Summer's Never Over

by Darby Bozeman

In this addictive dual-timeline debut novel, a woman confronts her past at the remote Southern summer camp where the tragic death of her fellow counselor may not have been an accident after all.

Five years ago, Greer left her family’s summer camp in the mountains of Georgia and vowed she’d never return. An idyllic season had turned into a nightmare after a mysterious Phantom began stalking the camp—and ended with Greer’s friend and fellow counselor dead. Losing Steph shattered everything, and Greer’s been fleeing from the grief ever since.

But then Greer’s mother dies, and Greer finds herself back at Dread’s Cove, surrounded by the people she was closest to that intense summer. Two ex-boyfriends—one a childhood sweetheart, the other the guy she's never gotten over—and old friends. Including Margo, Steph's best friend.

Greer and Margo didn’t leave things on the best of terms. But now, Margo needs her. Margo never believed that Steph’s death in that horrific fire was an accident—and she’s on the trail of an explosive secret Steph took to her grave.

Greer has to make a keep the Cove’s secrets and her own, or finally face the truth about that summer.

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Summer, Fiction, Audiobook, Summer Reads

361 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 9, 2026

About the author

Darby Bozeman is a Portland, Oregon native who moved to Georgia for grad school a decade ago and thinks she can now officially call herself Southern. When she’s not reading or writing, she loves acting in community theater, discussing pop culture, and going out to buy coffee even when she could very much make it at home. She lives in Knoxville with her husband, Bryan, and their cat, Claude. Find her at @darbyboze and darbybozeman.com.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 1.5 out of 5]

1.5/5 ★

Honestly, I probably should have DNFed this one, but I was hoping it would get better.

In Summer's Never Over, five years after fleeing her family’s summer camp where a mysterious fire killed her close friend and fellow counselor, Greer is forced to return after her mother’s death. Once back, she reconnects with the people who were there the night of the fire as new clues surface.

I was very excited when this was picked by Book of the Month because it sounded like the PERFECT summer read. Sadly, shortly after starting it, I realized it was becoming less and less my kind of thriller. I’ll start with what I liked, then get into what didn’t work for me.

The summer camp setting created a strong summer atmosphere while reading. I’m not sure if it was the descriptions or just the way I pictured the camp and the outdoors, but I did think the setting was an effective choice.

The mystery was interesting enough to follow at first, and I found myself genuinely wanting answers until about halfway through.

Aside from that, I don’t have many positives to share about my experience.

I found the characters annoying, and not in a fun or intentional way. They read much more like teenagers than 22 to 28 year olds. The nicknames Greer and Chelsea were given (Little G and Baby) made me cringe every time they were used. I’m learning more and more how much I dislike nicknames like this in books.

Building on that, there is a heavy focus on the love triangle between Greer and two of the boys at the camp, and I found those relationships equally cringey. The romance-focused chapters were important to the story as a whole, but they took me out of the book every time they came up.

Another major part of the story is Greer’s instant obsession with Steph, the counselor who dies in the fire (not a spoiler). Even though they had only just met, Greer quickly becomes fixated on earning Steph’s approval and seems to base many of her decisions around her. That dynamic didn’t feel believable to me, and because so much of the story hinges on it, it made it harder to connect with the emotional stakes.

I wish more of the story had centered on their roles as counselors rather than skimming over that part to focus so much on Greer’s relationships.

Since the present-day chapters take place only five years after the past chapters, Greer feels very similar in maturity to her younger self. I think the story would have been more effective with a 10 year gap (or more) so it truly felt like we were getting a before and after with more noticeable character development.

Likely because I didn’t connect with the characters, the pacing felt slow and hard to get into. By the end, I didn’t care much about what was happening, so the twists didn’t really affect me. I will say there were a couple of reveals I didn’t guess.

Overall, I would not recommend this one, but if the synopsis or other reviews interest you, it may still be worth trying. I hope you enjoy it more than I did!

