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Road Trip Snapshot #1
Meet Me at the Summit
For most 19-year-olds, a cross-country trip is an offer you can’t refuse, but for Marly, it’s the last thing she wants after losing both her parents in a car accident. Nine months after their death, Marly would rather stay home working the retail job she hates, than deal with her loss.
It isn’t until family and friends corner her into driving her mom’s renovated 1978 VW bus from Washington to New Hampshire that Marly is forced to face her grief and understand the guilt she feels over her parents’ death. Skeptical, Marly goes on the trip, warily exploring the life her parents knew she always wanted—hiking mountains and living out her photography dreams. On the way, she’ll discover places and people who’ll test her emotions and a guy who pushes at the walls she’s so carefully built around herself. Marly must decide: can she face her deepest wounds and reclaim the life she thought was gone forever?
Meet Me at the Summit is an intimate tale of grief, finding yourself after deep loss, and coming to terms with how life changes when you least expect it. It follows Marly as she both runs from and towards the emotions she has long held back regarding her parents’ death. A deep, insightful look into the coming-of-age theme through a heart-breaking narrative.
It isn’t until family and friends corner her into driving her mom’s renovated 1978 VW bus from Washington to New Hampshire that Marly is forced to face her grief and understand the guilt she feels over her parents’ death. Skeptical, Marly goes on the trip, warily exploring the life her parents knew she always wanted—hiking mountains and living out her photography dreams. On the way, she’ll discover places and people who’ll test her emotions and a guy who pushes at the walls she’s so carefully built around herself. Marly must decide: can she face her deepest wounds and reclaim the life she thought was gone forever?
Meet Me at the Summit is an intimate tale of grief, finding yourself after deep loss, and coming to terms with how life changes when you least expect it. It follows Marly as she both runs from and towards the emotions she has long held back regarding her parents’ death. A deep, insightful look into the coming-of-age theme through a heart-breaking narrative.
329 pages, Paperback
First published August 27, 2021
34 people are currently reading
455 people want to read
About the author
Mandi Lynn Bell
6 books52 followersMandi Lynn Bell is the author of sweet romance novels with the perfect dash of adventure. Mandi spends her days writing and making YouTube videos about self-publishing. When she’s not creating, you can find her exploring the outdoors to get inspiration for her next book
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
July 27, 2021
If I had a summer reads recommendation list, this book would be on it. It really feels like we‘re going on this huge trip with the main character.
Meet me at the summit follows Marly Price whose parents died in a car accident and she has not been herself ever since then. Her family worries for her and convinces her to go on a hiking/camping tour all over the country in order to learn how to live again after this tragic event. She visits many different beautiful spots and she might even meet a cute man on the way. 😉
The positives:
↣ The support system Marly has is everything. Her best friend Lori, her uncle Ethan, her Grandma, her aunt, Dylan... They are there for her every step of the way and just want to see her happy. I‘m so glad she had people who cared for her so deeply.
↣ The descriptions of the places Marly discovers are so vivid. There were so many details that you couldn‘t help but be transported right there.
↣ While this book does deal heavily with grief and loss, it also has happy moments. The author knows how to balance the more serious and the lighter topics.
↣ I‘m not the biggest fan of hiking and while I love taking photos I‘m far from being an expert, but reading about those two hobbies which are such big parts of Marly‘s life was very interesting. The author put a lot of information into the book about being a photographer and a hiker and you could really tell she knew what she was talking about.
The negatives:
↣ The characters did not really have personalities, they felt like fictional people. Marly likes hiking and taking photos, but I couldn‘t really tell you anything else about her. Same goes for her love interest, her best friend and all the other characters. I would have liked to know a bit more about them in order to make them more realistic.
Trigger warning: grief, loss of a parent, vivid depiction of panic attacks and emotional breakdowns
Thank you to Netgalley, Stone Ridge Books and the author for providing me with a digital copy of this book.
Meet me at the summit follows Marly Price whose parents died in a car accident and she has not been herself ever since then. Her family worries for her and convinces her to go on a hiking/camping tour all over the country in order to learn how to live again after this tragic event. She visits many different beautiful spots and she might even meet a cute man on the way. 😉
The positives:
↣ The support system Marly has is everything. Her best friend Lori, her uncle Ethan, her Grandma, her aunt, Dylan... They are there for her every step of the way and just want to see her happy. I‘m so glad she had people who cared for her so deeply.
↣ The descriptions of the places Marly discovers are so vivid. There were so many details that you couldn‘t help but be transported right there.
↣ While this book does deal heavily with grief and loss, it also has happy moments. The author knows how to balance the more serious and the lighter topics.
↣ I‘m not the biggest fan of hiking and while I love taking photos I‘m far from being an expert, but reading about those two hobbies which are such big parts of Marly‘s life was very interesting. The author put a lot of information into the book about being a photographer and a hiker and you could really tell she knew what she was talking about.
The negatives:
↣ The characters did not really have personalities, they felt like fictional people. Marly likes hiking and taking photos, but I couldn‘t really tell you anything else about her. Same goes for her love interest, her best friend and all the other characters. I would have liked to know a bit more about them in order to make them more realistic.
Trigger warning: grief, loss of a parent, vivid depiction of panic attacks and emotional breakdowns
Thank you to Netgalley, Stone Ridge Books and the author for providing me with a digital copy of this book.
June 30, 2021
3 stars
Thank you Netgalley, Stone Ridge Books, and Mandi Lynn for sending me an e-ARC of Meet Me at the Summit in exchange for an honest review.
For the most part, Meet Me at the Summit was a good book, and I enjoyed the story. Unfortunately, it did have a large amount of typos, and tons of repetition. I felt Mandi Lynn could've been a little more creative in some parts of the book, and some of the dialogue didn't seem that realistic or natural.
Meet Me at the Summit tells the story of 19 year old Marly Price. 9 months ago, her parents died in a terrible car accident. She works at a TJ Maxx store that she hates, and the only reason she's working there in the first place is to keep her mind off her parents and to keep herself occupied. When she's invited to Washington for a family reunion, her Uncle Ethan convinces her to take a trip across the US in her late mother's camper van. During her trip, she meets Dylan. There isn't much depth to his character and you really don't learn anything about his background or interests. He pushes her to step out of her comfort zone, helps her face her fears, and accompanies her along her journey. This book explores the stages of grief and shows that grief isn't something that you can overcome quickly, and it will never completely fade.
The main thing I struggled with was the romance. Now this is my personal opinion when it comes to books, but I don't believe in love after the exchange of a few sentences, or dating literally 2 days after the characters have met. I prefer a book where after a while of the characters being introduced, they realize that they've begun to catch feelings for each other.
The concept of this book was good, but it was really slow. The characters were likable, although some of them were somewhat one-dimensional. But Meet Me at the Summit made me want to go hiking in all these landmarks that I didn't even know existed. You can tell a great deal of effort and research was put into this book, which I appreciate.
Overall, it was a good book, and I would recommend it if you have the patience to get through a really slow book and if you're looking for a book that shows someone's way of coping during their time of grief.
Thank you Netgalley, Stone Ridge Books, and Mandi Lynn for sending me an e-ARC of Meet Me at the Summit in exchange for an honest review.
For the most part, Meet Me at the Summit was a good book, and I enjoyed the story. Unfortunately, it did have a large amount of typos, and tons of repetition. I felt Mandi Lynn could've been a little more creative in some parts of the book, and some of the dialogue didn't seem that realistic or natural.
Meet Me at the Summit tells the story of 19 year old Marly Price. 9 months ago, her parents died in a terrible car accident. She works at a TJ Maxx store that she hates, and the only reason she's working there in the first place is to keep her mind off her parents and to keep herself occupied. When she's invited to Washington for a family reunion, her Uncle Ethan convinces her to take a trip across the US in her late mother's camper van. During her trip, she meets Dylan. There isn't much depth to his character and you really don't learn anything about his background or interests. He pushes her to step out of her comfort zone, helps her face her fears, and accompanies her along her journey. This book explores the stages of grief and shows that grief isn't something that you can overcome quickly, and it will never completely fade.
The main thing I struggled with was the romance. Now this is my personal opinion when it comes to books, but I don't believe in love after the exchange of a few sentences, or dating literally 2 days after the characters have met. I prefer a book where after a while of the characters being introduced, they realize that they've begun to catch feelings for each other.
The concept of this book was good, but it was really slow. The characters were likable, although some of them were somewhat one-dimensional. But Meet Me at the Summit made me want to go hiking in all these landmarks that I didn't even know existed. You can tell a great deal of effort and research was put into this book, which I appreciate.
Overall, it was a good book, and I would recommend it if you have the patience to get through a really slow book and if you're looking for a book that shows someone's way of coping during their time of grief.
July 4, 2021
I read an eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. While I do follow Mandi (the author) on Instagram, I've never interacted with her outside of liking some of her posts. Part of the reason I read this ARC was because of Mandi's Instagram.
This is my third attempt to write a review for this book. I’m trying to be short and to the point. So, hopefully third time’s the charm. This isn’t going to be a kind review and I’m going to touch on abusive relationships. So if this might be a concerning topic, I wouldn’t recommend reading further, or picking up this book.
Unfortunately I didn’t like this book. Other reviewers have addressed the typos and other errors. I wanted to discuss something that I haven’t seen anyone else mention yet.
There’s a weird toxic undertone to this story. And it’s all because everyone in Marly’s life does everything they can to take away her autonomy.
Lori keeps pressuring Marly to go back to her old ways. Her uncle pressures her to take the bus. Her Gran even pressures her to go on the road trip. Once Marly meets Dylan he’s no better.
Dylan not only pressures Marly to talk about her parents in unhealthy ways he also goes behind her back multiple times to do what he thinks is best for her. At one point Lori and Dylan conspire to break Marly’s trust. And what does Marly do? Not a whole lot. They give half-hearted apologies and all is forgiven. No one grows. No one learns. Nothing changes. Marly continues to be abused by her friend and ‘boyfriend.’
Marly is never given healthy ways to cope. Everyone is too busy shoving their opinions on her and trying to get her back to normal. No one understands that Marly can’t go ‘back’. Her parents are dead. Going back would imply her parents would magically be alive again. No one wants to accept that Marly is stuck and going back isn’t an option for her.
