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minamina's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Still, many things became irritating.
First of all, the dialogue seemed unnatural. And I do not mean by the local people, but by the protagonist herself. If teenagers talked like that, you’d laugh into their face. Additionally, the sentences began to feel so dramatic that I had to scrunch my noise. There is a thin line between poetic and cheesy, and sadly I think this book hit the latter one. Plus, the word beautiful was used many times as something significant, and it was cool at first but felt bland after the forth time.
Not one of the characters were redeemable and I had to ask myself countless times if there is anything good in Tilla‘s stay.
Severe and fragile issues such as rape were incredibly overlooked.
Spoiler:
Tilla didn’t even process what has happened. I’m not telling the character how to handle it since it’s individual, but at least one paragraph to digest what has happened would be better than add rape merely for the plot.
Many things happened for the plot, actually. A certain death to the end, for example. It crushed me and broke the single speck of hope for the ending of the book. I repeat, nothing was redeemable in this book. Everything was irreversible. And still, Tilla concludes it like it’s a positive thing, which sounds like an extreme amount of denial here.
All the characters that did her wrong still didn’t get what they deserve. Only the good ones got the worst fates. And I wonder why? You can’t call this „life“ by putting all the hard ship in a few pages and gloss over them, and process them as „beautiful destructions“.
And Hessan. I had a bad feeling throughout, their love quickened and seemed imbalanced. There was no space to second guess his intentions with her. Since the narrator, Tilla, fell head over heels for him I started to enjoy their relationship, until—guess what—it got destructed to its core.
Again, this isn’t „life“, this is just something that has been added to spice up the plot.
At least she didn’t forgive him.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Misogyny
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Sexism, Sexual assault, Racism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Gaslighting, and Sexual content
Minor: Grief, Abandonment, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Abortion
lexilovesbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Body shaming, and Bullying
alaynacp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Blood, Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Bullying, and Death
readingwithtrey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault and Abandonment
Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Grief, Emotional abuse, Rape, and Infidelity
Minor: Cancer
misspennreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Bullying and Sexual assault
piperlee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
And it was extremely heavy. I think too heavy for me. It felt like 90% struggle and despair with only 10% of joy and redemption. So much trauma was fit into one storyline, & mixed with the mc’s own internal dialogue of self-doubt and depression…it was hard for me to get through.
**do not read this if sexual assault is a triggering topic for you** there was graphic on-page description & emotional abuse and gaslighting afterward from basically everyone about the incident. It never was resolved & the truth about what happened was never shared which created a snowball effect of shaming and lies. I felt it was handled poorly & was very disturbing to read.
Trauma felt like a device for growth & I take issue with that. And when there is so much trauma fit into one story, it felt like a lot was glossed over & not properly dealt with. The ending especially felt over the top & incredibly distressing simply for the point of the mc’s development.
Further, I didn’t like any of the characters. There were obvious antagonists that we’re not supposed to like, but even the mc…she wasn’t likable. The only character I felt drawn to was Andre.
So I’m giving this a low rating because I had a hard time enjoying it. But it was very well written & the theme of redemption and freedom in the end is important. I listened to the audiobook read by the author & that was also very well done & added to the intensity and emotion of it all.
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Infidelity, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Drug use and Terminal illness
courtneyfalling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A few main frustrations:
- Tilla does not read as 18, she reads as like 15 :/. I couldn't get over how much younger her perspective felt than what we were supposed to believe throughout basically every chapter. And to a lesser extent, Mia doesn't read as 9, she reads as 11-12 with some of the comments she makes. She's not really believable, just a device for Tilla.
This book shows a pretty graphic sexual assault on page then refuses to openly name it as sexual assault in Tilla's thought process, let alone out loud to other characters, and given the victim-blaming and internalized slut-shaming that follows, I really think this book needed to address it as sexual assault. It feels incomplete and potentially really damaging, especially given this is YA with what is supposed to be a clear-cut moral and main character we relate to/like. I hated Andre's death being used as Tilla's final moment of self-understanding. It's shitty to use the darkest-skinned character's death as merely a plot device and moment of redemption for other characters after spending the whole rest of the book challenging the colorism that exact character faces. I didn't feel like Tilla should "forgive" her father. I just didn't. She hadn't processed enough yet, her father hadn't taken any accountability, so much will still happen when Tilla returns to Canada and talks to her mother, and honestly, her father doesn't deserve any forgiveness. Tilla can absolutely live her life and live it well without ever forgiving her father and I don't like how this book simplifies surviving an estranged parent-kid relationship into all this burden, still, onto Tilla. Like her father can rot for all I care and she can never speak to him again? And I didn’t understand her not forgiving Hessan in comparison OR telling him he should be with Diana because he can still go on to date neither girl and discover other relationships he's fully invested in instead? Maybe the bigger issue is that I didn’t like how uncritically pro-Christian this book ended up. It was way too trite and undeserved for the characters. And trauma isn't something that just "makes you stronger" and that constant messaging is wildly irresponsible.
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, Alcohol, and Cancer
Colorism (graphic)bookwormbullet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Asha Bromfield does a really good job of explicitly portraying what many people of color who are a part of the diaspora of their home country go through when they have to balance both of their identities (in Tilla’s case, her Canadian identity vs. her Jamaican identity) while traveling to and from their home country. I also liked how Tilla’s feelings regarding her identity and her relationship with her father naturally contrasted with Mia’s feelings. The relationship Tilla has with her father was really devastating. Her father, frankly, was a horrible father to her and Mia and as much as I wanted Tilla to unleash all her rage on him and get back at him for treating her so horribly, I understand why she forgave him and told him that she loved him at the end of the novel. It’s a feeling many children of immigrants feel--that even though their parents may not be the most perfect parents to exist, they still love them for sacrificing their livelihoods and moving to a country they know nothing about, all in the hopes of ensuring that their children have a better life.
It was also really hard to read about Tilla’s relationship with her relatives back in Jamaica, but still relatable. I’ve also experienced this line of disconnect between children of immigrants and their extended family who still live back in their home country, especially when these two parties don’t see each other often. I was so happy that Tilla at least had Andre while she was in Jamaica, especially after witnessing how both of them are treated by their relatives, but my heart completely broke at the end of the novel. I really have to admire Tilla for still acknowledging how much Jamaica has strengthened her after everything she endured that summer.
As stated, this book is definitely relatable for those of us who are children of immigrants. Please take the content warnings seriously if you choose to read this and only read this if you are in the right headspace to take it all in, because it was really heavy. I’d give Hurricane Summer four stars overall!
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Racial slurs, Bullying, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Death
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Child death
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Child abuse, and Death of parent