The Summer of Songbirds would be perfect to take on your final vacation of the summer! First, I loved the small town and camp settings — both were picturesque. I also liked how the book touched on hard topics such as addiction, debt, and trauma as it added extra depth to the story. The flashbacks were also a nice touch, and I actually found them more interesting than the present day storyline. Additionally, I’m a sucker for precocious kid characters, and Henry certainly fit the bill. Finally, the ending was extra sweet, and I thought it was perfect for the overall plot.

However, I really struggled with the characters. I thought most of the main characters were somewhat unlikeable, and the relationships were either boring or toxic. Mary Stuart was the best character, and we didn’t even get her POV. Lastly, the pacing was off. Sometimes things happened abruptly while other things were drawn out for way too long. Overall, The Summer of Songbirds is worth the read if you enjoy books focused on female friendships.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

Title: The Summer of Songbirds
Author: Kristy Woodson Harvey
Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya, Reena Dutt, and Jackie Sanders
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Length: Approximately 10 hours and 58 minutes
Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio. Thank you @simonandschuster #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

Did you go to summer camp growing up? I always wanted to, but it was too expensive. I did go to a couple of church campouts, and they were a lot of fun.

Three women met as young girls at Camp Holly Springs and became lifetime friends. Now as adults they are shocked to learn that the camp is going to close. June Moore has run the camp for many years and is sad about its closing, but is happy that her niece Daphne and friends, Lanier and Mary Stuart are back with ideas on how to keep it open. They are all going through interesting periods of their lives. Mary Stuart has just gotten married. Lanier is engaged but can’t help thinking of the one who got away. Daphne is also thinking about the one who got away, Lanier’s brother. Lanier doesn’t want Huff and Daphne to get back together, but will their hearts let them give up love a second time?

This story was told from three points of view: Lanier, Daphne, and June. I thought it was interesting that June was one of the narrators rather than the third person in the friend trio, Mary Stuart. I also love how they always call her Mary Stuart with her first and last name. The audiobook had three different narrators which provided each book narrator with their own unique voice, which I enjoyed.

I thought the story was entertaining and light. I loved that it explored friendship and growing up. I loved how the women had a great time as children at the camp and wonderful memories to fall back on. I liked that they were there to support each other during hard times and that they could still learn as adults that they can make changes and move on from mistakes. I loved the theme of found family. The epilogue tied up everything perfectly. It was a perfect summer read.

There is just so much to love about this book! The setting felt like such a perfect summer getaway. The characters and the different POV provided such a well rounded story. I have loved many of Kristy Woodson Harvey's books and this one might be one of my favorites so far!

Thank you, NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey. I absolutely adored this book! This book has so much nostalgia in it, along with all the struggles of present day. The friendships in this book are so realistic. This book was so well done.

The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey was a delight of nostalgia and a nod to found family and strong friendship. I loved the rallying and hard things these girls (women) did for one another through their lives. The camaraderie and magic of summer camp were beautiful (and very, very far outside my own experience at sleepaway camp!) The characters and dynamics of found family are well crafted while the setting and pacing were fairly encompassing.

I read this one on the beach last week. Halfway through, I looked up to see a sailboat ⛵️ across the lake (which you can barely see in the pictures) and felt like I was transported to Camp Holly Springs!

🏕️We all have that place where we belong, where we feel safe. For Daphne, Lanier and Mary Stuart that place is Camp Holly Springs, which is ran by Daphne’s Aunt June. But after thirty years, June is in jeopardy of losing the camp, which is one of the only places Daphne has ever felt safe due to a very rough childhood. So the three friends team up to save the camp, and themselves.

🏕️With second chances for love and believing in yourself, to the family you create in this world and the friends that are more like family, this book has a lot of heart. A summer book with a lot of substance…this is what a beach read should be!

Five rock solid chickery stars for The Summer of Songbirds. A beautiful and fulfilling read. It touched my inner womanhood and satisfied the love of true friendship over the decades and disasters and triumphs of life. A great break from darker reads. I could not put this down. I was cheering for Camp Holly Springs to be saved by three women who found friendship at the age of six while attending this summer camp. Their friendship was forever bonded and maintained through the decades. Pasts are met face on. Present holds secrets. Multiple POV. Fingers crossed for movie. Thank you NetGalley Galley books for ARC

The Summer of Songbirds came to me just when I needed it. This was a wonderful story about friendship, second chances and love. It's sweet, it's sentimental and just a delightful read.

“That is why I choose her. Because she has always chosen me.”

Get ready for all the summer camp nostalgia with this one! Kristy Woodson Harvey took me straight back to my camp days. I could feel the internal tension as characters had to make decisions between saving a friend and ruining a career or how best to save their childhood summer home-away-from-home. I have yet to read a Harvey book I don’t like.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
Summer camp
Friendship stories
Any of KWH’s other books

Thank you Uplit Reads and Gallery Books for the #gifted book and Simon Audio for the ALC through Libro.fm.

This may very well be a top read of the year for me. The characters were so lovable. The storyline was so familiar without being repetitive. The whole story was just great!

Kristy Woodson Harvey has a knack for writing women characters and relationships that feel so authentic, you can't help falling in love with them. And while this story has romance, the women's friendships are the true heart and joy of this book.

This was such a sweet feel good read, with a little drama of course. This follows the story of 3 lifelong friends who met at summer camp and now must come together to save it.

