Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a free copy to review. My opinions are my own.

Trigger warnings - rape, sexual exploitation of young girls and women, suicide.

The Girls of Summer is about a woman called Rachel. It flips between the present day, where she is an adult and the summer she spent on a Greek island when she was almost 18 years old. Rachel meets an older man called Alastair on the island. She falls in love with him very quickly. Their relationship and what happened on the island still affects her life as a married adult.

The story was very disturbing. It was inspired by the #MeToo movement. I thought it was very well written and the description of the island made me feel like I was there with the characters.

The story of teenager Rachel and her ill fated summer on a greek island that goes on to impact her marriage and adult life. I loved the dual timelines, the pacing, the insidious nature of what was actually going on and how she perceived it with an astonishing naivety that she then took forward with her as an adult. I found myself fully engrossed throughout and the author does a brilliant job conveying how Rachel has rewritten and romanticised what happened to her. The undertone of #metoo is also cleverly done.
I found myself slightly lost sometimes with extra characters who seemed to appear and then reappear on occasion (eloise for instance), and I questioned the notion that Rachel's apparently normal parents tried at no time to contact her or extract her. I would have liked some more family dynamic, only because it may have helped me understand Rachel more and I was so invested in her.
But definitely a book i loved reading and would highly recommend.

'The girls of summer' is centred round the whirlwind gap year romance of Rachel and Alistair one summer in the 90s on a small Greek island. Alternating between 'then' and 'now' chapters, we piece together how Rachel's first love blossomed, how she lost it and how she still longs for it now, 16 years later and in an unhappy marriage with a lovely man who just isn't Alistair. As the story progresses we start to realise that the summer of love Rachel remembers was actually a lot more sinister. What happened to her and her friends during the drug fuelled island parties? Why did one of her friends never come home and why was Alistair, a man nearly 20 years her senior, so interested in a 17 year old Rachel?
This was a fantastic read and the alternating between then and now really heightened the suspence as that summer 16 years ago was pieced together. This is not a romance novel, tough issues such as grooming, sexual assault, rape, abortion and trafficking are explored and I feel the writer did this in a sensitive but honest way.
Great read!

Sun drenched stunning read

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

I was lucky to be given the opportunity to read this book (due out in May 2023) via NetGalley and Random House UK. It's an impressive and very gripping debut, though at times the main character can be frustrating and some of the content can be difficult to read about. The dual timeline narrative worked really well, and I raced through to the ending. The descriptions of the island were beautiful, and I think this would be a fantastic summer read. I would definitely read future titles from this author. / 3.5 stars

Due to be published in May 2023, I was granted the opportunity to read this e-ARC through NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers.

This is a remarkable debut from Katie Bishop. From the first few pages, the story grips and captivates the reader, promising to be a tale of suspense, mystery and darkness.

Throughout the entirety of the book there is an ominous undercurrent, that only builds the deeper the readers gets. I cannot say that I found reading this one enjoyable. It is beautifully written, especially the chapters dedicated to the past, where the nameless Greek island is brought to life on the pages - a sun kissed haven with transparent blue waters, and a very dark secret in its midst. The author has a talent for transporting the reader to that place - I was reminded of my own holidays at the same age, dreaming of freedom and wanting to be older. But the content if this book is heavy. Even though I went in mostly blind but for the description posted on NetGalley, it was obvious from the beginning that it would be a difficult read. I was unsettled throughout, as the truth slowly but surely began to leak into the story.

Rachel, the main character and from whose POV the book is written, remembers that summer sixteen years ago with mostly something akin to fondness. She wants it back. She wants to feel how she did back then. But always lingering on the peripheral of her memories is something black and dangerous, something that she isn't ready to face - until the past comes back to haunt her, in the form of some familiar faces.

In the age of #MeToo, this book is one that will ring true with so many people. There are moments that leave you sickened; the sensation of your stomach falling, as you're able to decipher what Rachel can't. It was a difficult read at times, but incredibly well done, and really wonderfully written. It left me feeling a little empty - the story too close to home for so many women in some respects. It's a scenario that could be playing out across the world right now, in different countries. And that's a bitter pill to swallow.

