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smalls22's review against another edition
5.0
This book is amazing. Vi is such an interesting character who is trying to understand her present while absorbing the past of others. Truly a work of art
beverleefernandez's review against another edition
4.0
Summer of the Cicadas is a glimpse into the life of Vi Moon, a young lady who can be characterized many ways. I'd like to think of her someone who's searching for their place in this world, seeking a way to define self by self. I could be wrong, but if my memory is correct, cicadas appear every so many years. I think cicada can be applied her in the fact that Vi's life could possibly be seen as a continuance of Cecilia's (her mother). I don't mean this as an exact parallel, but more like every so many years a life altering event occurs. This particular event is life or death, do or die. Because Vi has attempted death, I would like to think the new baby represents life beginning anew. This is great because I think Vi deserves a second chance. She's not perfect, but none of us are. I think Ms. Lavalais did an excellent job bringing mental health into the forefront of Summer of the Cicadas. It is usually a topic that does not merit much attention in the African American community. The majority of the characters in the book are reflections of everyday people, but what's really impressive (in my opinion) is that the characters have some sort of "flaw", mostly shown by attitudes (varying between disrespect, apathy, and callousness). To balance a particular flaw, the characters show some degree of goodness (empathy, helpfulness), I suppose that is what it means to be human. I'm especially glad that the story did not turn into a who's the baby's father or whether Vi and Cecilia reunite and live happily ever after. I personally think they will reunite, but that is not imperative to the immediate story.
The only thing that I didn't like was that it could be hard to determine what was real and what was imagined. This was somewhat confusing at first, but looking back at how the story is written it makes sense that not everything is linear. It's a good thing that I had to think and come to my own conclusion.
The only thing that I didn't like was that it could be hard to determine what was real and what was imagined. This was somewhat confusing at first, but looking back at how the story is written it makes sense that not everything is linear. It's a good thing that I had to think and come to my own conclusion.
em_reads_books's review against another edition
4.0
This was a tough read in a lot of ways: uncomfortable, even violent sometimes, unclear about what's reality and what's not, getting deep into some heavy themes and thoughts. Surprisingly funny too at times. Rewarding, though, I had multiple mornings of glancing up and realizing my whole bus ride had gone by, and many afternoons of longing to get back into Vi's world. The feeling of being haunted by her story every time I shut the book is fitting, and while not everything is sorted out, Lavalais really sticks the ending.
(And honestly I think a lot of my difficulty with the bits in between comes from Lavalais writing so thoroughly from a Black woman's perspective and unapologetically not even trying to edit herself for me. It's a refreshing kind of inaccessible, not hard because the author's using a million SAT words or doing weird for the sake of weird, but because she's writing what matters to her and isn't about to pander to a different reader for a second. It's like the opposite feeling of every intellectual novel that made me think I wasn't clever enough to be on its level.)
(And honestly I think a lot of my difficulty with the bits in between comes from Lavalais writing so thoroughly from a Black woman's perspective and unapologetically not even trying to edit herself for me. It's a refreshing kind of inaccessible, not hard because the author's using a million SAT words or doing weird for the sake of weird, but because she's writing what matters to her and isn't about to pander to a different reader for a second. It's like the opposite feeling of every intellectual novel that made me think I wasn't clever enough to be on its level.)
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