When Marly does start to open up and move forward nothing comes of it. Everything stays stiff and surface level. Marly shares the same things over and over. The opportunity to get deeper into her grief never really comes up. And instead Dylan chooses to dig up her grief after the moment has passed. But this of course never seems to set Marly off again. The girl has two full on panic attack breakdowns and they’re just treated as a minor inconvenience, like hiccups or allergies. They’re just something that happens sometimes and clearly nothing to worry about.
I think Lori is supposed to be the encouraging friend but I found her tiresome and problematic. She went behind Marly’s back multiple times and arranged things on Marly’s behalf, rarely ever worrying about what was best for Marly. As soon as things start to go south Lori cries and shifts the sympathy from Marly to Lori. This makes Marly feel bad and FORGET that she’s the one who’s been betrayed and harmed.
Marly is constantly emotionally abused throughout the entire book. When Marly finally breaks down and opens up to Lori (showing deeper emotion and finally voicing her own opinions) the only thing Lori comments on is Marly trying to sell her photographs on a stock website. Not a word about how she misses her parents or Marly’s guilt. Not a word about her struggling and not feeling connected to anything. Lori is not a good friend. I can’t think of a single time I enjoyed spending time with Lori. Maybe the one hike they went on. That’s it.
Dylan isn’t much better. He’s always there to hug her or ‘comfort’ her, but they never talk. She opens up and he feels sad for her and that’s the end of the conversation. He even has the audacity to show up unannounced at one point. He doesn’t care about what’s best for Marly either.
Dylan and Marly’s relationship is surface level. They don’t know anything about each other. They never learn anything about each other. I can’t even tell you what Dyan looks like aside from his muscular shoulders. I don’t remember his hair color and I think he had hazel eyes? Maybe. He works as some kind of social media ad manager for some unnamed company. I’m not sure Marley can tell you much more about Dylan that I just did.
Both Dylan and Lori are trying to make Marly be someone she can’t be right now. They keep pushing her beyond what she’s comfortable with and NEVER check in with her until she’s already having a breakdown. Until it’s too late.
Marly doesn’t need two terrible friends pretending to help her cope. She needs a therapist. A real, licensed, therapist to help her process all her emotions. She doesn’t need to hike up a mountain and blow some stupid bubbles. This isn’t how trauma is resolved.
I can’t in good faith recommend this book. It sends the wrong message. It subtly teaches girls that consent doesn’t matter and that what you want isn’t important. It teaches girls that everyone else knows better than them. And this point is reinforced because every time Dylan goes against Marly’s wishes it magically works out for her and she’s grateful for the experience. Every. Single. Time. The book teaches girls that abusive relationships (romantic and friendships) are healthy. I don’t think this was the intent of the book. But unfortunately that’s what happens.
One star. And I wish I could give less.
This is my third attempt to write a review for this book. I’m trying to be short and to the point. So, hopefully third time’s the charm. This isn’t going to be a kind review and I’m going to touch on abusive relationships. So if this might be a concerning topic, I wouldn’t recommend reading further, or picking up this book.
Unfortunately I didn’t like this book. Other reviewers have addressed the typos and other errors. I wanted to discuss something that I haven’t seen anyone else mention yet.
There’s a weird toxic undertone to this story. And it’s all because everyone in Marly’s life does everything they can to take away her autonomy.
Lori keeps pressuring Marly to go back to her old ways. Her uncle pressures her to take the bus. Her Gran even pressures her to go on the road trip. Once Marly meets Dylan he’s no better.
Dylan not only pressures Marly to talk about her parents in unhealthy ways he also goes behind her back multiple times to do what he thinks is best for her. At one point Lori and Dylan conspire to break Marly’s trust. And what does Marly do? Not a whole lot. They give half-hearted apologies and all is forgiven. No one grows. No one learns. Nothing changes. Marly continues to be abused by her friend and ‘boyfriend.’
Marly is never given healthy ways to cope. Everyone is too busy shoving their opinions on her and trying to get her back to normal. No one understands that Marly can’t go ‘back’. Her parents are dead. Going back would imply her parents would magically be alive again. No one wants to accept that Marly is stuck and going back isn’t an option for her.
When Marly does start to open up and move forward nothing comes of it. Everything stays stiff and surface level. Marly shares the same things over and over. The opportunity to get deeper into her grief never really comes up. And instead Dylan chooses to dig up her grief after the moment has passed. But this of course never seems to set Marly off again. The girl has two full on panic attack breakdowns and they’re just treated as a minor inconvenience, like hiccups or allergies. They’re just something that happens sometimes and clearly nothing to worry about.
I think Lori is supposed to be the encouraging friend but I found her tiresome and problematic. She went behind Marly’s back multiple times and arranged things on Marly’s behalf, rarely ever worrying about what was best for Marly. As soon as things start to go south Lori cries and shifts the sympathy from Marly to Lori. This makes Marly feel bad and FORGET that she’s the one who’s been betrayed and harmed.
Marly is constantly emotionally abused throughout the entire book. When Marly finally breaks down and opens up to Lori (showing deeper emotion and finally voicing her own opinions) the only thing Lori comments on is Marly trying to sell her photographs on a stock website. Not a word about how she misses her parents or Marly’s guilt. Not a word about her struggling and not feeling connected to anything. Lori is not a good friend. I can’t think of a single time I enjoyed spending time with Lori. Maybe the one hike they went on. That’s it.
Dylan isn’t much better. He’s always there to hug her or ‘comfort’ her, but they never talk. She opens up and he feels sad for her and that’s the end of the conversation. He even has the audacity to show up unannounced at one point. He doesn’t care about what’s best for Marly either.
Dylan and Marly’s relationship is surface level. They don’t know anything about each other. They never learn anything about each other. I can’t even tell you what Dyan looks like aside from his muscular shoulders. I don’t remember his hair color and I think he had hazel eyes? Maybe. He works as some kind of social media ad manager for some unnamed company. I’m not sure Marley can tell you much more about Dylan that I just did.
Both Dylan and Lori are trying to make Marly be someone she can’t be right now. They keep pushing her beyond what she’s comfortable with and NEVER check in with her until she’s already having a breakdown. Until it’s too late.
Marly doesn’t need two terrible friends pretending to help her cope. She needs a therapist. A real, licensed, therapist to help her process all her emotions. She doesn’t need to hike up a mountain and blow some stupid bubbles. This isn’t how trauma is resolved.
I can’t in good faith recommend this book. It sends the wrong message. It subtly teaches girls that consent doesn’t matter and that what you want isn’t important. It teaches girls that everyone else knows better than them. And this point is reinforced because every time Dylan goes against Marly’s wishes it magically works out for her and she’s grateful for the experience. Every. Single. Time. The book teaches girls that abusive relationships (romantic and friendships) are healthy. I don’t think this was the intent of the book. But unfortunately that’s what happens.
One star. And I wish I could give less.
July 6, 2021
What an adventure! I loved living vicariously through Marly - hiking, exploring the wilderness, learning cool facts about photography, VW buses, and of course, enjoying a sweet romance! This book addresses grief in a very raw and real way, and it made me tear up a few times. It also made me want to become a hiker and explore the world - despite the fact that I’m actually not a fan of wilderness at all in real life lol! Overall, the story hooked me and I loved all the twists and turns. Well done, Mandi!
December 4, 2021
*Thank you to Netgalley, Mandi Lynn and Stone Ridge books for sending me a free e-ARC copy of Meet Me at the Summit in exchange for an honest review. All quotations are subject to change upon publication.*
Meet Me at the Summit is due to be published on the 31st of August 2021.
Stats:
Overall: 3/5 stars
Characters: 4/5 stars
Storyline: 3/5 stars
Writing: 3/5 stars
One-line review: If you enjoy a quick, wholesome book then Meet Me at the Summit may just be the book for you.
Meet Me at the Summit is the first book in Mandi Lynn's new series following Marly, who has recently experienced the traumatic death of both of her parents. The novel explores Marly's stages of grief and the development of her character is clearly shown throughout the book with Marly coming to terms with her loss.
'I struggle to grasp the finality of death, how someone can be alive and smiling one day, and then gone forever the next.'
----Plot----
After being introduced to our protagonist, Marly, we swiftly learn of the less than fulfilling life she leads after the death of her parents. That is, until she goes to a family gathering and is unwilling coerced into a hiking trip with her uncle. On that same hiking trip she rediscovers her passion for walking and scaling mountains. Rather unwillingly, she is persuaded by her family and friends to take a solo trip in her late mother's campervan. It is on this journey that she explores her love for photography, meets new fellow hiking enthusiasts (and of course the love interest - Dylan) and learns to deal with the loss of her parents.
My main criticism of the plot is that it is rather slow, which is the primary reason for my review being three stars instead of four. There are points in which things are over explained or drawn out which dissipates any sense of anticipation.
----Characters----
Personally, I think the characters were the best part of the plot, primarily due to the clear development of Dylan and Marly's relationship and Marly's copings with grief. Instead of being a more intimate couple, Marly and Dylan appeared to be the sort of people who were purely there to help one another, with Dylan's patience and affection for Marly having no bounds.
'You've seen me at my worst, and for some reason, you chose to stick around...'
Furthermore, I loved the unconditional friendship Marly and Lori had, even if I did feel as it lacked depth, I suppose that was because her friendship with her wasn't the primary focus of the storyline. The main problem with this lack of depth Lori's character had was that she was easily forgettable, which I found whilst reading.
I would of loved to have seen more of Sarah though, as I feel as she was promptly written out of the novel to pave way for the development of Dylan and Marly's relationship, I just felt as her story was inconclusive and hope that in the next book we get to see more of her.
----Writing----
Mandi Lynn writes beautifully. Although she can stray from the storyline to go off on a tangent at times, her dealings with describing grief and making us empathise for Marly as an audience are sublime. Whilst I wouldn't say she is the best author at writing romance, as I felt Marly and Dylan's conversations and passionate moments lacked depth, she certainly created a realistic perception of the inner thought process of some one who has experienced extreme grief. Her handling of the panic attacks and anxiety felt by the characters was respectful and accurate.
