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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- set in Canada
- second chance romance
- summer romance
- dual timelines
- first love
- Own Voices rep (immigrant daughter)
- 🌶️/5 (mostly fades to black)
- single pov
I'm a sucker for a second chance romance with dual timelines. The Summers Between Us is very reminiscent of Carley Fortune, but told from the perspective of an immigrant daughter with the weight of her familial expectations on her shoulders.
While I appreciate this different perspective, I think I needed Wes's point of view. He felt one-dimensional, and without this extra connection, their romance didn't sweep me off my feet.
- second chance romance
- summer romance
- dual timelines
- first love
- Own Voices rep (immigrant daughter)
- 🌶️/5 (mostly fades to black)
- single pov
I'm a sucker for a second chance romance with dual timelines. The Summers Between Us is very reminiscent of Carley Fortune, but told from the perspective of an immigrant daughter with the weight of her familial expectations on her shoulders.
While I appreciate this different perspective, I think I needed Wes's point of view. He felt one-dimensional, and without this extra connection, their romance didn't sweep me off my feet.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is such a reaffirmation of my love for second chance romances, and a reminder of my love for well-written miscommunication, Noreen Nanja the author that you are! Despite there being elements in this book that didn’t fully work for me, I still immensely enjoyed this story; Lia’s story alternated between bringing tears to my eyes and rage in my heart and I loved the journey.
Lia has a lot going on in her life; she’s constantly playing peacemaker between her mom and her older sister Mia, she’s trying to hard to get junior partnership at her corporate law firm, she’s attempting to force herself to have chemistry with a man who fits her mom’s standards of perfect, and worst of all she’s been voluntold to watch over her little cousin this summer, in the house that neighbors the man who was her greatest heartbreak. She’s going through it, and so many daughters of immigrant parents will STRONGLY find themselves in her well-written characterization. The author is able to paint such a vivid picture of Lia’s motivations for each of her messy choices and WHY she feels compelled to make those choices, in a way that readers will find instant empathy with her character.
In compliment to Lia, Wes is also a character with his own set of complexities. His family issues dominate his life and his life path, and the frustration of this leads him to seek solace in the arms of Lia, in all the summers they reunite. His character arc is a little simplistic in comparison to Lia’s but I love his heart and earnestness, and his constant & unwavering obsession with Lia will always be high marks in my books. Their romance is one told through vignettes of summers past, interspersed by their tense moments in the present day. Their relationship is RIFE with miscommunication from the get-go, especially as a love triangle is introduced, and the secrets they hold threaten to tear them apart. Yet despite the secrets, despite the lies, the way these characters come to love each other is so achingly tender; the conflicts they face as teens only go on to strengthen their relationship, until the Biggest elephant in the room can no longer be ignored and they come apart for the last time. And this is the emotional scene with which the story begins in the present day; each of their moments are laced with so much tension and familiarity, in a way that is just so tender and heart-breaking, and I loved seeing the ways in which the conflict of their past still haunts them both, as they try and rebuild their relationship. Second-chance romance, you will always have my heart, in this story more than any other!
Unfortunately, it also felt like this story prioritized romance as the end-all-be-all of relationships, which was such a strange contrast in lieu of the fact that Lia’s life revolved around the non-romantic relationships with those around her. All of the conclusions to the strife in her life, BESIDES the one with Wes, were handled so lazily, with maybe one single summary sentence within the final epilogue, in a way that made all her problems feels only like plot devices in the grand scheme of the story. In short:
Lia has a lot going on in her life; she’s constantly playing peacemaker between her mom and her older sister Mia, she’s trying to hard to get junior partnership at her corporate law firm, she’s attempting to force herself to have chemistry with a man who fits her mom’s standards of perfect, and worst of all she’s been voluntold to watch over her little cousin this summer, in the house that neighbors the man who was her greatest heartbreak. She’s going through it, and so many daughters of immigrant parents will STRONGLY find themselves in her well-written characterization. The author is able to paint such a vivid picture of Lia’s motivations for each of her messy choices and WHY she feels compelled to make those choices, in a way that readers will find instant empathy with her character.
