Sun, sand, sapphic yearning—Summer Girls by Jennifer Dugan is the kind of book that feels like a warm breeze and a bittersweet sunset all at once. It’s messy, heartfelt, and utterly unputdownable, capturing the intensity of summer love, complicated friendships, and the ache of wanting something (or someone) you’re not sure you can have.

The story follows a girl caught between past and present, old flames and new feelings, all set against the backdrop of a dreamy coastal town. Dugan perfectly balances angst and humor, giving us characters who are flawed but so easy to root for. The tension? Delicious. The emotional stakes? High. And the romance? A slow, simmering burn that feels so real it hurts in the best way.

What makes Summer Girls shine is how it explores love—not just the romantic kind, but the love found in friendships, in self-acceptance, and in the memories that shape us. The writing is sharp and witty, the chemistry between the leads is palpable, and the summer atmosphere is so vivid, you’ll practically taste the salty air.

If you’re looking for a queer coming-of-age romance that’s equal parts swoony and soul-searching, Summer Girls is an absolute must-read. It’s the kind of book that lingers, like the best summer memories do. ☀️💛

2.5 stars

I think overall the book was pretty much exactly what you’d expect based on the synopsis.

There were a lot of enjoyable moments throughout, particularly the ones that took place at the beach Birdie and Cass worked at. I really enjoyed that environment and it was probably my favorite part of the book. Unfortunately, I feel like there was not much character development which really bummed me out.

The book definitely reads Y/A, and though I would recommend it for a high school aged audience, I still found it to be enjoyable. I could never say no to a summery sapphic romance!

Summer Girls is an enemies-to-lovers romance novel, centered on the characters of Birdie and Cass.

Birdie is a "trust fund baby" and an aspiring influencer, following in the footsteps of her influencer mom. She lives in Boston and dreams of starting her own brand once her trust fund is released. Cass, on the other hand, is part of the working class. She lives in a small tourist beach town, and during the summer she works as a life guard. Cass also occasionally does odd jobs for Birdie's father, who also lives primarily in the beach town.

When Birdie gets herself into major trouble once again, she is forced to stay with her father in the beach town. Birdie's father employs Cass to keep an eye on Birdie and help her get a working class job. The two start off by hating each other, before eventually finding mutual attraction.

The chapters of the book alternate between the perspectives of Birdie and Cass, giving the readers a chance to more deeply experience both sides.

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The book was well written and the overall premise of the book was promising. However, both characters (especially Cass) were so unlikeable that it made it hard to root for either of them. For example, when Cass is first tasked with watching over Birdie, she is actually quite mean / rude to Birdie just because Birdie is wealthy. So it's quite hard to believe that Birdie ends up liking Cass even though Cass treated her so poorly, and basically bullied her. In fact, it was disappointing that Birdie put up with this sort of treatment and continued to like Cass despite it.

The pacing when they switched from enemies to lovers also felt too quick. One minute they hated each other and the other they were super attracted to each other. The book would have benefited from drawing this out a little more, which would have also helped with the believability.

Overall I liked the book, but I wish it had better pacing and more likable characters.

This would be a perfect Disney young adult rom com. They go from crushing on each other at the beach when they were little, to hating each other, to coming full circle again. It was a sweet story and being a beach kid it made me nostalgic and wishing I had a story like this when I was younger. I loved it. Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Dugan, and Penguin Group.

This book had so much potential—a dreamy beach town, a classic opposites-attract romance, and that perfect mix of summer tension and sapphic yearning. As a teenage girl, this is exactly the kind of story I crave. Why aren’t there more queer books like this? We need more!

That said, the execution left me a little frustrated. The miscommunication trope was overused to the point of exhaustion. It felt like the characters were arguing over the same thing in every chapter, with one of them constantly backsliding into the same bad habits and undoing any progress in their relationship. The emotional buildup was great at times, but the repetitive conflicts made it hard to stay invested.

Still, the summer romance vibes were on point, and I loved seeing a sapphic love story set in such a fun, nostalgic setting.

Average Romance with Predictable Tropes. Summer Rules follows the classic "opposites attract" formula, but unfortunately doesn’t bring anything fresh to the table. Cass, the no-nonsense townie, and Birdie, the spoiled summer girl, start off as typical rivals, and their slow-burn romance is pretty predictable from the start. While their chemistry is obvious, the tension feels forced at times, especially with the heavy reliance on the "opposites attract" trope. The writing doesn’t delve much deeper than surface-level conflict, and the characters—particularly Birdie—often come across as one-dimensional. Cass’s hard-edged attitude and Birdie’s rich-girl antics are familiar and don’t add much depth to their individual personalities.

Summer Girls was a super sweet and insightful story about two girls and former friends, who come from opposite upbringings, reluctantly spending the summer together working at a beach.