An excellent debut. Raw, real, and gut-wrenchingly familiar.

‘‘The Girls of Summer’ is definitely one of the most absorbing books I have read this year: I honestly did not want to put it down. Bishop has written a dark cautionary tale set against a glittering summer on a Greek island.
The opening itself was enough to draw me in and leave me with so many questions; why was Rachel returning to this island? Who is she avoiding? What happened that has stayed with her for over a decade? We quickly find out that Rachel went travelling at seventeen and it was a summer that changed her life completely.
The entire novel is so well written and the pacing is excellent with information and tension scattered through expertly; always just enough to keep you turning the page. I can’t lie this book deals with a lot of incredibly dark issues but I thought they were handled so well; nothing was forced or written in without a specific reason. Rachel’s narrative is complex and the way it is split between the present day and that teenage summer is perfect for her to reassess the people and events from her past.
I cannot wait for everyone to read it for themselves, it has to be a must read for 2023!!!

Warnings for assault, drug use and self harm.

I was approved to receive an ARC of The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop, Random House UK, and Transworld Publishers.

This story is gripping from the outset. Set in two timelines, it is a story about Rachel, a girl who travels with her friend to a Greek island, to experience a summer of freedom, fun and adventure. What she got was not what she was expecting. Having met other 'Girls of Summer' in the 'Then' timeline, she soon gets drawn to the island and the people, and gets lost in love and hope and fantasy. In the 'Now' timeline Rachel realises that perhaps her memories aren't what she thought they were, and she is forced to face the truth. The story is dark and sad, current and triggering. It is very well written and sure to be a hit. #NetGalley #Thegirlsofsummer #KatieBishop #RandomHouseUK #TransworldPublishers

A well written and timely debut focused on the complicated relationship betweem trauma, sexual assault and memory. Difficult to read at times, frustrating at others. Overall really well done but as always, one to be cautious about depending on your ability to handle the topic.

3.5 rounded up

The summer that Rachel spends on a Greek island at the age of seventeen casts a shadow over her life as the love she feels for Alistair utterly consumes her. Sixteen years later and now married to Tom, the couple holiday on the same Greek island. A chance meeting with one of the other girls from 16 years ago forces a reappraisal of Rachel ‘s life both in the past and the present day resulting in the unleashing of deeply buried and dark secrets. The story is told Then recounting the teenagers experiences in Greece and Now as the scales fall from her eyes with the timelines fusing well in the multi layered plot.

This is a well written novel which is full of intrigue, suspense and tension and as you read on you feel a sense of dread at the callous disregard of lives. The growing menace is palpable with manipulation, control and ultimately betrayal which is heartbreaking and moving in places. The character of Rachel is very well portrayed, she’s not as confident or as worldly wise as some of the other girls she meets on the island which of course makes her “perfect“ in the eyes of some. This means it’s a disturbing read at times although the author is careful and sensitive in her treatment of the characters and the situation but it is inevitably uncomfortable on occasions. You see very clearly how the past impacts and informs the present leading to bad decisions and affecting current relationships.

My only negative is that in places it is a bit slow especially at the start although overall it is a compelling novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K., Transworld, Bantam Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

So firstly the dual timeline, I actually really love these and find they often help and work well within a storyline.
Well written and I think quite a gentle dip in to what is an awful but often hidden thing that goes on in the word. Think Epstein.

Admittedly I found it hard to engage with Rachel from about half way. Maybe frustration that she just wasn’t seeing what was going on. Even though it happened to her too, but maybe that’s the point . She’s young and thoroughly impressionable.

Either way I would recommend and did enjoy this book and would certainly read more by this author.

The Girls of Summer is very topical with the Jeffrey Epstein and #metoo fallout that's happened over the last few years.

The story covers two timelines back when Rachel was 17 and then when she's 34 and her time spent on a Greek island and what went on there. There was enough going on to keep me interested as we knew something was 'off' about the place and in particular Allistair - the man she fell for.

