2024 the best years of our lives book review

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(as of Dec 02, 2024 16:01:25 UTC - Details)

"Rachel Hauck sets the gold standard in inspirational fiction. The Best Summer of Our Lives is a nostalgic novel of friendship, romance, and the choices that define a life."--Brenda Novak, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

Twenty years ago, the summer of '77 was supposed to be the best summer of Summer Wilde's life. She and her best friends, Spring, Autumn, and Snow--the Four Seasons--had big plans.

But those plans never had a chance. After a teenage prank gone awry, the Seasons found themselves on a bus to Tumbleweed, "Nowhere," Oklahoma, to spend eight weeks as camp counselors. All four of them arrived with hidden secrets and buried fears, and the events that unfolded in those two months forever altered their friendships, their lives, and their futures.

Now, thirtysomething, Summer is at a crossroads. When her latest girl band leaves her in a motel outside Tulsa, she is forced to face the shadows of her past. Returning to the place where everything changed, she soon learns Tumbleweed is more than a town she never wanted to see again. It's a place for healing, for reconciling the past with the present, and for finally listening to love's voice.

Praise for The Best Summer of Our Lives

"The Best Summer of Our Lives blends faith and hope into a story about the seasons of life, the seasons of friendship, and the seasons of love."--Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost Friends

"The Best Summer of our Lives brought me back to my teenage years, with all the angst, the hope, and the friendships, and reminded me that the best times of our lives don't have to be perfect to be loved."--Susan May Warren, USA Today bestselling, award-winning author

"Rachel Hauck fans will savor this sparkling story full of depth and heart!"--Lauren K. Denton, USA Today bestselling author of The Hideaway and A Place to Land

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bethany House Publishers (June 27, 2023)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0764240978
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0764240973
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
Reviewer: Angie Ochoa
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An incredible coming of age story, but so much more!
Review: Rachel Hauck has hit this one out of the park! The Best Summer of Our Lives wasn't just a coming of age story. It was a story with unexpected and heart-rending twists that left you feeling a bit shocked. It was a story of four teenage girls-turned women over a dual timeline, and how what they had wanted to be the best summer of their lives sent them to be camp counselors at a tiny girls' camp in rural Oklahoma. It was a story filled with friendship and camaraderie and loyalty and secrets and anguish and selfishness and bad decisions and heartache and confusion, and beautiful forgiveness and redemption. I loved it and almost wish I could read it again for the first time. Unlike any other story I've read!! Well done!!

Reviewer: Jazz Fan
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: 4 1/2 stars
Review: I really enjoyed this book! I like how the author switched between years. The girls/ladies really went through a lot during their lives. It was very well written.

Reviewer: Lisa
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Book
Review: Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and watching their change over decades. Sadly, my only wish is that there was a sequel!

Reviewer: Anne W.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Redemption, Exciting, Heartwarming
Review: This book is a delightful surprise. Anyone who has read Rachel’s book will notice from the start this one is a little different, however, keep reading. You are in for an exciting, heartwarming ride.Summer, Autumn, Snow and Spring, met in kindergarten, and because of their names, (Margaret Snowden became Snow) they became The Four Seasons and best friends.Fast forward, and it is 1977 and they have just graduated from high school, declaring this would be the best summer of their lives. All four of them plan to attend Florida State University, however, plans for the summer changed drastically when at a party at FSU, they dump car wash soap into the school pool. Arrested and ordered to do community service, they end up spending a court-mandated summer as camp counselors at Camp Tumbleweed in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma.This heartfelt, beautiful story of redemption has many surprises and unexpected situations. Secrets are revealed, hearts are healed, forgiveness is given, and Jesus shows up in the most surprising way. None of the four ever graduate from FSU as planned, however, they each follow their own path laid out before them.Although the story begins in 1977, it jumps up 20 years later to follow the life of each of the Seasons. As the story unfolds at the beginning, where most of it takes place, it also gives you a picture of how each of their lives turn out. Although the summer of 1977 did not turn out as planned, it was the best summer of their lives in many unexpected ways.

Reviewer: B. Burnham
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Coming of age
Review: I feel that The Best Summer of Our Lives is a bit of a departure from what you would expect from a novel by Rachel Hauck. The book centers around four long-time best friends who are embarking into adulthood. Having graduated from high school and caught pulling an over the top prank, they are sentenced to work as camp counselors in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma. The Four Seasons as they are known to family, friends, and classmates grow up a lot during the 8 weeks they spend in the isolated camp, but that is only the beginning of this coming-of-age story.I have to admit that I did not like the names of the 4 girls — Spring, Summer, Autumn (aka Fall), and Margaret “Snow” Snowden. You see why they are dubbed the 4 Seasons. But, for me, the names really got in the way of getting to know the characters. I kept getting confused on who was who. It took me about half the book to become comfortable with who they were. The book really is Summer’s story, with side plots of her best friends. My book club wished there had been more Summer and less the other characters. We really liked the Prodigal aspect of the book, and Summer’s encounters with The Preacher presented some powerful scenes. But there were other times when the book seemed like a soap opera (I won’t share specifics because that would reveal spoilers) involving the other members of the Seasons. I also really liked that most of the men in the book were generally good guys. Reconciliation, grace, and forgiveness are strong themes.The Best Summer of Our Lives has gotten really great reviews, so I urge you to look at those. Reviewing is subjective and a lot of things can influence how someone feels about a book. While I am glad I read it, it is not a favorite of mine from Hauck.Audience: adults.

Reviewer: She who loves to Read
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wow! What a journey back through time. These 4 women face life head on.
Review: This book will have you thinking and rethinking about your friendships and how you were in high school. What an amazing book that shows life right in front of you. This book shows you what is Most Important in Life and where you find real peace. Thank you Rachel for this book!

Reviewer: Eileen
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good story
Review: Four friends in the summer of 1977 are about to have the best summer of their lives. Or so they think. Things go sideways from the beginning and end up as summer counselors at a camp in OK. Secrets are revealed and their friendship s implode. The Preacher made his appearance st the most opportune time in their lives. Summer was so lost for some long years but she finally got dome peace.

Reviewer: Book Boss
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I had a lot of trouble engaging with this story. I had to make written notes on the 4 characters. It took me over 100 pages and I finally got a grip on the plot. I hung in there and enjoyed the ending.