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About this book:

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Pub: Atria Books, May 5, 2020

HerKentucky Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars

It’s really crazy to think that 2020 is the summer that we’ll be reading beach books without actually visiting the beach! Even with the weird state of travel (or lack thereof) in the world right now, Jennifer Weiner’s Big Summer is the summer beach read you won’t be able to put down this summer!

Big Summer is the story of Phoebe Berg and Drue Cavanaugh. middle school frenemies who attempt to patch up their relationship in the weeks leading up to Drue’s dream wedding on Cape Cod. Daphne, a plus-sized Instagram influencer, works to forgive heiress Drue’s mean girl antics, while they both make sure to take plenty selfies for their social media accounts. A murder, a reality show bachelor, and a handsome stranger who might be covering up his past make the beach wedding unforgettable.

In the hands of a lesser author, this story could, of course, be tedious or vacuous. The brilliance of Ms. Weiner — a Princeton alumna who’s been publishing chick-lit-with-a-twist novels for nearly twenty years now — is that every character has a memorable spin, and every pop culture reference comes with wry social commentary. More importantly, it’s always wildly entertaining. Ms. Weiner addresses the current phenomena of social media influencer culture, reality dating shows, and “true crime” obsession, while making the characters complex and sympathetic. The book is poignant, romantic and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. It’s quite a feat, really.

Another sizable feat is to publish a blockbuster beach read type of book during the summer when very few Americans are actually visiting a beach. In a fantastic podcast interview with my friend (and fellow Louisvillian!) Anne Bogel, Ms. Weiner notes that she and her publishing company made the decision to move the book’s publication date up a couple of weeks due to COVID-19 projections, after having dismissed a later date. Ms. Weiner says the conversation took the turn that “We could try to move it to the fall, although selling a book called Big Summer in September maybe not the easiest thing.” Even listening to the audiobook on my porch was an escape — I could at least imagine Drue’s champagne-and-oysters wedding! Ms. Weiner’s attention to detail — no matter how minute or outlandish — provided the perfect distraction.

Big Summer is a must-read if you loved Ms. Weiner’s previous works, are pining for the beach, or if you’re fascinated by the Spon-Con world of Instagram Influencers. Check out my constantly-growing list of Summer Book suggestions on the Bookshop.org HerKentucky Shop. Happy Reading, y’all!