Publication: 11th June 2020 – HQ
It was meant to be the party of the summer…
In Cedar Road, everyone is preparing for Lexi’s ‘White Hot’ summer party. For one night, parking squabbles and petitions are put aside as neighbours sip Prosecco under the fairy lights and gather by the hot tub to marvel at Lexi’s effortlessly glamorous life with Hot Hamish.
For Julia, it’s a chance to coax husband Charlie out of his potting shed and into a shirt so they can have a welcome break from the hellish house renovation they’ve been wrestling with. And it’s a chance for Julia to pretend – just for a night – that her life is as perfect as Lexi’s.
But when, during the party, one of Julia’s WhatsApp messages falls into the wrong hands and reveals her most intimate thoughts, things reach boiling point…
And when all the neighbours know exactly what you’re thinking, there’s only one thing to do.
Run away.
It’s going to be a summer Julia will never forget…
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The new novel by Jenny Oliver is the perfect escapism to enjoy this summer and I loved it from the first to the last page.
The neighbourhood of Cedar Road is like high school. There is the popular girl with the perfect house, the perfect husband, and the perfect Instagram page, who, together with her friends, rules on the road. There is the new girl, Julia, who wants to fit in and would do anything to be part of the group of popular girls. There is the party of the year which (almost) everyone is excited about and which becomes the scene of Julia’s humiliation when her Whatsapp messages and her secret are leaked to the entire neighbourhood. Ashamed and hurt, Julia runs away and finds herself on a fantastic and full of twists adventure in France with her neighbour Amber.
This is my second novel by Jenny Oliver and I really love her writing style and her stories. The Summer We Ran Away is an entertaining novel that kept me completely captivated and it’s so well-written and with such beautiful descriptions that it was like being on the trip with the two protagonists. I liked the characters of the novel (at least the good ones), they are flawed, relatable, and very likable, especially the two protagonists, Julia and Amber, who are quite opposite: the first is anxious and worries about things, while the other is more reckless and carefree, but they form a fantastic duo.
If you are looking for an enjoyable, fun, and compelling read than I suggest you pick up The Summer We Ran Away, which is out today and you won’t be able to put down.
A huge thank you to HQ and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the novel.
Book After Book 