Additionally, this book really inspired me to go on a hike! For readers in the US, your thirst for the great outdoors is quenched by information links to all of the hikes our protagonist experiences in the book at the ending, which I believe is an excellent way for us to truly connect with the character. For me, this sudden burst of inspiration for the outdoors shows how brilliantly Lynn depicts the natural world through Marly's eyes.
Meet Me at the Summit is due to be published on the 31st of August 2021.
Stats:
Overall: 3/5 stars
Characters: 4/5 stars
Storyline: 3/5 stars
Writing: 3/5 stars
One-line review: If you enjoy a quick, wholesome book then Meet Me at the Summit may just be the book for you.
Meet Me at the Summit is the first book in Mandi Lynn's new series following Marly, who has recently experienced the traumatic death of both of her parents. The novel explores Marly's stages of grief and the development of her character is clearly shown throughout the book with Marly coming to terms with her loss.
'I struggle to grasp the finality of death, how someone can be alive and smiling one day, and then gone forever the next.'
----Plot----
After being introduced to our protagonist, Marly, we swiftly learn of the less than fulfilling life she leads after the death of her parents. That is, until she goes to a family gathering and is unwilling coerced into a hiking trip with her uncle. On that same hiking trip she rediscovers her passion for walking and scaling mountains. Rather unwillingly, she is persuaded by her family and friends to take a solo trip in her late mother's campervan. It is on this journey that she explores her love for photography, meets new fellow hiking enthusiasts (and of course the love interest - Dylan) and learns to deal with the loss of her parents.
My main criticism of the plot is that it is rather slow, which is the primary reason for my review being three stars instead of four. There are points in which things are over explained or drawn out which dissipates any sense of anticipation.
----Characters----
Personally, I think the characters were the best part of the plot, primarily due to the clear development of Dylan and Marly's relationship and Marly's copings with grief. Instead of being a more intimate couple, Marly and Dylan appeared to be the sort of people who were purely there to help one another, with Dylan's patience and affection for Marly having no bounds.
'You've seen me at my worst, and for some reason, you chose to stick around...'
Furthermore, I loved the unconditional friendship Marly and Lori had, even if I did feel as it lacked depth, I suppose that was because her friendship with her wasn't the primary focus of the storyline. The main problem with this lack of depth Lori's character had was that she was easily forgettable, which I found whilst reading.
I would of loved to have seen more of Sarah though, as I feel as she was promptly written out of the novel to pave way for the development of Dylan and Marly's relationship, I just felt as her story was inconclusive and hope that in the next book we get to see more of her.
----Writing----
Mandi Lynn writes beautifully. Although she can stray from the storyline to go off on a tangent at times, her dealings with describing grief and making us empathise for Marly as an audience are sublime. Whilst I wouldn't say she is the best author at writing romance, as I felt Marly and Dylan's conversations and passionate moments lacked depth, she certainly created a realistic perception of the inner thought process of some one who has experienced extreme grief. Her handling of the panic attacks and anxiety felt by the characters was respectful and accurate.
Additionally, this book really inspired me to go on a hike! For readers in the US, your thirst for the great outdoors is quenched by information links to all of the hikes our protagonist experiences in the book at the ending, which I believe is an excellent way for us to truly connect with the character. For me, this sudden burst of inspiration for the outdoors shows how brilliantly Lynn depicts the natural world through Marly's eyes.
September 23, 2021
Thank you NetGalley and Stone Ridge books for an eARC of this book
Reading the book you can tell that the author has done their research. Growing up in the PNW I loved reading Marly's perspective as she hiked was amazing. I also really enjoyed that Mandi Lynn described van life in such detail that if someone was not familiar with camper vans they would have a firm understanding in how a camper van works. Overall the descriptions never felt over the top but more like the writing style.
A pro/con is the writing level it felt juvenile in some parts and I am unsure what age level this book is targeting. One thing that makes this a pro is that the book is inclusive to all readers and inviting to any reading level.
I felt that Mandi Lynn did a good job at describing our main characters anxiety and it was great to have that rep in the book. However, I wish there was more of a break through with Marly's emotions.
One thing that bothered me was the insistent mentioning that the main character dropped out of college. This is a book that seem like a coming of age story but I think many people who love coming of age stories are in that same life phase. If I was reading this after dropping out of college I would feel really gross knowing that every person in the book is disappointed in the main character for dropping out. People do not have to attend college to have a fulfilled and happy life.
Reading the book you can tell that the author has done their research. Growing up in the PNW I loved reading Marly's perspective as she hiked was amazing. I also really enjoyed that Mandi Lynn described van life in such detail that if someone was not familiar with camper vans they would have a firm understanding in how a camper van works. Overall the descriptions never felt over the top but more like the writing style.
A pro/con is the writing level it felt juvenile in some parts and I am unsure what age level this book is targeting. One thing that makes this a pro is that the book is inclusive to all readers and inviting to any reading level.
I felt that Mandi Lynn did a good job at describing our main characters anxiety and it was great to have that rep in the book. However, I wish there was more of a break through with Marly's emotions.
One thing that bothered me was the insistent mentioning that the main character dropped out of college. This is a book that seem like a coming of age story but I think many people who love coming of age stories are in that same life phase. If I was reading this after dropping out of college I would feel really gross knowing that every person in the book is disappointed in the main character for dropping out. People do not have to attend college to have a fulfilled and happy life.
May 22, 2024
A touching story about grief and coping, about finding your place in life - even as you turn your world upside down and go on a road trip!
I really liked this one. It's a good read as you prep for Summer and think about all the camping, hiking, and vacations you are about to take. I loved the hiking trips, the walks and the remember. I did find the overall format - hike, reach the stop, struggle, cling to Dylan - a little repetitive but I just loved the setting so it worked well. Although some of the dialogue didn't feel natural, overall I think the story was well-done emotional read.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
I really liked this one. It's a good read as you prep for Summer and think about all the camping, hiking, and vacations you are about to take. I loved the hiking trips, the walks and the remember. I did find the overall format - hike, reach the stop, struggle, cling to Dylan - a little repetitive but I just loved the setting so it worked well. Although some of the dialogue didn't feel natural, overall I think the story was well-done emotional read.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
July 31, 2021
Also posted here https://reviewsofyabooks.blogspot.com...
Introduction
Marly Price lost her parents in a car accident 9 months ago, and since then, she's just been going through the motions. She's getting through it, but every day feels the same as the last. When she's presented with the opportunity to travel across the US in a renovated VW bus, she knows she should do it. The old her, the person she was before her parents died, would have jumped at the opportunity. To travel again, to enjoy hiking again, to enjoy photography again. Those are all things Marly wants. But after everything that's happened, will Marly be able to find passion in the things that she used to love again?
Pacing
The pacing starts off very slow as Marly is being convinced by her family to take the bus on the road trip, but as it starts to take off, it quickly becomes very repetitive. The order of events for nearly the entire book is driving --> hiking --> Marly having a panic attack on the top of a mountain--> Marly taking photos --> Marly struggling to sleep --> repeat. Dylan, the romantic interest quickly finds his place in the cycle when he starts to calm Marly's panic attacks, but that quickly grows repetitive in nature as well. Because of this cycle, I found myself having to take a lot of breaks from reading to avoid getting bored with the story.
Romance
I was disappointed in Marly and Dylan's romance. They knew very little little about each other and there doesn't seem to be much of substance backing their feelings for each other, so it was hard for me to care about them.
Marly
Marly was just an average protagonist. The grief she felt about her parents dying was interesting to read about but I feel like she read a little younger than a nineteen year old. I think the most prominent example of Marly reading a little younger than she was intended to be was when she actually considered staying with Dylan in Colorado instead of finishing her trip so that she could make sure she kept his interest. It felt very childish to me and she didn't really get much better throughout the course of the book. I don't think she grew very much as a character with the exception of maybe the last 25 pages or so.
General Character Thoughts
I feel like at best, the characters were average, and at worst, a little forgettable. I especially feel this way about Dylan and Lori. They both had essentially no personality. Dylan enjoyed hiking, which is necessary, but we get enough of the hiking obsession with Marly. Lori felt a little bit excitable most of the time, but she just felt like the bubbly happy token character there to balance out Marly. Mostly, they both felt like they were both only there for Marly's development rather than having personalities on their own.
Conclusion
Overall, this book was only okay. The repetitive nature really bogged it down for me and since I wasn't really into the romance, even the cutesy scenes that served to break the routine a little bit didn't interest me very much. There does look to be a second book coming, so the story will continue, and I would consider giving it a chance in hopes to see a little bit more character development.
Introduction
Marly Price lost her parents in a car accident 9 months ago, and since then, she's just been going through the motions. She's getting through it, but every day feels the same as the last. When she's presented with the opportunity to travel across the US in a renovated VW bus, she knows she should do it. The old her, the person she was before her parents died, would have jumped at the opportunity. To travel again, to enjoy hiking again, to enjoy photography again. Those are all things Marly wants. But after everything that's happened, will Marly be able to find passion in the things that she used to love again?
Pacing
The pacing starts off very slow as Marly is being convinced by her family to take the bus on the road trip, but as it starts to take off, it quickly becomes very repetitive. The order of events for nearly the entire book is driving --> hiking --> Marly having a panic attack on the top of a mountain--> Marly taking photos --> Marly struggling to sleep --> repeat. Dylan, the romantic interest quickly finds his place in the cycle when he starts to calm Marly's panic attacks, but that quickly grows repetitive in nature as well. Because of this cycle, I found myself having to take a lot of breaks from reading to avoid getting bored with the story.
Romance
I was disappointed in Marly and Dylan's romance. They knew very little little about each other and there doesn't seem to be much of substance backing their feelings for each other, so it was hard for me to care about them.
Marly
Marly was just an average protagonist. The grief she felt about her parents dying was interesting to read about but I feel like she read a little younger than a nineteen year old. I think the most prominent example of Marly reading a little younger than she was intended to be was when she actually considered staying with Dylan in Colorado instead of finishing her trip so that she could make sure she kept his interest. It felt very childish to me and she didn't really get much better throughout the course of the book. I don't think she grew very much as a character with the exception of maybe the last 25 pages or so.
