4 ⭐️
Expected publication date - July 22, 2025

WHAT I LOVED - The small town, island life. Everyone knows everyone else's secrets and loves to gossip.

WHAT I LIKED - I like the "body never found, but presumed dead" type of mysteries. Are they dead, or are they one of the characters...?

WHAT I DISLIKED - Some parts of the book reminded me of not 1, but 2 books I have read recently, so sometimes I felt like I had already read this, even though the other 2 books were completely unrelated.

WOULD I RECOMMEND? For a fun, fast summer read, YES!

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books, for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

Rating Breakdown:
Characters - 4
Plot - 3
Setting - 3
Writing - 3
Enjoyment - 4
>Total Rating - 3

Review:
This was a fun, short mystery. I figured out a couple of the twists pretty early on, but still enjoyed the execution of them. The glimpses of the island community were sweet, yet heartbreaking, along with the characters' struggles during the course of the book. The characters were definitely the stand-out element of this book for me. Other elements weren't anything spectacular, but the characters definitely kept me engaged and wanting to know more.

Bottom Line:
This was a satisfying little mystery with some great character-driven elements. I would recommend to anyone who wants a quick story with a focus on character exposition.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC to review.

Jessa Maxwell strikes again with Dead of Summer, a chilling camp-set mystery where nostalgia meets nerve-shredding suspense. Think: summer camp aesthetics with a bloodstained twist — friendship bracelets, bonfires, whispered rumors… and murder.

The story is a delicious mix of past and present timelines, slowly peeling back the layers of a summer that was never as innocent as it seemed. Maxwell’s writing is atmospheric without overreaching — every tree feels like it’s watching, every memory tinged with just enough dread to keep your heart thumping.

The protagonist is complex and imperfect — the kind of character who feels real enough to root for, even as her past starts to unravel in ways you don’t expect. This isn’t just a whodunit — it’s a who are you, really?

If The Summer I Turned Pretty went dark, or if Camp Rock was rewritten by Gillian Flynn, you’d get something close to Dead of Summer. It’s twisty, tightly written, and perfect for fans of The Last Time I Lied or The Counselors.

This was a fun read. I thought it dragged a little in the beginning but then I was hooked and read the majority in one sitting. There are a couple twists, some I saw coming and some I didn’t. Overall I really enjoyed it and would recommend reading it

Oral O’Connorhas found herself returning to her childhood home on Hadley Island , her job is to clean out the house so it can be put up for sale. Shes now living in NYC, she left the island many years ago after the tragic disappearance and suspected death of her best friend Alice. Determined to leave the past in the past she’s shocked to hear her old friend and crush David Clarke has returned and he’s not alone. He has brought his new girlfriend Faith. Faith is excited to visit Hadley Island and meet David’s father Geoffrey she feels like David may be proposing. Immediately Faith feels uneasy and unwelcome. Faith soon learns of a mystery surrounding the past disappearance of a local girl named Alice. She also learns that David may somehow have been involved in this mystery. Is this why he and his dad are in secret meetings and whispering. Faith decides to dig into the past and some people will stop at nothing to keep the secrets surrounding the missing girl hidden what really happened that night?

This is my third book by this author & dare I say it-I believe it to be her best! (I really did enjoy The Golden Spoon & its premise).

A small coastal town full of nosy neighbors & chatty Cathy’s spilling the “tea” . I’m from a small New England town & this gave me Hamptons/Martha’s Vineyard vibes. The rich being rich & snobby and thinking they’re superior to everyone & the townies/lower class folks eye rolling & side eyeing them at every chance.

I loved the 3 POVs from Henry, Faith & Orla. I liked their characters and the way the author told their stories through their eyes.

I did not see the twists coming in this one. I think this is a great beach/pool read and I highly recommend it.

This was an average thriller and nothing out of the ordinary. I did not feel overly connected to any of the characters and really didn’t find myself wanting to root for any of them.

I did enjoy the beach setting and the multiple POV, but do wish more time would have been spent in the present. I feel like the present day mystery really lacked development compared to the attention that was spent in the past. At times, I would forget there even was a mystery occurring in the present day that I was needing to care about.

