I literally read this within a couple of hours it was honestly such an easy read. If I had to make someone a summer reading list this would definitely be on it. Yes there are some heavier aspects within the storyline in terms of watching a teenager struggle with an unimaginable grief no one can explain unless you’ve experienced it yourself, but you also watch her find herself again through a bucket list she wanted to do with her dad and also with a very strong support system encouraging her throughout. I loved how descriptive the book is, you literally feel like you’re climbing the same mountains Marly does throughout.
Also, one word.....Dylan. Need I say more, this book made me feel like every person needs a Dylan in their life and it was such a typical YA romance but I was 100% here for it every step of the way
I couldn’t recommend this book more if you’re after an easy summer read with a bit of a cheesy romance thrown in.

This book is not what you think it is, if you read only a part of the synopsis like I did. I guess you would be prepared if you've read the synopsis nevertheless I did enjoyed it.

Trigger warnings on this one though, there is mental disorder and death.

First of all thank you to Netgalley and Stone Ridge Books for giving me an advance digital copy.

When I say this book talks about grief so much, I really mean it. It depicts the realistic effect of grief felt when you loss someone you love. When you loss someone close to you or the one you love, you wanted to be alone. This is not the issue for Marly after losing both her parents in an accident, she sets off living with her best friend and drowning herself in the presence of others to avoid being alone. I love how I get this warm feeling and at the same time the urge to just cry my eyes out while reading because the description of grief is so on point.

The support she get from the people around her makes it so heart warming. The romance on this one though is a fast paced one which I don't vibe but Marly meeting Dylan kinda changes it. I love the character of Dylan was built as a support instead of just being a love interest. How he cares and took time to know Marly's past in every trip they go.

The trip, the hike and the adventure is really fun to read. Each destination is describe in a way like you are one with them on their journey.

This is a solid 5/5 for me. I just love the plot, the characters, and the writing. I am excited for the second book if this.

This book was amazing in such a good way. It took me by surprise how quickly I got invested in the story. The main character was so well done she was almost real. The subject matter is bitter and raw and uplifting and wonderful.

I was provided with an eARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.

3.5/5 stars.

Fun fact: I will literally read any book if it has a VW bus on the cover, or as part of the plot. Fortunately, the story inside the book was good, too. Marly is still reeling after losing both of her parents in a car accident, and her family steps in to help her face her grief instead of burying it under Netflix movies and a deadend retail job. Her uncle gifts her an immaculately restored VW bus (which belonged to her mom), and sends her on a cross country road trip to hike the mountains on her bucket list. She meets Dylan, a fellow mountain lover, and finds some solace there.

While this story was clearly a love letter to mountain climbing (including those in my own state of NH), and was well researched in those areas, it still lacked a bit of heart. Marly is quite obviously grieving, and is determined that she will never be happy again. But despite that, I don't feel like she actually made any real progress. Its hard to explain, because obviously grief is a tricky and personal experience, but the story didnt quite manage to get to the meat of things and make us really feel any light at the end of the tunnel. We got to the end of the book, and Marly had A Moment, but even that felt very forced given the way things had been glossed over up to that point. Almost like we were reading the outline of the story, and things still needed to be fleshed out.

Despite that, I did still enjoy the book. It kept my attention, had a few really good moments, and it looks like we are getting a sequel! Hopefully we can see Marly process things a little more realistically in book 2, which I will definitely be checking out.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me a free e-ARC copy of Meet Me at the Summit in exchange for an honest review. Meet Me at the Summit

Meet Me at the Summit follows Marly as she battles with loss and grief after losing her parents in a car accident nine months prior.

I went into this book intrigued and excited to follow Marly on her adventure, however DNF'd at page 200. I really liked the concept of this story but 200 pages in I didn't really feel like much had happened, leading me to become disinterested in the story.

I didn't agree with the way this book handled and discussed grief. Only nine months after Marly lost her parents, Lori was pressuring her to re-enrol in college and get back up on her feet. Her uncle pressured her into taking the van. Her grandmother pressured her into going on a solo road trip all whilst Marly was still struggling to come to terms with the loss of her parents.

I was excited to read this as I have a perverse interest in books that focus on overcoming grief. The plot of this novel was promising, but I unfortunately had to DNF this as it needed another few rounds of basic editing to be readable.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC for my honest review. Honestly this book wasn’t for me. I’m not a huge fan of ya so I should have steeered clear from the beginning. I will still recommend for my friends who are fans of YA

When college student Marly’s parents die in a car accident, everything in Marly’s life comes to a screeching halt. Stuck in a rut, her family and best friend ban together and encourage Marly to take the trip her mom never took cross country in a VW bus. Struggling to accept what is happening but also extremely curious Marly sets out on the road. In Colorado, Marly meets other hikers and one in particular, Dylan, and a new friendship is formed. After departing Colorado and experiencing a few bumps in the road, Marly is determined to throw in the towel but once again her friends and family are there and she makes it through.

