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loganmeadows's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't like this book that much. It made me angry most of the time and it was way confusing and unclear.
caumann's review against another edition
2.0
Not at all what I was expecting, the cover and the summary on the back are very misleading. I thought this was going to be a light, summer read and it wasn't at all. I wasn't expecting the drama and I wasn't in the moood for it. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, which really makes it hard to like a book. The writing wasn't that great either. BOO!
dynamicdylan's review against another edition
5.0
Shitdamn, this book was good.
Chase is such a great voice, I loved him. Noah was a great brother. Claudia was loving and wild. Gideon was cute. Lucy was adorable.
It's not a fun summer read. It's a book about the disintegration of a family. And it's amazing.
Chase is such a great voice, I loved him. Noah was a great brother. Claudia was loving and wild. Gideon was cute. Lucy was adorable.
It's not a fun summer read. It's a book about the disintegration of a family. And it's amazing.
patke's review against another edition
4.0
Full review on Sniff Books, Not Drugs http://tinyurl.com/3whkvxb
To Sum It Up
My favourite quote: "There is no going back, so fuck you, universe." Leave it to Chase to say something profound while flipping the middle finger to the universe. That's why I love him.
Definitely not a light summer read. Highly emotional and nerve wracking.
Perfect character development and plot.
Cover and synopsis are pretty misleading. Don't judge this book based on the cover.
To Sum It Up
My favourite quote: "There is no going back, so fuck you, universe." Leave it to Chase to say something profound while flipping the middle finger to the universe. That's why I love him.
Definitely not a light summer read. Highly emotional and nerve wracking.
Perfect character development and plot.
Cover and synopsis are pretty misleading. Don't judge this book based on the cover.
katie_esh's review against another edition
2.0
This book was not at all what I anticipated based off the description. Between the unrealistic quoting of paragraphs of philosophy by teenagers and the unengaged parents, I had a lot of issues with this book. I spent the entire time reading wondering why exactly the point was. If this was supposed to have some profound theme, I didn't figure it out. Chase, Noah, and Melinda were trying to be adult while being immature children at the same time, and I cannot even talk about this book anymore.
banrions's review against another edition
4.0
I hate this cover. That is the only conclusion I have been able to come to right now. It is entirely misleading. I also think it will turn people away from the novel, or give them the wrong idea. I never would have read this if it weren't for other people's reviews on it and that's mainly because of the cover.
But that is enough gripping on that.
I could relate a lot to this book. I have a semi big family, parents who sure as shit don't get along, an aunt who used to work at Perkins School for the Blind and Deaf (so as a kid I spent a lot of time with a select few of deaf and blind children) and almost every summer as a kid, we went to Cape Cod.
I liked Chase. I liked his voice, I liked him as a person, and he felt real to me. I'm just going to say this right now, all the Camus was a bit odd. I've read a lot of reviews and this seems to get the general thought. It wasn't completely unbelievable that these boy would become obsessed with an author and quote him constantly. As a teen, I did things like this all the time, I just thought with a few less long ass quotes, it would have been a little easier to take in as slightly more believable.
But anyway, back to Chase and the rest of the characters. Chase was the second child, but many times you would think he was the oldest. He was the glue that held this family together. He worshiped his older brother who was constantly leaving him. I think the fact that Noah was always leaving had a lot to to with why Chase put him on this pedestal. If he wasn't constantly leaving Chase, maybe he could have relaxed a bit. Noah was also a great character, surprisingly, I related to him a little more than Chase. I mentioned I have a large family (1 sister, 2 brothers) I'm the oldest. I resent this like crazy. My sister (who is number 2 in order) seems older than me. She's more responsible, people mistake her for the older one a lot and many times I feel like she is my older sister rather than the other way around. My parents don't get along, we're not even gonna go into that issue because I'll rant and you just don't need to hear that. The point is, instead of running like Noah, I retreated to my room. I get Noah. Boy do I get him. As for the younger siblings, I liked Claudia a lot, but I never believed her age. The novel encompasses 4 summers, she's 11 in the first and 14 by the end. She acts like she's 14 in the first one and goes on from there and no one says anything. Sure Chase and Noah once in a while tell her to chill and act her age but she and Chase's friend Shannon (who is a boy) have this weird dating relationship. Shannon is Chase's age, so by the time they actually date she is 14 and he is 17. He's talking about dating her every summer. What 15 year old wants to date an 11 year old? It was weird and it bothered me. I loved Gideon. And that is all I have to say about that.
