All the Summer Girls

Meg Donohue’s All the Summer Girls is a story of friendship.

Oh, it’s about more than that, too — like motherhood and substance abuse and grief and first love. But beyond those tiny, inconsequential little topics? It’s friendship. Sisterhood. The bonds of women — the marks we make upon each other, and how we flounder or thrive in the aftermath of loss.

A fateful night one summer eight years before drove a wedge between this once-inseparable trio: three friends who grew up visiting the same beach house each summer in Avalon, New Jersey. It took me about 30 pages to clarify who was with whom and what they were doing and where they lived, etc., but once I had the principle players down, I was hooked on Donohue’s latest. Her show more sophomore effort delved much deeper into her characters’ interior lives than How To Eat A Cupcake, which I really appreciated. And who couldn’t use a little literary vacation to the Jersey Shore? (Sans Snooki, of course.)

Almost a decade later, each woman is carrying a secret — or a half-truth — about one tragic night. Though Kate and Vanessa have moved jerkily forward, Dani is as broken as ever. Despite her messy edges (or maybe because of them?), Dani was my favorite character. An aspiring novelist and lost soul who wanders San Francisco like a ghost, Dani dances with too many personal demons . . . and I really felt for her. More than the others. When she reunites with Vanessa and Kate after losing her twelfth job in seven years (no small feat), we know her tough, somber exterior is just a mask.

My Type-A side could relate to serious, steadfast lawyer Kate, and my tender side broke in half as she struggled with the end of an engagement and unexpected pregnancy (all facts revealed almost immediately, so no spoilers). She’s never come to terms with what happened in Avalon eight years ago, changing her family forever, and her fiance’s ultimatum that she come to terms with it was heartbreaking. And that her friends would declare A Kate is a Kate is a Kate felt, to me, like the highest kind of compliment. She’s loyal, honest and true.

The book is quick and fast and, dare I say it, an excellent “beach read.” I hesitate to use the term too often because we hear it all the time as soon as Memorial Day rolls around. Plus, you know, some readers dismiss “beach reads” as fluffy entertainment — and All the Summer Girls has real heart. I felt the ends were wrapped nicely without convenient “tied with a bow” packaging, and I appreciated the resolute — even hopeful — close. After the heartache, it was a balm.

With mystery, beautiful language and a gorgeous beach backdrop, Donohue’s story will appeal to fans of women’s fiction, novels on friendship and books laced with emotion and drama in equal measure. All the Summer Girls deserves that much-coveted spot next to your SPF 30 — or the spot on your nightstand to simply take you away. show less

All The Summer Girls
By
Meg Donahue

My"in a nutshell" summary...

Three girls/ women...with issues...try to solve them during a beach weekend at the Jersey shore.

My thoughts after reading this book...

There might be one teensie spoiler in here so be careful!

Loved it even though every one of these women were painfully annoying! The other thing about this book is that even though everyone has a secret...and they are all supposed to be best friends from childhood...they annoy each other! They still have secrets...they still irritate each other and in spite of their getaway weekend...Dani and Vanessa seem to want to tear into each other every second. And that leaves Kate...who has just been dumped...is preggers...and that's not a spoiler...you show more find it out in the first chapter...and still hasn't told anyone...including her ex fiancé!

What hangs over everyone is what devastating thing happened to Colin...Kate's twin brother.

What I loved about this book...

I loved all of the Philadelphia and Jersey Shore references...we are familiar with all of it and the memories were awesome. The author even mentioned a Wawa hoagie...and locals crave those things!

What I did not love...

I was so annoyed by Dani, Vanessa and Kate...but that made the book a really yummy reading experience.

Final thoughts...

I though this was a really fascinating book...I loved it without becoming overly fond of the three main characters...is that even possible? Yes! Plus by the end of the book I loved them all! show less

Donohue has done it again and I could not be more happy. There is a risk that when you love an author's debut novel the subsequent books may not meet your high expectations. I loved How to Eat a Cupcake and I am happy to report that I also loved All the Summer Girls. Donohue writes compelling characters, ones that you can relate to. In ATSG Donohue brings three friends back together for a weekend getaway, back to the place that all feel at home. All of the women are facing person struggles, mixed with ghosts of the past and guilt that has fractured the foundations of the friendships years ago. What unfolds in ATSG is not only a universal story about love, friendship and ultimately finding ones self among the chaos of life, but also a show more story of the weight of secrets kept, forgiveness, growth and redemption. ATSG is a book to take to the beach, to share with a friend or is your next book club pick. This is a must read for summer 2013. Donohue knows how to write novels that cause you to become invested, to turn pages and to ruminate on what you read after the book is finished. A talent worth noticing. 5 stars. show less

All the Summer Girls takes us on a summer adventure where three women look back at what happened eight years ago, its impact and where they are today. It seems like none of them can get a break as one after the other gets some kind of bad news. Kate gets dumped by her fiance and find out she’s pregnant! Vanessa can’t stop obsessing over a former lover, and Dani can’t seem to keep a job long enough. On one of those downward spirals, Dani suggests the three friends get together at her father’s house in the summer house like they used to when they were younger.