—

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[chloé ✿ · Rating 2.25 out of 5]

ᨒ↟ 𖠰 what to expect 𖠰↟ᨒ
» summer camp setting
» very character driven for a mystery/thriller (explores friendship, grief, second chances, etc.)
» slow-burn mystery (takes a while to get to the action)
» single pov
» dual timeline (the past explores the timeline when a camp counselor died in a fire at the camp, the present explores a different death and everyone coming back together years after the fire)

ᨒ↟ 𖠰 my thoughts 𖠰↟ᨒ

this was pretty average. average isn't bad. average isn't all that great, either.

the writing was average. the story was average. the build-up was average. the characters... you guessed it... average.

this story is a decent time while reading, i suppose. mostly because of the atmosphere. but other than that, this won't stand out to me at all from my reads this year. it's more of a good summertime palate cleanser or something to binge read because it's short.

i will say this could’ve been better if the ending of the story didn’t become a bit outrageous.

[Brooke 𝜗𝜚 · Rating 2 out of 5]

—— 2.75/5 ★

didn’t do it for me.
& the characters were so annoying.

[Sandra Hoover · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been five years since Greer fled her family's highly rated summer camp in Georgia following the tragic death of her friend and co-counselor, Steph, in a fire. At the death of her own mother, the camp matriarch, Greer is forced to return to lay her mother to rest and handle her affairs. Old memories and ghosts of years past haunt her as she gets reacquainted with former camp counselors and attendees. It doesn't take long for the past to cast a long shadow over the camp raising questions and accusations about what really happened the night Steph died. Was it a tragic accident . . . or something more sinister? It appears Greer will have to either keep the lid on long-buried family secrets or face the truth.

Summer's Never Over is an addictive, highly atmospheric thriller that's sure to be THE book to read in the summer of 2026. The story unfolds via Greer's point of view in a dual timeline at a remote camp setting with a multitude of suspense and red herrings. A dark, ominous tone drives the story forward through a twisted plot line that includes rumors of a mysterious phantom haunting the woods. While I guessed correctly on a couple of twists, it did not lessen my enjoyment as the tension ramps up chapter by chapter. Author Darby Bozman's outstanding debut novel is one I highly recommended to readers who enjoy books with a camp style mystery and setting and those who enjoy suspense thrillers.
Special thanks to Berkley Publishing and Author Darby Bozeman for a complimentary arc of this title for review and the blog tour invitation. Opinions expressed are my own. This review first posted on my blog, Cross My Heart Reviews.

[Catalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer’s Never Over is a perfect summer chiller! It gives vibes of our favorite slasher mixed with God of the Woods. A tragedy strikes a secluded camp named Dread’s Cove and mysterious incidents keep the lore of eeriness throughout. Darby Bozeman provides us with an addictive dual-time line story from before and five years after the tragedy.

The camps descendant and survivor, Greer has to confront her past and relive the tragedy that keeps her indebted to Dread’s Cove secrets. A possible lurker and eerie legend, the Phantom, stalks the camp and makes the setting even more creepier. With the help of her old camp mate Margo, Greer must find out who is really behind what really happened all those years ago. This debut really surprises and keeps you guessing to the very end.

[Shelby Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tragedy hit Dread’s Cove Camp five years ago, and Greer never planned to come back. After her mom passes and she inherits the camp, she’s forced to face everything; including her two ex-boyfriends and two ex-friends. One of her ex-friends, Margo, is sure that the past tragedy was not an accident. Greer and Margo team up to uncover the truth.

Ugh I was excited for this one, but it was a miss for me. It was such a slow burn, the characters didn’t excite me enough, and I think if I didn’t have the audio that I would’ve DNF’d. I actually considered DNFing even with 1 hr left in the book. When I say slow burn, I mean SLOW. I was over halfway through and felt like not much had been happening. It wasn’t thrilling to be a thriller, and it wasn’t deep enough in the interpersonal connections to keep me interested in a fiction capacity. I am sure this one will find its audience since it already has great reviews! Just unfortunately was not for me.

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

had to remind myself of my years of hell on summer camp staff because I was starting to feel nostalgic almost ???

[Maria Sell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will always love a thriller set at a summer camp, and I know it’s hard to make one unique, but I feel like this one simply combines elements that we’ve already seen on other pages, and doesn’t execute them well. Here are all of the issues I need to get off my chest:

1. For the first half of the book, there is barely a mystery. We know there’s a fire, and some strange happenings around camp in the past and in the present day, but those aren’t represented as very threatening, so there’s a weird lack of suspense.

2. Instead, a large chunk of the story feels like I’m reading one of my favorite Camp Confidential books from middle school, with drama between new girls and which guy to date at the summer camp, and none of it actually connected me to the characters.

3. The miscommunication makes everyone seem immature or dumb by choice. A couple breaks up because one of them says “I can’t do this,” and they have a conversation five years later that clarifies that they meant they couldn’t move, not that they couldn't stay in the relationship, so they immediately get back together. Our protagonist also had an email in her inbox that she never opened from another character basically confessing to a murder. And that character never knew it wasn’t opened, but assumed it was. You confessed to murder over EMAIL after the fact, and that message was NEVER read so this all happens for nothing?

4. A tiny detail that just made me even more aggravated: a character helps another character start “trying all sorts of things,” and the example is baking a strawberry pie. SO??? You couldn’t say skinny dipping or picking up some random weird hobby? Your example of a character becoming more funky and extroverted is baking a strawberry pie??

5. When the final pieces for the mystery are laid out, it’s not very interesting. Two characters that we barely see the whole book are involved (one in the past, one in the present) in the deaths, and one of them has the cheesiest and most shallow motivations ever. Additionally, the characters from the past plot point make absolutely atrocious decisions, so the mystery is almost laughable. And maybe it’s me, but I guessed those characters were suspicious from the very start. Another point for “main character’s best friend’s dad is ALWAYS involved.”

6. I DESPISE when a narrator knows very important points of the story, but it's posed as a big reveal to the reader when we learn that they knew all along. It’s NOT an unreliable narrator when they explicitly say (to the reader) that they want to know how something happened, and then later say “I did know who did it, etc”. And it happens twice in this book.

7. Finally, I could not get over the plot point that drove the main character to make the most idiodic and irrational decisions, which is basically staying close with two girls in order to become roommates in Atlanta after the end of the summer, and seeing them as “her only way out.” The main character is shown to be a college educated and wealthy “heiress” of this land and summer camp, and we never see explicit pressure from the mother that her daughter HAS to stay with the family business. Therefore, there are no REAL barriers to her just applying to jobs, moving out, and looking for literally anywhere else to live in the city. But no, she thinks that these girls are the ONLY opportunity to move, she decides to sell her furniture after having a conversation with only ONE of them about them all moving in together, never signs an agreement or asks for details of rent and location, and then is upset when the other girl says it can’t happen. I won’t feel bad in that situation!

[Louis (audiobookfanatic) · Rating 4 out of 5]

BLURB:
Greer Olsen returns home after her mother’s death to the family’s summer camp, where a fire killed her friend Stephanie five years earlier. When new discoveries cast doubt on what really happened that summer, Greer reluctantly teams up with form frenemy Margot to uncover the truth.

REVIEW:
This strong debut novel is coming out at the perfect time, as it’s the summer thriller you need to add to your list. When I initially saw the cover and read the blurb, I was expecting an upper YA popcorn thriller, but it’s actually an intricate dual-timeline, character-driven thriller that’s atmospheric, emotional, and full of buried secrets and suspicious characters. There are also several popular thriller tropes woven in—unreliable narrators, toxic friendships, a dangerous love triangle, summer camp horror vibes, a phantom in the woods (and more), along with themes of grief, memory distortion, guilt, and how far people will go to bury the truth!

Told entirely from complex protagonist Greer Olsen’s first person POV—she’s complex, emotional, reactive, and an unreliable narrator. You get fully immersed into her story as she returns home after her mother’s death to the summer camp her family owns—where a devastating fire and the death of her friend Stephanie happened 5 summers earlier. I loved the way the author shifted between timelines, either to enhance the emotional impact or to pull another piece of the puzzle into place.

There’s a small group of friends and staff at Dread’s Cove that Greer interacts with. They all seem suspicious, especially Margot, who forms a reluctant alliance with Greer to uncover the truth behind mysterious findings. This book is layered—there are family secrets, questionable staff members, and a complex love triangle that develops as Greer’s history with Wes and new love interest Trevor gets messy and emotionally charged. Add in a so-called “phantom” in the woods appearing in both timelines, and you may find yourself questioning who’s really behind everything—or whether multiple people are working together to keep the past buried.

With short-to-medium-length chapters, strong momentum throughout, and constantly shifting timelines, this book is difficult to put down. The final chapters deliver shocking reveals and back-to-back twists that may leave your head spinning—some you may see coming and others that come out of left field. The epilogue is quick and tidy, offering some closure, but I was still left with lingering questions I wanted answered after such an intense buildup.

If you’re an audiobook listener, you’re in for a treat, as Carlotta Brentan does an incredible job bringing Greer and the rest of the characters to life. She fully captures the atmospheric tension of the story and narrates the reveals and twists with a lot of intensity, making this one an absolutely immersive listen!

[Katy Fann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had all the elements I love in a thriller! Perfect setting, intriguing characters, and mind blowing plot twists. I always love thrillers set on a lake and this was done perfectly! I was so captivated the whole way through. Such a fantastic debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

[Caroline Cardamone · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. The perfect summer thriller to read on the beach. Twisty, interesting characters, and I love the summer camp setting.

[Sarah Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 ⭐️-An interesting mystery which held my interest throughout, but the characters all kind of felt one dimensional and it was hard for me to get fully invested in the story.

Feels like the elements of this one were good but the execution was sort of lacking. The twist also wasn’t that gripping and I’m not sure if that’s just because I didn’t feel invested in the story.

[Olivia | Liv's Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay, nothing special. 🤷🏼‍♀️

There was a lot of female friendships with drama but I was really just here for the camp vibes!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall this was a great story with excellent pacing, I wanted a bit more in regard to the thriller/mystery plot but I was content with how it all came together.

[Kait Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I wanted to rate this one higher - this was a very slow paced / character driven mystery. Not a fast paced thriller - if you’re looking for short chapters and neck break speed plot this is it. It does have a great summer camp atmosphere - but the story moved so slow and after the first 100 pages I almost DNF-Ed it because I had such a hard time picking it back up.

[Sara Temple · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

I feel like it had so much potential (the atmosphere was right) but definitely fell flat and was honestly disappointing, mostly the ending, it was kind of lame. 😒

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what you want out of a thriller - twisty and tense and fun. Made even better by the fact that the author is not only a UGA alum, but a UGA English Ed alum :)

[Elle G. Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer’s Never Over by Darby Bozeman is one heck of an atmospheric summer thriller! If you’ve ever been a camp counselor or even been to sleepaway camp, I know you’ll feel the nostalgia. I could practically smell the campfires and pine trees, and even almost hear the lapping of the water on the lake! She wrote this setting so well. But the story isn’t just a book about a camp. This is a thrilling story about a camp that has buried secrets. Those secrets however don’t begin to surface until the owner suddenly dies and her daughter is forced back to the camp she ran from over 5 years ago.

Overall, this is a great debut! There’re secrets, drama, and even a disappearance. With the strong atmosphere and the suspenseful mystery, I think this is perfect for your beach bag!

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Isabel Garling · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ this is what I want from a summer thriller!!! I was so hooked and intrigued by the story that I physically could not stop reading. Hence why I binged this entire thing in one day 🤪 the mystery was layered, which I really appreciated, but the ending wasn’t all that shocking even though I didn’t necessarily predict anything. Other than that, the perfect thriller to read this summer and I highly recommend!