Parts of this book annoyed me, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, but I related it it so much, grew to care and love the characters that all in all, I loved it and was very glad I ignored the cover and read it. I would recommend you do so as well.
Edit 11/11/12 Re-read*
I was gonna delete all that and start over, because my feelings have changed a little, but I decided not too. I think I needed to read this one twice. I still haven't figured out why exactly.
But that is enough gripping on that.
I could relate a lot to this book. I have a semi big family, parents who sure as shit don't get along, an aunt who used to work at Perkins School for the Blind and Deaf (so as a kid I spent a lot of time with a select few of deaf and blind children) and almost every summer as a kid, we went to Cape Cod.
I liked Chase. I liked his voice, I liked him as a person, and he felt real to me. I'm just going to say this right now, all the Camus was a bit odd. I've read a lot of reviews and this seems to get the general thought. It wasn't completely unbelievable that these boy would become obsessed with an author and quote him constantly. As a teen, I did things like this all the time, I just thought with a few less long ass quotes, it would have been a little easier to take in as slightly more believable.
But anyway, back to Chase and the rest of the characters. Chase was the second child, but many times you would think he was the oldest. He was the glue that held this family together. He worshiped his older brother who was constantly leaving him. I think the fact that Noah was always leaving had a lot to to with why Chase put him on this pedestal. If he wasn't constantly leaving Chase, maybe he could have relaxed a bit. Noah was also a great character, surprisingly, I related to him a little more than Chase. I mentioned I have a large family (1 sister, 2 brothers) I'm the oldest. I resent this like crazy. My sister (who is number 2 in order) seems older than me. She's more responsible, people mistake her for the older one a lot and many times I feel like she is my older sister rather than the other way around. My parents don't get along, we're not even gonna go into that issue because I'll rant and you just don't need to hear that. The point is, instead of running like Noah, I retreated to my room. I get Noah. Boy do I get him. As for the younger siblings, I liked Claudia a lot, but I never believed her age. The novel encompasses 4 summers, she's 11 in the first and 14 by the end. She acts like she's 14 in the first one and goes on from there and no one says anything. Sure Chase and Noah once in a while tell her to chill and act her age but she and Chase's friend Shannon (who is a boy) have this weird dating relationship. Shannon is Chase's age, so by the time they actually date she is 14 and he is 17. He's talking about dating her every summer. What 15 year old wants to date an 11 year old? It was weird and it bothered me. I loved Gideon. And that is all I have to say about that.
Parts of this book annoyed me, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, but I related it it so much, grew to care and love the characters that all in all, I loved it and was very glad I ignored the cover and read it. I would recommend you do so as well.
Edit 11/11/12 Re-read*
I was gonna delete all that and start over, because my feelings have changed a little, but I decided not too. I think I needed to read this one twice. I still haven't figured out why exactly.
kristid's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to have to agree with the statement, "Not your typical beach read." In fact I wouldn't use the words beach read to describe this book at all. This isn't a fluffy mindless entertainment while you soak up the rays at the beach. This is a gritty and raw story of a dysfunctional family.
Hannah Moskowitz is a very talented writer, I enjoy her minimalistic style. And after reading and loving her debut novel Break, I was very excited to read her sophomore novel, Invincible Summer. Unfortunately the story line didn't deliver for me this time.
While there were elements of the story that I did enjoy, again Hannah's writing for one, the unsettling family dynamic, the characterization and Chase's voice as another..... they were overshadowed by things that didn't work for me. Like, the love triangle between Noah, Chase and Melinda and the constant quoting of Camus. I have to admit that anytime I noticed italicized writing I had to skip over those parts.... and Chase's need of Noah. It seemed somewhat unnatural, I understand that they were close siblings, but desperately missing him after he'd been gone for a few hours? Having siblings of my own, I just don't see that. But than again my family was semi-normal. :)
Overall, Invincible Summer is an intense story, featuring compelling characters in a heartbreaking situation. With Moskowitz's signature writing style, it's quite easy to devour the book in one setting.
