I started this book thinking I would only read for about 20 minutes. A couple hours later I put down the finished book! In true Emily Giffin fashion, she wrote a book I just couldn’t put down. She has a way of making her characters feel like people I know in real life. This book deals with some very tough topics, but it does it in a way that truly made me reflect on suicide and how someone might not appear sad or depressed before taking that action. The friendships in this novel felt real and imperfect, which made me think about the relationships in my life. I would highly recommend that everyone read The Summer Pact.

I am a fan of Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed books and was excited to read her latest book. I was hoping for romance but instead got a story about 3 friends who make a pact to be there for each other through thick and thin. The friendship aspect of the book kept me reading to the end, but in all honesty I didn’t love any of the three characters. Wish I loved this more. Three stars for me.

I found this book a lovely summer read. Friends and drama, when 4 college friends make a pact to be there for each other in times of trouble makes for a wonderful story. Leave it to Emily Giffin to be the artist she is and create this wonderful story line.

Thank you Emily! I read this book in 2 days while sitting on a boat and it was very intense, loved it! I recommend this book to anyone that loves a good summer read.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a very engaging novel about friendship. Even though the characters in the story are not perfect, they and the depth of their friendship sometimes seem too good to be true. However, Giffin's skill at crafting these characters, the situations they find themselves in, and the dialogue makes the story so believable that we can't help getting invested. We can only wish that we had friends as true as these.

In this tender portrayal of grief, love, and hope, Emily Giffin asks: When things fall apart, who will be at our sides to help pick up the pieces?

Four college freshman meet and become fast friends and develop a strong bond. But as graduation approaches a tragic event changes everything and they make a pact to support each other through everything!

A decade later, Hannah faces unexpected challenges just as she's about to experience a joyful moment. Reaching out to her closest friends, they realize they're all at pivotal points in their lives. Keeping their earlier promise, they decide to take a break from their current paths and embark on a journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and acceptance.

I would love to see this as a film! This is a great book!

An outstanding novel relating the journey three longtime friends take to escape the disappointments they experience. Once a foursome, Lainy, Tyson, Hannah, and Summer were closest of friends when tragedy struck. Lainy, Tyson and Hannah make a pact to always be there if anything happens to make then need their friends. Years later, they take a vacation that tests their bonds and their relationships.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"The Summer Pact" is about friendship and support during good and bad times. Summer, Tyson, Lainey, and Hannah meet at college, and despite coming from different backgrounds and personalities, they form a strong bond and become best friends. They make a pact to embark on a summer journey after a tragic event. Throughout this journey, they face challenges, uncover important truths, and grow towards what truly matters.

My Thoughts About the Book:
I had mixed feelings about "Summer Pact." I love the cover, which initially drew me to the book, and I also liked the book's concept. I had heard good things about Emily Giffin's other novels, so I was eager to read this one. While reading, I enjoyed getting to know the characters and had some favorite scenes. However, I found it hard to connect with the characters at times because many details and backstories were left out. The story also felt fast-paced and abrupt with certain events and scenes. Some of the characters were immature for their age. Overall, the story has a good plot, a lot going on in each chapter, interesting characters, and some relatable life experiences.

I also wanted to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC for an honest review.

“Remember there’s a difference between your history and your legacy. Your history is what happened. Your legacy is what you set in motion.”

Emily Giffin will always be a favorite author of mine because her stories always hit that sweet spot of deep and thought-provoking and also fun and uplifting.

When I saw The Summer Pact was being released I knew I needed to get my hands on it as soon as possible and am so glad I did. This story is told from three different perspectives, all friends from college, struggling with their hardships. They come together to support each other and go on a pretty amazing journey. I loved it. While some of the story deals with deeper topics like grief and addiction, there is also grace, humility, and humor, and I found myself so invested in these characters. I binged this one in two days!

While all of the characters really resonated with me, my favorite was Hannah. She has no clue how strong she is, how much what she carries resonates with so many, how brave she is. I really was rooting for all of them and really enjoyed the growth in all of the characters but Hannah the most.

Thank you Emily Giffin for writing another amazing beach read! Please go read this one and then let me know which character was your favorite!

Emily Giffin is one of my auto-read authors and has been for years, so of course I was thrilled to get a copy of her newest release.

The Summer Pact follows a group of college friends as they navigate their friendship in the wake of a tragedy and as they grow into adulthood. This book was definitely a quick read and was entertaining enough, but ultimately, it wasn’t a hit for me.

While it did make it an easy read, the writing felt pretty juvenile and simplistic to me. It’s told in alternating points-of-view from 3 characters but none of them had a discernible voice, so I kept forgetting whose POV I was reading. The characters felt like they could have been much more developed in general.

The plot had a lot of potential to really explore some difficult concepts but it felt like there was too much going on without really my going deep into any of it. Ultimately I just didn’t feel invested in any of the characters or their stories. And the end felt like too much was crammed in at once and it ended in such a tidy bow, it felt overly saccharine and forced.

