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fkshg8465's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A weirdly fun book full of unlikely coincidences, absences of communication until almost and sometimes too late, inability to listen to themselves and each other, fear of honesty, and ultimately everything going back into their rightful places.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Infertility, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
garbage_mcsmutly's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Infidelity
Moderate: Death of parent
kaitlinschof's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity and Abandonment
kimmykelly's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Classism, Death of parent, Abortion, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship
kdailyreads's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So many of the characters made so many choices that then made it hard to like them. Also, some of the plot points were truly wild - like, made me feel both uncomfortable and annoyed because it seemed too far, yet also a little intrigued despite that. This novel definitely mentioned Covid a lot but it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it might going in - probably because there was no discussion of any of the characters themselves falling ill or personally losing someone to it. For example, one character is a nurse and zero percent of the book addressed what her experience during Covid would have been like as a nurse. There were two parts of the book that made me cry because they were truly sad (heartbreaking, really), but actually had zero connection to Covid. Jennifer Weiner’s ability to write in an an engaging way is very strong and her style of writing draws me in. Plus, I did enjoy all the descriptions of Cape Cod summers. Ultimately, I wanted to keep reading to see what happened. I got to the epilogue and was mad at first because it seemed like there was no way the book was going to wrap everything up in a way that I would feel satisfied with, but then it mostly did. The final moments of the book were particularly well crafted.
The performance of Sutton Foster on the audiobook narration, I would give 4-5 stars! Definitely increased my enjoyment of this novel.
The performance of Sutton Foster on the audiobook narration, I would give 4-5 stars! Definitely increased my enjoyment of this novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Grief, Abandonment, Car accident, Death of parent, Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abortion, Alcohol, and Antisemitism
ukponge's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Infidelity
Moderate: Antisemitism
lexa's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is an average “beach read” type book. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it, I was invested enough to push through to the ending.
You might like it if you are into multi-generational stories with lots of characters, multiple points of view, big drama around every corner, and so. many. coincidences.
You might like it if you are into multi-generational stories with lots of characters, multiple points of view, big drama around every corner, and so. many. coincidences.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content, Cancer, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and 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, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment and Car accident
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: Sexual content and Infidelity
Moderate: Abandonment
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: Abandonment and Sexual content
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