Rachel visits Greece as a teen and has a love affair with an older man that changes her life.

For the genre that it is, it was a little too descriptive and slow moving for me. That said i think that it tells an important story and shows how young women can be manipulated by older, powerful men. I hated some of the main characters but I liked Jules and how she really was there.

“The sea always reminds me of that summer. How the entire world had seemed within reach back then.”

The Girls of Summer comes out 5/31.

*Many thanks to St. Martin's Press, Katie Bishop and Netgalley for my gifted eARC. Publication date 6/20/23*

This book will definitely be the talk of next year! A slow burn that will have you flipping the pages so fast to see what happens next. This book is very dark and disturbing with many trigger warnings, so don't go into it thinking it's going to be a cute summer read because it is definitely the opposite!

Told in the "then" and "now"
THEN: Shy, naive, 18 year old Rachel falls for Alistair, a much older manipulating man while she is on a long vacation in Greece.
NOW: Rachel is in her late 30's married to Tom, but she has never stopped obsessing over Alistair and they way he abruptly left her in Greece and now she has the chance to reconnect with him.

4.5 stars for me and I will patiently be waiting for Katie Bishop's next book.

Rachel loved her time on the Greek islands but it has also scared her in her adult life. Through a series of flashbacks we learn about her summer working on an island and her love affair with a man 20 years her senior. Interspersed is her current life and what happens when that man returns. This novel is well written and very moving. As the layers are peeled back you are not surprised to learn what was really happening. The author does a fantastic job of sharing Rachel's thoughts as a teen and you can easily imagine how she got mixed up in a terrible situation. If you love a Greek getaway, a metoo story, or just a thrilling novel told via flashbacks, The Girls Of Summer is for you!
#STmartinspress

THE GIRLS OF SUMMER was a well written but difficult read that centres around Rachel and her experience on a Greek island when she was a teenager. Thinking that she had found the love of her life, it later turns out to be full of manipulation, lies, and abuse.

I was completely sucked into the story from the first page (such a heart wrenching scene) and thought Bishop did a great job of handling such difficult subject matter, while not shying away from the fact that stories and situations like this exist. A very emotional read and I recommend looking up the trigger warnings before reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my arc. THE GIRLS OF SUMMER will be published in June 2023.

Painfully slow (to me), it never compelled me to keep reading and I struggled my way through it over a couple of months. The writing isn’t bad but it just never grabbed me. I wasn’t the right reader for this one.

Wow, what a beautiful book! I didn't know much about this title, before receiving the ARC but I was pleasantly surprised! Thank you to NetGalley, and the publisher, for the chance to read this story in exchange for an honest review.

"The Girls of Summer," is not what I would call an enjoyable read, but a heavy, important read. It needs some trigger warnings for sexual assault, suicide and abortion. This story is about a young girl Rachel, who at 17 goes to a Greek island where she falls in love with an older man named, Alistair. 16 years later, while married to another man, she looks back at her summer romance fondly, and decides to go back to visit the island. There she runs into a friend she hasn't seen since that summer. As she reconnects with this friend, she realizes she actually experienced something sinister. (Think Jeffrey Epstein.) This book is very uncomfortable at times, but does an amazing job of allowing the reader to understand the victim, and relate to her. I really felt for Rachel and rooted for her the entire time, even when she made horrible decisions.

Out in 2023, I would add this to your pre-order list now. It is a wonderful debut!

While I can’t say I *enjoyed* reading this book, I will say that it is a wonderfully written, albeit heartbreaking read. It is dark and twisted and not for everyone. Katie Bishop did a great job depicting horrible actions in a realistic way. I would definitely recommend reading it but please check trigger warnings first!

I will start by saying that this book was not at all what I expected. It was tough to read at times due to the manipulation and sexual abuse that the main character, Rachel endured.

Dark secrets begin to surface about Rachel's first trip to the island when she was 17.

What I liked:
The writing style: I was instantly pulled into the story and the island setting. I could feel Rachel's apprehension and I loved the dual timelines.

This is a very gripping story that delves into uncomfortable but important themes of manipulation and sexual abuse by older men on younger women and girls.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this early read.

DNF - i found myself not being able to get into this book too much right now unfortunately. it was still good but i didn’t want to finish it. i’ll probably grab a copy when it comes out cause maybe it’s just more of a summer read for me

I finished reading The Girls of Summer Last Night, and quite honestly, I am at a loss for words.

Love....

Its supposed to be this cant eat, cant sleep, reach for the moon, kind of feeling.

That is exactly what Rachel was experiencing, however, Alistair was not, he did not love Rachel, he NEEDED her and not in the ways that you think. Alistair quite honestly made me sick. The amount of manipulation and stress he put Rachel and the other girls through was cringeworthy.