This book was fine. I didn’t hate it but it left me wanting more and ultimately was pretty forgettable.

Thanks to @netgalley and @ballantinecorp for the free egalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've read all of Emily Giffin's novels and her writing voice has really evolved over time. The Summer Pact is definitely on my list of her top three though!
The story was really engaging the entire time and I loved all of the main characters and cared so much about them. Getting to see each of their perspectives was helpful. There are some heavy topics, but Emily handles them in a sensitive and honest way. I also loved the armchair adventure aspect and felt like I was in Italy with the friends. It was really easy to visualize people and places.

I was constantly surprised by everything that was happening and had no idea what would come up next. I maybe only guessed at a few things but they were hinted at early on. And Hannah's mother made me so angry on Hannah's behalf. Such toxic behavior! She reminded me a bit of Skeeter's mom in The Help(but also with a lot of Hilly's personality).

This is such a great summer (or even year-round) read and it will definitely make you laugh, smile, and even cry! Perfect for fans of Jane Green and Jill Santopolo, as well.

(Trigger warnings below.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Tyson: Lucien Laviscount
Hannah: Elizabeth Lail
Lainey: Meghann Fahy
Summer: Bella Thorne
Grady: Luke Kleintank
Olivia: Adelaide Kane

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TW: suicide, death of parent, alcoholism

The Summer Pact was a great read that intertwined serious topics with happy endings. I loved the theme of friendship and found family that was woven throughout this book but felt that the writing seemed a bit immature. Great message, fun characters but some of the situations and reactions of the main characters seemed juvenile. Still a solid 3.5 star read!

Many thanks to Random House Ballantine and Netgalley for the ARC.

I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. I absolutely LOVE Emily Giffin and her writing! Some of my faves have been Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Meant to Be, and now The Summer Pact!! She did a great job of writing in a way that captured my attention, and made me not want to put it down until I was finished! I would highly recommend it!

I loved this book! A lovely story about grief and friendship and the ties that bind us through life. I liked the various point of views and felt the pacing of the story was right. I had not read an Emily Giffin book in several years, so was glad to see her books were still a staple read! Thank you for the ARC and look forward to sharing this recommendation with friends!

This was an enjoyable read that transported me to Capri where I’m now more than ready to visit. I loved Emily’s description of the island and the history of it. Having followed Emily for a long time, I loved being able to identify parts of her in the book (connection to UVA, running, etc).

The story is about four college students who become friends but are then struck with grief, sadness and confusion when one tragically loses her life through suicide. I enjoyed hearing each person’s perspective and how they each had their own personal issues to deal with and overcome while still being there for one another….truly what friendship is.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

I'm a big fan of Emily Giffin, so I was really excited to get an advanced copy of her latest book, The Summer Pact. This book is about a group of friends - Hannah, Summer, Lainey, and Tyson - who meet at the University of Virginia. Right before graduation, Summer commits suicide, leaving the rest of the group wondering how they could have missed the signs that their friend was struggling. They decide to make a pact to always be there for each other no matter what. Fast forward a few years, and Hannah finds herself in a shocking and heartbreaking situation. Within hours, Tyson and Lainey are on the next plane to come see her. After catching up with one another, they realize that they are all facing challenges of their own and are at different crossroads in their lives. As a group, they decide to honor their promise to Summer to check in with one another by taking a step back from their lives to travel the world together for a few weeks.

The book continues to explore the bond of their friendship as they continue to grow individually and together by addressing their fears, challenges, and personal hurdles. Overall, this is the first book by this author that has left me feeling underwhelmed. With that being said, it was still a good summer read. I just did not feel as drawn into the story or characters as I have in the past. I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads and look forward to reading what Emily writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a beautiful story by Emily Giffin. There was so much emotion in this book and it was enjoyable. The writing was done well and flowed easily. The three POV's helped add more depth to the story and make it more well rounded.

There was wonderful story of friendship and found family. Although, there were quite a few heavy topics and trauma discussed. While they were handled well, it was a little too much for me at times.

Overall it was a good book that I would recommend if you are okay with the triggers.

Please take heed of the trigger warnings at the beginning of this book and read with caution. I found this to be an emotional, heartwarming friendship story and each of the characters were well done and their perspectives intriguing enough to carry their parts of the story.

This book was not at all what I expected but I loved it. It was sad and deep and about friendships. It made me cry and laugh, and I couldn’t put it down. Emily Giffin does it again.

**𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝑬𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝑮𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒏

Release Date: July 9, 2024

4⭐️3🌶

This is the perfect summer read! There is a small friend group that meet on the first day of college, and they're inseparable after that. This little slice-of-life book is a breath of fresh air with its realism and heart.

All the characters are facing some sort of midlife crisis, and they decide to take the European vacation they never got to have together after graduation. This is book is all about finding yourself and hard truths!

A big thank you to @netgalley for approving me for this ARC!