Fair to say this wasn’t the light summer read that I was expecting. Rachel travels to Greece at the age of 17, with her friend Caroline and falls for the charms of Alistair a much older man. Many years later she returns to the island with her husband, Tom, and memories of that long ago summer, and how it changed her life begin to resurface . But are her memories to be trusted ? This was a slow, burning, dark story, focusing on consent and grooming and is very much a #MeToo novel. The author dealt with the issues Haseley, but with sensitivity, although some parts made for uncomfortable reading. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

Beautifully written but a dark heartbreaking story behind it. It was painful to read at times but I did enjoy it.

What a tense, slow-burning read! The story is predictable with a fairly obvious plot which can be summarised quite easily, but in the hands of Kate Bishop, the 'facts' are intricately plotted and carefully revealed so that you cannot put the book down.

It is hard to like the protagonist, Rachel, at any time in the story which is told over two timelines: current day when Rachel is in her early 30s and you also meet a young 18 year old living her 'best' life on a Greek island. Rachel is naive and self-centred throughout this book. She is treated despicably, and predictably, by Alistair and finds her self on a path to self-destruction which quickly descends to dark places. Her current life with Tom, is rootless and feels like an existence with no end - the extent of her lies and deception towards her husband are truly shocking and can have no positive outcome.

Life on the Greek island for an 18 year old who has decided to drop out of education is everything you would expect it to be and some of the issues may be difficult for readers (drink and drug abuse, abortion, rape, gaslighting, suicide). The details are carefully revealed, but even in later life Rachel deceives herself as to what really happened in her youth. This book feels like a coming of age story but it takes Rachel a long time to see her past for what it has been and even have any sense that she might be able to move on.

Very clever plotting and totally worth the read even as uncomfortable as some of the issues are in this story!

It was supposed to be the perfect summer: two best friends exploring Greece before A levels. Then shy, under confident Rachel falls for the attentions of Alistair, older and tantalisingly exciting, and she decides to stay on the idyllic remote island. A visit to the island sixteen years later with her devoted husband Tom brings back the memories and longing for Alistair, who she’s never really forgotten.
As the story moves between the present and the past the sense of foreboding is literally palpable. Even though at many times the storyline is deeply uncomfortable, I found myself compelled to read on. Katie Bishop deals sensitively with a subject that was all too common, all too often swept under the carpet, all too often blamed on the victims. A real #MeToo story and a brave, powerful debut.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Random House UK, Transworld Digital, Bantam for an e-arc in exchange for a review.

My thanks to Random House U.K. Transworld Bantam for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Girls of Summer’ by Katie Bishop.

This debut is described as a ‘book club novel’ though I would add to that designation, ‘women’s fiction’ given its focus.

When Rachel was seventeen she and her friend, Caroline, went island-hopping in Greece for the summer. One night while staying on a remote island near the end of their trip, she meets Alistair, an older man. They subsequently begin a covert relationship. Due to her feelings for him, Rachel remains behind and begins working at a local bar, joining a number of other young women there.

Sixteen years later, Rachel is married to Tom. Yet she has never been able to forget that golden summer with Alistair. She and Tom take a Greek holiday on that same island. She cannot resist visiting the bar where she had first met Alistair that he had managed for an enigmatic, wealthy man. Dark and deeply suppressed memories begin to rise to the surface. Returning home Rachel decides to find Alistair ….. No further details to avoid spoilers.

‘The Girls of Summer’ is a character driven novel that moves between the past and the present day. It took a while for me to engage with the narrative and Rachel as a main character given that reading about an idealistic teenage girl falling for an older man didn’t particularly grab my attention along with her older self remaining so fixated on the past.

However, as the novel progressed the darker themes linked to the island emerge along with the reasons for Rachel’s fixation and it became a much more compelling read. The kind of story that in recent years could be ripped from the headlines.

Overall, ‘The Girls of Summer’ proved a disturbing and thought provoking novel. It is a promising debut and I am certain that Katie Bishop will be an author to watch.

"The sea always reminds me of that summer. How the entire world had seemed within reach back then. I remember sitting with my toes in the sand, the vastness of an ocean stretching out before me, and feeling as though the whole universe was mine to be had."

Reminiscent of Kate Elizabeth Russell's 'My Dark Vanessa', 'The Girls of Summer' tells the story of 17-year-old Rachel and her friend Caroline who embark on the trip of a lifetime to Greece. There, she meets Alistair, and she spends the rest of her life yearning back to that summer.

Now, 15 years later, she returns to the island and she's still yearning: For her lost youth, for Alistair, for that summer. Even though she's married to someone else; even though her golden memories of that time turn out to be nothing but cheaply gold-plated.

Flashing back and forth between 'Then' and 'Now', author Katie Bishop expertly plays with memory and how we choose to remember things that might otherwise break us.

As Rachel's tightly-wound recollections begin to unravel, the reader gets some insight into the dark underbelly of her time on the island and just how impossibly young she was to be going through it all.