I loved this story! While I can’t personally relate to the loss of losing parents I can relate to Marly’s stuck and numbness feeling. The struggle to move forward is a long and difficult process and takes baby steps but sometimes a big push is the way to go. Or in Marly’s case the keys to a VW bus. I really appreciated how supportive Dylan was with Marly throughout the whole story as well as her family. The places Marly visited were all part of her healing journey whether she realized it or not. I also loved all the hiking and photography aspects throughout the book as those are two things I enjoy. Can’t wait to see where Marly (and Dylan’s) story goes next!


Thank you to netgalley and publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Unfortunately, I just could not connect to the plot or the characters. However, I do think that other people would enjoy this book.

I really enjoyed this story. It was such an adventurous plot with some interesting characters. I loved the idea of travelling across USA and being carefree. The main character has a lot to deal with, grief and the feeling of uncertainty. I thought the way Marly dealt with her grief was very common, I know grief is dealt with in different ways so some might not relate to this character in the same way as others. I also thought Marly not know what to do with her future is very common around the younger generation, this book gave the impression to just live and enjoy the small things. I am very jealous of Marly’s VW camper!

I liked Dylan’s character, I am excited to read more about him in the next book. I thought the relationship between Dylan and Marly was well developed throughout the book and was a slow burner. I’m glad this relationship wasn’t rushed and it was taken slowly, even though this relationship was predictable. I would also like to hear more about Sarah as we didn’t hear more from her in the second half of the book. She seems like an interesting character and I thought she would have played a bigger part in the book when I first read about her. I loved the dynamic between Marly and her friend Lori, this friendship wasn’t the focus of this book but I enjoyed what I read about them. I’m hoping to be able to read more in the next one.

I really enjoyed the authors style of writing. The story was descriptive and dealt with major topics respectfully. This book really made me want to go to the USA and go on hikes. Just thinking about the book now, I would love to see those views from the summit. I thought it was a good touch that the author included the hikes the characters went on and have information about going on hikes. It makes it easy for readers to actually go and visit these summits. I found this authors style of writing easy to read, I managed to read this in one day. I am excited to find out what is next for these characters and this series.

If I had a summer reads recommendation list, this book would be on it. It really feels like we‘re going on this huge trip with the main character.

Meet me at the summit follows Marly Price whose parents died in a car accident and she has not been herself ever since then. Her family worries for her and convinces her to go on a hiking/camping tour all over the country in order to learn how to live again after this tragic event. She visits many different beautiful spots and she might even meet a cute man on the way. 😉

The positives:
↣ The support system Marly has is everything. Her best friend Lori, her uncle Ethan, her Grandma, her aunt, Dylan... They are there for her every step of the way and just want to see her happy. I‘m so glad she had people who cared for her so deeply.
↣ The descriptions of the places Marly discovers are so vivid. There were so many details that you couldn‘t help but be transported right there.
↣ While this book does deal heavily with grief and loss, it also has happy moments. The author knows how to balance the more serious and the lighter topics.
↣ I‘m not the biggest fan of hiking and while I love taking photos I‘m far from being an expert, but reading about those two hobbies which are such big parts of Marly‘s life was very interesting. The author put a lot of information into the book about being a photographer and a hiker and you could really tell she knew what she was talking about.

The negatives:
↣ The characters did not really have personalities, they felt like fictional people. Marly likes hiking and taking photos, but I couldn‘t really tell you anything else about her. Same goes for her love interest, her best friend and all the other characters. I would have liked to know a bit more about them in order to make them more realistic.

Trigger warning: grief, loss of a parent, vivid depiction of panic attacks and emotional breakdowns

Thank you to Netgalley, Stone Ridge Books and the author for providing me with a digital copy of this book.

This book about Marly as she navigates deep grief and paralyzing anxiety is full of empowerment and hope...

The loss of her parents is overwhelming to Marly. So much so that she simply stops living and merely exists, despite the efforts of her best friend. But that changes when her extended family gifts her with her mother's old VW bus now outfitted as a camper so that she can hike the trails she had bucket-listed before tragedy struck.

On her travels she comes to know herself with the help of a young man she meets on the trail.

Mental health, travel, adventure, hiking, and a spot of romance make this a quick and emotional read.

3.5/5 stars
I loved the exploration of grief and the book's take on photography. It was in fact quite lovely. I loved the cover and the romance, such a cute read

"Meet Me At The Summit" is a beautiful tale of healing and rediscovering yourself after a loss.

Our main character Marly is still struggling to cope with her parents' death by busying and distracting herself with Netflix and a job she hates.

All of that changes when she has to visit her mother's side of the family in Washington state and they convince her to take a road trip back to New Hampshire in the VW bus.

