This just had so much going on from the start, and I found it hard to follow 5 teenagers and all their issues.

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

Cute summer road, the romances were adorable but there was not much development. Would recommend for teens or students on a gap year.

This book was a lovely flashback to my own days interrailing with my friends as we travelled throughout Europe. I enjoyed this story of first love and young love.

However, this book contains an infidelity storyline and that isn't something I enjoy reading. so it did sour my experience with the book a little. The characters also didn't feel well defined to me, and I often found myself wondering who we were meant to focus on.

I swapped my kindle back in 2018 and am unable to recover this title. I appreciate the opportunity that was given for review but sadly can't complete it for this title. However, based on the other works I know by this author I am awarding 4Stars.
Many thanks.

Unfortunately I no longer wish to review this book as the first few chapters did not reel me in. Thank you for the opportunity.

It’s ridiculously appropriate that I picked out The Summer of Us this month because it begins on July 1st. I ended up reading each chapter on the date that the events in it took place, which on the one hand was a great idea – it felt as though it was me exploring Europe with my friends and made me feel far more connected to the characters – but on the other hand meant it took me two weeks to read a book which I should have been able to read in one sitting. Oops.

There is a lot going on in The Summer of Us. Not only do we travel around Europe, exploring Paris, Prague and Rome (amongst many other locations) but we also explore the rocky terrain of the relationships in this friendship group of five.

Rae has been steadily falling in love with Clara, who she’s certain is straight, and can’t wait to move to Australia for college to get as far away from her feelings as she possibly can. Meanwhile Aubrey and Jonah have been together for years and have a Plan – they’re both going to college in New York and everyone thinks they’ll be together forever – so why did Aubrey risk messing everything up when she kissed Jonah’s best friend, Gabe, a couple of weeks ago?

I found the dynamics of the gang intriguing, and by the end of the novel they felt more like friends than characters. This might have been because of the length of time it took me to read it because it meant that the characters and the situations were on my mind a lot throughout my day: there were a few times when the days ended on rather surprising cliffhangers! However I think it’s more likely to be because Cecelia Vinesse crafts believable characters. They’re flawed, but it adds a realistic dimension that can be missing from YA contemporaries.

Some people won’t enjoy The Summer of Us because it does excuse cheating and I think that’s the only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of. Considering this group are all teenagers they’re bound to be making mistakes, and I saw a lot of my own teenage years reflected in the antics that the group got up to, but I found myself feeling sorry for Jonah. This was a perfect read for this time of the year though: the only thing that could have made it better would have been reading it on the beach!

I was so excited going into this book, it’s very similar to a book idea I’ve had so was so intrigued on this authors take on it. Five friends going around Europe, what’s not to love?I’ve always dreamed of going backpacking around Europe, and have watched countless videos on it, so i was quite disappointed that the author didn’t really describe the settings, hostels or trains that much. This could have really been set anywhere with how little the surrounds were described, which was a shame as they were travelling through some beautiful places.

I found the romances quite meh, I wasn’t really rooting for any of them to get together and didn’t like how they all treated each other. I found some interactions quite odd and not how I’d expect people to react in those situations.

Overall this was just another YA contemporary that I doubt I’ll remember that well. It was just fine, 2.5/5.

An interesting premise, reminiscent of The Travelling Pants...’ however I found the writing slow and clunky.

DNF @ 40%

The characters all blend into each other and I can hardly distinguish between them all. They're annoying and I realised I don't care about them; I was only reading on to see the cities they go to but there's not much of a focus on the cities themselves - they spent a day in Amsterdam and it was just brushed over like it barely happened. Major disappointment.

I enjoyed this becuase I enjoy any type of of road trip (in this case train trip) type books. The characters weren’t my favourite though and I didn’t really feel myself rooting for their happy ending. Although it was an Interesting story and as always really wonderful writing from the author. Still can’t beat her last book for me but if you enjoy any kind of travel inspired YA then I think this is worth a read for you.

Sadly, this book wasn't for me.