General Character Thoughts
I feel like at best, the characters were average, and at worst, a little forgettable. I especially feel this way about Dylan and Lori. They both had essentially no personality. Dylan enjoyed hiking, which is necessary, but we get enough of the hiking obsession with Marly. Lori felt a little bit excitable most of the time, but she just felt like the bubbly happy token character there to balance out Marly. Mostly, they both felt like they were both only there for Marly's development rather than having personalities on their own.
Conclusion
Overall, this book was only okay. The repetitive nature really bogged it down for me and since I wasn't really into the romance, even the cutesy scenes that served to break the routine a little bit didn't interest me very much. There does look to be a second book coming, so the story will continue, and I would consider giving it a chance in hopes to see a little bit more character development.
June 24, 2021
- 3.5
i really loved this book! it was super fun and entertaining, especially as a person who used to hike a lot. i could very easily imagine the activities that Marly and Dylan were doing and the adventures they were on, the world building and descriptions were done very well. i also really liked the photography element of the book and found it interesting to read about. the concept of grief and the numbness and avoidance that comes with it, was portrayed accurately (in my opinion). the romance was a little bit insta-lovey, which i didn’t really mind, but i know many don’t like that trope.
my biggest issue with this book was that the author assumed that everyone knew the geography of the U.S, and had basic knowledge of the states and their locations. as a Jordanian, living in the middle east, i had no idea which states bordered which, and that made the book very confusing to read. i had to keep stopping and googling specific locations and trying to match them to the characters’ journey, in order to form an understanding of their situation and try to comprehend the way they jumped from a mountain in Wyoming to a lake in Colorado.
anyways, i really related to the characters and damn this book made me want to go on a hike. thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital arc.
i really loved this book! it was super fun and entertaining, especially as a person who used to hike a lot. i could very easily imagine the activities that Marly and Dylan were doing and the adventures they were on, the world building and descriptions were done very well. i also really liked the photography element of the book and found it interesting to read about. the concept of grief and the numbness and avoidance that comes with it, was portrayed accurately (in my opinion). the romance was a little bit insta-lovey, which i didn’t really mind, but i know many don’t like that trope.
my biggest issue with this book was that the author assumed that everyone knew the geography of the U.S, and had basic knowledge of the states and their locations. as a Jordanian, living in the middle east, i had no idea which states bordered which, and that made the book very confusing to read. i had to keep stopping and googling specific locations and trying to match them to the characters’ journey, in order to form an understanding of their situation and try to comprehend the way they jumped from a mountain in Wyoming to a lake in Colorado.
anyways, i really related to the characters and damn this book made me want to go on a hike. thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital arc.
August 31, 2021
Meet Me at the Summit is an intimate tale of grief, finding yourself after deep loss, and coming to terms with how life changes when you least expect it. It follows Marly as she both runs from and towards the emotions she has long held back regarding her parents’ death. A deep, insightful look into the coming-of-age theme through a heart-breaking narrative.
Watch the book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNk8J...
Grab your copy of the book: https://books2read.com/meetmeatthesummit
Watch the book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNk8J...
Grab your copy of the book: https://books2read.com/meetmeatthesummit
June 27, 2021
The concept and cover of this book really drew me in! With the rise of off-grid and camper van living being popular across social media it’s become a dream of mine to spend a year travelling across the UK in a converted camper.
The plot revolves around Marly’s trip across the US in her late mother’s camper van. She’s been struggling with her grief after the death of both her mother and father, leaving friends and family concerned. One summer her uncle surprises her with the van and somehow convinces her to take a trip in it… unfortunately that’s kind of as far as the plot goes. It’s a very slow paced book, and while that’s great to read across a few long, summer afternoons, it’s not ultimately the most gripping of novels.
Along the way she finds herself meeting new people including one boy called Dylan. As a reader we don’t learn a huge amount about him or his interests leaving the romance pretty one dimensional. I enjoyed how most of her friends and family firmly nudged Marly when she needed to push past her comfort zones. It showed that grief cannot be fixed in a day and it's a long process which you will never 100% heal from. Yet I found Dylan attempting to completely push her past all those carefully constructed mental defense mechanisms and in return pushing past most boundaries a new couple should have. At one point she asked if they could turn back home and instead while she sleeps he drives her to a completely different state so that when she wakes up she’s extremely confused and (rightly so) angry. This made me pretty uncomfortable to read and it was never addressed between the two of them! I understand what the author was trying to do with his character, ultimately helping her rethink her grieving process, but it came across too forceful.
Now I’ve spoken about the romance I can actually talk about the rest of the book which admittedly I really enjoyed! The writing was well crafted overall (with a few SPAG errors which I assume will be ironed out in the editing process?) and it had a huge escapism aspect to it. I felt like I’d hiked those mountains myself and felt a strong sense of accomplishment for Marly when she did so. I think overall the concept for this book is STRONG and the characters are likeable - it just needs the romance to be retouched and maybe a quick look at the pacing.
I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book to escape into while stuck at home due to the pandemic!
* thank you to net galley for allowing me to read this book for free in return for my honest opinions *
The plot revolves around Marly’s trip across the US in her late mother’s camper van. She’s been struggling with her grief after the death of both her mother and father, leaving friends and family concerned. One summer her uncle surprises her with the van and somehow convinces her to take a trip in it… unfortunately that’s kind of as far as the plot goes. It’s a very slow paced book, and while that’s great to read across a few long, summer afternoons, it’s not ultimately the most gripping of novels.
Along the way she finds herself meeting new people including one boy called Dylan. As a reader we don’t learn a huge amount about him or his interests leaving the romance pretty one dimensional. I enjoyed how most of her friends and family firmly nudged Marly when she needed to push past her comfort zones. It showed that grief cannot be fixed in a day and it's a long process which you will never 100% heal from. Yet I found Dylan attempting to completely push her past all those carefully constructed mental defense mechanisms and in return pushing past most boundaries a new couple should have. At one point she asked if they could turn back home and instead while she sleeps he drives her to a completely different state so that when she wakes up she’s extremely confused and (rightly so) angry. This made me pretty uncomfortable to read and it was never addressed between the two of them! I understand what the author was trying to do with his character, ultimately helping her rethink her grieving process, but it came across too forceful.
Now I’ve spoken about the romance I can actually talk about the rest of the book which admittedly I really enjoyed! The writing was well crafted overall (with a few SPAG errors which I assume will be ironed out in the editing process?) and it had a huge escapism aspect to it. I felt like I’d hiked those mountains myself and felt a strong sense of accomplishment for Marly when she did so. I think overall the concept for this book is STRONG and the characters are likeable - it just needs the romance to be retouched and maybe a quick look at the pacing.
I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book to escape into while stuck at home due to the pandemic!
* thank you to net galley for allowing me to read this book for free in return for my honest opinions *
July 5, 2021
Meet Me at the Summit was my first read by Mandi Lynn, and I don’t think it will be my last.
We’re introduced to Marly, who’s struggling nine months after she lost both of her parents in a car accident. Barely out of high school, she’s dropped out of college and isn’t sure what’s next for her life. When she takes a trip to visit her mother’s family in Washington, her family and friends convince her to drive her mother’s renovated VW bus cross country to return home to New Hampshire. Despite her doubts about the trip, she agrees and searches to find pieces of her former life that she loved: hiking among the mountains and taking beautiful photographs. On the journey home, she meets people and explores places that will stick with her long after she drives away.
I loved the concept of this story, and it’s what drew me to pick this book as a read. The author does an amazing job depicting Marly’s grief and her struggles to find her next step forward when nothing will ever be the same. Even as this is a deep and emotional exploration of grief, there are plenty of moments throughout the book where bits of joy and happiness creep through. I enjoyed Marly as a character, and I loved the relationships that she had with some of the other characters in the book, especially her best friend Lori and Dylan.
The story and characters were a highlight of this one for me, and the reason I knocked it down one star comes to the writing. There were moments that the pacing felt off and there could have been some additional editing, but it wasn’t enough to completely pull me out of the story.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
We’re introduced to Marly, who’s struggling nine months after she lost both of her parents in a car accident. Barely out of high school, she’s dropped out of college and isn’t sure what’s next for her life. When she takes a trip to visit her mother’s family in Washington, her family and friends convince her to drive her mother’s renovated VW bus cross country to return home to New Hampshire. Despite her doubts about the trip, she agrees and searches to find pieces of her former life that she loved: hiking among the mountains and taking beautiful photographs. On the journey home, she meets people and explores places that will stick with her long after she drives away.
I loved the concept of this story, and it’s what drew me to pick this book as a read. The author does an amazing job depicting Marly’s grief and her struggles to find her next step forward when nothing will ever be the same. Even as this is a deep and emotional exploration of grief, there are plenty of moments throughout the book where bits of joy and happiness creep through. I enjoyed Marly as a character, and I loved the relationships that she had with some of the other characters in the book, especially her best friend Lori and Dylan.
The story and characters were a highlight of this one for me, and the reason I knocked it down one star comes to the writing. There were moments that the pacing felt off and there could have been some additional editing, but it wasn’t enough to completely pull me out of the story.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
June 22, 2021
Rating : 3.5/5
I was given a proof copy in exchange for an honest review by Netgalley.
In Meet Me at the Summit Marly Price is stuck in her grief 9 months after the death of both her parents. She's now a college drop out and works a minimum wage job that she hates but keeps her busy. Until during a family reunion her family and best friend push her to take a road trip across the US in an old school VW bus, to reconnect with herself and the memories of her parents.
This book is a great exploration of grief and the guilt that comes with having close-ones die unexpectedly, as well as a fantastic way to make readers want to hike and photograph the wilderness. Despite the writing not always being the most fluid to read, the story was captivating enough to make me finish the book in under 24 hours. The copy I got was an uncorrected proof, so my hope is that the final version will get some editing as I felt some passages felt repetitive or unnatural as dialogue. This was however mainly pushed to the back of my mind as the characters were easy to get attached to and their adventures made me want to plan a long hike through my closest access to wilderness.
All in all, I think this is a great summer book that manages to be both light enough at times while touching the very serious subjects that are grief, anxiety, depression and trauma.
I was given a proof copy in exchange for an honest review by Netgalley.