I do feel this book also lacked editing and there were a lot of inconsistencies in the pages (I.e one page a character’s hair is up in a top knot on the top of her head and the very next page - in the same scene - it is blowing around in the wind?? Or on one page it is still daylight and on the very next there is moonlight when there has not been any significant mention of the passing of time?) These are little things, but they really took me out of the story whenever they occurred.

The big twist at the end was also predictable and felt very rushed.

Overall, I would recommend this as a quick and easy summer thriller, but definitely won’t be as memorable as I would have hoped!

So, this one was better than the author’s last book, but not as good as The Golden Spoon, which I loved. This one had all the rich people behaving badly tropes that I loved, with a twist at the end I didn’t see coming, which I always enjoy. It was a page turner for sure, and I couldn’t put it down for the last 25%.

Thank you to Atria books for the ARC! This was a fun, summer thriller read. Fast paced, intertwining character storylines and atmospheric storytelling made for a good story. was it a tad predictable? Yes. Did that stop me from devouring this book? Not a chance.

I really loved the Golden Spoon, so I think I had my expectations set a bit too high for this one. It was a decent beach read mystery, but I did find the plot a little thin and the character development a little lacking in comparison. However, it would be a good option for a vacation where you need to pick it up/put it down at your leisure vs something that's going to suck you in and keep you engrossed.

I loved Jessa Maxwell's The Golden Spoon, so I couldn't wait to dive into a new mystery. Maxwell has a particular talent for character--and in this case, the setting and atmosphere take center-stage, a character in and of itself. The multiple perspectives lends to the suspense, but it felt as though there wasn't as much attention paid to the characters as there had been in The Golden Spoon. THAT SAID - I am in the mood-reader camp and will likely give this a second read this summer, when I'm more likely to fall in love with a mystery.

Thank you, Atria Books, for providing a copy of Dead Of Summer by Jessa Maxwell. This book was interesting, clever, and if you love a shocking ending, you will love this book. Some of the writing felt a bit clunky to me, but it may be a personal preference toward certain writing styles. 4 stars!

Wow… this was a suspenseful thriller!!

I really enjoyed the mysterious plot, it’s chilling and entertaining.

Loved the vibes, the short chapters, so atmospheric that you forget you are reading a book.

The storyline is told in different POV, and will keep you engaged.

I definitely recommend this one!

Thank you so much Atria Books and Jessa Maxwell for my eARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Dead of Summer is a good mystery beach read. Taken as something light and easy, it does very well. As a more serious book, the characters could have used more depth and it was a bit too obvious about a few things.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley & Atria Books for the E-ARC! Very dark & twisty. Enjoyed the characters & setting. Will read more from this author.

Good book for a pool/beach trip. Easy breezy read, but I did expect more from it. The premise was really promising, but the plot was overall thin and also obvious.

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

Jessa Maxwell's third novel, Dead of Summer, is a great beach/vacation read. Dark enough to keep you enthralled, but light enough to pick up and put down at your leisure.

This book, told in multiple POVs, had me hooked! It was the perfect mystery/thriller. Great summer vibe, which had me unable to put this one down.. Mark your calendars and add to your TBR!!!

Thank you to Atria Books and to NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars - although fairly predictable, this one was fast-paced and entertaining! the setting was perfect for a summer thriller. a quick and enjoyable read that I had a hard time putting down. Nothing groundbreaking but the perfect read for this time of year. Think it will be well-received by readers enjoying their first foray into the thriller/mystery genre.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. out 7/22!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher Atria for the arc ebook,Dead of Summer by Jessa Maxwell.This is a quick summer read of a “who done it” which was solved very fast near the end of the book and ended too abruptly.Most of the story was blah,wealthy family on small summer island of old timer residents and tourists.It mainly takes place in New England with bits and pieces of NYC thrown in.Other than the ending,the story was silly and nothing that was much different from many other books of the same type.
On sale,July 22,2025