Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - One Summer in Savannah

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris

10 reviews

zoekai's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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jayanna's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The writing in this book is beautiful and it’s hard to deny that. What my biggest hold up is is the romance. I don’t think this book should have included the relationship given the greater context of the story line. I found myself sad that it feels like the reader misses some part of the main characters’ development in lieu of the romantic aspect. Otherwise there isn’t much to say. I look forward to reading more from this author.

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katharina90's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

A strong debut and a moving exploration of trauma and forgiveness. The style of writing really resonated with me and I was hooked from the first page.

Felt like a love letter to poetry too which I enjoyed. What an interesting idea to have a character who only communicates in poems.

What didn't sit well with me was that no one really holds Birdie accountable for her abusive behaviors/actions. I understand why the author wrote it this way but I don't think it should be normalized. But maybe that's a me problem because this is very personal and triggering.

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chailady's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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rduncan's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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readsbyrach's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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books_after_bedtime's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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oddsbodikins7's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

The writing is good, but holy moly the giant red flags in this book. Mental health issues, rape, legal issues, toxic relationships... Yikes doesn't even begin to describe it. A "mixed" but very white presenting rich boy rapes a local girl, he goes to trial and is convicted, victim discovers she's pregnant and flees the state. She returns due to her father's health and finds he's been besties with the perp's brother. The brother then proceeds to tell many white lies to everyone regarding the child's existence, woos the victim and everyone is totally cool with all of this.

NOPE. I'm not buying AT ALL that a rape victim would fall in love with the perp's brother. Or that all her PTSD would go away in one summer. Or that her family would be so cavalier about her safety and mental health. Or that this supposed "genius" child wouldn't catch on to anything. This is supposed to be a romantic story and the ICK is all over it. Finished, but barely.

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corriejn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

Well-crafted story about a woman returning to her hometown after a number of years, having left shortly after a sexual assault as a teen. (While the assault is not detailed in the book, the story heavily centers around its after-effects and the choices various characters have made.) Lots of complex, dynamic characters and no easy/perfect options. There are a handful of minor narrative/geographic/timeline inconsistencies that I found slightly distracting (but not enough to impede the story overall), or it'd be 5 stars.

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jennabeck13's review

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance

About 440 pages

TW: Rape

Eight years ago, Sara left Savannah and vowed to never return. She left after her life was torn apart by the Wyler family when she accused one of their sons, Daniel, of rape. When Sara discovered she was pregnant after the rape she wanted to make sure her daughter was protected from the people who went after her so she moved far away to Maine. However, her father’s health is now rapidly declining which forces her to come back. Her return is contingent on the assurance that she won’t run into the Wyler family, as she doesn’t want them to know her daughter, Alana, exists. Daniel is in prison, his father is dead, his twin brother no longer lives in town, and his mother mainly keeps to herself. As luck would have it, the brother, Jacob, comes back to town around the same time Sara does. Despite her determination to hate him, Sara can’t help but feel a connection to Jacob, and Jacob can’t help but want to make amends for the trouble his family caused. One summer in Savannah may change both of their plans forever.

I love reading debut novels! Though they can be hit or miss, when they are good they just hit differently. I think it’s because an author’s first novel is such a passion project and so much time is spent on it that everything evokes such strong emotions… So obviously this is a rave review! I loved everything about this book. The author excellently tackled the topics of forgiveness, accountability, emotional intelligence, and many other deep themes. I loved Sara and Jacob’s characters including how they approached their relationship, Jacob’s family, and Alana’s future. I was glad the author chose to write from both of their perspectives as it was definitely a value add. My only complaint was all the poetry in the book, as someone who isn’t a big fan of poetry I didn’t love how that was the only way one character communicated.

If this isn’t on your summer reading list, you need to add it IMMEDIATELY💜

Favorite Quote: “Forgiveness, I’ve learned, is like a door. You can open yourself up to it or close yourself off from it at any time. We can’t rewrite history or change the outcome. Life is a series of choices. And we live in and with those choices we make.”

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