The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner – Review by Colleen Noyes

The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Warning SPOILERS contained in this review.

I picked up The Summer Place from my library based off of a recommendation, but I’ll be honest it was not one of my favorite books this year. I found that the authors writing style was very good, it was smooth, and it all flowed very well. I could tell that the author takes great pride in sharing her story which I appreciated. This story was portrayed as being heartfelt and unputdownable. Unfortunately, my experience in reading the story did not feel heartfelt in the least. I found it disappointing that almost every “secret “involved some kind of betrayal or affair. I found it disheartening in more ways than one. I also was not prepared for a same-sex sexual encounter that felt like it was just thrown into the book for no actual good reason. It didn’t feel as if there was any real background or substance to how it came about. Therefore, I don’t feel like it hit the mark that it maybe could have. I found myself not connected to a single character, which is, very odd for me. I was extremely disturbed by the secret that the father of the bride had and the fact that he would just let it go on for over a year instead of dealing with it immediately given the consequences. Overall, I found this book to be an utter disappointment with some questionable, subject matter and storytelling. My review is not based on whether the author writes well she does but this particular story and itself was not my cup of tea. Others may find it wonderful, and it looks like from the review history they do, so I always recommend at least giving it a try and we can your own judgment.

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