I know that plenty of people have enjoyed this novel, but I just didn't enjoy it that much, and when I put it down had no desire to pick it back up again, so I DNF'd it. There is no reason in particular, but something about me and this book just didn't work.

The writing style was enjoyable, and whilst the plot seemed like it would be perfect for me (hence, I requested it - that and I know lots of people who have enjoyed it), I just didn't get along with the characters. They reminded me of acquaintances from school who I didn't get along with, and overall it just spoilt my reading of the book.

Despite that, I have given the book two stars, because I truly think that, if you like YA, summer, and road trips, this book is perfect for you! It is simply personal preference/hindrances that stopped me from enjoying it, and to be honest, I'm pretty sad about that fact.

This book is excellent and I really enjoyed reading it. I am a big fan of Cecilia Vinesse's writing and I will certainly be picking up any future books by her.

The Summer of Us was the first book from my summer TBR. Aubrey has two weeks before she leaves for college. She and her best friend, Rae, have planned one last trip across Europe to explore famous museums, sip champagne in fancy restaurants, and eat as many croissants as possible.

Continue reading this review over at prettybooks.co.uk

I love the plotline between friends that travel around Europe before college life begins and the start of a new chapter of their lives. The wanderlust in me is content that I could tag along their journey along as they went from one place to another and understand them and their feelings.

I'm afraid that's all where my interest goes for this book. I couldn't really connect with the characters, even the main characters Aubrey and Rae. This story is a story of their discovery where it shows where their emotions truly rely onto and the decisions they have to make.

I cannot deny that the entire premise of this book is intriguing but I'm not sure if the timing was wrong for me or some other circumstances that made me lose interest along the way.

I do love a good roadtrip book, and this one made for perfect summer reading. A nicely interesting and diverse set of characters, the prerequisite amount of angst and drama, a smattering of romance and redefining of friendships, all set to the backdrop of Europe.

The Summer of Us is the perfect summer read for flipping through whilst relaxing on a summer beach holiday or whilst sipping on an ice cold drink whilst sunbathing at your local park. I can't also help but think it'd be perfect to read if you happen to be holidaying in any of the European cities which the 5 friends visit over the course of this book - setting off from London and hitting Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Florence, and ending in Barcelona, with fleeting visits to Berlin and Rome along the way for good measure. I managed to read this book basically in one sitting on a summer's evening, and it was enjoyable enough to pass the time and lose myself in a read which didn't require a lot of effort to keep up with the storyline or its characters.

" 'If Paris were a person,' Aubrey said, 'it would be so elegant.'
'But also kind of a jackass,' he said.
'Paris isn’t a jackass,' Aubrey gasped. 'How can you say that?'
'Because,' Jonah said, 'it’s aloof and beautiful and arro‑ gant. Total jackass material.'
Aubrey mock‑ scowled at him. 'Fine. Then if you were a city, you would be Paris.'
'And you’d be London,' he said. 'Hardworking. Practi‑ cal. And dull.' "

The strength in The Summer of Us is in the idea of a group of 5 friends from school interrailing around Europe. I'll admit, I didn't understand why the characters needed to be Americans (of one form or another) that just so happened to attend school in England - if that's even what they all did because it wasn't explicitly explained for each of the 5 characters. I presume that, for the sake of easy plotting, it was better to have these young people based in London so they could quickly hop on the Eurostar to France and so then access the rest of mainland Europe. However, I didn't feel it was ever really explored enough for me to understand, or utilised in any way in the characterisation or background of these characters.

"Everything about England had seemed so gray to her then—the damp and the fog and the flat, metallic sky."

Disappointingly, some cities were skipped over and we barely got to see the characters doing anything there or even leaving the hotel/Air BnB or the train station. I get that it was something of a whistle-stop tour of Europe via Interrail, and that Aubrey might plan itineraries (earning the unfair mockery of her friends, to be honest) but these weren't followed once relationships within the group started to crumble, but I just felt like some of the cities they visited could have been anywhere, since there were very few locations mentioned specifically by name or explored at any length. Prague was given slightly better treatment, and I got a sense of its cobbled, winding, maze-like streets. This was primarily because the character walking around exploring it was a photographer and artist and noticed the little details like this. What a character is drawn to, and notices, whilst on holiday says a lot about that person - different people prefer to do different activities, or have different priorities, and this is a great way to explore characters that, unfortunately, wasn't utilised to its full potential within The Summer of Us.