We look at men in power and we idolize them...
"They must be really smart !!!"
"Look at all they have accomplished!!!"
"The full package!!"

Not every successful man (or woman) made it there in an honest way and these guys definitely did not.

There were so many times within this book that I wanted to shake ALL of these girls, Rachel for leaving her friend when she needed her most, Agnus, for knowing what was going on and letting it continue and Priya, Helena and Kaira for staying when they knew what was going on was not right.

Granted, these girls were young, naive, and living their best life in what they thought was paradise. However, they let this cloud their judgment and put them in harms way more than once.

Thank God for Jules. She was the star of the book. Not only was she supportive but she shows us all what being a good friend is and what we strive to be for one another.

This book is written from Rachels POV, told between dual time lines of now and then. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it had me thinking the entire time. Now, the subject is rough but its a reality. Books that hit home the way this one did gives you a deeper kind of appreciation as it opens your eyes to the fact that unfortunately, these situations exist.

Katie Bishop did a great job playing on my emotions and I am excited to see what she comes out with next.

This book was so good. I enjoyed it and enjoyed reading it. It wasn’t what I expected but it was good.

A summer themed book in autumn? Well, what if I told you the topics covered here were dark enough you wouldn't even notice? Major CW here for grooming, trafficking and more.This one had me reading waaaaay past my bedtime. What was the last book to do that to you?
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The Girls of Summer is a very well written novel which time hops between a life-changing summer in the past and current day for our main character Rachel.
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Right off the bat I felt a strong pull to Rachel. There were some really relatable moments for me, from being the overlooked friend to wishing to relive moments from long ago. Though I never experienced anything remotely near what she encountered I could absolutely see how her past shaped her future and the struggle between acknowledging what she felt and what it truly was. To quote it, "That place has been my whole life. Everything I thought I knew about myself was constructed in those few months I spent within touching distance of the sea. Everything I am is because Alistair loved me."
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I've heard this is a good one for fans of My Dark Vanessa as well. Unfortunately it's not publishing till June 2023, so for now just make sure it's on your tbr list so you don't miss it!

Ever wonder what would happen if your past came back? The Girls of Summer is a dark and twisty read where the past is not the past anymore. A great read!

Rachel lands on a small Greek island at 17 after a backpacking trip and falls in love. Both with the island and with handsome older man Alistair. She decides to stay on the island and he hooks her up with a job at the bar he works at for businessman Henry Taylor, as well as a place to stay where a bunch of other girls that work at the bar stay as well. As Rachel gets deeper involved with Alistair and the strange opulent and dangerous world that is Henry Taylor’s house, she realizes some things are not as they seem. When a traumatic event rocks the island, Alistair leaves her high and dry, leading her to pine after her love for many years, even after being married to someone else.
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💭Thoughts💭
Wow. This book was very My Dark Vanessa meets Jeffrey Epstein. Rachel was so naive at first. You almost don’t believe that she could believe everything was as innocent as it seems. Then, as an adult, you definitely feel bad for her and she doesn’t deserve what she went through, but she was so deeply messed up from the situation and was just a really bad person. Some parts were hard to read, because of trauma and just how unlikeable Rachel was.
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⌛️Favorite Moment⌛️
The end when justice was served. Hard to say without giving spoilers. As for a favorite character, justice for Tom!! He was such a precious gem of a man.
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🎉 Theme Ideas 🎉
Green food! Eat all the tzatziki, olives, feta, and pita! They drank tons of alcohol in this book too, so drink

A couple have an affair in Greece -
Beautiful location - 15 years later she can’t forget it - there is trauma love and discovery - well written

The Girls of Summer
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fiction Mystery
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/31/23
Author: Katie Bishop
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 320
GR: 3.95

TW ⚠️: Sexual abuse and manipulation by an older man to a teenage girl

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Rachel and Alistair’s life-changing summer love affair on a sun-trapped Greek island has consumed her since she was seventeen. But as Rachel becomes increasingly obsessed with reliving the events of so long ago, and reconnects with the other girls who were similarly drawn to life on the island, dark secrets about her first love affair begin to rise to the surface.

My Thoughts: The story is narrated in a dual timeline between the past and present, by our MC, Rachel in her perspective. The past is the story that changed her life and why currently it still affects her. For a debut novel, this was fascinating. I just wanted to put it out there, while this was a very good read, it will be triggering for some readers, please make sure this does not trigger you. This really is a gripping story on how an older man takes advantage of a young girl and she is convinced that it was love and does not see the betrayal. The characters were fleshed out and well developed, intriguing, dark, and creatively immersed into the story. The author’s writing style was complex, disturbing, suspenseful, and keeps you engaged. If you loved Dark Vanessa, you really will like this story. I highly recommend it, just know that there are triggers. Publishes in May of next year, preorder now!

