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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Elise Sorenson a competitive equestrian rider who is bound for the olympics struggles with being away from her family for long periods of time. Her husband Matt a lawyer and their disabled daughter Gracie who suffered from a horse accident that happened while Elise was still pregnant, are headed for Matt’s grandfathers cabin to get it ready to sell. While at the Cabin Matt and Elise are hoping the time at the cabin will help fix their marriage. Elise is gone most of the time and Matt is the main caregiver while Elise trains for her dream to join the olympics. What doesn’t help is that Matt’s childhood girlfriend is staying at the cabin next to theirs and has had made it clear she still has feelings for Matt. When Gracie is abducted from in front of the cabin while Elise was supposed to be watching her. Frantically they search for Gracie and soon Matt realizes his grandfather wasn’t who he thought he was and Elise starts to question what’s more important her family or her dream. Who took Gracie will they be able to find her? This book dives into every parents worse nightmare! I give this three stars. This book took a while to take off but I had to find out what happened!
This was a great suspenseful story about a parent’s worst nightmare. Matt and Elise Sorenson are at their family camp in Lake Placid with their daughter, Gracie, when she is abducted. Their marriage is already on shaky ground and now they struggle with what their future may hold. This story was pretty fast paced with great characters and plot. It had me routing for this family up to the end.
Honestly, I was so disappointed in this book. The author clearly has talent and knows how to set up a story, but there was literally no climax! It was just a story about some horrible nextdoor ho toying with someone else's husband... and the kidnapping that takes place is really wobbly and has no catharsis. All the pieces were in place for a great read, but the author just didn't deliver. I thought for sure Cass had secretly kidnapped Gracie and that we would eventually find out that her son River was a lost child she had kidnapped years before too... something along those lines... but it's kind of just a story about a wife being okay with a shitty husband and a horrible woman next door treating people like garbage. I guess I thought this would be more like a thriller, but it's just a watered down story about an unlucky wife becoming "okay" with living with a rotten husband and putting up with another woman's disrespect.
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow to get to the main plot, characters aren't lovable.
Tish Cohen is the author of five previous novels, including The Truth About Delilah Blue. Her latest release, The Summer We Lost Her, is an exquisitely constructed, emotionally rich look at a family in crisis and the ways in which spouses Elise and Matt navigate the unimaginable.
Elise is a devoted wife to Matt and mother to Gracie, but she is also chasing an Olympic dream. With her beloved horse, Indie, known for his winning combination of enthusiasm and charm, she hopes to qualify to compete in the dressage event. Wearing white gloves and tails, dressage riders navigate their steeds through precise routines, some of which are set to music. The sport is not just technically exacting. It's expensive, requiring a vast financial investment in the ownership, care, and transportation of the horse, training, and endless hours of practice. Elise's life is a constant balancing act -- training, competitions, travel, and spending time with her family all compete for her time and attention. It wasn't always that way. After a devastating accident while she was pregnant with Gracie, Elise did not get back on a horse for three years and it was only through an intervention in which Matt participated that she resumed training. But Elise carries a substantial amount of guilt -- about a few things, not the least of which are promises made to Gracie she has had to break and milestones she has missed.
Matt has been understanding and supportive (emotionally and financially), but the strain of being a single parent much of the time is taking a toll on him, as well as the marriage and Gracie, and has gotten to be too much for Matt. Elise's ambitions have impacted his own career as an attorney. Now he's been offered a partnership with his law firm after toiling as an associate for eleven years -- because he has been thus far to devote the hours to his practice required in order to advance. Matt has made a decision and plans to announce it to Elise . . . as soon as she returns home for a much-needed break with the family.
As Elise finally arrives home and the family embarks on a summer break at the lakefront cabin Matt inherited from his grandfather in beautiful Lake Placid. Just like Matt, Elise is at a crossroads and needs to talk with Matt about the family's future and whether it can accommodate both of their dreams. From the outset, Cohen establishes that there are no villains in her story. Matt and Elise love each other, their child, and the family they have formed deeply. But both are painfully aware that the stresses of their competing needs have pushed them to the brink of breaking. And something or someone will have to give in order to find resolution.
Cohen quickly endears the Sorenson family to readers. Through a highly effective third-person narrative, she takes readers into Matt and Elise's internal struggles and evaluations of their priorities, limitations, and willingness to compromise or even sacrifice in order to keep their family intact, Through flashbacks, Cohen reveals their history as a couple, as well as with Matt's late grandfather, a man who showed a different side of himself to Elise than to Matt. Matt always believed the man was a pillar of the close-knit community of Lake Placid -- a generous benefactor to those in need, if a shrewd businessman and investor who amassed a large and highly marketable parcel of land upon which the old cabin that needs significant improvements sits. But there may have been much more to him and his business transactions that Matt ever imagined.
