This book was a quick and easy read, but it wasn’t one of the best ones I’ve read this summer. The whole premise of the book is that three friends made a pact to always be there for each other in their time of need after their friend Summer killed herself their final year of college. I thought that was going to have more relevance on the plot of the book, seeing as the book was named after it. But no, we never get any answers or explanations as to what caused Summer to do that. I know that is accurate to real-life, but it just seems strange to have that be the premise of the book and then not explore it whatsoever.

The plot seemed rushed and the pacing all over the place, especially near the end. The friends were supposed to each pick a destination. Half the story took place in one location, one got about two chapters, and the last location only got a couple of pages. The conflicts seemed forced for the sake of drama, and the characters in this story were all completely insufferable in their own ways. They read like young college students, rather than the early-thirties that they were supposed to be. The dialogue was cringy at times, especially Lainey and Tyson. I wished we had gotten to see more interactions between the friends that weren’t them being pissed at each other.

For the positives, I thought that the book started off pretty strong and hooked me enough to get me through the rougher parts. I also know that many people had issues with the romances and how they seemed to come out of nowhere, but I didn’t really mind them, even if they did seem kind of random. When the friends weren’t being awful to and lecturing each other, I liked their different dynamics. Overall, this was a quick read that I had a fun enough time reading. 3/5 stars.

I wish I loved this. It started off so strong for me and I was enthralled by the subject matter. But soon it got kind of annoying and ramble-y. It felt like she tried putting so many hot topics in there that it didn’t make sense for the story.

I've enjoyed Giffin's books before but this one was fairly bland. The characters felt flat and their relationship felt forced. Not sure I'll be grabbing this one off the shelf to recommend to my patrons. Still, and entertaining summer read.

It's interesting to read the polarized reactions to this book.

I enjoyed reading a summer book with a focus on friendship with a smattering of romance (rather than the usual romance forward story.) This is a tight group of friends from college that vowed to be there for each other in their adult lives after losing Summer to suicide just before graduation. Now in their early 30s, Tyson and Lainey make good on that promise to support Hannah when she is blindsided by her cheating fiancee.

I liked that all three friends had a POV. I liked the grown up traveling pants of it all. Through a pretty rotten circumstance they got to spend extended time together and love and support each other as they figured out the next chapters of their lives.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I am required by law to disclose this.

I am long time Giffin fan and I feel this book reminded me of her earlier books, this is a good thing!
My favorite books from her collection are "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue" and I felt this book is a good companion to those titles. If you have enjoyed this author's previous books, definitely add this new book to her shelf. If you are new to her books, I highly recommend this for women's fiction fans with a touch of romance. Four stars for this great "Summer" read.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I enjoyed the writing, this was not it for me. I didn’t find myself rooting for or connecting with any of the characters. The romance felt forced and weird like it was an afterthought. I wish they would have been more developed and dimensional. I did not enjoy the many political references to current issues. It made it feel like the book was “breaking the fourth wall” and took me out of the story completely. I wish we could have had more time with the 4 at the beginning, would have love to see their relationships form and see those characters developed more.

This is a riveting book that shows you the true meaning of friendships. A truly comforting read. As a woman in her twenties, frontal lobe still developing, I found a lot of the themes in this book to be relatable. You can see the author understands that’ era of our lives as well.

The Summer Pact was an easy yet touching read. Emily Giffin finds a way to explore hard truths and heart breaking situations with some fun kick your feet moments. I even shed a few tears along the way.

I really enjoyed the 3 main characters of this book and liked that we got all 3 of their POV’s along their adventure to self discovery admits crisis and grief.

Although I enjoyed this read, the ending felt a bit rushed and forced. With that being said, this is a great read for anyone looking for a fun HEA. It was a quick read and easy to follow.


Thank you NetGalley and RandomHouse for allowing me to ARC review this title.

Giffin has been a long time favorite. I believe that many will want to pick up this book, based on the title alone, but the storylines will provide readers of various genres a wonderful read

I love Emily Griffin's books, but I was not a fan of this one. The story line was a little to unbelievable for me. Ten years after three friends make a pact to drop everything if one of them hits rock bottom, Hannah calls on her friends Lainey and Tyson. Lainey and Tyson are both going through very pivotal moments in their lives and careers and decide to drop EVERYTHING to fly to Hannah's side. I just couldn't get understand how that was realistic. This book was not for me. Thank you, Netgalley

Ugh. Love Emily's book's most of the time. Appreciate her craft!
The Summer Pact was mostly a miss. It was a bit over the place. Some of the story lines seem added in just for padding. Definitely a head scratcher at times.
One other disappointment that is happening more and more often and it's not just Ms. Giffin but many other best-selling authors... gratuitous current political content and liberal culture trends.
Please remember that half of America is not Liberal. Or label books with "Liberal Talking Points" so readers that want to read non political fiction will be able to save their money.

