This is one of those books that has been so beloved on YouTube that I had to get a copy. Sadly that’s where the good bit ends.

Henry and Effie are you newlyweds honeymooning at a relatives cottage at Cape May in the off-season. They barely know each other and then come across some friends from Effie’s youth. And this is where the plot sort of stops.

I got really frustrated at what seemed like a great start descending into a basic formula of drink, party, sex and repeat for so many chapters. I detested Henry’s very soul and found nothing redeemable about him at all. The fact that he wanted to blame everything and everyone for HIS failings just made me want to throw my kindle. And look, I don’t mind a bit of smut but there are things in here that would make 50 Shades seem tame! It’s just not needed.

What really got my goat and bumped the three star down to a two star is the pointless, frankly sexiest last chapter which fitted no where at all.

I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for an advance copy but the new Gatsby? Oh no no no sir.

Fresh out of high school, newlyweds Effie and Henry travel from the deep South to honeymoon in a family cottage in Cape May, New Jersey. It's the off season and Cape May is almost deserted. They consider leaving early but are drawn in by the older more worldly Clara and her lover Max. Initially virgins they start to explore their desire for each other, but the awakening leads to the desire for others.

The writing is wonderfully smooth and fluent. The content wasn't always engaging though - endless drinking and partying etc. The entering of empty houses in particular made me uncomfortable. The characters weren't very. sympathetic. The writing drew me in though and ultimately I was glad to have read this book.

This was supposed to the next ‘Gatsby’ but that is sadly not the case.
The book revolves around two naive newly weds on their honeymoon in Cape May where they meet some rich party people.
I persevered through and finished the book, however there was really no storyline or plot and it was a disappointing read.
A mediocre 3 stars from me.

A newly married couple of the 1950s go on their honeymoon full of hope but discover things about themselves that they would rather not know. Henry and Effie meet Clara, an old friend of Effie's who lives a decadent lifestyle with her older husband, her lover, and her lover's ward. The summer atmosphere of drinking, picnics and parties with the undertones of lust is perfectly described, and I can see why it was compared to The Great Gatsby. I thought it gave a wonderful sense of the time and the place.

Henry and Effie soon find themselves part of their group and doing things that they wouldn't have considered before, especially Henry who lusts after Alma, the ward. I thought the characters were very well realised, in that they have some rather unpleasant aspects. As Clara tells Henry, they both want it all, and Henry himself can see that Effie is not altogether the nicest person, and is positively bitchy about Clara at first.

This novel does have quite a few sex scenes, and I didn't find them that erotic, more in a realist style that I associate with a more male writing style, possibly affected by the omniscient narrative often from Henry's point of view. A few scenes of him admiring himself and comparing his penis to other men's. I think that they suited the style of novel the author was going for, maybe that how Henry and Effie perceived themselves when they were making love was better for them that it actually was.

Although the plot is not crammed full of events, I found it gripping and wanted to find out what happened next. I think this would make a good holiday read if you felt like something a bit different.

Firstly, the cover on this book is just beautiful. It could easily be a hipster poster. It’s beautiful and deserves it’s own mention- it certainly evokes in me wishes for a warmer faraway place in the sun with a cocktail. The book is based, as you may have guessed, in Cape May and centres on the honeymoon of the young and innocent Effie and Henry, who soon meet someone from Effies childhood who introduces them to a world full of debauchery and plenty of gin. The ending brought me up short and I felt it was very interesting, given the experiences the couple had gone through so early in their marriage, when they were so wide eyed with innocence and easily led astray. An uncomfortable, yet fun and sexy, read.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book.

Oh dear! As far from Gatsby as you can get. This is a book about a young man on his honeymoon who discovers, and is obsessed with sex. There is no plot, it is just a group of people getting drunk, doing stupid things and having sex. There is no surprise conclusion, subtle symbolism, curious hidden stories, or anything else to reward you for plowing through endless sex scenes, so unless you want to read soft porn, give this a miss

A story of love, sex, betrayal and loneliness. A beautifully written period piece, something of the style of The Great Gatsby.
After a rather nightmarish climax, the book hurries on to a rather sad, depressing conclusion.

A very young couple take their honeymoon in the seaside setting of Cape May. The novel is set in 1957, a time of behavioural restraint in the US and Henry and Effie travel from the American South to the New Jersey coastal resort to enjoy some time in a house borrowed from a family member. The town was the setting of childhood holidays for Effie but seems quite new to Henry.