And then the unthinkable happens. On what should be a happy morning, Gracie vanishes without a trace. As the frantic search for her unfolds, Matt and Elise respond to the crisis quite differently. Cohen appropriately accelerates the narrative's pace, and credibly portrays the myriad emotions the parents experience, wavering from utter despair to unsparing determination to never give up looking for their girl. For good measure, Cohen includes a romantic complication in the form of Matt's high school girlfriend, now permanently residing next door, as well as a mystery surrounding the true motivation and machinations of Matt's grandfather.
The Summer We Lost Her is a believable exploration of the real stresses associated with wanting to "have it all" -- career, marriage, family -- and the not-so-subtle ways in which the resultant challenges impact men and women differently. Cohen makes readers first-hand observers of Matt and Elise's inner turmoil and reveals the excruciatingly painful journey of losing a child in what may be the cruelest way imaginable. How does a parent come to terms with the disappearance of a child and, perhaps, never learning what happened to him/her?
The Summer We Lost Her is, at times, heartbreaking, but always compulsively readable and thoroughly engrossing. Cohen challenges readers to ponder their own capacity for resiliency and to withstand stressors they encounter in their own lives, as well as how they would react under similar circumstances. Cohen's compassion for her characters is evident from start to finish as she takes each of them to the outer limit of their capacity to cope . . . and then a bit further. She also imbues the story with hope and provides a believable and emotionally satisfying conclusion to her tautly-crafted tale.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Elise is a devoted wife to Matt and mother to Gracie, but she is also chasing an Olympic dream. With her beloved horse, Indie, known for his winning combination of enthusiasm and charm, she hopes to qualify to compete in the dressage event. Wearing white gloves and tails, dressage riders navigate their steeds through precise routines, some of which are set to music. The sport is not just technically exacting. It's expensive, requiring a vast financial investment in the ownership, care, and transportation of the horse, training, and endless hours of practice. Elise's life is a constant balancing act -- training, competitions, travel, and spending time with her family all compete for her time and attention. It wasn't always that way. After a devastating accident while she was pregnant with Gracie, Elise did not get back on a horse for three years and it was only through an intervention in which Matt participated that she resumed training. But Elise carries a substantial amount of guilt -- about a few things, not the least of which are promises made to Gracie she has had to break and milestones she has missed.
Matt has been understanding and supportive (emotionally and financially), but the strain of being a single parent much of the time is taking a toll on him, as well as the marriage and Gracie, and has gotten to be too much for Matt. Elise's ambitions have impacted his own career as an attorney. Now he's been offered a partnership with his law firm after toiling as an associate for eleven years -- because he has been thus far to devote the hours to his practice required in order to advance. Matt has made a decision and plans to announce it to Elise . . . as soon as she returns home for a much-needed break with the family.
As Elise finally arrives home and the family embarks on a summer break at the lakefront cabin Matt inherited from his grandfather in beautiful Lake Placid. Just like Matt, Elise is at a crossroads and needs to talk with Matt about the family's future and whether it can accommodate both of their dreams. From the outset, Cohen establishes that there are no villains in her story. Matt and Elise love each other, their child, and the family they have formed deeply. But both are painfully aware that the stresses of their competing needs have pushed them to the brink of breaking. And something or someone will have to give in order to find resolution.
Cohen quickly endears the Sorenson family to readers. Through a highly effective third-person narrative, she takes readers into Matt and Elise's internal struggles and evaluations of their priorities, limitations, and willingness to compromise or even sacrifice in order to keep their family intact, Through flashbacks, Cohen reveals their history as a couple, as well as with Matt's late grandfather, a man who showed a different side of himself to Elise than to Matt. Matt always believed the man was a pillar of the close-knit community of Lake Placid -- a generous benefactor to those in need, if a shrewd businessman and investor who amassed a large and highly marketable parcel of land upon which the old cabin that needs significant improvements sits. But there may have been much more to him and his business transactions that Matt ever imagined.
And then the unthinkable happens. On what should be a happy morning, Gracie vanishes without a trace. As the frantic search for her unfolds, Matt and Elise respond to the crisis quite differently. Cohen appropriately accelerates the narrative's pace, and credibly portrays the myriad emotions the parents experience, wavering from utter despair to unsparing determination to never give up looking for their girl. For good measure, Cohen includes a romantic complication in the form of Matt's high school girlfriend, now permanently residing next door, as well as a mystery surrounding the true motivation and machinations of Matt's grandfather.
