Summerland. Finished 2-26-19, 4/5 stars, fiction, pub. 2012
Unabridged audio read by Erin Bennett. 13 hours.
A warm June evening, a local tradition: the students of Nantucket High have gathered for a bonfire on the beach. What begins as a graduation night celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny’s boyfriend, Jake, and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt–but the emotional damage is overwhelming. Questions linger about what happened before Penny took the wheel.
As summer unfolds, startling truths are revealed about the survivors and their parents, the secrets kept, promises broken, and hearts betrayed. from Goodreads
When I posted my first Goodreads Cleanup post on Christmas this was the first book listed, the one that’s been on my Goodreads wish list the longest. I am proud to say that I listened to it and liked it, thus meaning many more Goodreads Cleanup posts 🙂
It begins with the death of a talented junior and it follows the stories of the three in the car with her when it happened and their parents, all friends. To say this is a bit sad is an understatement. The cover and title make it seem a bit more happy than it really is. It felt a bit like a soap opera, but not in a bad way. I love that the narrator was someone from the small community of Nantucket. She was giving us an insider’s look at what went down and it worked.
I liked it, but since I didn’t really feel an affinity for any of the characters I can’t say I loved it. I did feel sympathy, lots of it actually, but no real connection. Still a good story, but a bit of a downer for me. I’m glad I read it. Any story that takes me to Nantucket is worth reading.
Stacy's Books 
I like a good romance. But this is another author I haven’t read.
Definitely not a romance.
Thought I’d read it but checked goodreads and it says I didn’t. It also says I won a giveaway so I must have a copy on my shelves somewhere. Guess I need to clean up my physical book shelves…
lol. I hope you find it!
I actually own a copy of this; my mother gave it to me after she finished it, but of course, being a book I own, I haven’t been able to get to it yet because the library keeps stocking such interesting things! I do enjoy Elin Hilderbrand, though, so I really need to read it. I agree with you, I enjoy reading books set in Nantucket. I’ll try to make this a goal for this summer!
Isn’t it nice to share books with mom? I do the same with mine. I’m headed to the library now, not to borrow but to sell for our friends group. I just can’t stay away.
I read this one some years ago. Glad to hear the audio was good. I remember a little about it, but not so much. That seems to be the way with a lot of books that I liked well enough, but apparently not well enough to make them extra memorable. It’s hard to recall everything about all the books, right? LOL
Exactly! I finished this one a few weeks ago and I still couldn’t recall all the names 🙂
Hilderbrand’s books are hit or miss for me so I always look for reviews of her books before I read them. This one sounds good.
I enjoy Elin’s books on audio! Not sure I listened to this one.
I haven’t read any of her books but glad you enjoyed this one on audio. Sometimes that’s the only way I can get through a book is listening!
Yes! And some I start on audio but realize I need to take my time with actual words on a page.