Reviews with content warning for Death - One Italian Summer

Reviews tagging 'Death'

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

47 reviews

theinstabookworm's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Was the MC's relationship with her mother questionable at BEST? Yes.

But, I also think that some of the story does portray grief accurately. Especially when a loved one dies young.

However, Serle took it too far when this story could have been an exploration of grief in adults who learn to navigate through the world without their parents.

Lauren Graham narrates the audiobook, and, as a big Gilmore Girls fan, I loved that. I also didn't see the twist coming.

But does Katy need therapy, both grief counseling and other? Yes, yes she does.

Content Warnings

ryleecanread's review against another edition

Go to review page

This FMC sucked. She had the weirdest relationship with her mother, was horrible to her husband, cheated, didn’t allow anyone but her to grieve, got involved in weird things with the hotel, and was just generally a weird and shitty person. I don’t care how this ended

Content Warnings

mattiedancer's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Writing: 3.75⭐️/5

Rebecca Serle writes almost hard and clear about what hurts. Something in her writing felt a bit distant to me when talking about very intimate emotions, but overall the writing of the novel did not take away from the reading experience, and in fact, felt relatively focused and pointed. I do wish Serle had pushed the writing a bit further, doing a bit more showing rather than telling at the heart of the hardest moments.

Characters: 3⭐️/5

Alright, so at certain intervals all the characters feel real. At other times, they didn’t quite fit. Both Katy’s mom and Katy felt real for the most part. However, the hotel’s staff very much slipped into the novel to be very convenient plot devices. In a similar vein, Katy herself – while a well-developed character – read as extremely juvenile at times. Her obsession with keeping her mom to herself was odd, and her anger at finding out her mother left her as a child (which results in her sleeping with someone who is not her husband almost out of revenge), felt very petulant and small. I understand everyone processes grief differently, but I had a hard time buying into a 30-year-old woman thinking about her mother as “hers” in a very toddler-like way.

Plot: 3⭐️/5

The overarching plot felt interesting, but the details really didn’t feel right. I understand, on a deep level, needing to run away in order to heal from loss and manage grief. However, the way the character then acted as she ran into her mother and started to fall for a stranger in her hotel felt a bit disjointed. In regards to the magical realism, it's also implied that she really did travel back in time, which means she cheated on her husband and decided to never reveal that to him, which, all in all, felt very immature and shitty. Another hold-up I had was the sheer number of details that were so unnecessary. It felt a bit travel journal-ly in the way that Serle chose to recount nearly every meal our MC ate. While I appreciate that as an appeal to travelling to Italy, it felt incongruent with the purpose and theme of the novel.

Who Should Read This Book?

Those looking for a “lighter” read about death and grief
Those looking for a bit of summer escapism into Italy with some serious topics

Content Warnings?

Death of parent, grief, death, abandonment, infidelity, sexual content, gaslighting, medical content, terminal illness, chronic illness, cancer

Post-Reading Rating: 2.75⭐️/5

Oh. I guess?

Final Rating: 3⭐️/5

Content Warnings

deeofbkb's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Plot holes. No explanation of time travel. The hotel couldn’t find her? Said the rooms were messed up? The hotel owner doesn’t remember the investment conversation she had with Katy? Lots of eating but no one ever pays for anything. The itinerary was important and then all of a sudden exit was never mentioned again. She mentions websites after she found out what year it was; websites weren’t known as widely in 1992. Unnatural fascination with her mother and she has no other friends? Katy was so selfish thinking she was grieving more than anyone else and got mad when other people grieved? Adam wasn’t needed to love this story along.
I really wanted to give it 2 stars for the descriptions of Italy, but I don’t feel I’d be honoring myself in doing that for a couple of paragraphs.

Content Warnings

valeria_balzan's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I cann t complain about this book because if I got to meet my mother, in the prime of her youth I too would relish it and don't know how to act lol

Content Warnings

tsodeur's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

cblevz's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad slow-paced

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

4.5

If you personally connect to grieving the loss of a mother/feminine figure in your life, this book will connect a lot more with you than if not. The small “boring” or “slow” moments will feel more important. A very subjective read.

Content Warnings