When Rachel was 17 she spent a summer on a Greek island where she met Alistair, her first love, a man that would come to define almost everything in her life since then. Now, grown and married to someone else, she still cannot stop thinking about Alistair, 20 years her senior, and that summer that brought them together. She travels back to the island with her husband and finds one of the other girls she met that summer, She's forced to recall the events that occurred there differently than how she's romanticized them to be for all these years.
This was a good story although I really didn't like any of the characters. Maybe we aren't supposed to tho? It's a heavy read, with disturbing topics and even though I wanted to sympathize with Rachel and the other girls, I couldn't as much as I would have thought I would. It's still a good read but just be warned that it hits very deep.

The months Rachel spent on a small Greek island 16 years ago when she was 17 years old completely changed her life. Rachel and her best friend decided to backpack the summer before finishing up school, and their travels landed them on this island. They end up making friends with other girls, and Rachel ends up staying past the summer. However, a body ends up washing ashore and the whole trajectory of Rachel’s plans change after that.

Current day Rachel is married and living in London. Rachel and her husband, Tom, decide to go back to the island that Rachel hasn’t seen in 17 years. While it has transformed and became more touristy, she is surprised to see one of the girls she was friends with that original summer. This brings back the flood of emotions and memories regarding the man, Alistair, she fell in love with that summer all those years ago and gets his number from her old friend. This then sets into motion something she can’t stop and upends everything she thought she knew. This starts a slow burn of what happened in the past and current day.

This book flips between current and past each chapter. You feel the emotions of what Rachel was feeling when she was 17 as well as the feelings and understanding that progresses for Rachel as an adult. This book delves into the complications of being a teenager in love and not fully understanding a situation once sucked into it, even years later. I did not see where this book was going for a while until it all made sense. This book has more substance and heaviness than I realized, since I thought this would be more of a light, beach read so it was okay I didn’t read this in the middle of summer. Overall, this is a really strong debut novel that did not disappoint. I would definitely read the next book (hopefully) by this author.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Katie Bishop, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced reader’s copy.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review..

Rachel is in her 30’s and married but she has never gotten over a summer romance she had with Alistair, a much older man, on an island in Greece when she was 18. On a current day trip to that island with her husband, she meets someone she knew back then and gets Alistair’s contact info. It turns out he is living in London, same as Rachel, and once she knows this, she can’t stay away.

3.5 stars.

I believe I was offered this ARC from the publisher based on some other novels of theirs that I had liked. I admit I was sucked in by the Santorini looking scene on the cover. I didn’t stop to check the genre. Women’s fiction is tolerable but I much prefer a mystery/thriller. This book was well written and it was a pretty good book, it just didn’t have the surprises and twists I normally like in a book. It was basically a woman coking to terms with her past. The ending kind of dragged for me and i skimmed the last 15%. Definitely not a bad book just not my thing.

I could not put this novel down. The Girls of Summer follows Rachel who goes on a trip with a friend, an innocent escape before the start of college. But what started as innocent turned dangerous, hurtful, and created a lifetime of pain. This book was engaging, surprising, and had me at the edge of my seat.
Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this book.

This one reminded me of a book that I read last year, that I can’t remember the name of, because this is one of those overdone tropes. The writing was okay, but holy wow are there some heavy trigger warnings.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

REVIEW TO FOLLOW.

Rachel spends a summer in Greece thinking Alistair is the love of her life - years later she is married to someone else and still thinking of him and the summer they spent together. As her memories come back to her, she realizes it wasn't all she thought it was. This was a good story told in alternating times between the present and past. It has themes of abuse, grooming, trafficking, etc. Rachel's decisions were infuriating but you also realize she was a naive 17/18 year old who was manipulated. I would recommend if you like these types of stories!

At first, I was really drawn into the story and wanting to know what had happened on the island all those years ago. Unfortunately, the main character, Rachel, is just so unlikable and her actions become more and more unbelievable. There is zero growth or maturing from seventeen to being a woman in her thirties. I also found something to be very upsetting and wish there had been a warning about it before I read this book.

Overall, this was an average read that started out great, but didn't live up to its potential for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

I have started this book so many times. I nearly didn't even finish but when I request/receive an ARC I feel I must own up to the agreement. This is the one that nearly made me break my word. It's so slow. I mean so so slow. Rachel's character wasn't one I was drawn too, nor did I care to know how her story unfolded. I enjoy past/present stories but I never fully was able to enjoy this book in its entirety.

I have mixed feelings about this book because I just really cannot relate to the main character, Rachel. As the book description states, Rachel is in love with Alistair and has been since she was 18 and spent an idyllic time on a Greek island with him and a bunch of other girl “friends”. She is now on her 30s, married to Tom, but still thinking so much about that summer and basically just feels like everything was perfect then and she should have ended up with Alistair.

We flashback from now to then and see Rachel as an 18 year old and a 33 year old and honestly she really isn’t different. The writing alludes to some nefarious things going on and eventually spells it out but Rachel is so naive with stars in her eyes about this much older man. As you read it, their relationship and everything going on around them is wildly inappropriate. However, she is so in love but it ends abruptly and she just really can’t get over him or get it together. For fifteen years!! Give me a break. She needed to grow up and open her eyes. Remember, she is married to someone else—a good guy that doesn’t deserve the way she treats him. That annoyed me so much. Her decisions as a teen and as an adult were really just dumb.

With that said the book is a decent fiction read although the ending was a tad drawn out and I don’t think the last chapter needed to be as long as it was.

3,5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rachel's life is overshadowed by the intense love she felt for Alistair during the summer she spent on a Greek island when she was 17.. Sixteen years later and married to Tom, the couple returns to the same island An encounter with one of the girls from the past leads Rachel to reevaluate her life, unearthing dark secrets in the process. The novel switches between Then (teenager) and Now. Rachel's eyes are opened to the truth, resulting in a multi-layered plot.