The Summer We Lost Her is a believable exploration of the real stresses associated with wanting to "have it all" -- career, marriage, family -- and the not-so-subtle ways in which the resultant challenges impact men and women differently. Cohen makes readers first-hand observers of Matt and Elise's inner turmoil and reveals the excruciatingly painful journey of losing a child in what may be the cruelest way imaginable. How does a parent come to terms with the disappearance of a child and, perhaps, never learning what happened to him/her?
The Summer We Lost Her is, at times, heartbreaking, but always compulsively readable and thoroughly engrossing. Cohen challenges readers to ponder their own capacity for resiliency and to withstand stressors they encounter in their own lives, as well as how they would react under similar circumstances. Cohen's compassion for her characters is evident from start to finish as she takes each of them to the outer limit of their capacity to cope . . . and then a bit further. She also imbues the story with hope and provides a believable and emotionally satisfying conclusion to her tautly-crafted tale.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. #partner
This book is a family drama set in Lake Placid, New York. It is very character driven, but with elements of mystery to keep the storyline going. This is definitely one of those slow burn stories.
I thought the characters were well written, and the dynamics between each character balanced each other out.
This makes for a nice beach read.
This book is a family drama set in Lake Placid, New York. It is very character driven, but with elements of mystery to keep the storyline going. This is definitely one of those slow burn stories.
I thought the characters were well written, and the dynamics between each character balanced each other out.
This makes for a nice beach read.
As always, I very much enjoy Tish's books, and this one was no exception. :)
This one just wasn’t for me. I think I was mislead by the synopsis. It made it sound like this book would be more about the kidnapping and family struggles, but I kept checking where I was at to see when I was getting to any action. I also didn’t like Elise or Matt, which I’m sure created some disconnect. I thought they were both selfish in different ways and couldn’t see past themselves. I also got lost a few times in the time transitions that weren’t always clear. It was hard for me to keep everything straight. The reason I finished this book was because of Gracie. I did really enjoy her character.
Thank you to Gallery Books for giving me a free copy of this book for review!
Sadly, this book didn't quite deliver for me. It's a bummer too, because I was intrigued by the premise and hoped that it would be a solid summer read.
Matt and Elise head upstate to sell Matt's grandfather's old cabin on the lake. While they're away, Elise and Matt's lives are turned upside down when their daughter, Gracie, is taken. Their marriage was already strained due to Elise's frequent absences as she works as a professional horse rider and pursues her dreams of making the Olympic team. Gracie's disappearance will either bring them together or tear them further apart.
Here's my main issue with this book: I felt like Elise was being punished for being a working mother with goals and ambitions. All the blame was put on her for everything that went wrong with Gracie and with her marriage to Matt. I'm not saying she was a perfect person, but it didn't seem right that all the blame was laid at her feet. And honestly, Matt seemed like a bit of a creep, especially when he starts to fantasize about his old girlfriend, the girl next door, Cass.
Pacing was another problem that I had with this book. Based on the synopsis, I expected the book to focus on Gracie's disappearance and how that affected Elise and Matt's lives. However, at one point, I realized that I was more than halfway through the book and Gracie's kidnapping hadn't happened yet! The plot ramps up once the kidnapping takes place, but not much happens before that.
My overall feeling about this book was "meh." I couldn't connect with these characters and I wasn't invested in the story. However, I think if the lakeside setting sounds appealing to you, or if you don't mind a very slow-burning book, then you might get along with this one better than I did.
Sadly, this book didn't quite deliver for me. It's a bummer too, because I was intrigued by the premise and hoped that it would be a solid summer read.
Matt and Elise head upstate to sell Matt's grandfather's old cabin on the lake. While they're away, Elise and Matt's lives are turned upside down when their daughter, Gracie, is taken. Their marriage was already strained due to Elise's frequent absences as she works as a professional horse rider and pursues her dreams of making the Olympic team. Gracie's disappearance will either bring them together or tear them further apart.
Here's my main issue with this book: I felt like Elise was being punished for being a working mother with goals and ambitions. All the blame was put on her for everything that went wrong with Gracie and with her marriage to Matt. I'm not saying she was a perfect person, but it didn't seem right that all the blame was laid at her feet. And honestly, Matt seemed like a bit of a creep, especially when he starts to fantasize about his old girlfriend, the girl next door, Cass.
Pacing was another problem that I had with this book. Based on the synopsis, I expected the book to focus on Gracie's disappearance and how that affected Elise and Matt's lives. However, at one point, I realized that I was more than halfway through the book and Gracie's kidnapping hadn't happened yet! The plot ramps up once the kidnapping takes place, but not much happens before that.
My overall feeling about this book was "meh." I couldn't connect with these characters and I wasn't invested in the story. However, I think if the lakeside setting sounds appealing to you, or if you don't mind a very slow-burning book, then you might get along with this one better than I did.