Through intricate language, we get to see what really happened that long ago night eight years ago. It is not as each of these three friends remember it. Each of them is show more hiding something and it has been eating them apart. Each have a separate side to tell and a life to figure out. Donoghue’s writing portrays the struggles that each woman faces and we get a closer look.

I loved reading about their friendship and how it slowly started to get repaired from “the incident”. The vivid descriptions of the summer house and the feelings that each woman evoked made me want to be there along with them. It made me want to head out to the beach and stick my feet in the sand or walk under the moon and stars. There is a nostalgia surrounding all of them as they remember the innocent days where there were no worries.

Through a multitude of scenarios, the mystery is unveiled and we finally realize that despite everything that has happened, the women have managed to stay friends and support each other. It might not have been perfect and sometimes it was hanging by a thread, but there is something that held them together.

I love these kind of stories because it is a rarity to see it in real life. A lot of the times people just give up and don’t maintain contact. I loved reading All the Summer Girls and I will definitely be checking out more of Emma Donoghue’s books. show less

I have previously read and reviewed Meg's first book How to Eat a Cupcake. Her second book All the Summer Girls: A Novel is a great beach bag pick. You don't have to concentrate too hard while you are reading, you can just enjoy the soap opera style story of three life long friends who decide to reconnect on the Jersey shore.

The story alternates between the perspective of the three main characters. Kate is the overachiever lawyer who seems to have it all together except in the area of her love life. She finds her self pregnant and dumped by her finance three month before the wedding. Vanessa is the friend who chose to give up her artsy career for motherhood. Most days she feels like she made the right choice, that is until her husband show more reveals that he has kissed a coworker. Temptation shows up in the form of old flame Jeremy who still has some unfinished business with Vanessa. Dani is the screw up friend. She has been fired from her latest job and takes refuge in alcohol and drugs. Haunting the three friends is the death of Kate's twin brother Colin. All three girls have a piece of knowledge about the night he died and their secrets have driven them apart. The three friends who are all struggling in their lives agree to meet at Dani's father's house on the Jersey shore in the town of Avalon to try and recapture that special time they shared when they were younger. Colin's death drove them apart but it might also be the key to healing their fractured friendships.

As a child of the Jersey shore summer I really wanted to read this book. I was also a Meg Donohue fan from How to eat a Cupcake. The story was engaging and of course I loved the Jersey setting. The story was interesting enough that once I started I kept reading straight through until the end. Although I was sometimes frustrated with the characters and their choices I could relate to something in each of them. If you are heading to the beach this summer this would make a great book to bring along. show less

Summer Girls is an easy light beach read wrapping around the lives of three friends, Kate, Dani and Vanessa. Totally different styles and life situations encapsulates the women, but their easy friendships help them deal with life's storms- or rather the storm that sort of ripped them apart eight years prior. Most of the story which takes place in the present- is a flashback to the past leading up to the secrets each woman is carrying over an event that devastated them.

While this is a lovely summer beach read, the book itself touches on some heavy hitting issues including: death, substance abuse, and depression. I loved the feel of Donohue's story however I failed to really connect with story, the biggest reason being the writing style show more in third person- third person and I have issues. The plot was overall predictable with a less than thrilling end, but the characters were well drawn out and in some spots emotionally moving.

Recommended to readers who love light, contemporary fiction. show less

The Good: While the issues dealt with in All the Summer Girls weren't the happiest, the book still reads in the manner of most chick lit - short, easy and perfect for the beach.

The Bad: All the Summer Girls is just sort of depressing. These people's lives are pretty bad and I can't understand why they took so long to deal with their issues. Why did it take a mini-vacation and a friendship meltdown for them to even consider different paths in their lives? Ugh. It was was enough to kind of hope they all failed. Letting something they refuse to be truthful about effect their entire lives? To what? Punish themselves? It was hard to care.