I loved that the two girls went through so much growth together, from understanding each other’s perspectives to actively making the efforts to change despite their semi-forbidden romance. The MCs make a lot of questionable choices throughout the story, but they always learn from them and come back together. At the end of the day, these are teenagers just trying to find themselves, and it was really sweet to see how much these two grew as people and loved each other in the process. Birdie has my heart and was the true star in this book in terms of character development (also social media, so it checks out).

The conversations about class and how that affects not only the social-economical differences of the kids born into different circumstances but also their states of mind and familial/personal relationships were really enlightening. I liked that most of the characters had many layers to their decisions, namely Birdie’s father, and actions that could have multiple different motivations; it really says a lot about people in business nowadays. Same goes for the world of social media and specifically family/mommy vloggers, especially with the 7 Passengers case/documentary coming out.

Overall the love story was the heart of this book and it left me feeling optimistic about the MCs future and even more inspired by how hard they (specifically Birdie) fought for love. It’s a super sweet YA romance perfect for the summer season!

This is a cute YA summer romance, perfect for lighthearted reading on the beach.

I wasn't expecting the main characters to already know each other when I started reading (that wasn't clear from the book blurb), but both Cass's and Birdie's characters are well-developed, and the challenges they face as their relationship begins to develop from mutual "I hate you" to mutual "I might like you...?" are believable, as are their character flaws that fuel many of those challenges--Cass's struggle to see Birdie as someone outside of her social status, and Birdie's struggle to figure out who she is when she's spent most of her life being told who to be and what to do. Seeing them grow up a bit (especially Birdie, who had led a rather sheltered life) as the story unfolds was satisfying, and I was rooting for them the entire way.

I'd recommend this book to readers looking for a cute, gay summer beach read.

I was ecstatic to read Dugan's latest following Some Girls Do, another sapphic YA story taking place during my favorite season!

Townie Cass has a rule about not dating "summer girls", aka the girls that flock to her beachy hometown on summer holiday. After vacationer Birdie crashes her ex-boyfriend's car, she's crushed to have to spend the summer working as a beach parking lot attendant alongside Cass. With summer heating up, will Cass stick to her tried-and-true rule? Or will these summer girls find their own kind of summer loving?

Summer Girls gave me similar vibes to Elin Hilderbrand, and I love the queer twist on such a classic trope. Both Cass and Birdie were handled with care, and I appreciate the gentleness that Dugan treats topics such as social media and queerness. I can't wait to share this book with my students - I have a flock that I already know will pass this one around and giggle over.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

A lovely light-hearted summer romance!

I had fun with this book, which follows a fun rivals to lovers romance by the beach. Cass and Birdie were fun, contrasting characters who both were dealing with their own family and money-related issues. The forced proximity of these two made them understand each others' circumstances more which I loveeeed. Unfortunately this did feel a bit insta-lovey to me because it seemed to take place over less than the whole summer. But still cute nonetheless.

This was my first Jennifer Dugan book, and I had a lot of fun.

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

This was an adorable and really wholesome summer romance novel. I thought the chemistry between Birdie and Cass was realistic, however I felt that them knowing and having feelings for each other as kids was kind of a lazy way to speed up the process of their attraction to each other. I would have liked to see them gradually build their relationship overtime as it did feel rather fast. Regardless i thoroughly enjoyed this and I would recommend to anyone that's into summer and wealthy x commoner romances. Overall 3.5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had a hard time emphasizing with Birdie, but by the end I really liked her and almost felt sorry for her. Her parents suck, her one friend isn't much better. For every step forward Birdie and Cass took as a couple, Cass took two steps back for both of them. The story really tries to pose Birdie as the one who messes up, but it's always Cass that refuses to listen and goes back to her preconceived notions about what kind of person her girlfriend is. It was hard to root for them, I won't lie.

The topic of gentrification is handled relatively well, though Birdie's father was given way too much slack for my liking. He is only being held accountable by the two main characters without showing any personal character growth.

I adore Jennifer Dugan's books and this one is no exception! Dugan truly knows how to capture that sweetness and awkwardness that comes with first love.

Gay, summery, and littered with drama.
I live for it, I guess…?

PLOT SUMMARY:

Birdie is the daughter of wealthy influencer, Verity Gordon and shrewd businessman George Gordon, who capitalize on their daughter’s life by capturing it constantly on camera. But after a disastrous livestream reveals how messed up her life truly is, Birdie is shipped off to live in her father’s villa and be watched over by her salty former friend, Cass. As Birdie starts to live out her summer in a way she never imagined, her feelings for Cass begin to surface, as do her reservations about forever living in the spotlight.
But is their relationship doomed to be a summer fling? Or will their love win out in the end?