The reasons for their marriage seem to be based on coincidence and conventional convenience and their early interactions are superficial and quite tentative. It is no surprise that, on meeting an older and more sophisticated trio, Clara, Max and his half sister Alma, they are are entranced and drawn into a strange, dream like time in their young lives, fuelled by alcohol, role play, make believe and sexual encounters.

The honeymoon descends into a time of near madness, as they wander through the virtually deserted holiday town, daringly naked at times, breaking into homes at others, rifling through wardrobes, dressing up, acting out roles.. They play games of dare with inevitable new relationships developing as a consequence.

The tone of the novel is matter of fact throughout, describing this mysterious break from normality and finally describes the long term lives of Henry and Effie, never happy, settled or sober.

sadly none of the characters are truly sympathetic and some of the more explicit scenes felt merely gratuitous and did not add to the action or the understanding of the characters. Nonetheless this is an interesting story and an interesting counterpoint to that other novel of young marriage, Chesil Beach'.

I was so smug to be reading this around the time of a short trip to Cape May last month. What could be more perfect for reading on location? I asked myself. Unfortunately, it stood out for the wrong reasons. In October 1957 a young pair of virgins, Effie and Henry, travel from Georgia to New Jersey for an off-season honeymoon in her uncle’s vacation home. They’re happy enough with each other but underwhelmed with the place (strangely enough, this matched my experience of Cape May), and even consider going home early until they fall in with Clara, a friend of Effie’s cousin; Clara’s lover, Max; and Max’s younger sister, Alma. Effie and Henry join the others for nightly drunken revelry.

As the weeks pass Effie, ill and dejected, almost seems to disappear as Cheek delves into Henry’s besotted shenanigans, described in unnecessarily explicit sexual detail. When Effie makes a bid or two for her own sexual freedom late on, it only emphasizes the injustice of spending so much time foregrounding Henry’s perspective. Despite the strength of the period atmosphere and seaside location, this ends up being dull and dated. If you’re after a typically ‘trashy’ beach read and don’t mind lots of sex scenes, you may get on with it better than I did.

Firstly, I know they say never to judge a book by it’s cover but JUST LOOK AT THAT COVER! I would be lying if I said this beautiful cover wasn’t what first brought my attention to this book. I was very lucky to receive a proof ebook copy via Netgalley for Cape May (massive thanks to the publishers for this) and it was immediately put on my holiday TBR Pile.

This book is a perfect holiday read. It’s fun, it’s sexy and a completely addictive read. A large focus of the book is the loss of innocence of Henry and Effie (although mainly Henry) throughout the honeymoon. They begin their holiday as two Virgin’s who appear quiet naive to life. Through Clara they are introduced to a world of alcohol, partying and sex (lots and lots of sex). I feel this transition and loss of innocence is something the author does well, with Henry in particular as the story is told through from his perspective.

As mentioned, there’s a fair bit of sex in the book. I’m not a lover of extremely explicit sex scenes in books (I’m no prude but I just cringe at them) but I found reading Cape May’s sex parts ok (mostly).

I personally like how the book ties up. The author gives us a ‘what happens next’ with the characters and I love this. Whenever I finish a book, I am always wanting to know what happens next with them. I’m far too nosey to not want to know. I know for many people, they enjoy not knowing, maybe it allows them to imagine that themselves but I love to be told.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, so much so that I went and bought the physical copy of it once it was published. If you’re looking for a fun, easy read then Cape May is for you (btw it’s even better when you’re on the beach with a cocktail in hand, I promise). Will keep my eyes peeled for more of Chip Cheek’s work in the future (ps how fun is his name to say)

Based in the USA in the late fifties this is the story of Henry & Effie, naive newlyweds from the south who come to Cape May for the honeymoon. Effie having been to Cape May during the summer peak is bored with how quiet the town is and is all ready to go home at the end of the first week much to the disappointment of Henry who has never been this far from home before and is enjoying their freedom and their new married life. Everything changes when they spot lights on in a house down the road and are quickly drawn in to the sophisticated and boundary free world of Clara and her friends. The remainder of the honeymoon is spent sneaking in to empty houses, drinking, sailing with an under current of sexual tension running alongside. All of this playing turns the honeymoon sour and Effie has a big decision to make.
The story is told through Henry, it would have been interesting to read more of Effie's thoughts & views. The end takes you on a whirlwind tour of the remainder of their lives, the story should either have stopped as they left Cape May or had more detail on their later lives to make the story run smoother.

