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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
dark
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicide, Abortion
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
I loved the setting and dual timeline aspect of this book. Katie Bishop had an intriguing writing style that I enjoyed and found easy to read.
Please look up TWs for this book. It ended up being waaayyy darker than I expected and therefore won’t be a go to recommendation for me.
Thank you St. Martins Press for the advanced copy!
Please look up TWs for this book. It ended up being waaayyy darker than I expected and therefore won’t be a go to recommendation for me.
Thank you St. Martins Press for the advanced copy!
Advanced Book Review! Thank you @netgalley & @stmartinspress for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
“Joining a post #MeToo discourse, The Girls of Summer grapples with themes of power, sex and consent, as it explores the complicated nature of memory and trauma – and what it takes to reframe, and reclaim, your own story.”
Written in dual timelines of “then” and “now”, The Girls of Summer is narrated, and it felt very narrative by Rachel (great name), who spent a summer on a remote Greek island at age 17 and is now living in London at 34, with her husband, but that summer is still haunting.
At first, it reminded me of Mamma Mia – a group of friends travel to a Greek island and one of them decides to stay. However, it quickly became clear that it’s not the same at all, that it’s a much darker story about the girls on the island who were taken advantage of.
Unfortunately, Rachel couldn’t get past what she saw as a real romance with an older man, or see her time on the island for what it actually was. I found this a bit frustrating and repetitive. Knowing who she was at the start of the novel, it was surprising that Rachel ended up in this situation, but I guess that’s kind of the point of the book – that it could happen to anyone.
Rachel’s whole life was consumed by this summer, and although this does become more understandable the more you read, it takes a while for the full story to start coming out and it took me a while to get into it. I also read reviews about a twist coming closer to the end, but to be honest, it wasn’t as big or surprising as I had hoped.
I this this is an important topic and I think Katie Bishop does a good job in her debut novel of digging into this world and how this experience can affect someone many years later.
I don’t want to give anything away but if you’re going to read this one and are worried about certain topics, be sure to look up the trigger warnings first.
Short synopsis:
Then: Rachel decides to do a gap year and spend some time on the Greek isles.
Now: she’s trying to piece together her past on the Islands, and her relationship with Tom her husband and Alistair her teenage lover.
My thoughts: This was not a blow me away thriller, but I did feel it was more contemporary fiction with mystery elements.
I enjoyed the “then” and “now” time frames as we unravel along with Rachel what exactly happened during her 18th year in Greece. We could see the red flags from a mile away, but I can see how she was manipulated into circumstances she didn’t see coming.
I did a mix of audio and physical of this one and the narrator did a fabulous job.
Read if you love:
- books about the #MeToo movement
- Justice
- Then/now timeframes
- Coming of age
- Finding your truth
There are definitely triggers with this one: rape, abortion, prostitution, coercion, manipulation of power, and suicide so beware of those.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
Wow! I read this book in one sitting! The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop is a great dark summer read.
The dual timeline follows Rachel now and summer seventeen years ago in Greece. After going to Greece on holiday she decides to extend her trip and work in a bar with the friends she’s made on the island.
There are a lot of trigger warnings for this book, akin to Tell Me Lies meets Jeffrey Epstein.
The Girls of Summer is addictive from the first page. If you’re looking for a darker summer read with summer vibes don’t miss this one!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Girls of Summer is a novel that will stick with me. Dark, compulsive and atmospheric, I didn't want to stop reading. I struggle sometimes with coming of age stories that deal with grooming, consent, trauma and other sensitive issues because I feel authors try tend to gravitate to a gratuitous overplay of sexua descriptions to simply shock the reader. I don't need that. I think Katie Bishop does a great job at threading that needle of bringing the reader into that predatory space. I think this novel will make for a great pick for book clubs, a lot to discuss.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read and review honestly an advanced digital copy.