In compliment to Lia, Wes is also a character with his own set of complexities. His family issues dominate his life and his life path, and the frustration of this leads him to seek solace in the arms of Lia, in all the summers they reunite. His character arc is a little simplistic in comparison to Lia’s but I love his heart and earnestness, and his constant & unwavering obsession with Lia will always be high marks in my books. Their romance is one told through vignettes of summers past, interspersed by their tense moments in the present day. Their relationship is RIFE with miscommunication from the get-go, especially as a love triangle is introduced, and the secrets they hold threaten to tear them apart. Yet despite the secrets, despite the lies, the way these characters come to love each other is so achingly tender; the conflicts they face as teens only go on to strengthen their relationship, until the Biggest elephant in the room can no longer be ignored and they come apart for the last time. And this is the emotional scene with which the story begins in the present day; each of their moments are laced with so much tension and familiarity, in a way that is just so tender and heart-breaking, and I loved seeing the ways in which the conflict of their past still haunts them both, as they try and rebuild their relationship. Second-chance romance, you will always have my heart, in this story more than any other!
Unfortunately, it also felt like this story prioritized romance as the end-all-be-all of relationships, which was such a strange contrast in lieu of the fact that Lia’s life revolved around the non-romantic relationships with those around her. All of the conclusions to the strife in her life, BESIDES the one with Wes, were handled so lazily, with maybe one single summary sentence within the final epilogue, in a way that made all her problems feels only like plot devices in the grand scheme of the story. In short:
- The strained relationship with her “best friend” was never touched upon, especially how her “Best friend” refuses to take sides or even hear her out when having disagreements with her sister OR how her “best friend” is ALWAYS telling her secrets to her older sister who she is dating
- The resolution of Lia’s relationship with Mel was entirely too surface level for how tense and strained their relationship was throughout their ENTIRE lives; they had ONE conversation and Mel “saw the light of her ways” and then NEVER messes up again? Seems fake
- And then with the “resolution” of her relationship with Mel, suddenly within ONE sentence of the epilogue BOTH of their relationships with their mothers are instantly better because they “talked it out”?
- Andrea was a flat, nothing character, with no distinguishing characteristics besides the fact that she had internal homophobia and was mean. She only existed to be an antagonist to Lia and Wes’s romance, and it was agitating and boring
- Lia’s relationship with Hasan was entirely nothing; she essentially shrugs him off for months and then asks to be friends and he’s just like “ok neat!”? Why does this man not have any emotions, is he a flat board of drywall?
- The grief Lia feels for her father and the pressure to succeed at her corporate law firm never felt like a concluded plot element; it never feels like Lia fully grapples how her perfectionism is a direct result of her father’s pressures for her to succeed, at least not in a way that feels like a true nuanced understanding of her psyche.
For what it’s worth, I did find that the relationship Lia has with her baby cousin felt close to being as complex and nuanced as the relationship Lia has with Wes; their life stories exist in parallel to each other, and it’s clear that Lia is both full of love for her cousin and ALSO constantly at her wit’s end for the teen’s brash attitude. I really enjoyed how their relationship blossomed within the story; despite the cousin occasionally feeling like a plot device to constantly push Lia and Wes together, the big blowout of their relationship felt like the forceful shove their relationship needed to move on from their strife.
All in all, despite my many, many misgivings over the story, I did absolutely love Lia and her romance with Wes. Their romance is the driving force of this story, though I do wish the other relationships in Lia’s life has been better fleshed out and concluded by the end of the story, instead of a throwaway lazy epilogue that feels like a grocery list of checked off relationship healing moments.
All in all, despite my many, many misgivings over the story, I did absolutely love Lia and her romance with Wes. Their romance is the driving force of this story, though I do wish the other relationships in Lia’s life has been better fleshed out and concluded by the end of the story, instead of a throwaway lazy epilogue that feels like a grocery list of checked off relationship healing moments.
medium-paced
A beachy read at a Canadian lake house with a brown protagonist!
There are some great romance beats that make the uneven parts more acceptable.
This book occupies this awkward space of YA meets adult romance as there are steamy scenes but also flashbacks to when the star-crossed lovers were still in high school.
There are some great romance beats that make the uneven parts more acceptable.
This book occupies this awkward space of YA meets adult romance as there are steamy scenes but also flashbacks to when the star-crossed lovers were still in high school.
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes