Reviews - Hot Summer | The StoryGraph

747 reviews for:

Hot Summer

Elle Everhart

3.79 AVERAGE

wendelamuhola's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny 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

istaisa's review against another edition

3.25

lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Feeling meh about this one. I like a reality TV romcom but found Cas pretty dislikeable, and I could tell from the beginning what the third act breakup conflict would be which was annoying. It was an easy fun read though.

the_uhhhlivia's review against another edition

3.75

lighthearted fast-paced

clooee's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 24%

I feel meh about it

lezreadalot's review against another edition

3.25

lighthearted medium-paced

When their eyes met, it felt like it was the only thing tethering her to the earth.

Maybe 3.25 stars, which is something of a disappointment, because I really did think I would like this more. I'm not exactly the perfect audience for a reality show dating romance, because I don't really watch reality TV, or any dating shows like this, and from what I've seen, I think they wouldn't be for me anyway. But this was the epitome of fun and light-hearted and fresh, just a little bit messy. I was having a pretty good time with it until the end, when the third act conflict let me down. As they usually do.

Cas works for a popular dating app company, though her role (organising events and singles meet-ups and so on) hasn't been fulfilling for a while. Her company ends up clandestinely partnering with Hot Summer, a reality dating show, and Cas is slated to be a contestant. Once she makes it to the finale, she'll get a promotion, and then show and the app will work together... somehow? TBH the details of the deal went over my head. I didn't really get how they were supposed to benefit each other. In any case, Cas figures she's perfect for a fun flirty dating show, because she's single, and has no desire to get into a committed relationship, so she won't be putting her heart on the line. That all goes out the window from the moment she meets one of the other women she'll be sharing the villa with: Ava.

We follow them through the next few weeks, with a series and challenges and games and mingling with the other contestants. They have to be part of a pair, and while the show doesn't discourage same sex dating, it's pretty heteronormative. So even though Cas and Ava are both bi and have immediate chemistry, they each pair up with guys. Most of the contestants acknowledge that the show is kinda shallow, but some people are actually looking for love, including Ava. Besides the silly games and dramatic pairing and switching and do on, there are also rankings, based on votes from the public. Cas is at first motivated to do and say whatever it takes to make it to the finale, but as the weeks go by, and she gets closer and closer to Ava, she starts caring less about the ranking, and more about forming genuine bonds.

It's all very light and airy and fun. It's set on a sunny island, and they all sleep in one huge room for maximum forced proximity. (I have no idea if this was supposed to emulate an existing show.) Cas is a really fun main character. She's our only POV, and I liked her immediately: a bit of a mess, but kind, ambitious, and really confident. There's a moment near the beginning where she's thinking about how she's so hot, she's even turning herself on, and honestly, that was hilarious and refreshing. Main female characters aren't often allowed to be so unapologetically self-assured, bordering on boastful, and in a positive way too. Even though there's an obvious immediate physical attraction between her and Ava, most of their early interactions are just warm and friendly. They give each other advice, and Cas helps Ada with the odious guy she ends up paired with. It definitely helped the relationship feel a lot less superficial than the others. So it's really sweet, and really sexy, when they start acting on their romantic feelings.

(Cas also makes friends with the other contestants, and they're supposed to be a significant part of the story, and we're meant to feel like Femi, in particular, is her best friend on the island. I like him a lot, but the book was simply too short for there to be more than one meaningful connection here. When Cas described him as her best friend, I was just like... huh?? And the secondary romance is really cute, but again, the book isn't long enough to adequately support a B-plot romance, IMO.)

So this was shaping up to be a light and fun read, with lots of great chemistry and humour, and would have probably been 4 stars if not for the third act conflict. I just really didn't like it. It's not the worst example of this kind of conflict, but it still irritated me. It's just always really frustrating to see a character say, "Please listen, I can explain this to you," and the love interest is like, "No! I will not listen! I will instead walk away, and the conversation that we COULD have had to clear things up will have to wait for the denouement!" Ada did annoy me. And I honestly didn't buy it that everyone would feel ~so betrayed~ at Cas working at a dating company and "using the show to get ahead" and not disclosing it. I couldn't take it seriously. Didn't it occur to any of them that the show was stirring up drama? They just took it as gospel? And that fact that Cas couldn't say anything because of the NDA was so frustrating.

And the actual ending annoyed me too. I'm not really the biggest fan of super public or televised grand gestures or PDA, but with the nature of this book, I figured I'd have to put up with it.

Even so, I was extra disappointed that Cas was the only one to make a super public declaration. Maybe I'm just on her side because we were in her head the whole time, but I didn't think that Cas was so much in the wrong. And the fact that there was no reciprocal grand gesture from Ada kinda pissed me off. Ada was the one who walked away when Cas was begging her to leave with her, so I really thought that Ada would be the one to grovel. But nope. Cas accepts Ada's apology a little too easily, and that felt so unsatisfying. Like, there's a moment where Cas says "I'm going to stop running away" and I was like, what? Ada ran away from YOU. And especially after we learn that Cas's fiancée left her and moved back to Ireland, it would have been nice to see Cas's love interest put in some work for her. Ada needed to be the one proving herself. IMO.

And as an aside, the Hot Summer producers made no sense to me. What was the point of outing Cas as being on the show for a promotion, (as part of a deal YOU GUYS made) then forcing her to leave, then forcing her to pretend she wants to leave? I know the producer explained her evil corporate reasons when she talked to Cas, but it still didn't make sense to me. IDK.

So yeah. Opposite of sticking the landing, unfortunately. I listened to the audiobook as read by Marisa Calin, and at least that was an unqualified success. I adore her voice, and she was lovely as Cas. I really wish I had loved this more, but ah well. I still really liked the beginning, and I'm sure other people won't be as annoyed with the third act as I was.

kathywrites's review against another edition

4.0

funny lighthearted relaxing 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

This was a fun read. I do enjoy dating shows, and this felt like a behind the scenes look at a show like that. I liked that they touched on the way everyone having an opinion on the personalities of people they didn't even know must make the contestants feel. I think it's really important to have in mind when watching dating shows that we don't get the full story and this was a good reminder of that (and this is coming from someone who messaged her sister only this week to say "I wouldn't be at all surprised if [person from dating show] is a serial killer.") So for a light little book it had good messaging.

I didn't think like the two FMCs had a crazy amount of chemistry, but they were really cute together and I had a great time reading the book. There was two spicy scences, which is the upper end of how much spice I enjoy, and I thought they were the right moments in the book.