Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Summer Reading

Good characters, interesting relationships, in the context of summer on Martha's Vineyard.

Samantha Gale has come back to Martha's Vineyard for the summer, partly to reset her career, partly to look after her 14 year old half brother while her dad and stepmother go on a holiday.

I liked the way Samantha's relationship with her brother developed, and I enjoyed the romance between Samantha and the interim library director, Bennett Reynolds.

A satisfactory amount of tension, with satisfactory resolutions.

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kimib79's review against another edition

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funny hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

I get the need for internal monologue, but her constant self doubt was a bit grating.

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witcheep's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

3.0

It's a cute and heartwarming story that kept me entertained. My resons for not giving the book a higher rating come from unsatisfying drama in the plot. I love when the characters are good with communication, but here they were almost too good at it at all times: the drama didn't have enough time to grow to feel actually impactful. I feel like the conflicts built up in the plot felt a little plastered over overly mature main group of characters (even the teen sibling acts like an adult most of the time in big interpersonal events). This made the problems almost immediately resolve themselves with the characers always being very understanding and forgiving with each other.

Another thing that bothers me with the book is how the main character Sam is very fixated on her dyslexia. The representation for the neurodivergent struggles and coping mechanisms is great, but Sam lets her whole personality be dictated by that one trait in every aspect of her life: work, love life, and even familial relationships. She has been bullied and dumped over the dyslexia, and it has scarred her deep. This is a very real possibility for many, but I don't like how in the book Sam needs a "good man" to "fix her" by showing her that she is so much more than her dyslexia, and by doing so shifting Sam's inner monologue from the discourse set by the bullies to the new voice (and his words) of self love and positive affirmations. Sam has always had a supportive friend and made a successfull career for herself, so always feeling like a failure and a fraud because of the dyslexia in her late twenties feels wrong. Why wouldn't she had made any revelations by herself or with the help from that close friend by then that she is a multidimensional human being? Or why wouldn't she had seeked professional help, if not during the bullying on school, then later in life to deal with the consequenses of it?

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mandareads222's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-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

3.5

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laheath's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

2.5

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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