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Book Summary and Reviews of Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum

Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum

Bad Summer People

A Novel

by Emma Rosenblum

  • Critics' Consensus (9):
  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • May 2023, 272 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

Emma Rosenblum's Bad Summer People is a whip-smart, propulsive debut about infidelity, backstabbing, and murderous intrigue, set against an exclusive summer haven on Fire Island.

None of them would claim to be a particularly good person. But who among them is actually capable of murder?

Jen Weinstein and Lauren Parker rule the town of Salcombe, Fire Island every summer. They hold sway on the beach and the tennis court, and are adept at manipulating people to get what they want. Their husbands, Sam and Jason, have summered together on the island since childhood, despite lifelong grudges and numerous secrets. Their one single friend, Rachel Woolf, is looking to meet her match, whether he's the tennis pro―or someone else's husband. But even with plenty to gossip about, this season starts out as quietly as any other.

Until a body is discovered, face down, off the side of the boardwalk.

Stylish, subversive, and darkly comedic, this is a story of what's lurking under the surface of picture-perfect lives in a place where everyone has something to hide.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Herein is a wonderful experience of schadenfreude. These characters are so readable and so terrible. They think highly of themselves but consistently have the worst impulses, and, as the book wears on, it becomes delightfully clear that they are incapable of resisting. A heck of a beach read." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Rosenblum does a terrific job of establishing the setting and atmosphere, and adds complexity to the plot by revisiting events from various points of view. This is wickedly entertaining." —Publishers Weekly

"Rosenblum is a master of understated social satire, and her gift for capturing human follies and the dark, emotional depth of her characters through artfully rendered details make Bad Summer People a seriously compulsive read." —Shelf Awareness

"This roiling beach community satire serves up wicked, clever fun that is White Lotus sharp. Emma Rosenblum gets to the comic heart of these nasty, nasty people. When I say she is unsparing and they are dreadful I mean it as the highest compliment. It is sinfully good like a summer cocktail you want to keep refilling. I found myself laughing out loud as I read and staying up way too late with this fabulous book." ―Kevin Kwan, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians and Sex and Vanity

"I am 100% invested in all the petty (and not-so-petty) drama of the delightfully messy residents of Emma Rosenblum's Fire Island. I like my beach reads either twisty, steamy, or funny and―lucky me―this was all three. Bad Summer People will absolutely be the book I push on all my friends this summer." ―Chandler Baker, author of Whisper Network and The Husbands

"Like a tidbit of gossip flowing by on the sea breeze, Bad Summer People is irresistible. Funny, sexy, and scary, it made me eager to eavesdrop but glad not to be entangled in the vacation scandals dreamed up by Emma Rosenblum in her juicy debut." ―Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and Fierce Little Thing

This information about Bad Summer People was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

The Walking Book Club

Sure to be a
Are you seeking an audiobook to motivate you to move this summer? In that case, Emma Roseblum's debut novel, Bad Summer People, is the perfect blend of entertainment, dark humor, and mystery, making it a five-sneaker listen. With a spark of inspiration from White Lotus's theme of privilege, Bad Summer People is set on Fire Island, New York, from Memorial Day through Labor Day and told from multiple perspectives. As the audiobook progresses, you realize the "beautiful" characters aren't as pretty on the inside. Her descriptive phrases are both accurate and funny. (I giggled aloud when she described the women on the ferry all wearing dark sunglasses looking bugged-eyed.)

January Lavoy's narration seamlessly alters the characters' voices, bringing dimension to the audiobook. The Walking Book Club is adding her to our list of favorite voice actors. Bad Summer People earns five-sneakers for the quality of narration as well.

Total moving and listening time is approximately eight hours, depending on your preferred listening speed. (I sped up the tempo to 1.4 - 1.5 without diminishing the quality.)

Bad Summer People is Rosenblum's first novel but not her last. Her book is under contract for screen adaptation, and she's been signed for an additional two books. So if you need a guilty little pleasure this summer for a voyeur-like look into a microcosm of New York City's summer destinations of the rich, this fictional look into "infidelity and backstabbing" will quench your listening palette. So lace up your sneakers and get moving - it's sure to be on the "hot summer books list," then treat yourself to a watermelon margarita after!

Gary Nagel

Rich people suck
Any Jane Doe on the street could have written more creatively. Literally every
person (all rich) is a low life who wants to copulate with someone other than a spouse. Zero nuance, zero ambivalence, just pure "me,me,me" 24/7. Very Trumpian in that regard and utterly depressing & a waste of time.

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Author Information

Emma Rosenblum

Emma Rosenblum is Chief Content Officer at BDG, overseeing content and strategy for Bustle, Elite Daily, Nylon, The Zoe Report, Romper, Scary Mommy, Fatherly, The Dad, Inverse, and Mic. Bad Summer People is her first novel.

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