I almost gave up on this book before I started. I do not like books where pets talk and this one started out with the thoughts of the house. The houses thoughts are limited to only a few pages. The story is easy to read but very predictable.
The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner is a summer beach read about family secrets and a wedding weekend in Cape Cod to bring all the secrets out. Unfortunately, the book goes about it in a way as to be far-fetched, to try and incorporate too many elements, and to be sexually graphic (be warned!). Too much and too scattered, ultimately, this book is completely not for me.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/05/the-summer-place.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2023/05/the-summer-place.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
When The Summer Place by Jennifer Wiener came up in my reading schedule, I was ready to sink into a character-driven novel featuring a multi-generational family. The timing was perfect for this 430-page story of the Weinberg-Danhauser family, who in the second year of Covid lockdown, are preparing for a wedding at Cape Cod.
Ms. Weiner takes readers deep into the history of Veronica, the family matriarch, her twins Sam and Sarah, Sarah's husband Eli, and his daughter Ruby. All have secrets that risk being exposed when everyone gathers at Veronica's beach house for Ruby's wedding to Gabe.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, especially watching events unfold through the perspectives of three generations of a family and the autobiographical elements woven into the plot including the 'lock down' experience of the pandemic. However, coincidences key to the plot that require major suspension of disbelief and anthropomorphisizing the beach house, which was used too little to be effective and felt like a distraction, took away from the reading experience.
Many thanks to Atria for the review copy of this novel
Ms. Weiner takes readers deep into the history of Veronica, the family matriarch, her twins Sam and Sarah, Sarah's husband Eli, and his daughter Ruby. All have secrets that risk being exposed when everyone gathers at Veronica's beach house for Ruby's wedding to Gabe.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, especially watching events unfold through the perspectives of three generations of a family and the autobiographical elements woven into the plot including the 'lock down' experience of the pandemic. However, coincidences key to the plot that require major suspension of disbelief and anthropomorphisizing the beach house, which was used too little to be effective and felt like a distraction, took away from the reading experience.
Many thanks to Atria for the review copy of this novel