Cape May was an enjoyable "holiday" read. There was nothing too taxing about it and it would be good to read on a sunbed in the sun on holiday. The characters were interesting. I did find that the last part of the book where it leapt forward many years was written hurriedly and maybe could have been done better. It did seem rather rushed and a little disappointing. The main body of the book was a good read though.

For me, this book was fantastic and utterly compelling. From the start, I was drawn into a world of debauchery and glamour, as seen from a viewpoint of a newly-married couple, Henry and Effie, whose innocence and inexperience made the personalities they didn't understand hard to ignore.

It was easy to be swept along in this well-told story, which moved towards an expected conclusion. The sense of period was subtle whilst also being realistic, Chip Cheek's writing prowess allowed me to perfectly conjure up a fabulous summer of excess and then its inevitable descent.

I highly recommend "Cape May" which shouted "Holiday read!" to me.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my own request from the publisher via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Very good description of the era with well drawn characters. Good plot if a little predictable but I really enjoyed it.

For me this is no Great Gatsby. Yes there is plenty of decadence and lashings of gin consumed, however that’s where the similarity ended. In fact, I found the book highly unpleasant. I had no interest in the characters; they appeared selfish and ignorant and I did not care what happened to any of them. However, credit where it’s due, the descriptive writing was incredibly detailed, the author obviously has talent, I personally didn’t like the content or context. Reading this relatively explicit novel on public transport reminded me of my teenage self when I tried to sneakily read my mum’s Mills and Boons.
No doubt it’ll be a popular beach read, just not my cup of tea.

Great Gatsby-esque in a way; a few weeks where all normal rules are almost thrown out of the window in a moment of madness, and a look at a lifetime of living with the consequences

This vibrant debut novel by Chip Cheek opens with Southern virginal newlyweds, Effie and Henry at the start of their honeymoon in the eponymous Cape May. They appear to be a stereotypical couple espousing the mores of the late 1950’s. However, as with Ian McEwan’s ‘Chesil Beach’ there are early indications that their seemingly conventional marriage will be tested. So it proves, as towards the end of a rather sedate first week of marriage, they chance upon a meeting with Effie’s childhood nemesis, Clare, her lover, Mac and his enigmatic, nubile sister, Alma. From this point the reader is transported back to a bygone era, dripping with a glamour that is reminiscent of the decadence encapsulated in ‘The Great Gatsby’, Clara’s social circle are a louche group of privileged friends, defined by their hedonistic lifestyle, who gradually draw Henry and Effie into their dissolute lifestyle, throwing their values and eventually their marriage into jeopardy.

The narrative oozes an irresistible retro glamour interlaced with erotica, as the characters surrender to their basest desires fuelled by alcohol and drugs. The one issue I had was that I found it hard to connect with any of the characters. It was difficult to emphathise with their behaviour as I couldn’t understand their motivations - but perhaps that is part of the point. There is no deeper psychological justification when you are awash with hedonism. Whilst I enjoyed immersing myself in the sexy superficial antics of the social set, ultimately, I was sometimes left wanting by the lack of depth and multi-dimensionality in any of the characters and the ending felt at times contrived. I would seek out future reads by this author and it would be top of my list as a rollicking summer read.

I have just finished this book and I must say I almost gave up with it part way through. I did carry on with it but it was not the sort of story that I like and usually read. I did not like the idea of the story as I find it difficult to believe this would happen in real life especially at the time in the lives of the young couple who were newlyweds. I am not sure if the story was written to shock or was just a vehicle for the type of things one can write about i.e sex, excess drinking and maybe 30 somethings taking advantage of a young couple especially Henry who came across so weak willed that it annoyed me. Would he have been bored with his wife so quickly and stray so readily. Maybe but I don’t feel that. I thought the last part of the book dealing with the rest of the young couples lives was written in haste just to finish the book. I am sorry to say I am not a fan of this book

A fun, joyride of a novel. It’s like The Great Gatsby has a refresh. The perfect summer read. Will be recommending to all my friends and family!

Set in New England in 1957, Henry and Effie are on their honeymoon in Effie's childhood holiday spot when they meet a old friend of Effie's. The couple are quickly drawn into the lifestyle of the rich, bored, and far more experienced socialites. A steamy novel about the sexual awakening of Henry and Effie. A little disappointed by the ended which felt a bit forced.