"The Rainbow Race" by Cate Summers is a delightful and heartwarming tale that celebrates diversity and unity. Summers weaves a colorful narrative that introduces young readers to the joy of embracing differences.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

it took me a long time to finish this one and I don't exactly understand why. the book was really cute and there is nothing wrong with it, but I didn't really enjoy it. that's probably because i took several long breaks between my reading sessions, so that's on me. the story itself is really cute and adorable and I was totally here for the romance. but the plot itself felt a little bit simplistic sometimes. I'd still recommend this if you're in the mood for something short and cute!

Needless to say it is summer camp and where you get a bunch of people together you are bound to have drama. Cate Summers has a captive audience when Yvette Fleur gets on the scene - not just in us but in Eleanor. This is a familiar trope for young adult fans as Yvette is the “rich outcast” and Eleanor is the quiet poor geek. Familiar or not, it works in The Rainbow Race.

Summers has a full cast of characters who are trying to fit in or just get along. Eleanor is the peacekeeper and it is kind of funny at times the antics these ladies get into. I have to admit though that Yvette is my fave. She is snarky and attempts to be deep and dark. Huge soft spot.

The Rainbow Race is just the first book in the “Camp Sunshine” series. I was not expecting such a mature story based on the cover of the book. Summers deals with abandonment, poverty, homophobia, and more in Race.

Summer camp just got a little bit more interesting with this fun LGBTQ+ addition.

I received an ARC of this book and I am writing a review without prejudice and voluntarily.

The Rainbow Race is a really cute read. Easy to read in one or two sittings. It's extremely well paced and throughout by Cate Summers. It was lovely to see the progression of friendship to love for the two main characters and how they navigated the relationship.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So first off the cover made me think it was MG not YA, and tbh if you changed their age to 14 and took out any mention of colleges, I still think it could easily be a Middle Grade book.

I know technically YA is like 13-18 (+) but these 17yo did not act like anyone I knew when I was 17 😅

This book is a cute wholesome story about an all girls summer camp that has a reputation for being a secret LGBTQIA meet up. There was no stigma or homophobia in this book which was nice however there was quite a lot of focus on money. I know that's one of the MC's main focuses but it was a bit much at times.

Eleanor also comes across as superrr intense, but I'm not sure if that's just because this book is technically a short story so a lot of feelings had to crammed into fewer words.

Overall it's silly, fun & sweet queer short story about friendship and appreciating what you have.

This is a lovely book, it just wasn't for me.

Seeing that the protagonist is 17 years old, I assumed this was a young adult book but the writing rather resembled middle grade.

Following Eleanor, we visit the all-girls Camp Sunshine which is secretly a camp for queer girls.
I found that idea to be super refreshing and tried to ignore some implications (what if a straight girl wears her bracelet on her left hand because she feels like it? How do the gays get supplies for a secret wood party?...).
There we meet some other characters: popular and competitive girls, an aspiring fashion designer, a huge book nerd,...
They all had different personalities and also the racial diversity is something I really appreciated. But those personalities were a bit over the top. The two competitive girls (17ish years old) had fights pulling each others hair, the fashion designer didn't do anything else apart from...well, fashion and the booknerd took a book onto the dancefloor with her.
Especially the competitive ones felt a lot younger than their actual age.

The plot consisted mainly of two things: a romance between the protagonist and the oh-so-mysterious love interest and a vessel-building-competition.
Both were nicely executed albeit a bit too fast paced for my taste.
Especially the romance made the second half a lot more enjoyable and cute than the first half!

Overall, this is a cute, short and positive book but I would have enjoyed it more of some characters hadn't been so over the top and been rather younger as to not have young-adult-expectations meet the middle-grade-style.