PLOT REVIEW:


So… This is a very dramatic plotline.
I loved the summery vibes of it all, and I’m ALWAYS down for some drama. But this was a bit much. The amount of miscommunication between Cass and Birdie is truly staggering and, oftentimes, extremely annoying.
Not to mention that the whole rich girl finding herself after being shipped off to an island is a plot I have seen more than once. There was nothing truly original about it, but that’s shockingly something I enjoyed. I was just able to turn off my brain and submerge myself in sun, waves, and unnecessary drama that made me feel like I was going insane.
Not to mention that this is a sapphic romance, which already gives it a high rating in my books.
But this book did seem quite messy in certain areas. For one, we have no true closure between Birdie and her mother, or her father, for that matter. Technically, everything is wrapped up in a nice little bow, but it rang hollow.
Birdie’s struggle with her sexuality also felt only half explored throughout this book. As someone who identifies as a lesbian and had to do a lot of soul-searching to reach this label, I love reading about people finding themselves.
But it never felt like Birdie did that. She never truly resolved WHY everyone around her reacted to her bisexuality in such a strange manner. I wanted more exploration into this subject, but that, unfortunately, just never happened.

CHARACTERS:

While the plot rang a bit hollow for me, the characters weren’t doing much better. I liked Bridie significantly more than I liked Cass, and that just feels so odd to me.
The main reason for this, though, is because Cass judges Birdie so harshly for everything she does. Even when they resolve their troubles, she still finds problems to poke at. And while I understand her reasoning for this, I still found her extremely annoying throughout the novel.
Birdie, I felt more neutral on. She makes a lot of mistakes, but is always quick to try and correct them.
Considering everyone else, they fell flat. Verity Gordon has no substance and is purely there to be a villain. George is horrible and has no character growth, yet we’re expected to imagine he does.
No, thank you.
Birdie’s friend is also a very dull character who I disliked immensely for no real reason.
I don’t even know, don’t ask.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Mindless reading, but it’s gay, so I’m not too mad about it.

I used to love reading beachy summer YA romances when I was a teen, but because of the industry at the time they were always straight. So I love now how there are queer books that give me nostalgia for the types of romances I read back in the day. Cass and Birdie lead very different lives. Cass is a year round resident of the beach town and works with her family to find affordable housing for people who are being priced out of living there by all the vacation rentals popping up. Meanwhile Birdie is the very wealthy daughter of a mommy blogger/influencer who is being sent to the beach town as punishment for crashing a very expensive car. Will this lead to an opposites attract situation or are there too many obstacles for them to see eye to eye?

Cass and Birdie were both well fleshed out characters and I really enjoyed seeing how they had to learn about each other's lives. I especially liked seeing how Birdie learned about the harm that her father was causing in his job as a real estate developer and how Cass’ family was trying to work to combat it. Also, Cass learning about how Birdie was forced by her mother to be part of her influencer content and how what was being shared wasn’t always her choice was interesting to see. Both characters have great development throughout the book, but I especially enjoyed seeing where Birdie ended up at the conclusion of the story in comparison with the opening.

I also loved seeing how their connection and romance slowly grew throughout the story. There are a lot of rough points that they have to work through, especially because of coming from such different backgrounds. But there are also so many cute and fun, summery moments in addition to the more serious moments. I’d definitely recommend this for readers who enjoy sapphic YA romances and different sides of the tracks romances.

This book was gifted to me as an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Cass and Birdie are an instant couple to root for and I wish I had been laying on the beach while I read it. It’d your classic enemies to lovers where you find out that they haven’t quite always been enemies and truly never quite became them. Both girl are likable, fully developed and have you rooting for them individually and to succeed as a couple. It’s very fish out of water without overdoing the trope or getting caught up in the hijinks of the schemes introduced. Great growth. Great journey. A quick paced and fun summer read! You’ll be rooting for and loving these summer gals.

I wasn't a fan of this book. The plot summary sounded interesting, but this just didn't live up to it. I couldn't feel any chemistry between the characters and I lost interest about 1/2 way through.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this ARC. A cute coming of age LGBTQIA+ book that real hits the hardships of being queer in high school and the societal / financial differences btwn birdie and cass. Fuck cass’ mom tho. We don’t support homophobia.

I really enjoyed this book. This would be a perfect summer read!

There’s two main characters who are trying to figure out who they are, what they believe in, and how to navigate their lives. I really appreciated the way this was told - even though nothing from this book has happened to me, it still felt really relatable.

There’s also a heavy theme of gentrification and class differences. I thought this was handled really well - there was a lot of nuance, without spending an overwhelming amount of time here - and with the dual POV, we really see different sides of the issue.

4 🌟Thank you to Penguin Group and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Summer Girls did not disappoint. The perfect summer read that entices real and raw emotions regarding young long and bisexuality. Jennifer Dugan knows how to develop characters in a way that leave you wanting more.

This book touches on topics related to coming out, parental influence and power, lack of self-confidence, the importance of self-growth, lack of communication in relationships, all while displaying a sweet young romance.

I would 100% recommend this book and look forward to what this author has in store for the future.