Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum: A Boring Mess

Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum is one of those books that you pick up with high hopes, but by the end, you find yourself questioning every life choice that led to that moment. I went into this book expecting something along the lines of Big Little Lies or The White Lotus — a sharp, gossip-filled, darkly comedic tale about rich people behaving badly. What I got instead was a bunch of insufferable characters and a plot that felt more like a bad reality TV show than a compelling thriller. One star. That’s all I can give it.

The premise is actually promising. A group of wealthy, entitled people spends their summer on Fire Island, and right off the bat, it’s clear they’re all hiding secrets. I mean, who doesn’t love a story about awful rich people with too much time and money on their hands? But the more I read, the more I just wanted to throw the book into the ocean and never look back.

Let’s start with the characters. They’re all so painfully unlikable that I found myself rooting for the villain, and honestly, that’s being generous. I get that not every character has to be a saint, but when they’re all equally shallow, petty, and downright awful, it’s hard to care what happens to any of them. They’re not morally gray; they’re just gray. No depth. No charm. Just a lot of whining.

And the plot? Well, it’s supposed to be a dark mystery, but I could see the twists coming from a mile away. The so-called “mystery” is weak at best, and the suspense doesn’t even reach luke warm levels. Instead, it reads like someone threw a bunch of dramatic events into a blender, and the result is a dull mess. Nothing felt earned. The big twists weren’t surprising; they were just annoying.

The writing itself is also a problem. Emma Rosenblum’s style is full of too many mean girl quips that don’t land. It feels like it’s trying to be witty, but it just comes off as forced. When every character is dripping with sarcasm, it loses its impact. What’s meant to be clever feels repetitive, and by the end, I was skimming through pages hoping for something…anything…to make me care.

I can’t even say I enjoyed the setting. Fire Island should’ve been the perfect backdrop for this kind of story, but instead, it felt like a prop that was there for the sake of being glamorous without any real purpose. It’s like the author took a beautiful vacation spot and used it as a stage to display her least interesting characters. No thanks.

If you’re looking for a juicy, fun read about the rich and famous being terrible to each other, look elsewhere. Bad Summer People tries to deliver on that promise but fails at every turn. I get that not every book needs to have likable characters or a complex plot, but when a book is as boring as it is unpleasant, there’s no saving it. One star. And that’s generous.

OUR RATING