At times in the book, I was frustrated with Rachel and her lack of foresight and refusing to see what was in front of her as a teenager and as an adult. But I think that's what I ended up really liking about the book, showing Rachel warts and all and the fallout of her decisions.

Will returning to the island as a married woman still be as magical as her summer their as a 17 year old, or will the shine finally be tarnished.
Rachel is married and supposed to be trying for a baby, but she is secretly sabotaging it. This story flips from that summer and now, as the story gradually unfolds. The reader and all the other “Summer Girls” can see the enigmatic and wealthy Henry and his stooge Dominic for exactly what they are, but Rachel has blocked out a lot of what happened that summer.
This is a great story, and the fact that the author has drawn on her own backpacking experience makes for a vivid picture that those of us who have taken that leap into travelling alone can recognise and remember. The book is quite long, and there is a drawn out middle to it that can feel it’s lost it’s way, but then the ending is masterful, even if left open.

A compulsive and timely exploration of the complicated nature of memory and trauma, power and consent, victimhood and shame.
Well worth reading!

A really engaging dual timeline novel which flips between 17-year-old Rachel on her first summer abroad before her final A Level year, and her in the present day 16 years later, looking back at that summer and the man she thought she loved back then.

The "now" and "then" threads work well, and it's very effective that a lot of the other characters, particularly the love interest, seem shadowy and hard to grasp.

Although slow in places, it's an intriguing sun-scorched thriller with lots to offer.

Such a good read, I can see this book being a massive hit when it’s released. Told in two timelines one when Rachel Ka young and impressionable spending a summer in Greece and one as an adult coming to terms with the repercussions of that summer. Tough subject matters are dealt with in a sympathetic and matter of fact way which I thought was great, would’ve been all too easy to sensationalise everything but the author totally avoided this. Similar theme to The Serpent tv show, certainly makes you warn your children before they travel abroad on their own! Highly recommend
Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy x

This book is told in two timelines , the first is when Rachel is a young student working in a bar on a beautiful Greek island. The second is when she is in her thirties and married to Tom who wants them to start a family.

Rachel has never forgotten her first love Alistair, they met on the Greek island and she became infatuated by him. Alistair is a mature man of the world and Rachel cannot believe it when he starts paying her attention. The naivety and gullibility of young Rachel was so well portrayed it had me thinking back to my younger life when I didn’t question or analysis things so much.

When Rachel returns to the island on holiday with Tom old feelings resurface. She meets an old friend who gives her Alastair's number which sees her questioning her new settled existence and risking it for old feelings .

Torn between what her love affair was in reality and what was in her imagination Rachel has to face up to the demons of her past before they completely ruin her present.

This book covers many difficult and dark issues especially abuse and manipulation. It sometimes takes years for victims to register abuse and this was very well described. Beautifully written this book will stay with me for a while A novel about coming to terms with reality however painful and difficult it may be.

‘The Girls of Summer’ is a compelling read about processing, and the coming to terms with, trauma.

Decades ago, 17 year old Rachel worked as bar staff on an idyllic Greek island - where she became intertwined with businessman Alistair, engaging in what she perceived to be a summer romance.

Now, years later, the story is told between two perspectives - current Rachel, and past Rachel. As it unravels readers understand the depth of manipulation that Rachel has fallen victim to - twenty years on, she still perceives it as a love; and it is slowly destroying every relationship around her.


This was superbly written and such an engaging read - it was told simplistically but with the appropriate amount of sensitivity for the subject matter.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is a beautifully written book that expertly captures the feeling of freedom of those early adult summers, the struggle with personal identify and life purpose in later years and the dangers that lurk. The way that the author tackles the core themes without making it scandalous or obvious are very clever, showing how murky situations can become and how unclear manipulation can be.
A great summer read that was gripping and difficult to put down.

I couldn’t put this book down, I was captured from the first chapter. Rachel is at times an unlikeable character but as the details of the past unwind and their consequences in the present become apparent you just want to know more. This is a book clearly inspired by the #MeToo movement and a study of power dynamics and just how difficult it can be to identify power imbalances in relationships.

I can see this book being an absolute smash hit and it would work perfectly on the screen.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC.