting to come to terms with everything that happened to her during her fateful summer in Greece, as well as trying to maintain her current marriage and job. We learn the details of that summer as the book progresses.

I think that Bishop did a great job of stringing us along with her use of tension and plotting- I feel like she revealed new things to us at the perfect time. As a reader, I was almost dreading the new things I would learn of Rachel’s summer as I pieced her story together. This wasn’t necessarily an easy read- in fact some moments are quite disturbing and it’s definitely worth a look at some TWs. However, I was moved by the story Bishop created and it had a lasting impact on me! I’m excited to check out her future novels!

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop was full of sadness. It unfolded as if it happened in real life. So many young girls get taken advantage of and trafficked in real life. I couldn't imagine being in the young girls' shoes as they were sent to what they thought were parties for fun and entertainment. Rachel's whole life revolved around what she thought was true love to only be destroyed later on. Her life and marriage were a mess from what happened 20 years ago. I was glad she finally saw what should have been right in front of her. This was a real page turner for me even though I was reluctant to start it. I was sucked in pretty quickly as I waited to see what was going to happen when her past and present collided.

The first half of this book was so slow that it took everything in me to continue reading it. I was expecting some sort of thriller/suspense type book, but this definitely was not that type of book.

The story hops back and forth between the present and the past, and I couldn't seem to care about either timeline. The main character, Rachel, is not a compelling character at all. She basically blows up her marriage because she can't stop thinking about a man from her past...a man who was comes off as super creepy and predatory as he was in his 30s and dating/sleeping with teenagers when Rachel met him.

Was I meant to feel for Rachel in this story? Because I absolutely didn't. The fact that the author put her in an unhappy marriage doesn't make it okay that she cheats on her husband, even if it worked out better for him in the end. Tom is actually the person I felt sorry for through most of this book. Because also, Tom comes off as a loving husband who would do anything for Rachel, and Rachel kind of just comes off as a bit of a b*tch.

The second half of the book picks up a bit as we get into the only-slightly more suspenseful part of the story. I did start to feel something for all the girls that were caught in Alistair and Henry's web in the second half of this book. Rachel was still pretty unlikeable as it took her forever to be on board with Alistair being a predator and causing a lot of harm to a lot of women.

Overall, I wanted this book to be so much more than it was. The storyline was just a bit too slow for my liking and the main character just wasn't compelling.

So dark and mysterious, this was a great read!

What seems like a summer of fun quickly turns into something way more sinister.

I loved the chapters going back and forth between now and then. Kept me on my toes and wanting more.

Truly grateful to be able to read this early and i do recommend this one to others!

I just coulkd not get into the story. I did not care about the character nor her past experiences. I wanted thriller and suspense but didn't get it.

I read 30% of this book waiting for something to happen that would make me want to read the rest, but it’s slow and really not very interesting. It’s about a married woman who keeps thinking about a man in her past and what could have been.

So, she texts him.

It’s a lot of the past mixed with the present, but all I saw was a couple deplorable characters (a creepy older guy preying on a 17 year old and a woman who has a wonderful husband, but wants more) with an uninteresting backstory. It’s more seedy romance than anything.

It was written fine, but it just isn’t my cup of tea. It is marketed as mystery/thriller, but I didn’t see any of that.

I will not be reviewing this since I did not finish it. Thank you for the early copy.

Ok, I have not had a book evoke such strong emotions in a long time. I wouldn’t say I was triggered necessarily, but I found myself hating on some characters and yelling at others. I was so enraged that NONE of the girls were able to see how obviously they were being groomed by these disgusting men. And that Rachel held onto the memories of this summer as something wonderful and free and the loss of a first love, long into adulthood!! I can’t even! The story was redeemed as she finally was able to change her perspective and see that summer for what it actually was, but not after destroying her marriage. Wow! I’m still processing this one!

This was a good one, but it wasn't as thrilling as I was expecting. This one read very very slow, so it only got 2 stars from me.

I enjoyed this book but I didn’t love it. I liked the then and now chapters. It made it more suspenseful. What I could not get over was the age gap. I also feel like not much really happened and it seemed a bit predictable. I didn’t really like Rachael, I know that she was young at the time but now that she is an adult she’s a litle too naive. It was a dark and powerful read and it was interesting. I did like the pace of the book.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for sending me an arc in exchange for review.

This book was so heartbreaking to read, following along with Rachel as she relives the summer that she was 18 hurt to read at times because you don't want her to go through what she goes through. the writing was beautiful and i couldn't put it down. i can tell you that a lot of people will compare this to My Dark Vanessa but The Girls of Summer stands on its own.