In Meet Me at the Summit Marly Price is stuck in her grief 9 months after the death of both her parents. She's now a college drop out and works a minimum wage job that she hates but keeps her busy. Until during a family reunion her family and best friend push her to take a road trip across the US in an old school VW bus, to reconnect with herself and the memories of her parents.
This book is a great exploration of grief and the guilt that comes with having close-ones die unexpectedly, as well as a fantastic way to make readers want to hike and photograph the wilderness. Despite the writing not always being the most fluid to read, the story was captivating enough to make me finish the book in under 24 hours. The copy I got was an uncorrected proof, so my hope is that the final version will get some editing as I felt some passages felt repetitive or unnatural as dialogue. This was however mainly pushed to the back of my mind as the characters were easy to get attached to and their adventures made me want to plan a long hike through my closest access to wilderness.
All in all, I think this is a great summer book that manages to be both light enough at times while touching the very serious subjects that are grief, anxiety, depression and trauma.
July 1, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC!
While I thought the writing itself was pretty mediocre, Marly’s journey was really gripping, and I couldn’t get enough of it. There was never a part where I lost interest or had trouble finding motivation to read. Honestly, it would be a great book to read in one sitting!
The ending felt a bit abrupt, but other than that, the pacing was perfect. It moved along nicely, and the chapters were nice and short, which is something I love. I flew through it faster than I thought I would.
My biggest gripe with this book is that it was riddled with expository internal monologues on what had happened previously in Marly’s life to lead her to the beginning of the novel, and quite a bit of unnecessary overexplaining throughout, which I was not a fan of, and kept me from enjoying it fully.
Overall, though, a good read!
While I thought the writing itself was pretty mediocre, Marly’s journey was really gripping, and I couldn’t get enough of it. There was never a part where I lost interest or had trouble finding motivation to read. Honestly, it would be a great book to read in one sitting!
The ending felt a bit abrupt, but other than that, the pacing was perfect. It moved along nicely, and the chapters were nice and short, which is something I love. I flew through it faster than I thought I would.
My biggest gripe with this book is that it was riddled with expository internal monologues on what had happened previously in Marly’s life to lead her to the beginning of the novel, and quite a bit of unnecessary overexplaining throughout, which I was not a fan of, and kept me from enjoying it fully.
Overall, though, a good read!
June 19, 2021
A bit slow for me. This book follows main character Marly, a college dropout, after the loss of both her parents. The focus of this book is Marly's journey through the grieving process, as well as her travels across the country in her mom's old VW Bus. And that was really the whole book. Marly travels from state park to state park to hike the trails she finds there. For a lot of the book, Marly doesn't want to face her losses head-on. I wish more had been made of the VW Bus because let's face it, a restored VW Bus sells for over $100k and THAT could have been a huge part of this story. If I had a 1978 teal VW Bus, it would be in every single one of my instagram photos and would have it's own TikTok. There was a lot that could have been done with this, beyond a short description.
Many, many errors in word choice and grammar detracted from the storyline itself.
Many, many errors in word choice and grammar detracted from the storyline itself.
March 19, 2023
4 stelle e mezza
Questo è il secondo YA che leggo in vita mia e devo dire che mi è piaciuto, nonostante l'argomento triste (la protagonista deve superare la morte improvvisa dei due genitori) e il fatto che la storia prosegua nel libro successivo (che ho già in lista per l'acquisto). Devo dire che la cosa che mi è piaciuta di più è che mi ha fatto comprare questo libro è stata l'idea del viaggio in camper, facendo trekking e fotografie. Il mio sogno nel cassetto, se fossi almeno un po' brava in tutte e tre le cose e se avessi qualche anno in meno...
Questo è il secondo YA che leggo in vita mia e devo dire che mi è piaciuto, nonostante l'argomento triste (la protagonista deve superare la morte improvvisa dei due genitori) e il fatto che la storia prosegua nel libro successivo (che ho già in lista per l'acquisto). Devo dire che la cosa che mi è piaciuta di più è che mi ha fatto comprare questo libro è stata l'idea del viaggio in camper, facendo trekking e fotografie. Il mio sogno nel cassetto, se fossi almeno un po' brava in tutte e tre le cose e se avessi qualche anno in meno...
June 30, 2022
Meet Me at the Summit was a good book. I loved the road trip aspect. This book definitely had a bit of a heavier tone to it since the main character, Marley, was dealing with the loss of her parents.
Overall it was a good book. I saw on the back cover it says it’s a dualogy so I’m excited for a book 2!
*There was some language throughout the book.
Overall it was a good book. I saw on the back cover it says it’s a dualogy so I’m excited for a book 2!
*There was some language throughout the book.
August 3, 2021
This book was amazing in such a good way. It took me by surprise how quickly I got invested in the story. The main character was so well done she was almost real. The subject matter is bitter and raw and uplifting and wonderful.
September 18, 2021
DNF, too shallow for my taste. Plus, I read a review that said the main character was pushed a lot into making decisions....yes, yes she was.
Not my cup of tea, but I can imagine it is an okay read for the younger generation to start with.
Not my cup of tea, but I can imagine it is an okay read for the younger generation to start with.
July 10, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of Meet Me at the Summit in exchange for an honest review!
The concept of travelling across the country in a VW bus, exploring different landmarks and mountains in order to come to terms with a devastating tragedy, had promise. I was interested in following along with Marly's journey as she came to terms with the loss of her parents while having the opportunity to continue on with a special tradition that she had with her father of hiking to the summit of these large mountains.
I really tried to enjoy this book, but at times I found this hard to get through. The spelling mistakes and grammar errors took away from the story for me as it isn't as polished as it should be. I do understand it's an ARC,I so I hope that these will be ironed out before publishing. When it seemed that Marly was starting to come to terms with her past and begin to move forward, her panic attacks kicked in, which seemed repetitive to me. I came to terms with the fact that if Marly was headed in the right direction, a panic attack was just around the corner and would reset her progress. This only took away from the story for me.
I did struggle with the romance between Marly and Dylan as well. While I understand that Dylan was there to give Marly a push in the right direction to continue on with her journey, I don't believe that after just meeting someone, they would travel across the country together. There wasn't enough time spent developing Dylan's character and the relationship between the two of them to make me believe that this could be realistic.
One aspect of this book that I did like was the actual hiking experience. I felt like I was there with Marly as she was going on these long hikes to see mountains, waterfalls, lakes, etc. I could visualize the trip to these destinations and the feeling of reaching the top and basking in the view from the highest peak or the beauty of seeing the sunrise. I think the author did a great job in creating a realistic adventure alongside the simple plot of this novel. I am in no way a hiker, but reading this did make me want to get out there and experience the world.
The concept of travelling across the country in a VW bus, exploring different landmarks and mountains in order to come to terms with a devastating tragedy, had promise. I was interested in following along with Marly's journey as she came to terms with the loss of her parents while having the opportunity to continue on with a special tradition that she had with her father of hiking to the summit of these large mountains.
I really tried to enjoy this book, but at times I found this hard to get through. The spelling mistakes and grammar errors took away from the story for me as it isn't as polished as it should be. I do understand it's an ARC,I so I hope that these will be ironed out before publishing. When it seemed that Marly was starting to come to terms with her past and begin to move forward, her panic attacks kicked in, which seemed repetitive to me. I came to terms with the fact that if Marly was headed in the right direction, a panic attack was just around the corner and would reset her progress. This only took away from the story for me.
I did struggle with the romance between Marly and Dylan as well. While I understand that Dylan was there to give Marly a push in the right direction to continue on with her journey, I don't believe that after just meeting someone, they would travel across the country together. There wasn't enough time spent developing Dylan's character and the relationship between the two of them to make me believe that this could be realistic.
One aspect of this book that I did like was the actual hiking experience. I felt like I was there with Marly as she was going on these long hikes to see mountains, waterfalls, lakes, etc. I could visualize the trip to these destinations and the feeling of reaching the top and basking in the view from the highest peak or the beauty of seeing the sunrise. I think the author did a great job in creating a realistic adventure alongside the simple plot of this novel. I am in no way a hiker, but reading this did make me want to get out there and experience the world.
October 28, 2023
I really hate to leave bad reviews, but this book has some issues.
I understand this book is about processing and living with intense grief. However, it feels pretty weird that everyone in Marly's life is pushing her to take this road trip, alone, while doing something relatively dangerous along the way, when what she really needs is some serious therapy. Pushing her to continue when she's having daily panic attacks in the middle of nowhere with no one around her but strangers, to the point she's not sleeping anymore...like, what? Also, why is everyone basically BEGGING her to quit her job...the one point of stability in her life since the death of her parents...like, it came up so many times.
I'm also not convinced this guy would be all that invested in Marly. What was the magic moment between them that connected them so instantly? Because I missed it. Maybe if there was some ghost of his past that is compelling him to help heal her, maybe. But there's not even that. It just feels like some guy following her around to serve the plot. For me, the whole romance subplot fails from this. Missed opportunity.
I feel that way about all the characters in this book. There is no depth to anyone, really. They all feel like they are only there because they need to be in order to write Marly's story, if that makes sense. They don't feel realistic.
Also, geez. There is a lot of repetition. I get this is for a younger audience, but man, I really don't think we need to be reminded of everything for every decision she possibly makes. Let's assume the readers have read all the previous words in the book, eh?
I understand this book is about processing and living with intense grief. However, it feels pretty weird that everyone in Marly's life is pushing her to take this road trip, alone, while doing something relatively dangerous along the way, when what she really needs is some serious therapy. Pushing her to continue when she's having daily panic attacks in the middle of nowhere with no one around her but strangers, to the point she's not sleeping anymore...like, what? Also, why is everyone basically BEGGING her to quit her job...the one point of stability in her life since the death of her parents...like, it came up so many times.
I'm also not convinced this guy would be all that invested in Marly. What was the magic moment between them that connected them so instantly? Because I missed it. Maybe if there was some ghost of his past that is compelling him to help heal her, maybe. But there's not even that. It just feels like some guy following her around to serve the plot. For me, the whole romance subplot fails from this. Missed opportunity.
I feel that way about all the characters in this book. There is no depth to anyone, really. They all feel like they are only there because they need to be in order to write Marly's story, if that makes sense. They don't feel realistic.