This book was seriously so stinkin’ adorable! Eleanor’s perseverance to show Yvette she wasn’t going anywhere was too cute! I loved Yvette’s surprise horseback riding adventure for Eleanor, how romantic. And Eleanor’s profession of love for Yvette was amazing, the support and reassurance she provided her was so touching. And can we talk about Jane’s love for books, and the fact that her Dad sent her TEN books to get through the next week-and-a-half of camp and that still wouldn’t last her that time?! Go Jane! We love fellow book lovers. ❃

Review by Lisa Pineo

*I received this eARC from Cate Summers via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

My ratings: * I hated it ** It was okay *** I liked it **** Really good ***** Great

If you're in the mood for a drama-filled teen romance, pick up Cate Summers' YA novel, "The Rainbow Race." 3 stars

Description from the publisher:
"When seventeen-year-old Eleanor Willis arrives at Camp Sunshine, a camp secretly for LGBTQ+ girls, her mom’s beat-up old car can barely make it up the hill. She decides to walk the rest of the way and admires a black Rolls Royce, before noticing the pretty girl with the blue eyes in the back seat. She wonders if this could be the start of a summer romance until the girl scowls at her and promptly rolls up the window.
It's just Eleanor's luck that she's fallen for Yvette Fleur, a half-French, rich, anti-social girl who wants one thing only: to leave camp as soon as possible. With Yvette’s dad constantly traveling for work and her mom passing away when she was little, she’s learned not to get attached to anyone. Eleanor wants to show her otherwise.
But Eleanor has her hands full as leader of Team Indigo in the lake crossing competition and must organize her team to build the fastest floating vessel for the big race. Unfortunately, she's stuck with two competitive over-achievers, an aspiring fashion designer who is more focused on their uniforms than the watercraft, and Yvette, who disappears every chance she gets.
To win the race and to win Yvette's heart, Eleanor must bring the girls together to work as a team. Maybe then Yvette will learn that not everyone leaves, if she'll only let them into her heart."

I found this book to be a little light on character development, heavy on drama and quite a number of clichés. That's not to say I didn't like the book, but I wouldn't rate it among my favorites for the year in the YA LGBTQIA+ category. The premise of the book, being at a camp and somehow only the gay kids knowing that they're gay and going to secret events, seems a little far-fetched to being with. Add in hair-pulling and other childish behavior and it seemed geared to a middle grade audience instead of mid-teens like the characters were supposed to be. I didn't really click with any of the characters, mainly because they either acted like spoiled preteens, a loaner with an attitude problem or a negotiator who took it upon herself to solve everyone's problems. The story itself was pretty simplistic, but for young teens looking for a clean LGBTQ romance this could be a quick, fun read.

I cannot cope with how cute this story is!
A beautiful summer camp romance story. I like that it was short, sweet and straight to the point.
So many books are just bulked out with pointless words. This was simply perfect.
The characters were easy to get attached to.
I wish that I was younger so that I could go to a camp like this.
I reckon I am most definitely Yvette in this story... Now to find my Eleanor!

I feel mixed from my reading. It was neither bad nor really good. I found the story very, perhaps too, simplistic as the characters are teenage girls approaching adulthood.
I really liked the basic idea but I found that we stayed too much on the surface. Probably because of the relatively short format of the text.
I didn't manage to get attached to the characters. as much because I found the majority very superficial and Eleanore was ... not really interesting.
I would have liked to have more pages to spend more time to discover and better understand these characters and their different facets. notably Regan and Bridget terribly hollow.
In the end, the idea is really something that interested me but the realization did not live up to my expectations.

This was a cute story the took place over a two week period at a girls summer camp. But unbeknownst to the camp leaders and some of the other campers, it was also a secret meeting place for LGBTQ+ girls. It was a simple reveal: put a rainbow inside their camp bracelet and wear it on their left wrist.

The story was told from seventeen year old Eleanor’s perspective. Upon her arrival at camp, she was immediately drawn to Yvette, even though Yvette was moody and often responded with a scowl. But Eleanor was the type who always wanted to help people so she ignored the scowls and responded with kindness.

There were many different characters with personalities that clashed at times, especially those working with Eleanor on the camp’s lake crossing race competition. I liked how Eleanor was the voice of reason reiterating the need for trust, respect for differences, and the importance of teamwork. She was basically the glue that held her team together.