At times hard to stomach and with characters who are also difficult to like, 'The Girls of Summer' isn't an easy read, but it is beautifully and masterfully told.

I enjoyed it immensely for how Bishop crafted the story, but I am growing weary of this narrative of young girls who think they're grown and how actual grown men use that to their sick, sick advantage.

Rachel washes up on an idyllic Greek island as she island hops with a friend during a holiday. She is 17 and rather young and naive. Quickly she falls in with a group of girls who work on a bar on the island and attracts the interest of Alastair, who is the right hand man to Henry, who owns the bar and a fabulous estate in the hills above.
Rachel decides not to return home and stays on the island to work in the bar, deep in an affair with Alastair and thrilled by the glamorous parties she is asked to attend at Henry’s house.
Girls of Summer flips between that summer and present day 16 years later. Rachel revisits the island with her husband and a surprise encounter makes Rachel reconsider the events of the Summer again and forces her to question her memories.
The novel starts as an evocative paean to that gorgeous, romantic island life that many long for a teenager, however as events become more sinister and Rachel is dragged into a life she doesn’t fully understand the tone changes dramatically. Alongside this her marriage is breaking down and Rachel is floundering, desperately look for some truth to hang on to. This isn’t an easy read at times but Katie Bishop handle the gear changes effectively and Rachel is a likeable character for all her failings. She has never properly grown up and we watch her making decisions, many not very wise, as she fumbles towards true adulthood. A fascinating look at false memory and gaslighting wrapped in an excellent read.

This is a phenomenal debut, I have loved this from beginning to end and devoured this book in one sitting.

The Girls of Summer is a dual timeline of then and now. We get to find out the experiences of the girls in Greece. We are then brought back to the present, this is where truths unfold and Rachel accept events from her past.

There is so much manipulation in the pages of this it can make for uncomfortable reading. The author has sensitively and delicately considered the issues of consent and coercion within the pages of this book.

Rachel’s a great character and presented exactly as you would expect. You can’t help but feel for her as pieces slot into place and she realises things that she’s always denied.

This is raw, full of tension and suspense. Bishop keeps you turning the pages and wanting to know more. This is such a promising debut, I wish I could instantly add more by this author to the TBR.

I’ll definitely be watching out for more books from Bishop. A definite recommendation from me.

I really enjoyed 'The Girls of Summer' by Katie Bishop but, it is a very dark story. The obvious parallel is 'My Dark Vanessa' but I found it as tantalising as 'The Ophelia Girls'. Set then, now and later, we follow the story of how one island has transformed the lives of so many young girls and, the hold it has over them. A dark but, compelling book that I savoured.

Brief overview: Rachel and Caroline went travelling aged 17 when Rachel fell in love for the first time with an older man on a Greek island. Fast forward 16 years and Rachel goes back for the first time with her husband, Tom. The story of what really happened all those years ago slowly comes to life as told through Rachel’s memories.

I found it hard to like Rachel’s character at all. She was naive and self absorbed, the way she treated people as a 30-odd year old was repulsive and her inability to see any red flags or even hear other peoples perspectives was truly frustrating.

Whilst I didn’t fall in love this book, I do appreciate what the author was trying to convey. It really makes you think of the ways in which our memories can change as we mature and are no longer as impressionable. If you like trigger warnings before starting a book then there are quite a few I’d give for this one

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

This wasn’t the book I expected, particularly as I saved it to read on a remote Greek Island and thought I would connect more closely with the scenario. I didn’t realise I was reading about a Jeffrey Epstein type situation which was compounded by the ostrich nature of the narrator. I don’t know if this is a memoir or an exaggerated version of a trip to Greece combined with the Me Too movement, but Rachel the narrator was at best selfish and naive and at the other end of the scale, the absolute worst friend you could have. At no time did I feel on her side and particularly during her marriage to the lovely but long suffering Tom.

Heartbreakingly perfect. Katie sensitively creates a powerful story full of female characters you won’t want to forget. Beautifully written yet painful to read at times due to the subject matter. Definitely one to read though, don’t let the darkness put you off.

The Girls of Summer is a brilliant debut novel by Katie Bishop.
The book is set in two parts the before and the present.
When Rachel and her best friend Caroline decide to take a trip of a lifetime around Greece for the summer Rachel's parents where a bit apprehensive due to them being seventeen and eighteen.
A couple of weeks before they were due back home they discovered a small Greek island which Rachel fell in love with. Unfortunately it isn't the only thing that Rachel fell in love with!
Meet Alistair, he works for a very wealthy man and in his thirties he has his eye on the young Rachel.
After offering them and some other young ladies a place to live and work in a local bar Rachel jumped at the chance but Caroline had her suspicions that things weren't all that it seemed.
Time flew past and when it was time to leave Rachel decided that she was staying on and there was nothing her friend could do to persuade her to go home.
Rachel thought she had the best summer of her life but when tragedy struck she had to leave the island.
(I'm not going to say anymore due to spoilers)
Now that Rachel is in her thirties and unhappily married her husband suggests going back to the island for some much needed time together, he had heard Rachel talk of the island so many times that he really wanted to take her back.
But the island had changed and the once rosie memorise of that summer began to twists in Rachel's mind and when she goes back to the bar she once worked at she was shocked to see a familiar face behind the bar!
From then on things spiral out of Rachel's control.
This book has everything you need to make a brilliant read.

