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kentuckybooklover's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
May 10, 2022 [Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Told in multiple POVs, The Summer Place weaves together a story of the secrets, dreams, and lives of an extended family and the summer house on Cape Cod that brings them all together for a wedding weekend that promises to be full of both drama and, perhaps, healing.
Have you ever read a book and come across passages that make you feel grateful you read them? I’m talking about the moments where it hits you that if you hadn’t picked up *this* specific book, out of all the millions of books out there in the world, you would never have encountered these specific words arranged in this specific way and you would be fundamentally worse off as the result of an error you’d never know you made?
Maybe that’s too existential for a book review, but it sums up how I feel about The Summer Place. From the opening pages, where Weiner introduces us to the house-as-narrator and I started to tear up, I knew that this was a special book, and ultimately I was proven right. As an aspiring author myself, Veronica’s backstory spoke to me so much, and each of the characters touched my heart in their own unique way. There was a fair amount of exposition, and a lot of characters and plot threads to keep track of, but I was ultimately so impressed by the way everything wove together, and once I got a handle on the large cast I never felt like the plot was too slow or too confusing. If you’re looking for a gorgeously written and unique summer read with a lot of heart, look no further.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: inter-generational family stories; multiple POVs; summer settings.
CW: Death of a parent; infidelity; terminal illness/cancer.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Told in multiple POVs, The Summer Place weaves together a story of the secrets, dreams, and lives of an extended family and the summer house on Cape Cod that brings them all together for a wedding weekend that promises to be full of both drama and, perhaps, healing.
Have you ever read a book and come across passages that make you feel grateful you read them? I’m talking about the moments where it hits you that if you hadn’t picked up *this* specific book, out of all the millions of books out there in the world, you would never have encountered these specific words arranged in this specific way and you would be fundamentally worse off as the result of an error you’d never know you made?
Maybe that’s too existential for a book review, but it sums up how I feel about The Summer Place. From the opening pages, where Weiner introduces us to the house-as-narrator and I started to tear up, I knew that this was a special book, and ultimately I was proven right. As an aspiring author myself, Veronica’s backstory spoke to me so much, and each of the characters touched my heart in their own unique way. There was a fair amount of exposition, and a lot of characters and plot threads to keep track of, but I was ultimately so impressed by the way everything wove together, and once I got a handle on the large cast I never felt like the plot was too slow or too confusing. If you’re looking for a gorgeously written and unique summer read with a lot of heart, look no further.
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: inter-generational family stories; multiple POVs; summer settings.
CW: Death of a parent; infidelity; terminal illness/cancer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Car accident and Abandonment
bekkasbookclub's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
On my goodness, The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner was so good! Full of twists and turns, it’s a page turner that you won’t be able to put down. It’s difficult to give a short synopsis because it has a lot of characters and each character has their own storyline. However, the details and back stories are so well developed, it’s easy to keep up with everyone. I loved how it showed this family going through and coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the struggles it caused. Weiner included many issues families struggle with such as infidelity, trust, sexuality, and grief. This is definitely a good book to add to you summer TBR!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment
mandalacb19's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a beautiful story about a family and a place and how the two are connected. I adored the characters and found the story compelling and rich. This will be another best seller for Jennifer Weiner, I'm sure. The settings were vivid, and the emotion was beautifuly written and illustrated.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Death
mhinnen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Put this on your summer reading list for an easy beach read.
Told through the lens of the various main characters (including the point of view of the house!), each chapter flows from the present to the past, helping us understand how they got to the place they find themselves. The plot twists are a bit extreme and far-fetched. I mean, even one of the "coincidences" would have been hard to. believe but the perfect storm of disruption reminded me of the soap operas I watched back in the day. That said, Weiner's writing is strong enough to hold it together and suspend belief enough to keep the pages turning. I found myself rooting for each of them, wanting them to make good choices, disappointed when they didn't, excited for the small victories.
The family is, for the most part, likable - ordinary decent people holding their family together the best they can. Supporting each other through tragedy and through celebrations. It's their secrets that end up causing the biggest conflicts and I kept hoping for a big family therapy session. Geesh some of the secrets were uncomfortable but certainly not the end of the world (though of course others were huge betrayals of trust). I loved the family matriarch (Ronnie, Veronica, Safta) but found her daughter (Sarah) who is presented as a sympathetic character, to be overprivileged and self-indulgent though she is somewhat redeemed by the end.
Told through the lens of the various main characters (including the point of view of the house!), each chapter flows from the present to the past, helping us understand how they got to the place they find themselves. The plot twists are a bit extreme and far-fetched. I mean, even one of the "coincidences" would have been hard to. believe but the perfect storm of disruption reminded me of the soap operas I watched back in the day. That said, Weiner's writing is strong enough to hold it together and suspend belief enough to keep the pages turning. I found myself rooting for each of them, wanting them to make good choices, disappointed when they didn't, excited for the small victories.
The family is, for the most part, likable - ordinary decent people holding their family together the best they can. Supporting each other through tragedy and through celebrations. It's their secrets that end up causing the biggest conflicts and I kept hoping for a big family therapy session. Geesh some of the secrets were uncomfortable but certainly not the end of the world (though of course others were huge betrayals of trust). I loved the family matriarch (Ronnie, Veronica, Safta) but found her daughter (Sarah) who is presented as a sympathetic character, to be overprivileged and self-indulgent though she is somewhat redeemed by the end.
Weiner does a good job incorporating details that hold together the current realities of (post?) pandemic life.
I happened to have spent much of the pandemic in Park Slope and smiled at some of the familiar places like Prospect Park and customs (like the Buy Nothing Group that Eli joins) and the dog. At first, I found the details of this period of time annoying but so much has defined and shaped us over these two years and some of that is reflected in the annoying details of mask-wearing and the impact of quarantine. And certainly the lock-down brought to light bigger questions of life choices as we faced our mortality and examined our priorities.
As someone who appreciates blended families, I wish that the focus on "step" was a little less prominent. Family is family and constantly pointing it out felt like maybe the stepkids aren't as integrated into their heart as the parents want to believe. Oh and does Connor's grandfather ever actually die?! Both Connor and Ruby have a parent who leaves them but the abandonment issues didn't really seem to be dealt with - how is/will the next generation be impacted because of the family secrets and dynamics? But maybe the point of the book is that no family is perfect and learning how to live and love better is a constant process.
I happened to have spent much of the pandemic in Park Slope and smiled at some of the familiar places like Prospect Park and customs (like the Buy Nothing Group that Eli joins) and the dog. At first, I found the details of this period of time annoying but so much has defined and shaped us over these two years and some of that is reflected in the annoying details of mask-wearing and the impact of quarantine. And certainly the lock-down brought to light bigger questions of life choices as we faced our mortality and examined our priorities.
As someone who appreciates blended families, I wish that the focus on "step" was a little less prominent. Family is family and constantly pointing it out felt like maybe the stepkids aren't as integrated into their heart as the parents want to believe. Oh and does Connor's grandfather ever actually die?! Both Connor and Ruby have a parent who leaves them but the abandonment issues didn't really seem to be dealt with - how is/will the next generation be impacted because of the family secrets and dynamics? But maybe the point of the book is that no family is perfect and learning how to live and love better is a constant process.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Abandonment
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