What follows is a journey of Marly slowly getting out of her shell and embracing back the things she'd been avoiding after her parents' death.

This is the first book of Mandi that I've ever read (I know her from youtube) and I absolutely fell in love with her writing style. This was such a heartfelt story and had such amazing characters (although they could be too sweet and thoughtful at times and I wish they would've been more layered) that I'm excited to read more of her works.

Definitely recommend!

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

Just what I needed to get out of a reading funk. I love camping so this was perfect.

Meet Me at the Summit was an enjoyable read. I liked the main character Marly and the general plot of the book, but otherwise this just wasn’t memorable.

Thank you to Netgalley, publishers and the author for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This review is very different to any others I’ve had to do through Netgalley, but unfortunately I dnf’d this book.

The concept of this book sounds good and what I did read, the mental health and grief seems to be represented well but, I couldn’t fully get into the story due to the abundance of typos and sentences that didn’t make sense and seem to cut off half way.

This can be easily fixed and I hope this doesn’t effect the story for future readers of this book, because otherwise I think this book could have been good but I just couldn’t carry on due to the grammar.

This book was an excellent read! I loved every minute of it. I connected with the characters and imagined myself in the book, hanging out with them and being a new version of myself. I think I was my best self when I read this book. I am so excited to have a physical copy of this book in my home library and I have recommended it to so many of my friends already.

Okay, this was so sweet, yet also entirely heart-breaking.
19 year old Marly is still grappling with her grief and what life looks like for her nine months after losing both of her parents in a car accident. She’s forced to face her emotions when given the opportunity to drive her mom’s renovated 1978 VW bus from Washington to New Hampshire.

Any traveler, adventurist, or hiking enthusiast will love the healing property of nature and travel utilized throughout this book. The romance aspect in this novel is also tastefully done; it does not take away from Marly’s journey and, I thought, was a great example of how you can walk alongside someone in their grief.
The author also provides links to all hikes mentioned throughout the story at the end of the book, which was a nice touch.

I was happy to see there would be a sequel to this story, and I look forward to reading more.

I have FEELINGS about this book, and they’re not romantic. (To be fair, they’re not all bad either.)

I have read many books about mountains and climbers, but none of them have been YA fiction. I was eager to see what this niche would deliver. (Are we still using the label “New Adult”? Because I do feel that this book could be better categorised as NA.)

The author, Mandi Lynn, must surely be a mountain climber. Only someone who has climbed could convey the crispness of the mountains at dawn, and the sense of singularity when faced with the enormity of a mountain to be scaled.

"Meet Me At The Summit" makes me yearn to climb - and that hurts a little, given that the current state of the world largely prevents it. But this is the primary reason I continued reading: for those moments of being transported to the mountains.

As for the rest, I feel mostly ambivalent. While Marly’s grief is undoubtedly huge, I feel it lacks an element of real-ness. And I know that the author IS able to convey realness, because one of the things I also loved from the beginning is that she portrays the awkwardness of being a not-child, not-adult, so well. That clumsy stage of sharing an apartment with a roomie, and feeling like a complete failure compared to one another - yeah. She gets it. It’s TANGIBLE.

But the grief? It just lacks that texture.

As for the romance - I don’t ship it. I guess partly because I don’t like the guy. But also - I definitely felt vibes between Marly and Dylan’s sister. Actually, Dylan is one of my pet peeves about this book, because it’s full of “knight in shining armour” tropes. Marly gushes about how he has come to make her feel alive again, or is there to keep her safe, and it just does not sit well with me. Yeah, I’m THAT girl. He "empowers" her, but actually he's just pushing her to live out the narrative that he thinks is right for her. Her best friend, Lori, has a nasty habit of doing that too, and it should serve as a warning to anyone who is trying to "help" someone deal with grief. I actually feel that this story could have gone without the romance altogether. There are enough inner conflicts to make a good story, and not every YA (NA?) novel needs romance.

I do so wish Marly's character had a little more agency. I understand that her grief left her largely unmoored and that she needed some pushing, but I actually don’t feel like anybody tried to push her to take charge of her own life. Although she very briefly takes charge near the end of the book, I’m still not convinced that much growth has taken place.

Stylistically, I don’t want to spend a whole page nitpicking, but this in an eARC and I feel that it needs another SOLID round of editing. Besides typos and malapropisms, the most glaring issue is tenses - switching from past to present future within the same event, making sentences unnecessarily clumsy. Please - pick a tense, and then stick to it.

My ultimate verdict: read this if you like climbing, and you like YA-fiction. Slurp that delight from the very bone marrow of the story.

Read this if you yearn to travel, and have a thing for old VW buses.

Read this if you’re a college student with imposter syndrome.

Just don’t expect a treatise on love and grief. And that’s okay.