Hannah Moskowitz is a very talented writer, I enjoy her minimalistic style. And after reading and loving her debut novel Break, I was very excited to read her sophomore novel, Invincible Summer. Unfortunately the story line didn't deliver for me this time.
While there were elements of the story that I did enjoy, again Hannah's writing for one, the unsettling family dynamic, the characterization and Chase's voice as another..... they were overshadowed by things that didn't work for me. Like, the love triangle between Noah, Chase and Melinda and the constant quoting of Camus. I have to admit that anytime I noticed italicized writing I had to skip over those parts.... and Chase's need of Noah. It seemed somewhat unnatural, I understand that they were close siblings, but desperately missing him after he'd been gone for a few hours? Having siblings of my own, I just don't see that. But than again my family was semi-normal. :)
Overall, Invincible Summer is an intense story, featuring compelling characters in a heartbreaking situation. With Moskowitz's signature writing style, it's quite easy to devour the book in one setting.
linamclane's review against another edition
2.0
I think this was the first YA book I've read in the Pretentious Upper-Middle Class Male Ennui genre. Make of that what you will. I loved the prose and gagged to death about pretty much everything else.
literatureish_liz's review against another edition
5.0
This story is about Chase and his family over the course of his 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th summer. Simply put this book is a beautiful albeit melancholy love poem about summer, family and growing up (whether you want to or not). Chase closely examines his role in his family, the older brother who actually isn't the older the brother and what he has come to expect from his family members. His older brother has a tendancy to dissapear, his younger brother has a tendancy to fall down, and his younger sister has a tendancy to take her clothes off. All the while Chase is seemingly caught in the middle and is constantly the glue that holds them all together. Every summer his family vacations next to the same family, the Hathaways. Melinda Hathaway is alluring, insightful, interesting and also dating Chase's older brother, cue an interesting sub-plot.
What is amazing about this novel is that the focus is always on Chase and his family and while you wouldn't expect that to be riviting, I assure you it is. Chase grows up, he changes, his world changes, what he wants from females and even from his life changes and we as readers see that through the scope of his relationship with his family. I loved this book. I sat down and greedily read it in one sitting conscious that I had to get up super early for work the next day. I laughed with Chase, I cried for Chase, and I felt connected to each of his family members. All the Camus quotes in the book (and there were tons) added, I felt, to the story's beauty and spoke to how Chase felt in that moment in that summer. It made me painfully nostaglic for the summers of my youth where Camus (whether I knew it then or not) is etched in my heart as well.
So, I reccommend this book and you don't have to read it all one sitting. But you should read it when you're ready for something gripping and thoughtful. Read it in the summer and remember what your own teenage summers were or are like and how it's so difficult to view the world through anything but your family sometimes.
Here is my favorite quote:
"You're always going to be the same you, just older. It's not like there's a moment when you wake up and go, Shit, I'm grown-up, I don't feel like myself anymore. I don't tell him, but this is the scariest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life. Being grown-up should feel like a big transition. It can't be something that, despite my best efforts, I've been drifting closer and closer to every summer. It needs to be a shock. I need to know at what point to stop holding on."
What is amazing about this novel is that the focus is always on Chase and his family and while you wouldn't expect that to be riviting, I assure you it is. Chase grows up, he changes, his world changes, what he wants from females and even from his life changes and we as readers see that through the scope of his relationship with his family. I loved this book. I sat down and greedily read it in one sitting conscious that I had to get up super early for work the next day. I laughed with Chase, I cried for Chase, and I felt connected to each of his family members. All the Camus quotes in the book (and there were tons) added, I felt, to the story's beauty and spoke to how Chase felt in that moment in that summer. It made me painfully nostaglic for the summers of my youth where Camus (whether I knew it then or not) is etched in my heart as well.
So, I reccommend this book and you don't have to read it all one sitting. But you should read it when you're ready for something gripping and thoughtful. Read it in the summer and remember what your own teenage summers were or are like and how it's so difficult to view the world through anything but your family sometimes.
Here is my favorite quote:
"You're always going to be the same you, just older. It's not like there's a moment when you wake up and go, Shit, I'm grown-up, I don't feel like myself anymore. I don't tell him, but this is the scariest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life. Being grown-up should feel like a big transition. It can't be something that, despite my best efforts, I've been drifting closer and closer to every summer. It needs to be a shock. I need to know at what point to stop holding on."