Also, geez. There is a lot of repetition. I get this is for a younger audience, but man, I really don't think we need to be reminded of everything for every decision she possibly makes. Let's assume the readers have read all the previous words in the book, eh?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2021
I have FEELINGS about this book, and they’re not romantic. (To be fair, they’re not all bad either.)
I have read many books about mountains and climbers, but none of them have been YA fiction. I was eager to see what this niche would deliver. (Are we still using the label “New Adult”? Because I do feel that this book could be better categorised as NA.)
The author, Mandi Lynn, must surely be a mountain climber. Only someone who has climbed could convey the crispness of the mountains at dawn, and the sense of singularity when faced with the enormity of a mountain to be scaled.
"Meet Me At The Summit" makes me yearn to climb - and that hurts a little, given that the current state of the world largely prevents it. But this is the primary reason I continued reading: for those moments of being transported to the mountains.
As for the rest, I feel mostly ambivalent. While Marly’s grief is undoubtedly huge, I feel it lacks an element of real-ness. And I know that the author IS able to convey realness, because one of the things I also loved from the beginning is that she portrays the awkwardness of being a not-child, not-adult, so well. That clumsy stage of sharing an apartment with a roomie, and feeling like a complete failure compared to one another - yeah. She gets it. It’s TANGIBLE.
But the grief? It just lacks that texture.
As for the romance - I don’t ship it. I guess partly because I don’t like the guy. But also - I definitely felt vibes between Marly and Dylan’s sister. Actually, Dylan is one of my pet peeves about this book, because it’s full of “knight in shining armour” tropes. Marly gushes about how he has come to make her feel alive again, or is there to keep her safe, and it just does not sit well with me. Yeah, I’m THAT girl. He "empowers" her, but actually he's just pushing her to live out the narrative that he thinks is right for her. Her best friend, Lori, has a nasty habit of doing that too, and it should serve as a warning to anyone who is trying to "help" someone deal with grief. I actually feel that this story could have gone without the romance altogether. There are enough inner conflicts to make a good story, and not every YA (NA?) novel needs romance.
I do so wish Marly's character had a little more agency. I understand that her grief left her largely unmoored and that she needed some pushing, but I actually don’t feel like anybody tried to push her to take charge of her own life. Although she very briefly takes charge near the end of the book, I’m still not convinced that much growth has taken place.
Stylistically, I don’t want to spend a whole page nitpicking, but this in an eARC and I feel that it needs another SOLID round of editing. Besides typos and malapropisms, the most glaring issue is tenses - switching from past to present future within the same event, making sentences unnecessarily clumsy. Please - pick a tense, and then stick to it.
My ultimate verdict: read this if you like climbing, and you like YA-fiction. Slurp that delight from the very bone marrow of the story.
Read this if you yearn to travel, and have a thing for old VW buses.
Read this if you’re a college student with imposter syndrome.
Just don’t expect a treatise on love and grief. And that’s okay.
Disclaimer: I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have read many books about mountains and climbers, but none of them have been YA fiction. I was eager to see what this niche would deliver. (Are we still using the label “New Adult”? Because I do feel that this book could be better categorised as NA.)
The author, Mandi Lynn, must surely be a mountain climber. Only someone who has climbed could convey the crispness of the mountains at dawn, and the sense of singularity when faced with the enormity of a mountain to be scaled.
"Meet Me At The Summit" makes me yearn to climb - and that hurts a little, given that the current state of the world largely prevents it. But this is the primary reason I continued reading: for those moments of being transported to the mountains.
As for the rest, I feel mostly ambivalent. While Marly’s grief is undoubtedly huge, I feel it lacks an element of real-ness. And I know that the author IS able to convey realness, because one of the things I also loved from the beginning is that she portrays the awkwardness of being a not-child, not-adult, so well. That clumsy stage of sharing an apartment with a roomie, and feeling like a complete failure compared to one another - yeah. She gets it. It’s TANGIBLE.
But the grief? It just lacks that texture.
As for the romance - I don’t ship it. I guess partly because I don’t like the guy. But also - I definitely felt vibes between Marly and Dylan’s sister. Actually, Dylan is one of my pet peeves about this book, because it’s full of “knight in shining armour” tropes. Marly gushes about how he has come to make her feel alive again, or is there to keep her safe, and it just does not sit well with me. Yeah, I’m THAT girl. He "empowers" her, but actually he's just pushing her to live out the narrative that he thinks is right for her. Her best friend, Lori, has a nasty habit of doing that too, and it should serve as a warning to anyone who is trying to "help" someone deal with grief. I actually feel that this story could have gone without the romance altogether. There are enough inner conflicts to make a good story, and not every YA (NA?) novel needs romance.
I do so wish Marly's character had a little more agency. I understand that her grief left her largely unmoored and that she needed some pushing, but I actually don’t feel like anybody tried to push her to take charge of her own life. Although she very briefly takes charge near the end of the book, I’m still not convinced that much growth has taken place.
Stylistically, I don’t want to spend a whole page nitpicking, but this in an eARC and I feel that it needs another SOLID round of editing. Besides typos and malapropisms, the most glaring issue is tenses - switching from past to present future within the same event, making sentences unnecessarily clumsy. Please - pick a tense, and then stick to it.
My ultimate verdict: read this if you like climbing, and you like YA-fiction. Slurp that delight from the very bone marrow of the story.
Read this if you yearn to travel, and have a thing for old VW buses.
Read this if you’re a college student with imposter syndrome.
Just don’t expect a treatise on love and grief. And that’s okay.
Disclaimer: I received an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 6, 2021
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for this review
Let me preface this by saying this was not a bad book and I genuinely did enjoy reading it. Maybe not the most reassuring words but at least they're accurate ? The cover is gorgeous though, so extra points!
Meet Me At The Summit is the story of Marly, a 19 year old girl who's struggling to come to terms with her parents deaths. She's working a job she hates, and is stuck in a routine she can't seem to break. So when her mom's side of the family practically forces her into a VW bus and tell her to travel, she doesn't know how to respond. A previous Marly, one before her parent's death, would've jumped on the opportunity, but now... things were different. She doesn't feel like the same person so how could she possibly do this trip? Eventually, Marly accepts her family's bus if only in an attempt to break her boring everyday routine.
This is a story of loss, grief, and dealing with the Feelings that come when you lose loved ones and it portrayed those emotions in a way that made sense. Marly's anxiety attacks, the way she could never sleep without the constant buzz of the television so no thoughts could overtake her, how she stopped taking pictures, and dropped out of college were all little things that gave glimpses of how she felt.
But sometimes, it fell flat. I liked the premise and the plot but it got repetitive really quick. I know there's only so many things that can happen living out of a VW bus and going on trails, but still. It became a cycle where we could only read about how pretty a trail was, how Marly had a panic attack, and oh look she's eating yet another hot dog, yay Marly! The only thing that seemed to break this entire cycle was Dylan, and somehow he failed.
Dylan had so much potential!!! He could've been like a 30 year old guy who stopped hiking for whatever reason and seeing Marly overcome her grief could've been motivated and it would've been awesome. And yet somehow, he just ended up joining this whole entire Marly cycle. At times, it honestly felt like Marly was using Dylan as a replacement for her dad not as a romantic partner.
Which brings me to My Issue™. Dylan should never have been a lover. You're telling me that a teenage girl who desperately needs therapy and has been bottling up her emotions for a 9 whole months, is EMOTIONALLY STABLE ENOUGH TO BE IN A FREAKING RELATIONSHIP WITH A GUY SHE *JUST* MET??? No thank you. Dylan is friend material and that's it.
And finallyyyy, let's talk about Lori cuz why not! I really liked her character but sometimes I forgot she existed. There were times when Marly would call Lori and I'd just be like huh?? why her?? Her defining characteristic was the bubbly sunshiney best friend who needed more hobbies than stalking Marly's friends on Facebook but we can't all be fully developed characters I suppose.
As for final thoughts, the writing style was pretty decent and there were some really great moments on Marly's journey that I enjoyed. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who's interested in hiking because there was a lot of that in here! I heard this is going to be a series and I'd definitely be interested in checking book 2 out :)
Let me preface this by saying this was not a bad book and I genuinely did enjoy reading it. Maybe not the most reassuring words but at least they're accurate ? The cover is gorgeous though, so extra points!
How can I imagine a future without them when they were in every memory of my past
Meet Me At The Summit is the story of Marly, a 19 year old girl who's struggling to come to terms with her parents deaths. She's working a job she hates, and is stuck in a routine she can't seem to break. So when her mom's side of the family practically forces her into a VW bus and tell her to travel, she doesn't know how to respond. A previous Marly, one before her parent's death, would've jumped on the opportunity, but now... things were different. She doesn't feel like the same person so how could she possibly do this trip? Eventually, Marly accepts her family's bus if only in an attempt to break her boring everyday routine.
This is a story of loss, grief, and dealing with the Feelings that come when you lose loved ones and it portrayed those emotions in a way that made sense. Marly's anxiety attacks, the way she could never sleep without the constant buzz of the television so no thoughts could overtake her, how she stopped taking pictures, and dropped out of college were all little things that gave glimpses of how she felt.
But sometimes, it fell flat. I liked the premise and the plot but it got repetitive really quick. I know there's only so many things that can happen living out of a VW bus and going on trails, but still. It became a cycle where we could only read about how pretty a trail was, how Marly had a panic attack, and oh look she's eating yet another hot dog, yay Marly! The only thing that seemed to break this entire cycle was Dylan, and somehow he failed.
Dylan had so much potential!!! He could've been like a 30 year old guy who stopped hiking for whatever reason and seeing Marly overcome her grief could've been motivated and it would've been awesome. And yet somehow, he just ended up joining this whole entire Marly cycle. At times, it honestly felt like Marly was using Dylan as a replacement for her dad not as a romantic partner.
Which brings me to My Issue™. Dylan should never have been a lover. You're telling me that a teenage girl who desperately needs therapy and has been bottling up her emotions for a 9 whole months, is EMOTIONALLY STABLE ENOUGH TO BE IN A FREAKING RELATIONSHIP WITH A GUY SHE *JUST* MET??? No thank you. Dylan is friend material and that's it.
