✨ARC review✨
The Summer Pact By: Emily Griffin
Pub Date: July 9th 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this book and it has the most perfect summer day in the sun or on a beach vibes. This story follows a group of friends from college, bound by tragedy, who have all found themselves at a crossroads in life. Each facing different struggles and decisions they come together for each other, honoring a promise made many years ago.

I felt like the portrayal of friendship in this story was so honest and authentic. Each character had their very human flaws but we watched people show up despite them.

This book felt like the epitome of meeting people where they are at, and how important having a support system truly is. Each character was alone and hiding from their issues in the beginning of this story and Emily Griffin did a beautiful job of showing how, even though it is painful, peeling back the layers is so cathartic.

Told from multiple perspectives the reader really gets an inside look at this friend group, their thoughts, their fears, their anxieties, and their joys. You cannot help but root for their success and feel such empathy when they are in their lows. Truly a beautiful story on friendship, heartbreak, and rediscovery.

Thank you so much to @randomhouse and @netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this story. I truly enjoyed it and highly recommend people to pick it up on July 9th!!

This was an endearing adventure about finding yourself, and navigating difficult relationships and friendships. The writing was confident, open, and honest. There were a lot of self-revelations, and lovely journey through the ups and downs of life. With a backdrop of Capri in the summer, who could resist?!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review!

3.5 ⭐️ (Seriously it’s 2024, why don’t we have half stars yet?)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book.

This was a light refreshing read after finishing the covenant of water that was so heavy. Predictable? Yes, but cute. It wasn’t without its hard parts but of course it had a happy ending. There were aspects that were tough for me. Like how young they seemed to be but they were in their mid thirties, their friendship dynamic etc. but it was a quick read that didnt drag on. Other times I found myself envious of their bond and routing for them.

I do wish there was a conclusion on Summer and what she was talking about before hand.

I am a longtime fan and reader of Emily Giffin's books, and when she puts a new one out, I gobble it right up! The Summer Pact was no different. When Lainey, Tyson, Hannah, and Summer meet one night during their first year of college, they instantly click and become an inseparable foursome. After Summer takes her life senior year, the three remaining friends make a pact to always be there for one another, no matter what. Several years later, Hannah enacts the Summer Pact after catching her fiance in bed with another woman. However, it turns out all three friends are at a rock bottom, which they deign to remedy with a three-country trip around the world. In addition to a physical journey, the friends are forced to face their own issues and come to terms with the ghosts that have been haunting them since losing Summer. A great story about friendship, love, and holding onto hope when all seems lost.

I really enjoyed the first 30% of this book but it got too messy - and for such a quick read it tried to take on too many heavy topics.

A beautifully written story about the power of friendship. These friends follow through on a pact that they made in co.llege after a tragedy that changed all of their lives. This is a wonderful story, but it just didn’t sweep me off my feet like some of Giffin’s previous books. I still believe this is worth the read! I love how these friends follow through in their pact, and support each other when they need it the most.

I loved this book. I read it pretty quick. There is a tough topic in it but I think this book was written beautifully. This store was about a group of friends who loose a friend to suicide. The friends create a pact to be there for each other. This book is through the point of view of all three friends. Each friend is dealing with something. The story is about friendship, love and strength,

We begin at college graduation, when three of four best friends finished their college years and started their lives in the world. They lost their fourth friend to tragedy and it made a huge impact on all their lives. Stunned and heartbroken, they make a pact, promising to always be there for one another, no matter how separated they may become by circumstances or distance.

Ten years later, Hannah is anticipating what should be one of the happiest moments of her life when everything is suddenly turned upside down. Calling on her closest friends, it soon becomes clear that they are all facing their own crossroads. True to their promise, they agree to take a time out from their lives and embark on a shared journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and acceptance.

I loved the depth of the storylines in this book and all of the feelings that it stirred up. Having multiple points of view, with each of the three friends acting as narrator for different chapters was great, because it gave you their perspective on things that were going on. They were facing issues in their lives dealing with relationships, career, parents, expectations from others and themselves. They each had to work through those topics and come out on the other side, either more confident in their choices or deciding to make changes that would change the rest of their lives.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers Random House and the author Emily Giffin for this advanced copy along with letting me review it as well. The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin is a four star read that releases to the public Tuesday July 9th 2024. This book definitely reminds me of the movie and book called The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. This novel introduces four best friends during their college years but one of the four friends sadly passes away leaving the three women promising they will have each other's backs along with always being there for one another. A decade later that promise stays true when one of the women ends up with a broken heart from an ex- fiance cheating on her.

The Summer Pact is a novel about lives changing, healing, loss, new adventures and friendships that are forever. The author Emily Giffin wrote this story beautifully and added a unique amazing aspect to this book of having all three women's perspectives.I hope everyone loves this book as much as I did.

