Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

317 reviews

carbs666's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful relaxing sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This is my first time reading Abby Jiminez and I will say the good reputation she has is earned! I just think there were pieces of this book that didn't work for me and clouded the whole experience, so this is going to be long and involved and possibly contain some minor spoilers. Before I get into it I want to be clear that I do think this is a Very Good Book on many craft levels, it's just not for me.

I feel like in an effort to highlight Emma's attachment issues and unresolved trauma, Justin gets somewhat flattened into a Good Guy who will Do What It Takes, despite the fact that he, too, is dealing with a LOT and has been for several years. I also felt like Maddy spends the first third of the book just relentlessly delivering extremely harsh truths to Emma in a way that seems designed to push Emma away (which is clearly NOT Maddy's intention) and made it hard for me to find her likeable. I also felt like the level of self-delusion that Emma is living with regarding her own upbringing the impact it had on her felt a bit unrealistic for someone in her line of work and with the skills, knowledge, and experience she has. (Also, and this is just a contemporary romance pet peeve of mine, Maddy's initial characterization is somewhat meme-ified for me by her use of internet lingo - one time she says "unalive" out loud unironically - and the way she tells Emma prevailing millennial internet wisdom as if Emma is not a woman in her late twenties with her own internet connection.)

All of that nitpicking aside, I enjoyed Jiminez's writing a lot. It was very clear that the topics of mental health and trauma were thoroughly researched and extremely sensitively handled. I liked the way life got messy for the MCs and there wasn't any sugar-coating about it - that all felt very real. Usually I find plots where the main barrier to the HEA is that one MC has a deeply seated personal issues to address tend to have a reconciliation feels like a hasty, but in this case I genuinely felt like Emma was committed to healing, keeping her chaos demon mom out of the picture, and showing up for her new family. (I also had no idea that Amber and Neil were villians in previous Jiminez novels until I read the Q&A but that is an extremely clever choice on her part!) Basically, if you like a romance thats 95% emotional turmoil and internal conflict and, like, 2% very non-explicit sex, 3% family bonding scenes, this is a perfect book for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexual content and Death of parent

tguccione's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Death of parent

streberkatze's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was the first romcom I had read in years, and I picked it up because I had heard it had a bit more of a serious backstory. And it was definitely an enjoyable summer read! Not sure I'll need more of this genre anytime soon, but I'd definitely recommend this book to readers who are not usually fans of the genre and am interested in picking up another one of Abby Jimenez's books at some point!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Car accident, and Pregnancy

meganm1587's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Child abuse

Minor: Car accident and Death of parent

historiette's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Abandonment

Minor: Death of parent

aries_sun1419's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

raaahella's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

What an amazing story. I can't believe the wide array of story line which took place. I think Emma & Maddie's lifestyle seems really ideal. Though the curve ball at the end after the Birthday celebration seemed like a lot to squeeze into the last 40 minutes of the book.

I expected the situation with the mom and post Pardee to be discussed more thoroughly. I wonder if anyone shared that insight with Justin's Mom?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Excrement, Medical content, and Car accident

teatimetropes's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

avalon_green's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful slow-paced

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

5.0

I LOVED this book. I think it healed a part of me. The way Abby tied the series together, making all the couples cross was perfect. She handled trauma and trauma responses SO well. The book had very heavy material in it but was still a light hearted, fun book. I was rooting for all of the characters the whole book, hoping all of them would do the right thing and make it out ok. I cannot recommend this book and series enough.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Abandonment

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Death of parent

ellagrady's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Abandonment