And finallyyyy, let's talk about Lori cuz why not! I really liked her character but sometimes I forgot she existed. There were times when Marly would call Lori and I'd just be like huh?? why her?? Her defining characteristic was the bubbly sunshiney best friend who needed more hobbies than stalking Marly's friends on Facebook but we can't all be fully developed characters I suppose.
As for final thoughts, the writing style was pretty decent and there were some really great moments on Marly's journey that I enjoyed. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who's interested in hiking because there was a lot of that in here! I heard this is going to be a series and I'd definitely be interested in checking book 2 out :)
July 16, 2021
Thank you, NetGalley for providing me a free e-ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
TW: Descriptive panic attacks
Meet Me at the Summit is about a 19-year-old girl who's dealing with grief. Her journey with the VW bus is about finding happiness after losing everything you've ever known. By finding the bus and some cool places to hike, Marly Price also finds herself and the love of her life.
Reading this book was so easy! It had got me out of my own problems. Even though the plot of the books was predictable in many ways, the writing was good enough for me to ignore this. The author of the book thought everything for you, I did not have to think hard therefore this is a really great book to read to empty your mind. However, it might make you cry. Character development was good and because I also have anxiety, I related to Marly a lot. Still, I'd prefer the book more if it had less detailed descriptions about the panic attacks she's having. After some point, they kind of triggered my anxiety.
More about the plot, reading about supporting family and friends is always good but in here, they got so pushy, I've just wanted to punch them in the face. Even though sometimes it felt unrealistic, I can understand very close family and friends can be pushy also in real life. Therefore, the characters were written realistically and I loved all of them. Dealing with grief is also the main theme of the book, and I think it was done well. Especially considering Marly being 19 and still needing an adult in her life when she's got in trouble. This fact was not forgotten during the book and the author kept giving more to build it. I also liked the fact that the main character was aware of having your own life without depending on anyone, especially the relationship you have with someone. What she chose at the end was not only depending on this and it made me so happy.
To me, the best part about this book was the VW bus and the hiking. Even though I never hike, it inspired me to hike so, I really appreciated the hiking info author included at the end of the book. I also think this book should've been a stand-alone. Even though I liked it enough to recommend, to me the story is over. I am not interested in reading the second book.
TW: Descriptive panic attacks
Meet Me at the Summit is about a 19-year-old girl who's dealing with grief. Her journey with the VW bus is about finding happiness after losing everything you've ever known. By finding the bus and some cool places to hike, Marly Price also finds herself and the love of her life.
Reading this book was so easy! It had got me out of my own problems. Even though the plot of the books was predictable in many ways, the writing was good enough for me to ignore this. The author of the book thought everything for you, I did not have to think hard therefore this is a really great book to read to empty your mind. However, it might make you cry. Character development was good and because I also have anxiety, I related to Marly a lot. Still, I'd prefer the book more if it had less detailed descriptions about the panic attacks she's having. After some point, they kind of triggered my anxiety.
More about the plot, reading about supporting family and friends is always good but in here, they got so pushy, I've just wanted to punch them in the face. Even though sometimes it felt unrealistic, I can understand very close family and friends can be pushy also in real life. Therefore, the characters were written realistically and I loved all of them. Dealing with grief is also the main theme of the book, and I think it was done well. Especially considering Marly being 19 and still needing an adult in her life when she's got in trouble. This fact was not forgotten during the book and the author kept giving more to build it. I also liked the fact that the main character was aware of having your own life without depending on anyone, especially the relationship you have with someone. What she chose at the end was not only depending on this and it made me so happy.
To me, the best part about this book was the VW bus and the hiking. Even though I never hike, it inspired me to hike so, I really appreciated the hiking info author included at the end of the book. I also think this book should've been a stand-alone. Even though I liked it enough to recommend, to me the story is over. I am not interested in reading the second book.
July 10, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of Meet Me at the Summit in exchange for an honest review!
The concept of travelling across the country in a VW bus, exploring different landmarks and mountains in order to come to terms with a devastating tragedy, had promise. I was interested in following along with Marly's journey as she came to terms with the loss of her parents while having the opportunity to continue on with a special tradition that she had with her father of hiking to the summit of these large mountains.
I really tried to enjoy this book, but at times I found this hard to get through. The spelling mistakes and grammar errors took away from the story for me as it isn't as polished as it should be. I do understand it's an ARC, so I hope that these will be ironed out before publishing. When it seemed that Marly was starting to come to terms with her past and begin to move forward, her panic attacks kicked in, which seemed repetitive to me. I came to terms with the fact that if Marly was headed in the right direction, a panic attack was just around the corner and would reset her progress. This only took away from the story for me.
I did struggle with the romance between Marly and Dylan as well. While I understand that Dylan was there to give Marly a push in the right direction to continue on with her journey, I don't believe that after just meeting someone, they would travel across the country together. There wasn't enough time spent developing Dylan's character and the relationship between the two of them to make me believe that this could be realistic.
One aspect of this book that I did like was the actual hiking experience. I felt like I was there with Marly as she was going on these long hikes to see mountains, waterfalls, lakes, etc. I could visualize the trip to these destinations and the feeling of reaching the top and basking in the view from the highest peak or the beauty of seeing the sunrise. I think the author did a great job in creating a realistic adventure alongside the simple plot of this novel. I am in no way a hiker, but reading this did make me want to get out there and experience the world.
The concept of travelling across the country in a VW bus, exploring different landmarks and mountains in order to come to terms with a devastating tragedy, had promise. I was interested in following along with Marly's journey as she came to terms with the loss of her parents while having the opportunity to continue on with a special tradition that she had with her father of hiking to the summit of these large mountains.
I really tried to enjoy this book, but at times I found this hard to get through. The spelling mistakes and grammar errors took away from the story for me as it isn't as polished as it should be. I do understand it's an ARC, so I hope that these will be ironed out before publishing. When it seemed that Marly was starting to come to terms with her past and begin to move forward, her panic attacks kicked in, which seemed repetitive to me. I came to terms with the fact that if Marly was headed in the right direction, a panic attack was just around the corner and would reset her progress. This only took away from the story for me.
I did struggle with the romance between Marly and Dylan as well. While I understand that Dylan was there to give Marly a push in the right direction to continue on with her journey, I don't believe that after just meeting someone, they would travel across the country together. There wasn't enough time spent developing Dylan's character and the relationship between the two of them to make me believe that this could be realistic.
One aspect of this book that I did like was the actual hiking experience. I felt like I was there with Marly as she was going on these long hikes to see mountains, waterfalls, lakes, etc. I could visualize the trip to these destinations and the feeling of reaching the top and basking in the view from the highest peak or the beauty of seeing the sunrise. I think the author did a great job in creating a realistic adventure alongside the simple plot of this novel. I am in no way a hiker, but reading this did make me want to get out there and experience the world.
August 31, 2021
People say that when a child loses their parents, they feel their mortality.
We’re told that young experience life feeling immortal – allowing them to live life without worry. But what happens when that immortality comes crashing down? How does a person change if the realisation of your mortality comes at a young age? For most, this is not the reality, but for many it is. Losing one parent is difficult enough but losing both at 19 in a tragic accident would be devastating.
Meet me at the Summit is a story about grief and acceptance of a profound loss at a young age. Experience the life of Marly, as she embarks on a cross country road trip in a renovated 1978 VW camper van. You’ll travel with her as she explores the life, she, and her parents, always wanted – capturing her journey using her passion for photography. Marly’s road trip sees her travel to places and meet people who will push her to confront her emotions and the shield she has built around herself.
For the most part, Marly seems like a normal 19-year-old, but delving into her story you’ll soon see, and feel, the pain she has inside after suffering the deep loss of her parents in a tragic accident. In a fleeting moment, Marly’s parents are ripped from her life. Nine months after her parent’s deaths, Marly’s life has become stagnant as she tries to push away her feelings of grief. Without her parents’ guidance, Marly is caught in a cycle of standing still – unable to confront the grief and understand her guilt caused by their loss. Up until now, Marley has chosen to live a simple life avoiding her once hope-filled dreams and the house she grew up in. All the time, with her friends trying to help marly through her grief in ways that only make sense to them.
Mandi Lynn captures grief in a truthful and conflicting way, showing that sometimes people’s expectations of another’s experience of grief can cloud our judgement. Mandi Lynn uses the first person to remind us that we should support those around us and allow them to grieve in their own way, and when they are ready.
We’re told that young experience life feeling immortal – allowing them to live life without worry. But what happens when that immortality comes crashing down? How does a person change if the realisation of your mortality comes at a young age? For most, this is not the reality, but for many it is. Losing one parent is difficult enough but losing both at 19 in a tragic accident would be devastating.
Meet me at the Summit is a story about grief and acceptance of a profound loss at a young age. Experience the life of Marly, as she embarks on a cross country road trip in a renovated 1978 VW camper van. You’ll travel with her as she explores the life, she, and her parents, always wanted – capturing her journey using her passion for photography. Marly’s road trip sees her travel to places and meet people who will push her to confront her emotions and the shield she has built around herself.
For the most part, Marly seems like a normal 19-year-old, but delving into her story you’ll soon see, and feel, the pain she has inside after suffering the deep loss of her parents in a tragic accident. In a fleeting moment, Marly’s parents are ripped from her life. Nine months after her parent’s deaths, Marly’s life has become stagnant as she tries to push away her feelings of grief. Without her parents’ guidance, Marly is caught in a cycle of standing still – unable to confront the grief and understand her guilt caused by their loss. Up until now, Marley has chosen to live a simple life avoiding her once hope-filled dreams and the house she grew up in. All the time, with her friends trying to help marly through her grief in ways that only make sense to them.
Mandi Lynn captures grief in a truthful and conflicting way, showing that sometimes people’s expectations of another’s experience of grief can cloud our judgement. Mandi Lynn uses the first person to remind us that we should support those around us and allow them to grieve in their own way, and when they are ready.
June 30, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Mandi-Lynn for the e-ARC in exchange for a review
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Meet me at the Summit by Mandi Lynn is a contemporary romance that follows Marly, a young American female whos parents both died in a freak accident. Marly is going day by day through life, not really living or enjoying life, but just going through the motions. Following a family gathering, and a lot of persuasion, Marley ends up driving home across country in a VW van. This is following out her late mothers (and all of our) dreams, while also trying to find herself, find enjoyment and deal with her grief. On the road, Marly meets Dylan... and you can tell where it goes from there.
