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3.24 AVERAGE
3.24 AVERAGE
Two star reviews are rough... but this book suffered from a lot of untied loose ends, unbelievable characters, and unchecked jerks. So this two-star review is warranted. But! I promised myself I'd read the whole Dessen collection, except Dreamland which I abandoned when I was 16, so I'm glad I read it.
Haven was experiencing massive changes in her life and all of it hit its peak one summer. Her father was remarrying, her sister was moving out, and her mom was considering a trip to Europe.
Yeah. No. This was not for me. I'd heard so much love for Dessen and she's not for me.
The most I got from this was a boring summer reminding me of my middle school daze, a young, distorted view of first-time love, and a horrible mother and sister. I don't say that last one lightly. But, and oh yes, there's a BUT, when you're sister does nothing but insult you and act cruel and your mother plans on leaving you-a fifteen year-old-alone on the eve of school starting to go galavanting across Europe, your family sucks. I was grossed out by how they were acting and ignoring what Haven was going through as if it didn't matter. Sure, Haven was crossing that teen angst threshold but ignoring it was hurtful. More so, what kind of parent thinks it's okay to dip out on your child? If Haven was seventeen and it was a week or two then sure, okay. But her mom was planning on going for two months! Like what!? That blows my mind and not in a good way. This book was not a favorite and didn't tickle any bones but my frustrated ones. Disappointed.
Full Review:
https://thescarletreaderreviews.wordpress.com/2021/08/08/summer-lovin-it-was-filled-with-anxiety-that-summer-a-book-review/
Yeah. No. This was not for me. I'd heard so much love for Dessen and she's not for me.
The most I got from this was a boring summer reminding me of my middle school daze, a young, distorted view of first-time love, and a horrible mother and sister. I don't say that last one lightly. But, and oh yes, there's a BUT, when you're sister does nothing but insult you and act cruel and your mother plans on leaving you-a fifteen year-old-alone on the eve of school starting to go galavanting across Europe, your family sucks. I was grossed out by how they were acting and ignoring what Haven was going through as if it didn't matter. Sure, Haven was crossing that teen angst threshold but ignoring it was hurtful. More so, what kind of parent thinks it's okay to dip out on your child? If Haven was seventeen and it was a week or two then sure, okay. But her mom was planning on going for two months! Like what!? That blows my mind and not in a good way. This book was not a favorite and didn't tickle any bones but my frustrated ones. Disappointed.
Full Review:
https://thescarletreaderreviews.wordpress.com/2021/08/08/summer-lovin-it-was-filled-with-anxiety-that-summer-a-book-review/
My first book by Sarah Dessen and I really liked it. It was funny and emotional and the last few paragraphs got me all choked up (crying in Starbucks...fun). I would have liked to have gotten the full story on what happened to Gwendolyn though. Over all a good book I really enjoyed.
This was solid but not outstanding. It didn't grab me as much as some of Dessen's other novels - such as Just Listen, What Happened to Goodbye and Along for the Ride.
I absolutely LOVE Sarah Dessen. I have read nearly all of her books and enjoyed every single one. This was no exception.
I really felt for Haven as she dealt with growing into and accepting herself and accepting change. I could feel how she matured and transformed throughout the novel within me. I, myself, have a hard time dealing with change and I certainly could relate with her.
As always, Sarah Dessen has done an outstanding job of creating characters that are easy to connect with and stories that tug at your heart.
I really felt for Haven as she dealt with growing into and accepting herself and accepting change. I could feel how she matured and transformed throughout the novel within me. I, myself, have a hard time dealing with change and I certainly could relate with her.
As always, Sarah Dessen has done an outstanding job of creating characters that are easy to connect with and stories that tug at your heart.
Not entirely sure of the relevance of Gwendolyn to this story. Not much depth to it & I'm sort of annoyed there was no love element, either, but I do enjoy Dessen's writing and I love the name Sumner. So we'll give it a 2.5 star rating.
Read this book when I was about 12 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Re-read it 10+ years later and hated it. Which is not surprising as the book is clearly meant for preteens but I just wanted to take a trip down memory lane. The plot was SO boring. I had no compassion for the characters they were all so pathetic. I read it in like two hours but tbh I skim read all the description and mostly just read the dialogue.
I’m sure if you were between the ages of 9-13 this would be a decent book.
I’m sure if you were between the ages of 9-13 this would be a decent book.
The beginning was extremely slow, but I definitely felt like this was a pretty realistic book. Only complaint is the slowness and the tall complaints (literally have never been upset about being a beanpole myself).
This was an easy read, but that tells you a lot about the storyline. It’s pretty basic; relatable yes, but the story didn’t go anywhere. Then at the end everything is just hunky dory, no more issues? Hmmm pass.
For what this novel is, a feel-good introspective about a teenage girl dealing with major changes in her life, it does it well. I find this novel vastly different than Dessen's later novels, which are more centered on romance (her first few, I will admit, stray from the classic YA romance and are darker and contain more lessons to be learned). This is a quick read, but not her best or my favorite work.