The author nicely showed how people with different personalities and backgrounds can come together to work as a team to reach their goals, and most importantly, along the way build a friendship based on those same principles of trust, respect, and teamwork. I think teenagers will find this story entertaining and its message inspiring.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

This is a fun and well written story of friendship as you would expect from any book about a summer camp but it's also full of romance and acceptance. I highly recommend it for young LGBT+ adults. It tackles some pretty serious issues in a fun way.

“The Rainbow Race” is a cute, funny coming of age story about 17-year-old Eleanor.
Eleanor is off to summer camp, Camp Sunshine, for girls, it’s also known as a secret meetup for LGBTQ+ girls. On her first day she encounters the beautiful and mysterious Yvette and forms an instant crush. Yvette is a mini ice queen in the making and at first won’t give Eleanor the time of day.
There’s a great cast of characters that provides humor and light drama throughout the story. Between her cabin and group activities Eleanor meets several other girls and forms fast friendships, though no one holds a candle to Yvette.
One of the things I really liked about “The Rainbow Race” is that this wasn’t a coming out story. The girls all pretty much seemed to know and feel comfortable in their sexuality.
I really enjoyed this story for a quick fun read and it’s a perfect book for pre-teens/teens. There’s no angst, just typical teenage girl drama.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Cate Summers in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cate Summers for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

4.5/5 Stars!

This book is so cute I basically couldn't stand it! I read this all in one sitting because it was a cute, quick read, definitely geared toward a YA/New Adult audience. Seventeen-year-old Elenor is spending two weeks at Camp Sunshine, a camp that has a secret (in a good way!). Seemingly unknown to parents, staff, and even some campers, Camp Sunshine is a place for LGBTQIA+ teens to meet and socialize during their summer breaks. The secret to determining who identifies as LGBTQIA+ is simply looking at on which wrist the camp bracelet is worn. This book is filled with cute and funny moments, as a true coming of age and friendship story develops. Elenor immediately meets, and is interested in Yvette - but the question remains, what wrist does she have her bracelet on?

(This review was also posted to Goodreads on October 7, 2020)

The Rainbow Race by Cate Summers is like a cupcake- fun sized, sweet and won't make you work too hard. The plot is classic and overall it's a good romp into your typical camp drama with an LGBTQ twist. There isn't a whole lot of depth given to any storyline or character in particular which makes it less introspective but a great way to spend a day reading at your leisure. Author Summers writing style is easy and smooth without too much hyperbole and sets the perfect tone of a summer camp love.

Overall I enjoyed this book and thank Net Galley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

“The Rainbow Race” is a young adult book centered around a 17-year-old girl named Eleanor, who attends a two-week long summer camp for LGBTQ+ girls called Camp Sunshine. Upon meeting a mysterious girl at the camp named Yvette, Eleanor is intrigued and wants to get to know her and spend time with her more.

This was a pretty quick read for me, and I really enjoyed it. I liked watching the two main characters develop their friendship and get closer to each other throughout the story, and I thought that it was a pretty cute book.

Rating: 4/5

Wanting more adorable WLW books for teens? This is a great one to add to your collection.

Eleanor is 17 and off to camp for the summer. At this camp, anyone who is LGBTQ+ wears their camp bracelet on their left wrist as a way for them to more easily find each other. When Eleanor first gets to camp, she meets Yvette Fleur, who is gorgeous. (What wrist does she have her bracelet on again?) What follows is a fun summer adventure for Eleanor and the rest of her cabin. Lots of budding friendships.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s just a fun WLW book for teens that takes place at a camp. The kind of thing that often exists for straight people...less so for those in the LGBTQ+ world.

I see this is listed as book one, so I’m hoping there will be more. I’d love to meet some trans and gender queer campers. (Also, I’m curious if anyone shows up to camp with their bracelet on the wrong wrist. It’s supposed to be a secret for those who are LGBTQ+...but how does it work?) Overall, recommended for anyone looking for a fun, happy WLW read.