Reviews

Heatwave by Victor Jestin

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bigsisreads's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

For fans of “We Were Liars”. 104 pages of psychological suspense about the events of the last day of the summer during a French heatwave at a campsite where someone goes missing. Quick and interesting read!

hannahcg's review against another edition

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fast-paced

2.0

xeereads's review

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dark sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

Leonard is on vacation with his family in France during the end of August. One night he stumbles up on Oscar a boy who he has been jealous of since he arrived for being with Luce. The girl he likes. That night he witnesses Oscar committing suicide watching as he dies.

Leonard grapples with first love. Feelings of jealousy and being an outsider. He spends the rest of his summer worrying about Oscar and what he had witnessed and trying to get Luce to fall in love with him.

I found the character a bit insufferable at times. In a mostly negative mood. He mostly only seemed happy when he was with Luce. I found the story a bit boring at times and would have wanted it to go in a different direction than it did.

However I felt like the author did a good job in describing the location and putting us inside the mind of a teenage boy grappling with a tough situation. I feel like I would have liked to see more of his personality and maybe have felt a little more grief for Oscar near the end of the book.

We don't really get to know much about Luce. The characters aren't really that interesting and the only thoughts we get are of that of the main character. Overall it's not a bad novella just a book about a guy chasing a girl thinking he was the one that killed her ex.

veelaughtland's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

readwithchlo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

ellakb01's review

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Yeah I SUPPOSE that was the right ending I GUESS

weezewest's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Short and sharp capture of weird adolescence with a darker twist. Unpretentious writing but still captured Leo’s turmoil. I was hoping for a bit more of a punch