Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Summer Reading

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

Content Warnings

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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