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A review by readwithmeemz
The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin
fast-paced
2.5
2.5 Stars
I love stories about friendship, but this one frequently has me wondering if Emily Giffin has ever met a Black person?
Overall, this book had the makings of a strong emotional arc, but although it is a Perfect Summer Read ™️ - despite the heavy, and rich content, it felt devoid of substance, depth, and personality.
Real issues were touched on, but skated over, so constantly, that it felt more like they were plot filler than character or story development.
In the chapters from Lainey and Hannah’s POVs, they seemed multi-dimensional, and human, and real, with rich inner-lives, and real, human feelings. Tyson on the other hand read as stilted and forced, with a total lack of a personality or dialogue. I thought his parents were also pretty poorly written, and thought it fascinating that somehow every Black person in this book seems to be calling women “females”… Unsure where that came from, but to me it read like a carry over from the author hearing a rap song once? Perhaps that’s unfair, but it was hard to read this book without constantly, jarringly getting taken out of it every time I read one of Tyson’s chapters. I don’t know how else to say it, but nothing about him seemed real. From his supposed passion for social justice; to his “journey” to finding himself, he just read as a flat caricature more than a person.
The rest of the story was, conceptually, really wonderful — friendship stories, pacts, international travel - all make this book catnip for me. And I did read it in one day, but unfortunately, the complete lack of effort or interest in exploring any kind of depth with substance or meaning really threw me off.
I love stories about friendship, but this one frequently has me wondering if Emily Giffin has ever met a Black person?
Overall, this book had the makings of a strong emotional arc, but although it is a Perfect Summer Read ™️ - despite the heavy, and rich content, it felt devoid of substance, depth, and personality.
Real issues were touched on, but skated over, so constantly, that it felt more like they were plot filler than character or story development.
In the chapters from Lainey and Hannah’s POVs, they seemed multi-dimensional, and human, and real, with rich inner-lives, and real, human feelings. Tyson on the other hand read as stilted and forced, with a total lack of a personality or dialogue. I thought his parents were also pretty poorly written, and thought it fascinating that somehow every Black person in this book seems to be calling women “females”… Unsure where that came from, but to me it read like a carry over from the author hearing a rap song once? Perhaps that’s unfair, but it was hard to read this book without constantly, jarringly getting taken out of it every time I read one of Tyson’s chapters. I don’t know how else to say it, but nothing about him seemed real. From his supposed passion for social justice; to his “journey” to finding himself, he just read as a flat caricature more than a person.
The rest of the story was, conceptually, really wonderful — friendship stories, pacts, international travel - all make this book catnip for me. And I did read it in one day, but unfortunately, the complete lack of effort or interest in exploring any kind of depth with substance or meaning really threw me off.