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    All the Summer Girls
    All the Summer Girls
    All the Summer Girls
    Audiobook7 hours

    All the Summer Girls

    Written by Meg Donohue

    Narrated by Heather Henderson

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    All the Summer Girls by Meg Donohue is a riveting coming-of-age tale set on the New Jersey shore. Donohue, the author of the bestselling novel How to Eat a Cupcake, is a master of literary fiction; her skill is demonstrated in this charming and moving second novel.

    Set among the sunsets and dunes, All the Summer Girls is the story of how three former best friends, their lives rapidly unraveling, are reunited at the beach town of their past—where the ambience of summer encourages them to explore new experiences they would never otherwise attempt.

    When dark secrets threaten to surface, Kate, Vanessa, and Dani begin to realize just how much their lives—and friendships—have been shaped by the choices they made one fateful summer night years ago. In the hope of finally moving forward, the women turn to one another for forgiveness—but how can they forgive each other when they can’t forgive themselves?

    Meg Donohue is a phenomenal talent, and fans of Sarah Pekkanen, Susan Mallery, and Catherine McKenzie, will be enthralled by this rich and detailed novel about women, relationships, and forgiveness.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 21, 2013
    ISBN9780062263476
    All the Summer Girls
    Author

    Meg Donohue

    Meg Donohue is the USA Today bestselling author of How to Eat a Cupcake, All the Summer Girls, and Dog Crazy. She has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and a BA in comparative literature from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she now lives in San Francisco with her husband, three children, and dog.

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    Reviews for All the Summer Girls

    3.5/5

    88 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Enjoyable book.
    • 2/5
      I purchased the audio version from audible.com, and the narrator (Heather Henderson) did a good job. A beach read about three gals --friends since childhood and have all gone separate ways. Pretty long and drawn out ----

      Kate (Phili), successful lawyer, pregnant, and boyfriend has just broken off their upcoming marriage;
      Vanessa (NY) is a mom with 2 yr old daughter and her husband has kissed another woman (she talks about this the entire book); Dani (San Fran), is an addict (drugs and drinking) throughout the book. Cannot get her act together and has just been fired from a book store (author). But she is always drunk or drugged, so cannot write. Pretty sad and depressed bunch!

      After the bachelorette party is called off they all plan to meet in Avalon, NJ (this spot was never great, in my opinion). The book is centered on Colin (Katie’s twin brother) everyone thinking they caused his death years ago ---guilt, regrets, and secrets. Goes back and forth from years ago until present tense. There is some humor to the story which will get you through.
    • 5/5
      I loved loved loved this book! I had just finished reading a very long Stephen King novel, and I decided the next book I wanted to read was something light, easy, and quick. I was scanning my nook and stumbled upon this, and decided to check it out. I am SO glad I did. The story centers upon 3 girls who were/still are best friends. Each of them is having their own life issues, so they decide to take a vacation to the old beach they used to spend every summer together at. Commence the typical, clichè story of finding yourself, and rediscovering friendship. I couldn't have been more satisfied with this book. It was perfect for what I was looking for. I gave it 5 stars because it was everything I was looking for. It was light, fun, and still had a little drama. The book alternated between 3 different perspectives, and I love that. I feel like stories that alternate between perspectives give you the opportunity to see the story from each side. I feel like it just gives the story more depth, and makes it a little more real. I recommend this book to anyone looking to read something light, and simple. Maybe as a beach read, or like me, a simple read in between heavy/serious books. I highly recommend this book to everyone!
    • 3/5
      Jersey shore - 3 young women - a dramatic night in the past - I should have read it at the beach. It was an easy read, but I felt the connections were strained and I didn't warm up to the main characters. I just wanted to shake them and tell them to grow up already. But it moves along well enough and there's nothing that you can't figure out if you think about it a bit.
    • 3/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      A good summer read.
    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 5/5
      All The Summer GirlsByMeg DonahueMy"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 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!
    • 4/5
      All the Summer Girls: A Novel by Meg Donohue This book follows the three women-they are best friends.NY: Vanessa and Drew have a daughter Lucy and she gave up on the gallery job to raise the baby.Philly: Kate is in and her husband to be-is also a lawyer but he breaks up with her the night she discovers she's pregnant.CA: Dani worked in the bookstore and writes her novel at night while sharing the apartment with 2 other females. The book is about Kate's twin brother who died while they were all summering on the island 8 years prior..Rather than going to Las Vegas for the bachelorette party they will go to Avalon where they always summered. It's been 8 years since Colin's death and it seems each of them feels a bit responsible for his death.We learn more as their story continues-the fear they each hold and wanting to be free of their guilt by telling others their held secret...Love hearing about the travel, each of their cities where they live and of the Jersey shore as I've yet to travel there myself. Such detailed descriptions.I received this book from Edelweiss by William Morrow Paperbacks and Harper Collins Publishers in return for an honest review.
    • 5/5
      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 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.