All the Summer Girls by Meg Donohue

All the Summer Girls by Meg Donohue
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Goodreads: In Philadelphia, good girl Kate is dumped by her fiance the day she learns she is pregnant with his child. In New York City, beautiful stay-at-home mom Vanessa is obsessively searching the Internet for news of an old flame. And in San Francisco, Dani, the aspiring writer who can't seem to put down a book--or a cocktail--long enough to open her laptop, has just been fired...again.

In an effort to regroup, Kate, Vanessa, and Dani retreat to the New Jersey beach town where they once spent their summers. Emboldened by the seductive cadences of the shore, the women being to realize how much their lives, and friendships, have been shaped by the choices they made one fateful night on the beach eight years earlier--and the secrets that only now threaten to surface.

My thoughts: The book is told from three points of view; Kate, Vanessa, and Dani. The book begins with Kate getting dumped by her fiance who tells her she needs to address the issues surrounding the death of her twin 8 years before. We then meet the three former best friends who each feel responsible for the death of Kate's brother one summer at the beach house.

Honestly, I didn't care for the story, itself. The book plods along to find out what secret each woman is holding from the days of yore. What each did that night that contributed to Collin's death and sowed the seeds of discontent and self loathing and how the decisions they made that night directs their paths today. It was anti-climactic for me.

What I liked about the book was the insightful look at each of the women's personalities and drives. Kate is a micromanager and socially awkward but very beautiful. Vanessa knows her exotic beauty and used it as a weapon until she tired of her toy. But today she is the wife of a good looking man and the mother of a beautiful daughter. But she discontented. Dani is on the path of self destruction. She is aimless and goal-less. She is writing a book but the story has no satisfactory ending. Again, I wasn't crazy about the story but I really did enjoy the way the author got into these women's heads.

I liked the book fine. It just didn't stand out to me.