This made me feel all the nostalgia of growing at summer camp and brought back all of those fond memories of my summers as a teenager. Those were the best!

A sweet, nostalgic, and atmospheric read. The essence of summer, friendship, and memories are stand-outs of this one. By the end I was very fond of the characters and their relationships with each other.

THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS is a great summer read and will pair well with beach days, camping trips, and reading on the porch.

Kristy Woodson Harvey has done it again. THE SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS is a beautifully written story that deserves the raves it’s getting. It’s a superb novel of friends, family, and sisterhood. Kristy Woodson Harvey knows how to create characters and stories that will resonate long after you read the last word. I want to be friends with Daphne, Lanier, and Mary Stuart. I love how they have created their own family and that it isn’t perfect, and the relationships have both ups and downs like any family. I wish I had been able to attend a camp like Camp Holly Springs, instead of living vicariously through the characters.
Don’t miss this novel! It belongs in your beach bag, carry on, bedside table, wherever you can sit and dive into it. “Fair winds and following seas!”
Thanks to the author, publisher, and Uplit Reads for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#TheSummerofSongbirds #KristyWoodsonHarvey #UplitReads #GalleryBooks

A stunner! I loved that this was about friendship and the many complications that go along with knowing people since your early memories! The fiance was simply the worst! Truly great writing when I finished this weeks ago and I'm still annoyed with him. :)

This the perfect summer read with female friendship, summer camp and nostalgia. Daphne, Lanier and Mary Stuart met at summer camp when they were little girls and are still friends today. Now they are adults dealing with their own problems but they still turn to each other. Told through multiple POV’s and multiple timelines from the past and present it’s an emotional journey filled with romance, childhood memories and friendship.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This story was all the feels! Summer camp, childhood friendships, adult problems, doused with a sugary sweet syrup of nostalgia. Daphne, Lanier and Mary Stuart met at summer camp when they were kids and their friendship has stood the test of time. Now they're grown adults helping each other work through hard things. This book will make you want to call your friends to say hi, or reconnect.

This was my first book by this author and it will definitely not be my last. It is the perfect summer read for those craving an emotional journey for 3 best friends, featuring a summer camp, some romances, secrets and an epilogue that will make you tear up.

Highly recommend!

June Moore bought Camp Holly Springs, a summertime oasis for young girls years ago, but is in danger of losing it. Her niece, Daphne, like her other family members, have met their best friends there and have special memories of summers by the lake. Now an adult, Daphne has been through a lot, but can still count on Mary Stuart and Lanier, her camp best friends, when she needs them the most. These women band together to save Camp Holly Springs for future generations and in turn, learn more about themselves and what they want out of life. Kristy Woodson Harvey's The Summer of Songbirds is summer nostalgia at its best.

Daphne is a complex character in The Summer of Songbirds. She had a difficult past as she has dealt with addiction and is a single mother, but is now a successful attorney. However, she is having some issues at work that are spilling into her personal life. Plus, her Aunt June could lose Camp Holly Springs, which is not only a place that she loves, but her best friends, too. Aunt June has used the camp as a way to avoid life after a tragedy and feels she needs it in more ways than one. Then there's Lanier who owns a bookstore (!), which is always fun to read about. She is engaged to be married but is having second thoughts, especially when she realizes her fiance is hiding secrets. The third best friend, Mary Stuart, is getting married and in turn, bringing the "songbirds" together again.

The women work together to save the camp, which holds special memories for each person. First loves blossomed at camp, strong friendships, risks taken, adventures ensued, secrets by the campfire, and so much more. The women don't want to lose the camp; in fact, they want to preserve it for future generations to enjoy.

The Summer of Songbirds is filled to the brim with summer memories. While I didn't attend sleepaway camp, I went to a sports camp for the week, it was close enough to appreciate all that a summer camp can offer. The mornings by the lake, the adventures, the close relationships you make with people, the cabins filled with bunk beds, and the nights under the stars all were done well. I enjoyed all the summer memories and nostalgia.

While The Summer of Songbirds wasn't my favorite of Harvey's novels, I still enjoyed all the summer delights captured in this novel. It was truly a cute summer escape filled with strong female friendships.

Have you read The Summer of Songbirds? Are you a fan of Kristy Woodson Harvey? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

What a beautiful walk down the core memory lane for summer camp!

It has all of my favorites for women’s fiction
Multiple POVs
Longtime female friendships
Summer nostalgia
Summer camp

Did you attend summer camp?

I feel like there’s two distinct camps (pun intended) of folks- those that attended camp and those that didn’t.

If you didn’t, SUMMER OF SONGBIRDS, @kristywharvey new release will certainly take you on a walk down memory lane. Thank you @gallerybooks for my copy!

Summer of Songbirds includes the lifelong friendships of 3 friends, found family, the lasting memories of first loves, second chances, forgiveness and repairing those relationships that mean the most.

This is truly KWH at her finest. It is a beautiful story, I loved the entire cast of characters.
Daphne, a single mom who is doing life the best she can, despite her worries otherwise. Lanier, Mary Stuart, and Daphne’s Aunt June. I loved the premise they were working together to save their favorite camp, that they have a years’ long pact with each other to do their hard things (what a testimony to friendship).

Loved how the chapters switched from current to the past, as KWH built each character’s back story, so beautifully woven together.

Highly recommend this one- definitely a 5 star read for me.