ARC Review: That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey
If you’re looking for a fun, sapphic romance to add to your summer reading list then look no further than That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey.
It’s got an adult queer awakening, sapphic insta-love, found family, and so much more. It’s a perfect read for your next summer vacation!
Summer camp is an experience like no other. One Garland Moore and her sister, Dara, never got to experience as kids. So when a couple of Garland’s rideshare passengers tell her about Camp Carl Cove, their newly reopened summer camp, the Moore sisters jump at the chance to experience camp life. Garland hopes it will be a nice distraction from the painful divorce she’s recently gone through.
Garland arrives at camp with an open mind, hoping to take more risks and rediscover who she is only to be blind-sided by the appearance of a mystery man she encountered for a brief moment in an airport. As a long time believer in signs from the universe, Garland believes this man to be her soulmate and enlists the help of his sister to get to know him better. Yet there’s something about his sister that Garland can’t ignore.
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was so much fun! It was like a nice, warm hug underneath the summer stars with fireflies twinkling all around. The summer camp vibes were incredible and it made me want to find an adult summer camp just so I can shout Hee-Haw as I do the Hoedown Throwdown.
Garland’s character development is one of my favorite arcs I’ve read this year. She goes to camp in order to push herself to try new things and take more risks, and she doesn’t hold back. During her marriage, she made herself smaller to fit the expectations of her husband and of the people around her, yet at camp she becomes herself and makes choices for herself.
I found much of Garland’s journey to be extremely relatable. She’s a people pleaser. She’s so scared of making the wrong decision that she doesn’t make one at all. She hides herself and her own desires just to make other people more comfortable. I lost count of the amount of times I was frustrated (in a good way) with her and shouted “Girl! What are you doing!?”
But that was the beauty of her journey. She was at camp to break free of those bad habits and become her more authentic self. And it just so happens that becoming her more authentic self involves her queer awakening.
Garland and Stevie are nearly inseparable from the moment they meet. Garland can’t stop thinking about Stevie and finds herself missing her when she’s not around. For those of us on the outside, it’s obvious she’s fallen and fallen hard but for Stevie, but Garland’s still convinced it’s Stevie’s brother, Mason, who is the one she’s supposed to fall for despite having no feeling whatsoever toward him.
Personally, I am more of a slow-burn romance fan and even though there were a few moments that made me cringe, the way this insta-romance was set up did not disappoint. Stevie and Garland got to know each other organically, and talked about real things which created a real, adult relationship between them. You could tell it wasn’t going to be just a summer fling but a lasting relationship.
That Summer Feeling may be a fun summer romance, but it’s also so much more than that. It’s a testament to the importance of staying true to yourself and living your life on your own terms instead of living according to other people’s expectations.
That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
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