I remember how great it was to meet new friends early in college who may have been completely different from me but who ended up becoming a chosen family. Hannah, Lainey, Summer and Tyson couldn't have come from more disparate backgrounds but they form a fast friendship that is severely tested when one of them unexpectedly commits suicide towards the end of senior year. After that, they make a pact that if any of them is experiencing something really awful, the rest will be there for them no matter what. Hannah is shocked to find out that her fiance is cheating and calls Lainey to say that she feels like her life is over. Laine flies to her side and immediately involves Tyson. The story then flips to a travelogue-where each of them is working to figure out who they are while traveling to various locations around the world. I especially loved the Capri part :).
Giffin's books are usually must-reads for me and this one did not disappoint. All three characters have flaws but figuring out how to they learn to grow as adults was interesting to read. Sometimes the POVs weren't very different .
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Well that was… a bit disappointing after loving Meant to Be. There were some heartwarming moments and, at times, I enjoyed the friendship dynamics, but I did not find the characters relatable nor believable. Plus the three main characters/povs all sounded the same.

Loved the setting and premise!

This book tells a beautiful story of strong friendships and found family. The book begins with a tragedy and the story details the beautiful friendships that continue and develop in spite of and because of the tragedy. The story is told with rotating narration of the 3 main characters and it is done in a way that doesn't disrupt the story line.

Much of the story takes place in the beautiful setting of Capri and the descriptions of the location make you feel like you're there.

Highly recommend this latest from Emily Giffin.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

Overall, I thought the premise was interesting. I liked Tyson the most. I also liked the traveling aspect and the imagery of Italy—perfect to read in the summer.

Honestly, I didn’t care for Lainey very much. I know her attitude and behavior are part of the group dynamics and her character development, but I thought she was selfish. I really didn’t connect with any of the characters.

It was a good summer read and especially good if you like themes of friendship, dysfunctional families, and finding yourself.

Three college make a pact to support each through challenging times after one of their closest friends takes their own life. When one of the friends finds out about her fiancé's infidelity, she calls the other two who drop everything to come support. They decide to take a trip they had planned back in college before their loss, each selecting a different place around the world to visit. This is that story...

I really liked the premise of this book and I think it is well written, for the most part. I liked the characters and their travels. But... it just wasn't for me. Although I liked the characters, I didn't relate to them and felt that their actions were rather childish for 30 year olds. I felt sad for them mostly. There were a few too many parts that felt like virtue signalling - maybe I just don't hang out with people who speak that way openly, so it feels a bit strange to read. During the MPOV, I forgot who I was reading several times. Then you leave one characters perspective to move right into another's (like one character left the room because she was uncomfortable - noted by the friends - to see through that characters eyes in the next chapter that she left the room because she was uncomfortable.) You are following 3 POV of people who are almost always together. Lastly, how can you connect with Summer and sympathize with the character loss, when you don't really know her except through some very short conversations? There wasn't much reminiscing and pulling her more into the story - she is the reason they are where they are now... on this trip... it would have been nice to get to know her more since she played such a significant role in their lives.

Overall, well written, interesting concept, but not a book I would pick up and read again. I might try to read other books by the author because I enjoyed her style, but might want to read a little deeper synopsis than the quick inside cover summary/hook.

Thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC. I am sure it will be enjoyed by many.

"The summer pact" is the agreement made by three friends in college in the wake of a tragedy to be there for each other in the future, no matter what. Ten years later, the friends come together, in the name of this pact, and embark on a journey that winds up changing all of their lives.
I usually really love Emily Griffin books, but I struggled a bit with this one.
I love this premise, but the reality of this book fell a bit short for me. I think some of the reason the book fell short for me is the pacing. I found it a bit slow. The other reason is the character development. I just really could not connect to the characters and for the most part found them unlikeable.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with this ARC.

Giffin has been a favorite, however, this title falls a bit short. The Summer Pact was predictable in the outcome, and as a whole wasn't as engaging as the author's previous novels. While the initial premise is important and timely - suicide prevention and awareness - the friends Hannah, Tyson, and Lainey didn't "grab" my attention as other of Giffin's writing has.

Without giving any spoilers, I loved the layers this book possessed. I don't read book descriptions so maybe others weren't surprised, but in the first 15% I was devastatingly and happily surprised and ready to take the journey through the rest of the novel. Parts of it were heartbreaking and I was wishing for different storylines but that is because I loved the characters. In the end I find myself both uncomfortable and satisfied and thoughtful. Nice job, Emily Griffin, another book that makes me think. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC copy. It was a pleasure to read.

Emily Giffin is a wonderful author and the storyline seemed like a great idea, however it did fall flat for me. What happened in the beginning was thrown at us without much of a background. That part would have had a bigger impact on the rest of the book had I known the character more or even a clue as to why it happened. This same thing was mentioned throughout the book, tied to decisions made but really didn’t make the connection as a whole for me. I felt like the main plot was missing and there were too many holes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an ARC. All opinions expressed here are my own.

tw- suicide and potential SA

i feel like this had a lot of potential and the friends group had a nice dynamic but it ultimately fell short. it was in three different POV’s but they didn’t sound too incredibly different so i often forgot who’s POV i was in. they’re incredibly immature for their age (32ish). it got a little boring at around 60%. the characters felt a bit underdeveloped or underwhelming i guess could be a better word to describe them? thanks netgalley for giving me the chance to read + review this ARC!

2.5 ⭐️

I do think the premise had potential, but it was very slow moving, the characters pov chapters all felt like the same so no one had a unique voice, everyone was underdeveloped, romance was an afterthought… and honestly the only one I thought had uniqueness was Olivia who had 5% involvement in the story.