I've been a long time fan of Emily Giffin but this one is not it. Messy POVs that all blended together despite being three separate characters. Shallow, one dimensional, immature characters that never seemed to grow up. I had to DNF, it's just not for me.

Warning: this book may be a trigger for people due to several of its themes, particularly suicide.
After the suicide of one of their best college friends, three friends, Lainey, Hannah, and Tyson, draw up a pact to promise that no matter how dark things may seem to them, they will contact each other. Years later, when Hannah walks in on her fiancé in bed with another woman, she calls her best friends, and they drop everything and come. What comes next is an extended road trip while they discover what they really mean to each other and who they really are.

This is not my favorite Emily Griffin book at all and I found it a bit of a slog to get through. Sometimes I was confused by the shift in POV of the three characters (who seemed rather similar) and I thought it was kind of unlikely that a pact made in college would make people years later disrupt their real lives. But of course, it’s fiction!

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel. My opinion is my own.

To be honest, this wasn't my favorite book of Giffin's. While I enjoyed their enduring friendship, the characters came off as immature and the romances didn't feel necessary to the story. And although I agree with the political POV shared, it felt out of place to the plot. I don't know. This one just didn't hit for me.

Thanks to Ballantine for the copy to review.

This book was just ok for me. It hit on a few things that are current and made the story more realistic. It had some subtle political things that were pretty much spot on. It dealt with friendships and loss. Suicide and betrayal. Things that don't receive a lot of attention in books sometimes.

While this book was good, it was not great. I didn't like any of the characters and that is not good. I did enjoy this book though and for the most part I enjoyed the scenery of the places these three friends visited.

At the beginning you meet four college students. Just entering college and becoming somewhat grown up in ways. Lainey, Summer, Hannah, and Tyson. They become fast friends and help each other out with everything. Summer is upset over something and takes her life. I still am scratching my head about what exactly happened to cause her to do this. Grades I guess though I honestly don't remember reading that. She texted her three best friends and they all ignored her. Shame on them....

After Summer's suicide the three remaining made a pact to always be there for one another. No matter what. If one felt their lowest the other two would come to them and help. They do stick to this also and from there this story takes off...

Hannah was engaged to a jerk. She caught him in the act but didn't let him know. Yeah right. Anyway she called Lainey and Lainey called Tyson. They all took care of that problem and then went on a long vacation.

I thought Hannah was a bit whiny. She just seemed to be trying to hard to be strong and falling way short. Until she met Olivia that is. I have to admit that I did like Olivia. Lainey was a drunk and seemed to sleep around way to much. And Tyson was unbelievable. He's staying with two beautiful women and not trying anything. I didn't buy that. And I was right. Though I was happy for them after it happened. To me it was like they used each other for their own benefits and didn't really care if the other was hurt. That is my take on the story. Real friendships do not happen like this. I hope.

Great writing and a so so storyline. I could have walked away from this book but was determined to finish it and find out what happened. Though that was pretty much predictable. Happy endings always...

Thank you #NetGalley, #RandomHousePublishing-Ballantine, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

3.5 stars.

Emily Giffin's "The Summer Pact" was a fun summer read, with some tough and serious themes. That sounds a little backwards, but that's exactly how I would categorize it! It was a quick and enjoyable read, but this didn't quite feel the same as her earlier novels.

The story follows a group of college buddies who get together ten years later, during a summer to travel, and subsequently support each other through tough times (and after a tragedy) in their lives. What I did like what the character and friendship development. But I wanted more - I think it was a little slow moving and underdeveloped.

I would pick up another one of her books again, but I do with for a little "more" next time.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Such a heartfelt, wonderful summer read! Emily's books are always the perfect read for summer, evoking a little of every emotion, wrapped up in a bow of immaculate summer vibes.

Love love LOVE emily giffin and she does it again! Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

There were so many things I really loved about this book, including the different dynamics between each duo in the friendship as well as the dynamic between the group as a whole, the twists and turns that hit them throughout their travels, and the people they encountered and grew with along the way.

My only wish is that the finale didn’t happen so quickly. In some ways it felt like we were driving steadily up a mountain and then just sort of plateaued once we got to the top - I wanted more resolved within the main course of the story rather than sort of footnotes at the end in the epilogue.

I still really enjoyed this as a summer read about the importance of staying true to yourself and to your friends!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this eARC!

Glad to have another Emily Giffin book. I’ll say this is one of my least favorites of hers. There were some parts that felt to rushed (the romance, the epilogue) and other peers seemed to drag out. Overall 3/5 stars