Big Summer

Big Summer has complicated friendships, tension between haves and have-nots, successful chubby girls, and all the usual Jennifer Weiner ingredients, oh yeah, plus a murder.

When a horrible moment goes viral, Daphne turns her accidental fame into a side hustle as a plus-size Instagram influencer. This is prime Jennifer Weiner fiction, about a chubby girl turning her setbacks into success.

Daphne thinks she’s put high school behind her, until Drue Lanthrop Cavannagh, the A-list mean girl and sometime friend, turns up at her doorstep. Drue’s asking, no, begging Daphne to be a bridesmaid at her wedding.  It seems her mean-girl ways have left her with a bridesmaid space to fill, and an old friend from high school would round out her picture-perfect life. This is also prime Jennifer Weiner fiction, with complex female friendships, but slightly updated with an Instagram influencer slant.

Dashni, another former classmate, is now Daphne’s roommate. Dashni loathes Drue, remembering how Drue routinely embarrassed her in high school.  She also remembers Drue picking up and dropping Daphne whenever she felt like it, and she’s not really pleased to see Daphne running off at Drue’s command again.  This is also perfect Jennifer Weiner fiction, with loyal friends, especially enjoying takeout and trash TV together.

Actually, the whole thing is everything I loved in Good in Bed, Mrs. Everything, and Jennifer Weiner fiction in general, right until the murder. (Click for spoiler-filled reaction!) Outside the murder, the story continues to be secret-revealing, body-posi adventure, taking readers around New York and the Cape to investigate, but also traveling in Daphne’s memories. Twists and updates, without losing the elements we all love in Jennifer Weiner fiction.