Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Summer Fun

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton

6 reviews

ziggyreadz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I am floored by this book. Easily one of the most interesting things I’ve read in a while. It’s messy and convoluted in the best way. I will come back and make a more in depth review, but you NEED to read this book.

RETURN: This book was fantastic. It is definitely not for everyone — I like books that are ambiguous and esoteric, but if you don’t like things being like that, you won’t enjoy this book.

I feel like a big theme of this book is liminality, which I don’t often see in books. The characters, but especially Gala, exist in the margins of their world, not moving forwards or backwards — I think this is really poignant when it comes to existing as a trans person. B——‘s/Diane’s story progresses more than Gala’s, but they ultimately end up back in that in between space. I loved it.

The writing is STUNNING. It always lingers on things you wouldn’t expect it to and skips over what you would think is important, which is really interesting. The passive characters are primarily characterized by how they observe things, which is so sophisticated and novel.

I read another review here that said that Gala sort of got “lost in the mix” between her and Diane’s narratives, which I agree with. I wish they had been allotted equal (or more equal) time, but I really enjoyed Diane’s narrative, so I wasn’t too bothered by it.

Abuse is also a big theme in the book. Its effects psychologically are explored really well through Diane, and by extent, Gala. But fair warning, emotional abuse and manipulation are very present in the early Diane chapters.

I liked how the two stories didn’t interact much, leaving the reader to try to understand how they connect. There’s a lot left unsaid in this book, and I think it strengthens the work.

I honestly wish this book had been longer. I wanted to stay in this strange, surreal middle place with these characters.

I wanted to highlight the chapter where Diane first tries marijuana with Harry’s wife. I thought it was really excellent and super surreal, and I think it encapsulates what I loved about the book.

This isn’t exactly a pick-up-and-put-down kind of book, but if you give it the time and space it deserves, it is a really rewarding reading experience.

I can’t wait to see what Jeanne Thornton writes next! (An aside — I reached out to her on Instagram to tell her I loved the book, and she was really wonderful. Thank you, Jeanne!)

Content Warnings

meowzersnap's review against another edition

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I found the sections related to “B” very boring, even though I found Gala’s story to be the most interesting parts. However, her story would only take up half of the book length, maybe less.

Content Warnings