Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

190 reviews

tinysierra's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you have to chose between anger or empathy, chose empathy.

Just for the Summer is so worth the hype. Long books intimidate me, but it didn’t feel like a 400 page book. It was fun and real. 

I love Justin a lot! And Emma was a good protagonist, too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit

Minor: Grief and Death of parent

historyoftape's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

This book gave me hope for the Romcom genere as a whole. I liked how it truly did not take itself too seriously (banned from Uber for drunk racoon saving?? The toilet king?) and still managed to vividly portray two people with very different lives and circumstances falling for each other & trying to navigate that. Sure there were parts that were super cheesy but I could forgive them because the rest was so immersive and entertaining. I did not want to like this book as much as I did and originally read it for the 
Norovirus plotpoint that my friends and I had a couple of animated discussions about. But I might pick up some other Abby Jimenez books after this :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Vomit

Minor: Confinement, Medical content, and Death of parent

a parent goes to jail, Noro virus, toxic parent, ptsd

jenniferbowman's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Lemme tell you about this book.

I listened to the first 90-ish pages on audiobook, then actually DNFed because the fluff factor was real. I had no interest in reading an entire “insta love” book where everyone seemed just within reach of their happily ever afters. Maybe it was the narrators, but the banter made me roll my eyes more than once.

HOWEVER. Weeks (maybe a month?) later, I actually ended up with a physical copy of this story in a “blind date with a book.” Welp, I guess I HAD to finish the story now. I just really wanted to figure out why so many people loved it.

I’m so glad I did. Around the page mark where I picked this back up, the story seemed to gain substance quickly. The fluffy romance took a back seat to fleshed out characters with real lives outside of their dating schemes, and what originally seemed like “just another rom com” took me by surprise—this was actually a riveting story about complicated family dynamics. I fell in love with the characters and their dedication to getting to know one another. I stayed up late two nights in a row on Labor Day weekend to finish this book because I couldn’t put it down.

Five stars, had a great time, and am now buying all other Abby Jimenez books I can get my hands on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

kaitidid's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Abandonment

Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, and Fire/Fire injury

akswhy's review

emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.0

EXTREMELY dramatic [derogatory]

. Took the main character a long time to emerge from her denial, which is probably realistic, but makes for a frustrating read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident

tguccione's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Death of parent

streberkatze's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was the first romcom I had read in years, and I picked it up because I had heard it had a bit more of a serious backstory. And it was definitely an enjoyable summer read! Not sure I'll need more of this genre anytime soon, but I'd definitely recommend this book to readers who are not usually fans of the genre and am interested in picking up another one of Abby Jimenez's books at some point!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Car accident, and Pregnancy

joeys_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am absolutely in LOVE with this book! I haven’t read any of Abby Jimenez books before but it is safe to say I am not going to read more of her works. U thought this book would be a lighthearted simple Rom-Com, but boy was I wrong. While it dose have the classic Rom-Com tropes it also dives into dis functional family’s,  trauma, child neglect and other heavy topics. This book is the best romance I’ve ever read and the ending had me sobbing in a good way because I was so overcome with emotions. I would recommend this book to anyone, even those who don’t typically read romance. Just for the Summer has altered my brain chemistry in a way where I will never be able to view a classic romance the same way ever again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, and Abandonment

teatimetropes's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism and Grief

Minor: Death of parent

cmab's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I laughed, I cried and I seethed with anger. WHAT A BOOK! The romance is grounded in the kind of day-to-day love that is uncharacteristicly authentic for this genre. The main characters are going through it in two different but traumatic ways but it’s handled so well! The empathy and forgiveness is palpable and the maturity of the main relationship and secondary relationships are brilliant! The main characters act their age and are true to their backstories. The twists and turns and seriousness of this book took my by surprise in such a fantastic way! 20/10 ⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment