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dezzy's review
5.0
5 stars.
Oh my gosh!! I don't even know how to articulate how much I enjoyed this book. It's one of the cutest and sweetest contemporaries I've ever read. 💓
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is such an adorable, heartwarming book about sisters, family, friends, change, and stepping out of one's comfort zone. It's told in the POVs of the four Garrett sisters, and each sister has such a unique & distinct voice. (Oh, and they were all fiercely feminist & had feminist shirts. I LOVED THAT, and how diverse this book is.) I enjoyed reading Bea and Vi's points of view the most, because they were the most relatable to me.
Bea, the second oldest sister, is about to head off to college, but starts questioning about the future she's planned with her boyfriend since she was thirteen. She isn't sure she actually wants to go to Georgetown University anymore and is worried about letting her family, friends, and boyfriend (as well as herself) down. Bea's very hardworking and perfectionistic, and cares a lot about what other people think of her, to the extent that it causes her anxiety and harms her mental health. (I could relate a lot to that.) And Vi, the youngest sister (at fifteen), is socially awkward, introverted, and loves YA books. (Hello? That's basically me.) She has the most adorable crush on her friend Cece, and the way their friendship blossomed into romance was just THE CUTEST. I love them so much. 💞And I love how supportive Vi was of Cece when she came out and worried about her family's reaction.
I can write so much more about my love for this book, but that'll happen on another day. For now, I just want to say: please read this book if you want to smile and fall in love with real & relatable characters!! I adore this book so much.
Full review to come!!
Oh my gosh!! I don't even know how to articulate how much I enjoyed this book. It's one of the cutest and sweetest contemporaries I've ever read. 💓
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is such an adorable, heartwarming book about sisters, family, friends, change, and stepping out of one's comfort zone. It's told in the POVs of the four Garrett sisters, and each sister has such a unique & distinct voice. (Oh, and they were all fiercely feminist & had feminist shirts. I LOVED THAT, and how diverse this book is.) I enjoyed reading Bea and Vi's points of view the most, because they were the most relatable to me.
Bea, the second oldest sister, is about to head off to college, but starts questioning about the future she's planned with her boyfriend since she was thirteen. She isn't sure she actually wants to go to Georgetown University anymore and is worried about letting her family, friends, and boyfriend (as well as herself) down. Bea's very hardworking and perfectionistic, and cares a lot about what other people think of her, to the extent that it causes her anxiety and harms her mental health. (I could relate a lot to that.) And Vi, the youngest sister (at fifteen), is socially awkward, introverted, and loves YA books. (Hello? That's basically me.) She has the most adorable crush on her friend Cece, and the way their friendship blossomed into romance was just THE CUTEST. I love them so much. 💞
I can write so much more about my love for this book, but that'll happen on another day. For now, I just want to say: please read this book if you want to smile and fall in love with real & relatable characters!! I adore this book so much.
Full review to come!!
starlightbooktales's review
4.0
This arc was provided to me for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
4 STARS
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls was a light summer read that provides a tale of 4 sisters trying to navigate their last summer together. Each sister is going through something different and the story follows each one of them as they let go of the past and find themselves and new love.
I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a nice summer read. The Garrett girls will keep you on your toes!
4 STARS
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls was a light summer read that provides a tale of 4 sisters trying to navigate their last summer together. Each sister is going through something different and the story follows each one of them as they let go of the past and find themselves and new love.
I would definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a nice summer read. The Garrett girls will keep you on your toes!
doyoudogear's review
4.0
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was the perfect summer read! Jessica Spotswood has successfully made me want to buy a boat and live near a marina. Just the idea of laying on the deck and watching fireworks makes me smile! It sounds so relaxing and fun. One of the sisters, Bea, makes a comment about it being like a tiny house on the water, which would definitely force me to be a minimalist.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls had a very Gilmore Girls vibe that I enjoyed. They live in a small town where it's impossible to keep secrets, and the townspeople live for the gossip. There are also no strangers except for the tourists they occasionally see throughout the year. There's an old bookstore, a Tabby Cat Café that has literal cats (they can also be adopted from there!), and even a yearly reenactment that people get really excited about.
I loved their Gram and how accepting she was of her grandchildren. They were all so very different, and she treasured them like they were her own. The girls also appreciated their Gram and how much she's done for them over the years. She trusts them to do what is right, and is there for them when they make a mistake.
I feel like there was a lot that could have been elaborated on, but I understand that can be difficult when you're telling a story through five different perspectives. There is a lot going on in each of their lives, and unfortunately some of the details were left out. They were small threads that I was following in the background, but most of them are never mentioned again. An example would be Bea's movie date with Erik and how Savannah taunted her with bringing Gabe. Bea gets ready for her date, but we have now idea how it went or if Savannah followed through with her threat. Bea was also really nervous about the date, and I was curious about how it ended.
The bookstore belongs to the Garrett family, and the author references a lot of YA authors and titles. She specifically mentions Nina LaCour and a variety of LGBTQ books. One of the characters is openly gay, another is bisexual, and one is still figuring things out. I thought Jessica Spotswood did a wonderful job of creating characters that a lot of people will be able to relate to.
There are a lot of Harry Potter references. Pets were named Remus, Sirius and Crookshanks, but there were also a lot of shirts and sayings that related to the books. It felt a little forced at times, but it wasn't too over-the-top. I was also happy about the X-Men shout out! Three of the horses were named Storm, Gambit and Rogue.
I think there were a lot of good points made about women's rights, equality and acceptance.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls touches on family, friendships and how those two things can change over time. It was a fun story that I really enjoyed reading and had a hard time putting down. Every chapter was about a different sister, and I was quickly caught up in each of their stories. There were a few times when I cringed internally at someone's behavior or actions, but that's life. People make mistakes, but it's how they learn and grow from them that matters. I think each individual sister did a lot of growing over the summer, and I thought their story ended in a really great place.
Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on June 13, 2018.
https://www.doyoudog-ear.com/2018/06/the-last-summer-of-garrett-girls-by.html
This was the perfect summer read! Jessica Spotswood has successfully made me want to buy a boat and live near a marina. Just the idea of laying on the deck and watching fireworks makes me smile! It sounds so relaxing and fun. One of the sisters, Bea, makes a comment about it being like a tiny house on the water, which would definitely force me to be a minimalist.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls had a very Gilmore Girls vibe that I enjoyed. They live in a small town where it's impossible to keep secrets, and the townspeople live for the gossip. There are also no strangers except for the tourists they occasionally see throughout the year. There's an old bookstore, a Tabby Cat Café that has literal cats (they can also be adopted from there!), and even a yearly reenactment that people get really excited about.
I loved their Gram and how accepting she was of her grandchildren. They were all so very different, and she treasured them like they were her own. The girls also appreciated their Gram and how much she's done for them over the years. She trusts them to do what is right, and is there for them when they make a mistake.
I feel like there was a lot that could have been elaborated on, but I understand that can be difficult when you're telling a story through five different perspectives. There is a lot going on in each of their lives, and unfortunately some of the details were left out. They were small threads that I was following in the background, but most of them are never mentioned again. An example would be Bea's movie date with Erik and how Savannah taunted her with bringing Gabe. Bea gets ready for her date, but we have now idea how it went or if Savannah followed through with her threat. Bea was also really nervous about the date, and I was curious about how it ended.
The bookstore belongs to the Garrett family, and the author references a lot of YA authors and titles. She specifically mentions Nina LaCour and a variety of LGBTQ books. One of the characters is openly gay, another is bisexual, and one is still figuring things out. I thought Jessica Spotswood did a wonderful job of creating characters that a lot of people will be able to relate to.
There are a lot of Harry Potter references. Pets were named Remus, Sirius and Crookshanks, but there were also a lot of shirts and sayings that related to the books. It felt a little forced at times, but it wasn't too over-the-top. I was also happy about the X-Men shout out! Three of the horses were named Storm, Gambit and Rogue.
I think there were a lot of good points made about women's rights, equality and acceptance.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls touches on family, friendships and how those two things can change over time. It was a fun story that I really enjoyed reading and had a hard time putting down. Every chapter was about a different sister, and I was quickly caught up in each of their stories. There were a few times when I cringed internally at someone's behavior or actions, but that's life. People make mistakes, but it's how they learn and grow from them that matters. I think each individual sister did a lot of growing over the summer, and I thought their story ended in a really great place.
Originally posted at Do You Dog-ear? on June 13, 2018.
https://www.doyoudog-ear.com/2018/06/the-last-summer-of-garrett-girls-by.html
melissayabookshelf's review
4.0
I really liked this book about four sisters who are all one year apart and who in the midst of great change in their lives and told from four separate POVs. About ten years before, both of their parents died in a car crash, so they’re being raised by their grandmother, and each of them have secrets that they’re keeping from all of the others. Secrets that will lead to a lot of drama.
Beyond the sisters, one of whom at 15 is an out lesbian who reads tons of queer YA novels, there is a pretty diverse cast of characters, including a few Bi characters (even a male Bi guy), several people of colour, including both of the Bi characters, and several other gay characters, including two married moms of one of the other kids. I did wonder if one of the main characters might later identify as asexual, but she didn’t express that...at least not yet.
Lots of tropes but also a lot of awesome literary references and super feminist T-shirts give it a lot to love. Beyond this, the quirky town has a Gilmore Girls feel to it, so it will appeal to fans of that show.
Beyond the sisters, one of whom at 15 is an out lesbian who reads tons of queer YA novels, there is a pretty diverse cast of characters, including a few Bi characters (even a male Bi guy), several people of colour, including both of the Bi characters, and several other gay characters, including two married moms of one of the other kids. I did wonder if one of the main characters might later identify as asexual, but she didn’t express that...at least not yet.
Lots of tropes but also a lot of awesome literary references and super feminist T-shirts give it a lot to love. Beyond this, the quirky town has a Gilmore Girls feel to it, so it will appeal to fans of that show.
karis_rogerson's review
5.0
5/5 STARS
YOU GUYS. I honestly don't have the words for how good this book was? It's so difficult to balance multiple characters, giving them each unique personalities, inciting incidents, conflicts, desires, and even harder to do so in a way where readers will be able to keep them separate, remember who is who. I think of LITTLE WOMEN when I think of a book that did it well, and that book's pace is so much slower than this one, and the timeline so much more spread out. The fact this book accomplished that so well, and was so delightful at the same time, is just...
Honestly? Just read it yourself, because I can't praise it highly enough. Each of the sisters is going through a summer of transition, and it's at times painful, but it's also beautiful, hopeful, and lovely to see their bonds in action.
YOU GUYS. I honestly don't have the words for how good this book was? It's so difficult to balance multiple characters, giving them each unique personalities, inciting incidents, conflicts, desires, and even harder to do so in a way where readers will be able to keep them separate, remember who is who. I think of LITTLE WOMEN when I think of a book that did it well, and that book's pace is so much slower than this one, and the timeline so much more spread out. The fact this book accomplished that so well, and was so delightful at the same time, is just...
Honestly? Just read it yourself, because I can't praise it highly enough. Each of the sisters is going through a summer of transition, and it's at times painful, but it's also beautiful, hopeful, and lovely to see their bonds in action.
christiana's review
3.0
I kind of wish I hadn't known about the pitch of this book (Gilmore Girls meets something by way of Sarah Dessen) because I think it got my expectations too high. That being said, I think this would be a fun summer read that would be easy to give out to high schoolers or back from college girls.
morganthebookishbeagle's review
4.0
3.5 stars. This was sweet! The Gilmore Girls meets Little Women description is very apt. I loved the small town setting and I liked that each sister had their own POV chapters. I think Kat's might have been my favorite surprisingly but they all had their pluses, and Vi's was a super cute f/f plot line. The whole book in general went out of its way to include many different LGBTQIA representations (bi, lesbian, gay, and I'm pretty sure unnamed ace as well), as well as Asian American and Latinx characters, most of it intersectional. It was super refreshing in the small town setting and noticeable from a readers perspective because it's more than I normally see to be honest. And all of the romances were written so well!
My main gripe is how... earnest some of the writing was. The author went out of her way to include very current book and tv references that I think will get lost in the future but definitely makes it fun for today's teen readers. Some of the current social topics felt forced too, as far how the characters spoke about certain things- it could have felt more natural. I found the writing tense took some getting used to as well, not my fave. There are also some trigger warnings to be mindful of, such as dead parents, former eating disorders, cheating, and some homophobia (including the f word, which really irritated me) that's immediately challenged on the page. Overall, I liked how each sister had real personalities and interests that differed from each other but didn't feel like they were sorted into boxes. And there were a lot of examples of friendships being repaired, especially between girls, which I think is lovely and important.
My main gripe is how... earnest some of the writing was. The author went out of her way to include very current book and tv references that I think will get lost in the future but definitely makes it fun for today's teen readers. Some of the current social topics felt forced too, as far how the characters spoke about certain things- it could have felt more natural. I found the writing tense took some getting used to as well, not my fave. There are also some trigger warnings to be mindful of, such as dead parents, former eating disorders, cheating, and some homophobia (including the f word, which really irritated me) that's immediately challenged on the page. Overall, I liked how each sister had real personalities and interests that differed from each other but didn't feel like they were sorted into boxes. And there were a lot of examples of friendships being repaired, especially between girls, which I think is lovely and important.
megan7b386's review
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls follows four sisters for their last summer together as a family before Bea goes off to college. I enjoyed The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls. It is the perfect summer read full of romance, self-discovery, and family. I’ve seen a lot of people say it’s Little Women meets Gilmore Girls and yeah that pretty much sums this one up. It follows four sisters – Des, Bea, Vi, and Kat – through the summer as they meet new people, try new things, discovers new things about themselves, and fall for people they didn’t expect.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls was a joy to read and it was fun and heartfelt. I loved the bookish references during Vi’s chapters as their family owns a bookstore. We saw mentions of Nina LaCour’s books, Robin Talley’s books, and Reign of the Fallen! I loved that. The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is a very character driven book with each sister going on her own journey and discovers something about themselves. But at the heart of the story, it is about sisterhood, family, and friendship and I really loved that.
Each sister had a very distinct personality and each one went on their own personal journeys and they were definitely a highlight of the book. Des learns that sometimes she needs to put herself first sometimes and learns to stand up for herself. As the oldest, she has always felt like she needs to be the responsible one, the one to pick up everyone’s slack. She’s naive but she learns and she grows and I liked that.
Bea, the second oldest, has been with Erik since she was thirteen and they have had their whole life planned out. They’ve just graduated and are heading off to Georgetown but Bea isn’t sure that is what she wants anymore. She isn’t sure what she wants or who she wants, she doesn’t even know who she is without Erik by her side. Bea was… a complicated and messy character who I liked as a person. She was selfish, impatient, ambitious and very very anxious so I related to that (I personally thought it was good anxiety rep). BUT her storylines also features cheating which is always a big no for me.
Vi is the youngest sister and a lesbian and she is out and proud. She has a crush on the girl next door called Cece (who is queer & latina) but she isn’t sure if Cece is straight or not, she knows she likes lgbtqia+ lit but she isn’t out. I really adored their relationship and especially their love for YA lit and their love for dogs! Kat kind of a favourite of mine she is such a drama queen and I loved every second of it. Also, her storyline featured fake dating which is a favourite of mine. Her relationship with Mase (who is Bisexual & Asian-American) was super cute and I loved it.
Overall, The Last Summer of Garrett Girls is a solid summer read with cute romances, family bonds, and a book about self-discovery.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls follows four sisters for their last summer together as a family before Bea goes off to college. I enjoyed The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls. It is the perfect summer read full of romance, self-discovery, and family. I’ve seen a lot of people say it’s Little Women meets Gilmore Girls and yeah that pretty much sums this one up. It follows four sisters – Des, Bea, Vi, and Kat – through the summer as they meet new people, try new things, discovers new things about themselves, and fall for people they didn’t expect.
The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls was a joy to read and it was fun and heartfelt. I loved the bookish references during Vi’s chapters as their family owns a bookstore. We saw mentions of Nina LaCour’s books, Robin Talley’s books, and Reign of the Fallen! I loved that. The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls is a very character driven book with each sister going on her own journey and discovers something about themselves. But at the heart of the story, it is about sisterhood, family, and friendship and I really loved that.
Each sister had a very distinct personality and each one went on their own personal journeys and they were definitely a highlight of the book. Des learns that sometimes she needs to put herself first sometimes and learns to stand up for herself. As the oldest, she has always felt like she needs to be the responsible one, the one to pick up everyone’s slack. She’s naive but she learns and she grows and I liked that.
Bea, the second oldest, has been with Erik since she was thirteen and they have had their whole life planned out. They’ve just graduated and are heading off to Georgetown but Bea isn’t sure that is what she wants anymore. She isn’t sure what she wants or who she wants, she doesn’t even know who she is without Erik by her side. Bea was… a complicated and messy character who I liked as a person. She was selfish, impatient, ambitious and very very anxious so I related to that (I personally thought it was good anxiety rep). BUT her storylines also features cheating which is always a big no for me.
Vi is the youngest sister and a lesbian and she is out and proud. She has a crush on the girl next door called Cece (who is queer & latina) but she isn’t sure if Cece is straight or not, she knows she likes lgbtqia+ lit but she isn’t out. I really adored their relationship and especially their love for YA lit and their love for dogs! Kat kind of a favourite of mine she is such a drama queen and I loved every second of it. Also, her storyline featured fake dating which is a favourite of mine. Her relationship with Mase (who is Bisexual & Asian-American) was super cute and I loved it.
Overall, The Last Summer of Garrett Girls is a solid summer read with cute romances, family bonds, and a book about self-discovery.
authorstalker's review
5.0
I can’t recommend this enough for fans of Little Women & Gilmore Girls (& Dawson’s Creek!). There are many appealing plot points but here’s my favorite: you know how we all loved the season 2 Rory/Dean/Jess drama? This book has that except the Jess character is a sweetheart who already has his shit together. 💖