"[...] a maze of narrow cobblestone streets. The buildings they passed were lit up like parts of a theater set: gold letters stenciled onto their façades, carved angels perched on window ledges. None of it seemed real. It was an image taken straight from a fairy tale."

In fact, apart from at the moment when they were having full-on arguments with each other, the 5 characters mostly felt one-dimensional, even though a multiple POV "over the shoulder" narrative style was adopted so that we always saw the action happening as they did. Having said all of this, there were admittedly moments of Aubrey's thought process in particular which I deeply related to, especially her tendency to over-think what could happen, and so not really "live" in what was happening. That is me, I do this, and to see it happening to Aubrey to her detriment really did actually emotionally hit me. Her anxiety about change and people moving on from her and being alone was also deeply relatable, and I think it likely would immediately be recognisable to anyone in their teens or twenties.

" 'I was so worried we wouldn’t make this train. But look at us. Look at how early we are. I waste so much energy panicking about things that don’t actually happen. And the things that do happen never even occur to me.' "

Unfortunately, this book also did a thing I hate - having a girlfriend (Aubrey) hate on another girl (Leah) who happens to be friends with her boyfriend (Jonah) based on the principle that she assumes something's going on between them. I hate that trope, it fosters a lot of unnecessary distrust in actual relationships so I don't think it's a particularly healthy thing to explore in books either - it sews the fictional seeds for people in their "real life" relationships to assume that any friends of the opposite gender of their boyfriend/girlfriend must be treated with suspicion as a default, because there's no smoke without fire etc. etc.. As it turns out, Leah did seem like kind of a crappy person, so not all of Aubrey's ill-feeling towards her was wholly undeserved, but I didn't like that this was established as the default position before the character had even been introduced to the reader. Besides, Jonah was kind of a dick to Aubrey, despite the fact he was dating her and despite the fact the book's blurb claimed he was the "seemingly perfect boyfriend", so I wasn't altogether that sad once they had a confrontation about their relationship and how it would work once they were both going to separate colleges in New York. That confrontation took way too long of the book to happen, to be brutally honest because Aubrey seemed to have doubts from the very beginning of their trip.

"And all of a sudden, Aubrey knew what had been bothering her all morning. What she hadn’t been able to put her finger on: Jonah didn’t picture their lives together the way she did— he never would."

Having said all of this (and yes, I'm aware I'm quite picky), the book was diverting enough for an afternoon. I very much enjoyed the easily incorporated LGBTQIA+ representation in the form of Rae and Clara's relationship and I thought that the characters the author was clearly invested in (i.e. Rae, Clara, Aubrey, and Gabe) all fleshed out a bit and grew in the course of this book and their holiday across Europe. I particularly enjoyed the banter between Gabe and Aubrey and Gabe and Clara because Gabe was just funny. And, ultimately, the book did take a simple concept (a friends "road trip" holiday across Europe) and use that device as a backdrop to explore the feeling of worrying that your friends are all going to separate locations for the sake of college and will live their own lives, which you may not be a part of anymore, despite how closely entwined your lives have been up to that point. It's a feeling a lot of people can easily relate to, and I think it's extremely well captured in the book through the character of Aubrey. The downside of this book? It will make you want to visit all these cities immediately.

"Maybe she was about to lose a hundred things—things she was always going to lose, things she couldn’t help. But she was gaining a thousand more—things she couldn’t even begin to guess."

I romped through this perfect, hazy coming of age novel. Set against a backdrop of some of Europe's most iconic cities, five teenagers face a final summer together. Aubrey; who always has a plan, Jonah, Aubrey's boyfriend, whose plans might not include Aubrey. Gabe, Jonah's best friend, who wants to escape to the wilderness. Rae, Aubrey's best friend, who is literally escaping halfway across the world to Australia, and Clara, the straight girl Rae is kind of running from. Their last summer together is supposed to make them closer, not drive them apart, right?

