Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Summer Reading

I almost gave up on this audiobook early in the story. Something about the narrator's cadence, almost ending each sentence with a growl, left the female lead character seeming smug, aloof and self-centered. However, I thought the opposites attract trope was unique by having a woman with dyslexia fall for a male librarian and was interested to see how it played out. Although the dyslexia representation was great, as the story developed, her negative self-talk seemed immature for an adult. There was a lot going on in this book, with at least three prominent subplots, which led to some inconsistencies, predictability, and unanswered questions. As the different storylines resolved, I enjoyed the highlights but felt the book ended abruptly where it could have gone just a little farther.

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gduds98's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.0

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infjkiki's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.75

Title: Summer Reading
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2.75
Pub Date: May 16, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Beachy • Breezy • Relaxing

📖 S Y N O P S I S

For Samantha Gale, a summer on Martha’s Vineyard at her family’s tiny cottage was supposed to be about resurrecting her career as a chef, until she’s tasked with chaperoning her half-brother, Tyler. The teenage brainiac is spending his summer at the local library in a robotics competition, and there’s no place Sam, who’s dyslexic, likes less than the library. And because the universe hates her, the library’s interim director turns out to be the hot-reader guy whose book she accidentally destroyed on the ferry ride to the island.

Bennett Reynolds is on a quest to find his father, whose identity he’s never known. He’s taken the temporary job on the island to research the summer his mother spent there when she got pregnant with him. Ben tells himself he isn't interested in a relationship right now. Yet as soon as Sam knocks his book into the ocean, he can’t stop thinking about her.

💭 T H O U G H T S

When I was researching 2023 beach reads, Summer Reading was one that really piqued my interest. The idea of a book loving male character and a female lead who doesn't like to read sounded really interesting. Unfortunately, this novel tried to cover too much ground and ended up falling kind of flat.

I'll start off by saying that I highly commend Jenn McKinlay and her publishing team for offering a formatting friendly novel to readers. This isn't necessarily something I have considered before but I really appreciated the author's note explaining the reasoning and I do think it's something I will be more conscious of going forward. Additionally, the neurodivergent rep (dyslexia) is something that is often overlooked in the reading world. I definitely know that not all people with dyslexia don't like to read, and maybe it would have been nice to see that side of the coin, but I also understand why the story went the way it did.

As for the characters, I adored Ben in the beginning, but that connection waned as the story progressed. Sam's disinterest in her brother kind of bothered me at the start, but it was nice to see their relationship develop as they came to know and understand one another better. It was Tyler's character and the island setting that really kept me invested.

While Summer Reading did a lot of things right, it also tried to cover too much ground. Some of the side plots could have easily been left out, or it could have easily been turned into a series with multiple books where these side plots were explored. Instead it ended up being too long and lost my attention before I made it to the end.

A very summery novel exploring family, self-discovery and love, this isn't one that will stick with me. I could see how readers could easily devour it in a sitting or two while on vacation, but also if you skip it I wouldn't say you'd be missing out.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for neurodivergent rep
• anyone in need to quick beach read

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Honestly, some days it was exhausting being in my own head."

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coffeekitaab's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

I am in my 30s and was taken aback when I realised I am reading my first dyslexia friendly book, for adults. I want to commend Jenn McKinlay for that firstly. Through Sam's experiences in the book, you realise the importance of making activities accessible to all, especially an activity like reading for leisure but also when the benefits of reading are well known. I loved the stats regarding visual learning vs listening as a way to thwarting the taboo surrounding audio books as a form of reading. Inclusivity is key. Both Ben and Sam felt likeable, I enjoyed reading about Sam and Tyler's relationship as a brother and sister and that growth and bonding through cooking and communication. It was a cute story overall and covers issues like problematic parents and also (trigger warning) death of a parent. There are some others to check/minor mentions before you read the book. A few negatives for me was the random/abrupt placement of chapters ending (in the middle of a "scene"/conversation between two characters), Ben abandoning Sam at the end felt untrue to his character and a sudden red flag, which was a shame. This book had an interesting plot line and as you came towards the end there was a true sense of the arc of growth as the story gradually progressed. It was an absolute learning experience about Sam's dyslexia and it made me sad there is not more information about so I appreciate the author making us aware. I think the bits that threw me off towards the end (porential incest plot twist for example) made this a 3/3.5 star for me. Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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cameron_bennett's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.5

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nicolelovesbooks's review against another edition

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4.25

An endearing rom-com with a sweet sibling and family element as well. The Martha’s Vineyard setting was great as well. Interesting/enlightening to read about dyslexia in adult main character as I’ve only ever read about it in middle grade books before. A couple of spicy moments.

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readwithash's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious

5.0

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