I like Marly. We learn alot about her character, her thoughts and emotions as we enter this trip with her. Mandi Lynn has created a very enjoyable character,that we watch grow throughout the story. Dylan on the other hand is a very 2D character, who in my opinions has a lot of faults. We never learn very much about Dylan, that may be the authors intention, however it does mean the romance department of this story was lacking. Dylan is a very sneaky, pushy, male with a tendancy to gaslight.... you will see what I mean when it comes to North Carolina... I couldnt really connect with the romance at all, however I was 100% routing for Marly the whole time.
The book features a very heavy topic of grief. Its such a powerful book and very insightful. It teaches us that nobody grieves in the same way, there is not a right way or a wrong way. It also shows us the power of friendship and family, and how we can all try to support someone in different ways.
I originally was interested in this book because the cover is super cute and the storyline sounded good. Overall, this is a very enjoyable read. I finished it within 2 days, sitting down for long periods of time. If people were looking for a quick, easy read I would be recommending this.
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Meet me at the Summit by Mandi Lynn is a contemporary romance that follows Marly, a young American female whos parents both died in a freak accident. Marly is going day by day through life, not really living or enjoying life, but just going through the motions. Following a family gathering, and a lot of persuasion, Marley ends up driving home across country in a VW van. This is following out her late mothers (and all of our) dreams, while also trying to find herself, find enjoyment and deal with her grief. On the road, Marly meets Dylan... and you can tell where it goes from there.
I like Marly. We learn alot about her character, her thoughts and emotions as we enter this trip with her. Mandi Lynn has created a very enjoyable character,that we watch grow throughout the story. Dylan on the other hand is a very 2D character, who in my opinions has a lot of faults. We never learn very much about Dylan, that may be the authors intention, however it does mean the romance department of this story was lacking. Dylan is a very sneaky, pushy, male with a tendancy to gaslight.... you will see what I mean when it comes to North Carolina... I couldnt really connect with the romance at all, however I was 100% routing for Marly the whole time.
The book features a very heavy topic of grief. Its such a powerful book and very insightful. It teaches us that nobody grieves in the same way, there is not a right way or a wrong way. It also shows us the power of friendship and family, and how we can all try to support someone in different ways.
I originally was interested in this book because the cover is super cute and the storyline sounded good. Overall, this is a very enjoyable read. I finished it within 2 days, sitting down for long periods of time. If people were looking for a quick, easy read I would be recommending this.
August 18, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley, Stone Ridge Books and Mandi Lynn for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Meet Me at the Summit is a book about grief, coming-of-age, romance, and a journey to self-discovery. It is about 19-year-old Marly, grieving the unexpected death of her parents a year ago. After her life has almost completely fallen apart, a 1978 VolksWagen and a push in the right direction is all she needs.
I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was great and it kept me engaged the whole way through. The book focuses heavily on Marly's grief and the burden that she carries with her. Although the plot is nothing convoluted, that actually does it a favour. In it's almost simplistic ways, it allowed me to get sucked in. There was no mystery to solve, and instead it focused on the very real pain and anxiety that came with Marly's backstory.
Mild spoilers from here on out:
The romance is not the focal point of this story either, and rather than falling into the traps of the, often overdone, third-act drama between the two lovebirds, it is more realistic. There is a moment of tension between them, but rather than this staying unresolved due to a lack of communication, the main two characters actually speak to each other and sort things out.
There was a slight inconsistency with the character development, which could border on frustrating at times, but it also showed how grief is not a steady process.
This story both tugged at the heartstrings and made me feel warm and cosy inside, which I find is quite a hard feat. And it kept me interested despite the fact that I despise hiking (and considering that is 70% of this book, that's impressive). The descriptions were enough to allow me to visualise the setting without overdoing it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. 3.75/5 stars.
Meet Me at the Summit is a book about grief, coming-of-age, romance, and a journey to self-discovery. It is about 19-year-old Marly, grieving the unexpected death of her parents a year ago. After her life has almost completely fallen apart, a 1978 VolksWagen and a push in the right direction is all she needs.
I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was great and it kept me engaged the whole way through. The book focuses heavily on Marly's grief and the burden that she carries with her. Although the plot is nothing convoluted, that actually does it a favour. In it's almost simplistic ways, it allowed me to get sucked in. There was no mystery to solve, and instead it focused on the very real pain and anxiety that came with Marly's backstory.
Mild spoilers from here on out:
The romance is not the focal point of this story either, and rather than falling into the traps of the, often overdone, third-act drama between the two lovebirds, it is more realistic. There is a moment of tension between them, but rather than this staying unresolved due to a lack of communication, the main two characters actually speak to each other and sort things out.
There was a slight inconsistency with the character development, which could border on frustrating at times, but it also showed how grief is not a steady process.
This story both tugged at the heartstrings and made me feel warm and cosy inside, which I find is quite a hard feat. And it kept me interested despite the fact that I despise hiking (and considering that is 70% of this book, that's impressive). The descriptions were enough to allow me to visualise the setting without overdoing it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. 3.75/5 stars.
August 15, 2024
Exactly what it promises on the tin, a lot of hiking + a journey through dealing with profound grief, and a side of budding romance. It's also what "new adult" should by definition mean, but which I'll have to settle for calling a crossover novel: our main character is 19-going-on-20 so technically this should be with the adult books, but it's written very much in the more innocent, YA style.
I've been eagerly anticipating this book since I bought it, waiting all year to enjoy it in the summer, and was not disappointed. I loved all the characters, and specifically loved Marly's friendship with Chloe. I loved how the RV was (secretly) perfectly customized to Marly's design tastes, to further entice her to drive it home. The hiking locations -- not to mention the last-minute detour at the end! -- were breathtaking, I loved her slowly rediscovering her passion for photography, and the romance was sweet and stayed very much in the early stages -- while also including my favorite thing, falling asleep together fully clothed (to comfort her).
I'm sure I have already forgotten even more things I loved in the 1.5 months it's taken me to try and form words about my reading experience. It was just...really feel-good, when it wasn't punching me in the grief bone. It feels like the kind of book I would write.
Maybe 4.5 stars because I do see the arguments for it being a little repetitive, and because to my surprise, it didn't grab my heart as fully as last year's road-trip-in-a-van novel, Camper Girl. But it did fulfill exactly what I was hoping for when I googled for novels about women traveling in camper vans, and I remain VERY excited to read both its direct sequel and its companion novel in the future.
I've been eagerly anticipating this book since I bought it, waiting all year to enjoy it in the summer, and was not disappointed. I loved all the characters, and specifically loved Marly's friendship with Chloe. I loved how the RV was (secretly) perfectly customized to Marly's design tastes, to further entice her to drive it home. The hiking locations -- not to mention the last-minute detour at the end! -- were breathtaking, I loved her slowly rediscovering her passion for photography, and the romance was sweet and stayed very much in the early stages -- while also including my favorite thing, falling asleep together fully clothed (to comfort her).
I'm sure I have already forgotten even more things I loved in the 1.5 months it's taken me to try and form words about my reading experience. It was just...really feel-good, when it wasn't punching me in the grief bone. It feels like the kind of book I would write.
Maybe 4.5 stars because I do see the arguments for it being a little repetitive, and because to my surprise, it didn't grab my heart as fully as last year's road-trip-in-a-van novel, Camper Girl. But it did fulfill exactly what I was hoping for when I googled for novels about women traveling in camper vans, and I remain VERY excited to read both its direct sequel and its companion novel in the future.
August 11, 2021
I’d rate this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars
This book follows a girls named Marley Price who’s dealing with the grief of loosing both of her parents in a car crash. Marleys best friend Lori and various family members are worried about her just going through a “routine” and now actually living life.
While this book deals with a lot of heavy subject matter I still feel that it was very well balanced.
I am a huge nature/hiking fan so I really enjoyed reading about Marleys journeys. The visual descriptions helped me feel like I was really there.
While I liked the main love interest, Dylan, it was hard for me to wrap my head around how quickly their relationship formed. I wish there would have been more build up.
The only small problems I had with this book is that the characters felt a little one dimensional and could use a little more personality. We don’t know much about Dylan other than what his sister said about him. And we don’t know much about Marley other than she likes hiking and taking photos. They needed a little more substance.
Also If I was one of Marley’s friends or in Marley’s shoes, I feel like she should have been suggested to go to/try therapy as she’s trying to work through so much of her grief with such a major loss but doesn’t know how. I think it’s a missed opportunity for character development to at least try out therapy over the phone. But who knows, maybe it could happen in book two as the ending suggests!
Overall, despite the deeper subject matter of grief, loss, anxiety, and more, this book was still a fun summer road trip read. I loved being along for her ride with Dylan and the ending made me really hopeful for both of their futures together.
Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read an advanced digital copy of this book.
This book follows a girls named Marley Price who’s dealing with the grief of loosing both of her parents in a car crash. Marleys best friend Lori and various family members are worried about her just going through a “routine” and now actually living life.
While this book deals with a lot of heavy subject matter I still feel that it was very well balanced.
I am a huge nature/hiking fan so I really enjoyed reading about Marleys journeys. The visual descriptions helped me feel like I was really there.
While I liked the main love interest, Dylan, it was hard for me to wrap my head around how quickly their relationship formed. I wish there would have been more build up.
The only small problems I had with this book is that the characters felt a little one dimensional and could use a little more personality. We don’t know much about Dylan other than what his sister said about him. And we don’t know much about Marley other than she likes hiking and taking photos. They needed a little more substance.
Also If I was one of Marley’s friends or in Marley’s shoes, I feel like she should have been suggested to go to/try therapy as she’s trying to work through so much of her grief with such a major loss but doesn’t know how. I think it’s a missed opportunity for character development to at least try out therapy over the phone. But who knows, maybe it could happen in book two as the ending suggests!
Overall, despite the deeper subject matter of grief, loss, anxiety, and more, this book was still a fun summer road trip read. I loved being along for her ride with Dylan and the ending made me really hopeful for both of their futures together.
Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read an advanced digital copy of this book.
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