I loved this so much - it reminded me of Stephanie Perkins excellent Euro-set series, perfect for long sunlit days. And, as with the Anna/Lola/Isla books, the sexual tension in this book is *chef's kiss* perfect. The whole gang is messy and complicated, all of them painfully aware they're at a crossroads in their lives and all terrified by it. The locations were so lovingly and beautiful captured, and the fear and joy and confusion of standing on the precipice of the future laced every moment. A brilliant, beautiful summer read.

Aubrey has only two weeks left before she leaves for college so she decides to go on a trip around Europe with her friends – Gabe, Clara, Rae, and Jonah. Visting places such as Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Prague they plan to spend two weeks having the times of their lives before they all go their separate ways going to college and university across the world. When secrets are revealed, their carefree adventure turns into a complete disaster.

The Summer of Us is legit the perfect summer read and I absolutely adored this. The Summer of Us is about friendship and growing up. It about how when you grow up your friendships change. I loved how it discussed co-dependence and how scary it can be to grow up and move away from everything and everyone you know.

The Summer of Us main focus is the relationships while using European cities as a backdrop. I adored the relationships, they were well developed and complex. There was a love triangle between Gabe, Jonah, and Aubrey but it wasn’t a terrible one considering Jonah and Aubrey learned at the end that they didn’t really want to be together and I must admit Aubrey and Gabe were kinda cute. But, there was cheating involved which is always a dislike of mine but I guess it all worked out for the best.

However, my favourite romance was between Clara and Rae and it was adorably cute. It was best friends to lovers and I loved how they both liked each other for so long but neither of them knew. Clara and Rae were easily the most developed characters as was their relationship.

Normally, having so many characters can sometimes be a disadvantage, especially in a short contemporary romance but Cecilia Vinesse really manages to balance all these characters really well.

Overall, The Summer of Us had some really great summer vibes with some really great group dynamics and some really great messages about preparing for the future. The Summer of Us is just an awesome and fun book that I highly recommend.

Well I was so excited about this book when I read the Synopsis as it seemed a fun ,cute YA Contemporary with lots of travelling and amazing friends. I instantly fell in love with the book once I started reading it. The story explores the trip of 5 Friends , Aubrey, Rae , Clara ,Jonah and Gabe . They have recently finished their high school and now will be leaving for college soon. But before that, they go on a trip to various places in Europe including Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Florence, Barcelona. Well , I would say this the crux of the story . What happens in the trip is the main treat . We have characters who are just stepping out into the adult world where they have to take their own decisions about life and love . It is a coming-of-age story where the characters are in a sort of in-between phase and they are quite confused about a lot of things.The whole sense of growing up is captured beautifully in the book and it was particularly relevant for me, because I am a teen. The author explores it with a love story or two. The Summer of Us is an apt title as it is the last summer the fivesome get to spend together before they go their seperate ways. The characters discover their inner fears and find love in their last summer after high school.

The story is told in alternating POV’s of Aubrey and Rae . They have been best friends since primary school. It’s was good to know the characters through their eyes. Aubrey has a seemingly perfect boyfriend Jonah but she doesn’t know why she kissed Gabe three weeks ago. The story veers to the familiar paths of love triangle and I can’t help but enjoy the new developments. Whereas Rae has a huge crush on Clara who is into guys, not girls. But is she really? So in short we have 2 love stories ,which spice up the plot.

Not to mention the setting of the book. This book is based on different places all over Europe . I always wanted to visit Paris and Rome and I get to ,through this book. They visit a lot of landmarks ,Eiffel tower ,Trevi fountain, Red Light Area (by mistake) in Amsterdam and so many more .They travel by trains and see so many things. It kind of awakened the travel bug in me .The book perfectly balances new places , romance ,friendship and beautifully crafted characters and that’s what makes the book a perfect Young Adult Read ,ideal for summer.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me the ARC in exchange for an honest review.