The book is at times disturbing, so check for TW. The beginning of this book is slow. I was close to DNFing, but decided to keep going.. I didn't find Rachel to be particularly likeable or easy to connect with. I loved the authors writing style and will certainly pick up any of her future works, but I can't say that I loved this one.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this arc.

This book started out slow to me. I did end up really enjoying the book and the secrets and the lives of these people. I would definitely recommend this book!

Wow. The Girls of Summer is Katie Bishop's writing debut, and it was written so beautifully.

A bit of a warning. This is not light summer romance novel. This novel has heavy topics about consent and manipulation, and some not so great men.

The novel begins with Rachel, 34 and on vacation in Greece with her husband. She lived on an island in Greece when she was 17, and her husband takes her to the bar she worked at when she was there. The owner of the bar is someone she hasn't seen in years, who knows her from her year on the island.

This visit ignites memories in Rachel that she has tried to keep at bay for years. Memories of her first love whom she met on the island. The man who abandoner her and still occupies a place in her heart.

A man who was 34 when her pursued her at 17. A man who told her she was special, and beautiful and the classic "you're not like the other girls".

The book alternates between the present and that fateful year on the island. There is a sense of something sinister happening as Alistair brings Rachel and her housemates into his world and introduces them to his boss.

In the present, Rachel tracks down Alistair. Does she want closure? Or does she want to fall in love again?

I'm very much looking forward to following Ms. Bishop's writing career as she is definitely one to watch. Thank you to St. Marten's Press and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

This is a great beach read. Although the beginning is a bit drawn out and slow, once the story picks up you are hooked. You can feel where the story is going with much dread, but you just have to know how it pans out!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop starts out as a salty, sweaty beach read as Rachel reminisces about her summer spent on a remote Greek island. While she is all grown up and happily married, a trip back to the island brings back a flood of memories and this is where the story takes a darker and more sinister turn. I wasn’t overly emotionally attached to any of the characters, but the atmospheric writing style really drew me in. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

This is a good story by a good writer. This is the author’s debut novel. It mostly takes place in Greece when the main character, Rachel, was 17, and it easily goes back and forth to the present day. I loved the setting. I found the book to be a bit long and drawn out and I had trouble getting through some parts. 3.5 rounded to 4.

This book was extremely hard to like. The main character was horrible - she seemed ungrateful and whiny and super disrespectful to the marriage/relationship she had. She had zero redeeming qualities. Was she even over the age of 20? Because she didn't act like it. .
While the acts of abuse were sort of written around - the writing made it seem like this was really nothing, but it is, which made reading this very uncomfortable.. The divorce felt so removed, that it was almost an afterthought and reworked in just to drive the story forward. It made the story feel disjointed and really unorganized.

The review I posted online is surface level at best.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReviewCopy

Release Date: June 2023
Genre: Drama

Summary: After Rachel and her husband revisit the island where she and friends spent time when she was 17, she’s consumed by the man who stole her heart and got away. It’s 16 years later and Allister has once again made Rachel rethink everything, including her marriage to Tom. But as the truth becomes clearer to all, Rachel still refuses to opens her mind to what really happened.

My Thoughts: I’m extremely conflicted about this book. I loved the overall story, the concept, the message and all it was intended to do. I loved the dual timelines alternating between Then and Now and the writing was descriptive and beautiful. However the execution of the events and main character, Rachel, is what I struggled with. A character does not have to be likeable by any means for them to allow for a five star read, not at all. But Rachel’s character was just way over the top naive for me. I understand she was just turning 18 that summer and I would have believed she was in denial then, but as she got older, she continued to live in a fantasy world. A more convincing approach would have been for her to have recognized what had happened and work toward finding out the truth rather than hide from it and ignore all the red flags. Rachel also didn’t change much towards the end. I got the feeling that she would easily fall back into the same web of deceit and that showed weakened and not growth.

Having said all this, I still could not put this down and read it quickly, fuming and yelling at times. It made me feel a lot of hatred and other emotions. I’ve said before if a book can move me like that, it’s one to remember; I will remember this one! Therefore I’ve landed on 4 stars but I do not recommend this to the faint of heart as there some sensitive topics: triggers of rape, sexual exploitation, and drug abuse, to name some.

3.5 Stars

The Girls of Summer sounds like a lighthearted novel about teenage girls in the months of summer vacation… and that it is not. Bishop takes the reader on a dark journey through Rachel’s past, with past and present narratives combining to create a sense of confusion and mystery surrounding what and who draws Rachel to this Greek island. There are portions of the book where the pacing is slower than others, but the story keeps you interested, nonetheless. Trigger warnings should be adhered, there are dark and difficult topics discussed throughout. This is a compelling debut novel, I can’t wait to see what else Bishop publishes!

Thank you Netgalley for this great debut ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.75 – 5 STARS

Wow! What a riveting and timely story! I couldn’t put “The Girls of Summer” down!! Perception is such an elusive and interesting thing… how shared experiences are construed in such a uniquely personal way, sometimes differing vastly from what is essentially true.

Alternating between past and present, there are so many threads to pull at in this dark and cautionary story, all of which I found quite fascinating. But fundamentally, “The Girls of Summer” strives to push societal boundaries by shining a spotlight on how the rich and powerful can so easily exploit young women by preying on their innocence, insecurities and overwhelming desire for love and acceptance.

Truthfully, though, it was the sequences from the past that truly drew me in, as “present-day” Rachel was not half the sympathetic character that her younger self was. In fact, I found her to be a bit off-putting. That aside, this was one of the best books I have read in a very long time! I give “The Girls of Summer” a resounding two thumbs up!!