[Anne Chatfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

Equivalent to an episode of Scooby Doo. So bad

[Celeste | bookrecs_by_celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75⭐️

This was a solid end of summer thriller. I loved the summer camp vibe and the twisty plot and characters. Such a solid debut. I’m excited to see what else this author writes!

Summers Never Over is a layered thriller told in dual timelines of past and present to bring everything together in a neat bow in the end. A fire , tragic deaths, and a summer camp in the mountains of Georgia with an atmospheric setting that will have you looking over your shoulder. I truly felt that I was right there at the summer camp with these characters.

Greer left her family’s summer camp 5 years ago and said she would never return. When a sudden loss hits her family Greer finds herself on her way back to those once familiar trails and roads…the summer camp she vowed she would never return to.

[Laray 🥀 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty fun thriller. However, the twist(s) were predictable, and even though this was an adult fiction thriller, the vibe and character dynamics felt YA.

I did enjoy the summer cabin vibes and the cover is stunning!

[Madisyn Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun summer camp mystery!
i love a dual timeline in a mystery book & this was done well! it started out pretty slow and i wasn’t super invested until page 100, but then i cruised through the last 250 pages. there was also a little subplot of romance that i thought was cute and fun. i wish there would’ve been more of it!
some of the twists and reveals were a little much and felt kinda “easy”, but there was some that really got me!
🔥NO SPICE🔥
🤐LANGUAGE🤐 frequent use of the F word

[Elizabeth Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up to 5 beautiful ⭐️’s.

This is such a great *summer vibes* read. I loved going to summer camp through this book! The characters in this story were complex and imperfect. I found myself both hating certain characters in moments and empathising with them in the next chapter… and it was all believable! Great character writing. The romance was a lot of fun for me even though this isn’t a romance novel per se. I love a second chance now/then romance!! I was entertained from start to finish. The only thing I would have liked more of was descriptions of the counsellors actually interacting with campers. There were only a handful of campers mentioned and the encounters were pretty brief. I used to be a camp counsellor, and when you live at camp, 95% of your waking hours are with those kids. The “off day” is when all the wild stuff would happen! I get why this had to be structured the way it was though. And it was such a fun book! The end totally surprised me!

[Angie Miale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a decent thriller, but honestly, it’s nothing special. If you have a really long list of books that you wanna get to, this is one that you can skip. But if you can get it at a garage sale or someone gives it to you it’s a nice way to pass the time. I would file this one into one that you would wanna borrow, but not necessarily own
2.5 stars.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

"death doesn't go anywhere. It lingers, and it digs in."

Greer grew up with her mom owning a summer camp. As a teen and beginning adult, she couldn't remember a time when she wasn't a counselor or camp helper. Until that one summer, that last summer, when there was a fire, a missing camp counselor and then - the worst news - someone died.

But Greer's mom has suddenly passed away just as the camp was gearing up to re-open years after the tragic last summer. And Greer is struggling to keep her timelines straight - what happened that summer and what's happening now because history appears to be repeating itself.

This was such a great 'end of summer' read. It had the great nostalgic warm summer nights and fun days kayaking on the lake and swimming mixed with the early years of adulthood. I loved the previous chapters as we learned about the friendships and the camp. The mystery itself kept me guessing and I kept wondering what could have happened. I was surprised by the twists and, really, just enjoyed the story.

I did this as an audio and the narrator was great! I really liked it!

[Michelle’s Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, this wasn’t bad there just wasn’t anything really exciting about it. Like there was never really a hook to want to keep you reading.

[Alessandra Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars for sure- I love an sweltering summer atmospheric read. Classic camp who done it thriller with a twist I definitely didn’t expect

[Lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the Scooby doo and “The God of the woods” vibe I got from this book. It was an easy read and definitely entertaining.

[Anya Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ I feel like this could have been 200 pages. I think this was a good debut novel and I would read another one by this author. It was just too slow for me, unfortunately. If you are looking for a summer camp campfire ghost story vibes, check it out 🏕️☠️🔥