Rachel met Alistair on a picturesque Greek island and even though he was twenty years her senior, she fell instantly in love. She always thought he felt the same, even when he abandoned her. Even when, years later, she is married to someone else. But now she is forced to confront her past, and with that, dark secrets about the man she is still linked to surface, changing her life in ways she really doesn't want to consider.

I am terribly conflicted about this book. I loved the author's writing style and the story flowed really well, even with the switch between Rachel's past narrative and her present. I consumed it eagerly and quickly. I would pick up her next book in a heartbeat.

And yet I wouldn't recommend this one.

The Girls of Summer followed too closely to another infamous party island, headed by a rich predator, and for some reason that made the narrative a bit too awkward and forced for me. I'm not exactly sure why. It's almost as if the reader is just supposed to "get" that, and so the setting felt more dreamlike than fully fleshed out. I'm not necessarily saying we needed all the sordid details, but Henry Taylor (oh my stars please just stop repeating his full name ad nauseum) seemed far too enigmatic, the villains too sanitized. And the Greek setting could have been anywhere. Purposefully done perhaps? But this could have been a slice of land off the coast of England.

And then there is the main character. No, characters don't have to be "likable" to work, but I need someone whose personality and actions elicit some sympathy and understanding. Rachel just comes across as ridiculously naïve, as though we're just supposed to feel bad for her because she's young (we send our 18 year olds to fight and die for our country in the military, so youth just isn't enough). And that only works so far as she ignores ALL red flags/cries for help from other/all warnings from others. And then continues purposefully ignoring all the red flags well into adulthood. This felt more like a warning for parents to never let their daughters leave the house than a #metoo commentary.

I understand that a story of a young woman who "gets it" right away wouldn't make for a very long book, but her actions throughout are so complicit that it just felt icky trying to root for her. And I sure don't want to feel like I can't or shouldn't sympathize with a victim. Also, the way she treats Tom is just indefensible and her obsession with sex just drones on and on. Her either having it and thinking about felt like 75% of the book. I mean, if that's your thing, live it, I suppose, but it's a bit repetitive to the point of boredom here.

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press for offering this book to read for a review through NetGalley and its influencers program.

First of all make sure to check trigger warnings for this book.
The book follows our MC Racheal from the age of 17 into adulthood. Imagine having spend the time of your life on an island with some girls you meet there, but years later you realize you were manipulated/brainwashed and things weren’t really as you remembered them. Racheal thinks that the time she spent on the island having a romance with an older man were magical, later she finds out there was more going on then she wanted to see.
I really enjoyed the story overall, I was very frustrated with the MC and all the other girls who couldn’t tell what was happening to them. I don’t know if it was an effect of being young and naïve or being manipulated.

TW: human trafficking, sexual assault/rape, drug use, suicide to name a few.

*SPOLIERS AHEAD*
This one was super cringey to read as a female who has had their own experiences with predatory circumstances and it made me think of Epstein the whole way through. I did very much enjoy the story, but towards the end I felt that things weren't tied up as well as they could be and/or the story lines between characters were thrown out the window to get to an ending. The separation of her marriage felt very cold and although there was information there about the decisions made to finalize the separation, I didn't feel like I had enough closure as a reader. It seemed the MC just stayed with her friend and that was that, but I understand the MC wasn't exactly an open book of emotion considering her trauma.

A more in depth scenery of the police investigation and outcome would have made a bigger impact on me as a reader and probably would've earned a higher rating. The conclusion was there, but after 75% of the book being the MC's experience on the island and how things escalated, I felt a bit snubbed not to get that detail and desire for justice in the end.

Overall a good read and very important for girls and women everywhere who have found themselves in these kind of predatory situations and not fully recognizing the traumatic experiences for what they were until they were much older. The denial and confusion of the MC as an adult was powerful and so very realistic as frustrating as it could be for anyone on the outside looking in who could have been thinking "How could you NOT know?!" while reading.


*Will post about this title on my Bookstagram in the future, closer to the pub date and when there is an official cover to show!

Thank you to the publisher for my copy - all opinions are my own.

I must say, I actually quite enjoyed this book. I slow burn of a character drama with some mysterious and tense undertones, this is a story that takes you on a ride. I LOVED the build up of intensity simmering beneath the surface and that you KNOW is not good, that things are going to go in a very bad direction. I loved the layering of the story and the way that each new chapter peels away a new reveal, sucking the reader in deeper.

This should be read without spoilers but will be perfect for readers who loved My Dark Vanessa. A must for this fall!