Possibly the best book I’ve read all year. I loved everything about it, the cover, the story, the characters, how they developed, the dual story line, the learnings from the passage of time, the pace of the story, the way it was written, the way the #metoo story evolved over time, what the characters learn about themselves and how the events of one summer can impact the rest of your life.

Described as a ‘Conversation-starting book club debut”, I so want this to be a book club pick, I want to talk about it with everybody. It is a coming of age story, set in a Greek island, circa 20 years ago and today. There are loads of content warnings, so you may want to check. This book kept reminding me of My Dark Vanessa, so if you liked that this is similar.

With thanks to @netgalley @randomhouseuk and @transworld for the ARC. It’s published today in UK & Ireland.

A thrilling read that traces a summer backpacking holiday. Was a fully believable read that keep me hooked

I was expecting this to be a relatively light read, and I am pleased to say that I was wrong! Through alternating timelines of Now and Then we learn what happened to Rachel the summer she went island-hopping in Greece when she was 17 with her friend Claire.

For Rachel, it was the defining summer of her whole life and 16 years later, now in London and married to Tom she still hasn't really moved on from the events of back then. Emotionally she seems quite stunted and you quickly learn she is an unreliable narrator, which becomes clear is a key plot point.

At first, it seems like a tale of teenage obsession, a naïve girl's summer romance with an older guy where she has invested far more into it than he has. But it's not quite that simple and slowly, we learn things are not as idyllic and perfect as they first seem. The creeping sense of unease is cleverly built in and as the reader, we see what has happened and what was truly going on while Rachel continues to hold on tight to her version of events.

The catalyst for change is Rachel's holiday back to the island, which brings her back into contact with others from the group when she was there. There are strong overtones of #MeToo and Jeffrey Epstein, but I think the author handled these sensitively rather than going for pure shock value. I found the story compelling and sad, and had empathy for the characters and the situation they found themselves in - they felt they were breaking free and making adult decisions, but how much of that was true and how much was manipulation at the hands of older, powerful men?

Thought provoking and an immersive read, would recommend.

30 something Rachael is coasting along in a dull marriage and can't get the thought of Alistair from her mind - they met when she was 17 and he's 20 years older, at the time that felt exciting but now she's older, Rachael begins to understand how he controlled and took advantage of her.

This is not a comfortable read by any measure, but it tackles some weighty issues (consent, abuse, coercive control) in an accessible way.

Seventeen year old backpacking Rachel spends a sun drenched summer on a Greek island working in a bar. While there she falls for Alistair, an older man, for whom she is just a summer fling. Sex and drugs are the norm but Alistair insists that no-one else knows of their relationship. Fifteen years later, still secretly besotted by him, Rachel goes back to the island with her husband Tom, who takes her to the bar where she first met Alistair. Memories of a tragedy which took place that brought an end to Rachels' summer with Alistair are resurrected and tensions in Rachel's marriage to Tom surface. This is a dark story set in sunlight. It is very much in the #MeToo genre, where older men manipulate and exploit naive women into having sex with their friends while trading on the younger woman's infatuation with them..

The Girls of Summer is a well written, thought-provoking novel. A warning and must-read for girls about to set off on their first holiday away from home. Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3.5 stars

I've heard quite a lot of buzz surrounding this debut novel, so I was excited to give it a go, and I have to say it was a great bit of escapist fiction that I definitely needed. Although I'm not the biggest fan of Thrillers, I enjoyed the build-up of the mystery in The Girls of Summer, and I did keep reading to find out exactly what happened. I do think that the alternating chapters of 'Now' and 'Then' really worked, and certainly made me want to keep reading, as I was equally invested in Rachel's story as a teenager in Greece and a married woman in London. The story wasn't groundbreaking by any means, and I did easily guess every twist and turn that Bishop tried to surprise us with, but I didn't really mind, because her writing style really allowed me to be fully immersed in the story, as though I were a teenager getting up to trouble like Rachel. This would be the perfect book to bring on holiday, very quick and not difficult reading at all, in the best way possible.

A beautifully written, descriptive debut. I really enjoyed this book. The story captivates you, it’s brilliant, authentic and heart wrenching, had me crying in parts, laughing in others. I loved the setting, dual timelines and the characters.
Definitely recommend giving this one a read. Look forward to seeing more from this author.
Thanks to #NetGallery #RandomHouseUK for arc of #TheGirlsOfSummer in exchange for an honest review.
Book publishes on 25th May 2023.